Is it different when you are there live Laura , we focus too much when we are just looking at tv , I gave up watching the XF after that :P

Have you read all the way through Reveal yet Laura

Yes I'm sure it was different. No one had seen him perform for three years and I had three years worth of excitement in me. :yahoo: :lol:

 

I do remember when he spoke to Dermot at the end that we couldn't hear a word he said. It was like the coliseum in there. :lol:

 

No Tess I haven't read anymore of it yet. We're such bad fans. -_-

Well I have read Reveal but I read it so quick I want to read again slowly and in depth. :)

It's up to date to April 2017 . I can't remember anything about Let it Shine. There is a lot in it about the Progress reunion obviously. :) I could have a look for you though if you're interested. :)

 

That would be amazing, thanks so much Laura!

Right - here goes: Page 488

 

February 2017

His back is getting worse. This Saturday he's supposed to appear on the finale of Let It Shine, the reality show to find a boyband for the forthcoming Take That musical - he's scheduled to act as a judge, and to perform 'The Flood' with the other three current members of Take That. It's the first of these, the judging, that he's most worried about, because he thinks he won't be able to sit in a chair for an hour. And, even if he can deal with the purely physical problem, I think he's also worried that it will throw him off. If he's going to be a judge, he wants to be great at it, and to come over as having been great at it. "I mean" he says, remembering back to his last Graham Norton appearance, "they had me as slurring when I was on good form".

 

Michael starts making calls. But Rob, mindful of Take That's chequered history, is insistent that Michael make one thing clear. "I cannot let them down", Rob emphasises. "If I'm there in a wheelchair, I've got to do it.... I will do it. You did impress on them that I'm not bailing?"

 

Word comes back that Peter Kay has agreed to deputise as a judge. As long as Rob can perform, it'll be fine.

 

 

 

Rob sits in his dressing room on the afternoon of the filming, having his make up done.

As he gets ready, he mentions how surprised he was when he looked as last weekend's episode of Let It Shine. "In my mind" he says, I was like, yeah, we performed like our lives depended on it, and the boys can't possibly be performing like that, like their lives depend on it. That was all we had. And then I watched a bit of the start of last weeks show. And I was oh yeah, they're performing like their lives depend on it - they are doing that. They're all doing that. "

 

Howard, who has just become a parent again, comes into the dressing room.

 

They discuss nannies and sleep routines, and then talk through the performance. Rob shares his plan. "I'll only f*** up 15 percent" he says, if I just look at Gaz and just do what he does".

 

Rob actually has to begin the song on a podium, then walk down some steps onto the main stage. He's not too bothered by the walking, or the standing, but he's worried that being grabbed at by the audience will put his back out. Security are put in place to protect him.

 

The Flood is a song Rob is really proud of - he mentions beforehand how surprised Elton John seemed when he visited Take That in the studio and realised that Rob had written all its words. And the atmosphere when the song begins today is quite remarkable - it feels more like the emotional highlight of a particularly special concert, not a song being recorded in a TV studio. At the end, the four of them get a standing ovation that just goes on, and on, and on. Eventually, when the noise has finally died down, they answer some questions from Graham Norton and Mel Giedroyc. "It's very emotional" says Rob. "Seeing how much it means to everybody. It's only because I'm on telly that I'm not welling up".

 

Afterwards, he says that there actually was a tear. "I was genuinely choked, and I was genuinely overwhelmed with the love that beamed on us when we walked onstage. I got to take the stage with four showbiz brothers that I have a lot of history with - it means a great deal to us all. you could just see it in people's eyes -how much we mean to them, and how much we've meant to them. I was overwhelmed by it. It was an incredible moment. and I instantly went on a time-travelling journey in my mind. When we stepped upon the stage and the place just went mental, instantly I was transported to a yellow Salford Vaqn Hire van with me and the boys on our way to Hull to go and perform at an under eighteens club, way before we were famous."

 

In the car, heading back to London, he's still on a high.

 

"It can be fun, showbiz, can't it?" he says. "Yeah, that's the awesome bit".

 

One other thing:

 

"The lads were having Nando's when I left" he says, "and chips".

 

Page 490....

 

 

That evening, Dylan Chambers, Guy's brother, comes over with his family, and he makes pizza and doughnuts. Rob's dietry restrictions take a one-night holiday, and everyone settles in front of the TV in anticipation of watching the Let It Shine finale. As we wait, rob finds himself fielding questions about the rough early days, and tells tales of Nigel Martin-Smith, and all of the intra-band dynamics. at one point Susie Amy, another friend who is over tonight, asks Rob for a clarification: 'would you say Nigel disliked you or Jason more?'

Rob considers this for a moment. "Me".

'Really?' says Susie. 'Because you were cheeky and challenging?'

"no, at the start I wasn't challenging at all, in any shape or form", Rob replies. "Just shit f***ing scared".

 

The conversation rolls on until Susie says, as though clarifying something that has already been established. 'He's very normal, Gary, isn't he?'

"I actually thought that until just recently" Rob says, "I've actually gone: actually you're really eccentric. He's incredibly eccentric. And I'm saying this from the perspective of somebody who knows they're eccentric themselves.

But it's actually shocked me that my perception of Gaz was that he's the most normal. The most reliable - he IS the most reliable, but you just think that he's straight down the middle, but he's actually got -isms. Especially on the "Mixed Signals" video shoot. I was: I haven't noticed this before - you're completely eccentric. Which I thought was great. I can't even describe it, but it was like, oh, you're like me, you're eccentric. Maybe even more. ^_^

 

One possible example recently came to light5 when Gary tweeted that he had just washed his hair for the first time in 14 years. As it happens, Rob doesn't find this so weird, partly because he believes he knows exactly where it comes from.

 

All I can remember back in the days in Take That, Jason in particular was like 'you know lads, shampooing your hair's not good for your hair, and anyway your hair washes itself'. That's what we all thought in Take That. I'm lazy, so I took that as a cue to, 'yeah! I'm not gonna wash. I'm not gonna do that'. So I didn't for a while. And maybe with Gaz, that just stuck".

Page 491....

We watch the show. At the beginning, Rob's replacement, Peter Kay, enters with Rudebox playing in the background. :lol: Dressed as the X Factor's enjoyably car-crash rapper Honey G, Kay explains why he's here. 'I'm standing in for Robbie! He's hurt his back! and we wish him a very swift recovery'. And then a sly, deadpan dig. 'He's gonna be up singing and dancing later. He couldn't sit and judge, too much that. But he's gonna get up and sing and dance'. As he speaks, Kay's sunglasses visor has letters moving across it, spelling out ROBBIE's BACK NO GOOD. :lol:

 

Even though this performance of The Flood is one that Rob knows he loves, when it begins he still puts his fingers in his ears and shuts his eyes. Ayda takes a photo of him like this and shows it to him after. She wants to post it on Instagram. Rob says she shouldn't, because people will think he's joking.

And he adds, "the chin's horrendous".

 

The next day there's a shoot to photograph stills and a filmed advert for the Take That musical, which is called The Band, with the winning boyband, Five to Five and Take That.

 

Rob arrives before anyone else. He's shown the sleeve to Take That's first album, Take That And Party, which the photographer intends to reproduce with Five To Five. Some slights never fade. Rob is on the far right of the sleeve, half cropped off the edge in the first place, and he says that whenever there was a reduced price sticker, Take That become a four piece.

 

"Reduced to £8.99, there was no me".

 

The photographer wants to know some background information about the original shoot.

'Did you all jump at once?' he asks.

"Yeah" says Rob.

He's then asked if they were on a trampoline.

'No', he says, 'on the ground. we were just on youthful exuberance'.

'How many times did you do it?' he's asked.

Rob knows the answer to that one.

'However many times the master said "jump!".

 

 

Rob chats with Five To Five. 'Genuinely lads, your the real f***ing deal', he says, encouragingly. 'We took forever to be ready to go. you guys have got something really special. Be kind to yourselves and each other'.

 

Howard, Mark and Gary turn up and they do the shoot, the new boyband appearing from behind the old band, then the old handing microphones to the new, as though passing on the baton. Rob gives his a spin before passing it on.

 

In between shots, the four of them, Take That, mingle and chat, they seem to have that particular kind of comfort with each other that you have with people who are not necessarily your best friends, but with whom you've been through some kind of intense shared experience.

 

Later, back at home, Michael asks how he's enjoyed these two days with the boys.

 

'Yeah, I've loved it. I really loved it. Safety in numbers'.

Their path hasn't always been a smooth or easy one, and doubtless it won't always be in the future. But it's certainly a path that Rob imagines he'll continue to rejoin from time to time.

 

'There is an invisible cord that keeps pulling us back', he says. 'and it's a cord that I'm quite happy that the universe tugs occasionally'.

:heart:

Well done Laura, you put a lot of hard work in there :cool:

 

 

I read some of Reveal last night , found the section about the XF appearance tough going, I felt really sorry for him , he got a right bashing from the press & was very upset :mellow:

Laura, thanks so much for posting this. It must have taken a lot of your time and effort but it’s greatly appreciated.

 

I did wonder why Rob didn’t judge that night, but now I completely get it. Lovely how much he enjoys The Flood (a great, great song!)

totally agree, the Flood is still one of the best songs of TT for me and I still love Progress also the DVD. What a great time this was...

Page 491....

We watch the show. At the beginning, Rob's replacement, Peter Kay, enters with Rudebox playing in the background. :lol: Dressed as the X Factor's enjoyably car-crash rapper Honey G, Kay explains why he's here. 'I'm standing in for Robbie! He's hurt his back! and we wish him a very swift recovery'. And then a sly, deadpan dig. 'He's gonna be up singing and dancing later. He couldn't sit and judge, too much that. But he's gonna get up and sing and dance'. As he speaks, Kay's sunglasses visor has letters moving across it, spelling out ROBBIE's BACK NO GOOD. :lol:

 

Even though this performance of The Flood is one that Rob knows he loves, when it begins he still puts his fingers in his ears and shuts his eyes. Ayda takes a photo of him like this and shows it to him after. She wants to post it on Instagram. Rob says she shouldn't, because people will think he's joking.

And he adds, "the chin's horrendous".

 

The next day there's a shoot to photograph stills and a filmed advert for the Take That musical, which is called The Band, with the winning boyband, Five to Five and Take That.

 

Rob arrives before anyone else. He's shown the sleeve to Take That's first album, Take That And Party, which the photographer intends to reproduce with Five To Five. Some slights never fade. Rob is on the far right of the sleeve, half cropped off the edge in the first place, and he says that whenever there was a reduced price sticker, Take That become a four piece.

 

"Reduced to £8.99, there was no me".

 

The photographer wants to know some background information about the original shoot.

'Did you all jump at once?' he asks.

"Yeah" says Rob.

He's then asked if they were on a trampoline.

'No', he says, 'on the ground. we were just on youthful exuberance'.

'How many times did you do it?' he's asked.

Rob knows the answer to that one.

'However many times the master said "jump!".

Rob chats with Five To Five. 'Genuinely lads, your the real f***ing deal', he says, encouragingly. 'We took forever to be ready to go. you guys have got something really special. Be kind to yourselves and each other'.

 

Howard, Mark and Gary turn up and they do the shoot, the new boyband appearing from behind the old band, then the old handing microphones to the new, as though passing on the baton. Rob gives his a spin before passing it on.

 

In between shots, the four of them, Take That, mingle and chat, they seem to have that particular kind of comfort with each other that you have with people who are not necessarily your best friends, but with whom you've been through some kind of intense shared experience.

 

Later, back at home, Michael asks how he's enjoyed these two days with the boys.

 

'Yeah, I've loved it. I really loved it. Safety in numbers'.

Their path hasn't always been a smooth or easy one, and doubtless it won't always be in the future. But it's certainly a path that Rob imagines he'll continue to rejoin from time to time.

 

'There is an invisible cord that keeps pulling us back', he says. 'and it's a cord that I'm quite happy that the universe tugs occasionally'.

 

 

 

I laughed so much that night when Peter Kay comes out & announces that Robbies has done his back in & then Robbie pops up with TT singing The Flood , I have to say I was speechless . Chris Heath talks about that night in the book but I could never understand why Robbie would not have known that people would think it a bit odd , I mean the judging session was mostly sitting down so big deal there & then he comes on & marches up a stairs ... :lol: .

Well I have read Reveal but I read it so quick I want to read again slowly and in depth. :)

 

 

I have got to page 185 :P ... he mentions somewhere about Dylan Chambers being over with family & I'm going ' I thought those two nearly murdered each other '

 

 

& he bought pyjamas for Elton John at Christmas :blink: at least I'm sure I read that bit somewhere :lol:

 

 

 

I laughed so much that night when Peter Kay comes out & announces that Robbies has done his back in & then Robbie pops up with TT singing The Flood , I have to say I was speechless . Chris Heath talks about that night in the book but I could never understand why Robbie would not have known that people would think it a bit odd , I mean the judging session was mostly sitting down so big deal there & then he comes on & marches up a stairs ... :lol: .

 

Haha, yeah! :lol: Kay was very good that night with his one liners! Ironically Rob sung it quite well!

 

Gary is lining up a sequel to Let it Shine next year according to reports, so perhaps we’ll get Robbie judging after all!

Glad you enjoyed the read. Funny enough it was in the part of the book that I haven't got to finish yet. :lol:

 

When I have time I'll look for the Progress bits and post some of them.

 

Anyway here's the Let It Shine performance that they all enjoyed so much. B-)

 

 

 

I have got to page 185 :P ... he mentions somewhere about Dylan Chambers being over with family & I'm going ' I thought those two nearly murdered each other '

& he bought pyjamas for Elton John at Christmas :blink: at least I'm sure I read that bit somewhere :lol:

 

Yes - when he and Guy fell out I think his brother got involved somehow. Goodness knows why.

 

Glad it's all sorted now though. :)

Glad you enjoyed the read. Funny enough it was in the part of the book that I haven't got to finish yet. :lol:

 

When I have time I'll look for the Progress bits and post some of them.

 

Anyway here's the Let It Shine performance that they all enjoyed so much. B-)

 

 

That would be amazing! Look forward to it :cheer:

Robbie & Guy wrote a song called Let's Get Ugly based around the sample of theme tune to the film The Good, the Bad & The Ugly.. Robbie was credited as McStagger on the song as he did not want anyone to know it was him :unsure: , it was after Rudebox & Robbie was sensitive to the fact that people might thinking that he was working with Guy again because of what had happened with Rudebox

 

 

Robbie & Guy wrote a song called Let's Get Ugly based around the sample of theme tune to the film The Good, the Bad & The Ugly.. Robbie was credited as McStagger on the song as he did not want anyone to know it was him :unsure: , it was after Rudebox & Robbie was sensitive to the fact that people might thinking that he was working with Guy again because of what had happened with Rudebox

I could imagine RW singing that. B-) he's so clever with his lyrics.

Bit on the TT reunion. Page 433.....

 

At the end of September 2009, I get a message that Rob is in New York where I'm living. I'd seen him a couple of weeks earlier and he'd not even mentioned that he might be coming here. Even now when I meet him at his hotel it's almost like he doesn't want to say too much, as though it might somehow spook what has been happening. He explains that he has secretly been in the studio with Take That, and plays me a little of a song.

 

He'd been quietly preparing for this first meeting for a month, writing down lyric ideas on stickies: "I knew it was a big deal and I wanted to impress. And I especially wanted to impress Gary, because he's a proper singer-song writer and I wanted to come with a heart full of lyrics and head full of melodies".

 

That first day it had just been Rob, Gary and Mark. Gary already had backing tracks. "It was wonderful" he says. "I just see Gaz as a balladeer and he turned up with all of this 1980, 1981 stuff from when he loved his weird synth music. " They made a start on about seven songs, and Rob will tell me that he'd figured what his role might be. "Take That had been writing some pretty epic pop songs that were genuinely touching the heart of the nation" he says. "And I saw how I could add to that. Still have it be that, but bring a slant to it that isn't there - slightly crazy, dystopian, apocalyptic. A different way than your straight-up today will be the greatest day of our lives. Conspiracy theories and all sorts of whacky ideas and unhinged mentalness in the lyrics that wouldn't have been there. "

 

One of the seven first ideas, the song he plays me, is called 'The Flood'. Rob can sometimes begin to build lyrics like a magpie's nest. Here he borrowed its first line - standing on the edge of forever - from the title of a 1960s Star Trek episode. The beginning of the second verse - back then we were like cavemen but we mapped the moon and the stars came from the AboveTopSecret forum discussion he'd noticed that day at Trevor Horn's studio. But just as Shame had been about him and Gary, 'The Flood' became about the five of them.

Although no one understood

We were holding back the flood

Learning how to dance the rain.

page 434...

 

We were holding back the flood

They said we'd never dance again

 

A year later, it'll be the song with which they announce their return, and I'll listen to them explain:

 

"It uses moments from history and time" Mark will summarise, "to tell the story of the band. And the breaking down of the wall".

 

"The first time around" Rob will say, "although it was precarious and unsafe within the band, there was still a safety in numbers against this pandemonium and hysteria that we faced everywhere we went - from our fans, to journalists, to our friends becoming used to us being famous, to our parents being used to us being famous. The only safe place really was us five together. And even that was unsafe. But the flood for me was all the outside forces trying to break the dam. And we were the dam".

 

At the point when they first met up in New York, this wasn't actually a Take That reunion. they had a different idea altogether. "We were going to reform as a band called The English" says Rob.

 

And then Rob pulled the plug. On all of it.

 

This was in the aftermath of the difficult time he's had promoting Reality Killed The Video Star. "I just went off the idea completely - of even being a pop star let alone being a pop star and being in Take That again. There's some footage in the documentary Look Back, Don't Stare of a clearly exasperated Jason, who sounds as though he had half been expecting this kind of let-down, explaining that he has pointed out to Rob how 'your whims have a direct effect on us'. Rarely has the word 'whims' sounded so disparaging.

 

"I got scared" Rob says. "And I'd kind of let everybody down in Take That again by saying that I wasn't going to be doing what I'd said we'd be doing".

 

Mark went to talk with Rob, to make the case that they should carry on. All he needed to do was to commit to enough days in the studio. Any kind of other stuff, that didn't matter. Rob finally agreed. The English were now forgotten. They were Take That and they were coming back.

 

This is what Gary would say: "We were all writing, throwing ideas in. It was the album we'd always wanted to make that we were making, and we were all excited, and proud. It was gorgeous is what it was. " :)