Early years Eighth Wonder's roots are with a band called Spice. In 1983, Jamie Kensit auditioned his sister
Patsy Kensit, then aged 15, for the vacant job of lead singer in his new band. The line-up consisted of her on vocals, Jamie Kensit and Geoff Beauchamp on guitar, Lawrence Lewis on bass, Jake Walters on drums and Nigel Davis on percussion. The song was also a Top 30 hit in Italy. "Will You Remember" was successfully released as a follow-up single in Japan. This was in turn followed by
Brilliant Dreams, a Japanese exclusive mini album containing the singles and
b-sides.
Success in the UK Whilst completing their first album, the band had another line-up change, with Godson being replaced by drummer
Steve Grantley. They worked with
sound engineer,
mixer and producer Pete Hammond, with the exception of one track, "
I'm Not Scared", co-produced and written by
Pet Shop Boys and
Phil Harding. Chosen as the next single for release in Europe, it was greeted with media and
public enthusiasm. "I'm Not Scared" became a Top 10 hit in almost every country in Europe, achieving No. 1 in Italy, No. 2 in Switzerland and Portugal, No. 3 in Spain, No. 4 in Greece, No. 5 in Germany, No. 7 in the UK, No. 8 in France and No. 20 in Austria. Pet Shop Boys recorded their own version of the song for their album
Introspective. May 1988 saw the release of another single, "
Cross My Heart", which proved to be almost as successful chart-wise as "I'm Not Scared" (No. 6 in Switzerland, No. 10 in Italy, No. 13 in UK, and France, and No. 56 in the US - where it was their only Top 75 single). Eighth Wonder's album
Fearless followed in July 1988, and by October it had achieved almost 500,000 sales internationally. The follow-up single "Baby Baby" only got to No. 65 in the UK singles chart and would be their last hit in Italy, peaking at No. 13. They had one more hit in Japan with "Use Me" in 1989 and, shortly after this, the band parted ways and Kensit began to focus on her marriage and acting career. In 1988, Hong Kong singer Elvina Kong covered "Baby Baby" in Cantonese. ==Discography==