#la 7

Deputy commander of the 176th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Guards Major Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub near a La-7 fighter before a combat sortie. September 1944.

You’re my Number One - S Club 7

S Club 7 probably doesn’t strike you as a prominent band, they’re that band who sang cheesy hit ‘Reach’ I’m sure you are thinking! Well, yes they sang ‘Reach’, and they do have the stereotype of being a cheesy nineties band... However what you probably don’t know is that I adore this band, cheesiness in all, but that is not why I am writing about them. I’m writing about them because they had an unusual marketing strategy when they were still formed back in 1999. What was that weird marketing technique? Well, they only went and had a tv show didn’t they!

Miami 7, L.A. 7, Hollywood 7 and Viva La S Club ran from 1999 to 2003. This venture with BBC not only gave them the opportunity to become children's televison sensations, it also gave them the opportunity to shoot multiple music videos for near enough every single one of their songs - even those which were not released as singles! However, their tv show music videos were not used in their mainstream music channel, separate ‘more professional’ videos were shot. Which led S Club 7 to have two or more videos for the same song.

Today I am going to be comparing and contrasting their music videos to single ‘You’re My Number One’; the professional one shot solely for their music career and he more freeform video shot for their tv show!

An important thing to take note of is that despite playing themselves on the tv show, their personas and personalties where enhanced for the tv show, so their composure within the tv show music videos is more comical of that of their official video. 

Lets begin by analysing the video for their music career:

This is a simple studio shoot. Theres nothing much going on apart from their basic choreography and some aerial shots thrown in to make the cuts more interesting. One thing to notice is the close up shot of their faces, this is a regular motif in all their videos. It probably doesn’t represent anything with them not being a majorly artistically rooted band, however I like to interpret it as representing their closeness as friends, and even a sort of family.

Now let’s look at the video they shot for their tv show!

Straight away you can tell the set is far more elaborate, a bowling alley being the backdrop for their video. What also makes this video appear more cost-worthy is the extras/backing dancers (excusing their dullness) at least the effort was went to to fill the set. 

What else do you notice straight away? They’re all far more relaxed, you can tell in the Vevo video that they’re are focusing on what they’re doing whereas here they’re just having fun, which makes it more fun for the viewer. Straight away I am more intrigued. 

The use of cuts and shots is more interesting as well, getting shots of the tenpins being lifted and dropped into place, as well as following the motion of the bowling ball. 

But that’s not it! Not even a minute in another set is revealed, a supermarket. With band members Hannah Spearitt and Bradley Mcintosh running around the aisles collecting all the sweets and snacks they can, as well as having a laugh whilst doing so. Ten seconds later... another set is revealed.

This time it is Tina Barrett and Paul Cattermole trying to talk to people on the street. What is more noticeable about this and the newer location later on is that they are scenes ripped from the tv show. Without the context of the plot this scene seems rather irrelevant, however it could be interpreted simply as a ‘struggle’ but this theme isn’t revisited at any other point in the video.

It’s about two minutes and thirty seconds that the final set is revealed, that of a volleyball court. This scene has definitely been taken from the television series as I distinctly remember the episode! But once again this just beams happiness and joy, because of how carefree the band are within the scenes.

All in all, if I was told I could only ever watch one of these videos again and the other would be deleted from existence. I would choose the tv show video! It is just so much more enjoyable to watch, the band members seem to be having so much fun in the tv show version but look so stiff in the veto video. Which begs the question why even bother shooting a separate video?

The tv show video encapsulates everything S Club 7 stand for: fun, laughter and happiness. Whereas the vevo video feels like the complete opposite. It is as if they were trying to market themselves as tow different bands to two different audiences, a fun, carefree group of friends to the fans gained through the tv show and as a serious artistic band through fans captured through vevo and other music video services. 

It's a dogfight between Lt. Col. Dorigushin's characteristic La-7 and Bf-109.

Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Major A.V. Alelyukhin on an La-7 fighter , presented to him by Trust No. 41 of the NKAP (People's Commissariat of the Aviation Industry). East Prussia. 1945

Alexey Vasilyevich Alelyukhin is one of the most famous Soviet ace pilots. During the war, he flew approximately 600 combat

sorties, fought a record 258 battles, and fought against German, Italian, Polish, French, Romanian, Dutch, and British aircraft.

He was wounded, suffered fires, made forced landings, and even parachuted after being crippled. He claimed 57 official victories during the war.

In the final months of the war, he flew a personalized La-7 fighter with the inscription "To Alexey Alelyukhin from the staff of Trust No. 41 of the People's Commissariat of the Air Defense Forces."