North & South - Allsorts (1998)

North & South were formed by former manager of East 17, Tom Watkins, as the fictional boy band in the 1997 BBC sitcom  'No Sweat'. The group was made up of James Hurst, Lee Otter, Tom Lowe (who later appeared on American Idol) and Sam Chapman, and in the television show they were called Jimmy, Greg, Miles and Giles. The guys got the job of being in a band and television show by responding to an ad they saw on teletext, and Mark Read of A1 was originally meant to be in the band, but dropped out. 'No Sweat' ran for two seasons, the first in 1997, followed by season 2 in 1998, and the first episode was set in Brighton, and centred around Jimmy moving to Brighton with his overbearing mother. He made friends with Greg and decided to form a band to get girls and money, and with the addition of two guys from a rival school, they formed a group called North & South. They released their debut single later in 1997 with 'I'm A Man Not A Boy', which reached number 7 in the UK charts, and ended up as the 72nd biggest selling single of that year. A second single followed with 'Tarantino's New Star', but despite heavy promotion it only reached number 18 in the charts. They still went on to sell out a tour of the UK, and they supported ex-Take That's Mark Owen on the European leg of his first solo tour. They finished 1997 with their third single 'Breathing', but it could only just scrape into the top 30, reaching number 27 in the charts. The second series of 'No Sweat' had low ratings, and the fourth single 'No Sweat 98', a remixed version of the TV show's theme song, only reached 29 in the charts, so BMG Entertainment decided to shelve their 'Allsorts' album, and the band broke up soon afterwards. Although they were a manufactured band, it never did The Monkees any harm, and an album release might have given them some credibility, especially as it included a cover of Devo's 'Whip it'. However, it wasn't to be, and so here it is for you to decide if it would have been the hit that they hoped for.  

Track listing

01 I'm A Man Not A Boy
02 Tarantino's New Star
03 Breathing
04 No Sweat
05 Whip It
06 Atomic Love
07 Cold As Ice
08 It's Too Late
09 Moonboy
10 I Wanna Dance With You

11 I Won't Let You Down

12 She's Not There

13 Invisible Man

14 Heads Or Tails