November 17, 2024Nov 17 This documentary was brilliant, cool of Robbie to do it and surprised none of the rest of Take That did.They've been touring all year so I can believe that they couldn't find the time.
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Author The reason I believe the other TT members aren't in and Boyzone is because Take That have a Netflix documentary and Boyzone have a Sky documentary in production. Also, as stated above Take That have been on a World Tour. I agree that the inclusion of Busted and McFly would have been good. Blue were documented up to 2005 so the whole of Busted and the start of McFly could also have been included. Charlie Simpson and Dougie's stories would have been great and I LOVE Fightstar so would have been great for them to feature. I wonder why they left A1 and Another Level out? Maybe would have diluted the narrative too much. 911 being as popular as Boyzone, Backstreet Boys and Westlife in Asia really is crazy as they had minimal success in the UK, NONE in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Australia and only sparse moderate in New Zealand. However, LOADS of boybands had success across south east Asia. That area of asia couldn't get enough of boybands, arguably more than the UK. Edited November 17, 2024Nov 17 by nirvanamusic
November 17, 2024Nov 17 I've caught the first two episodes and intend to catch up on the third after it has gone out on telly (cos I'm that much of a traditionalist :D). Very eye-opening. I knew of the Take That story already but not so much about the others. It always seems to be the way with journalists (particularly those of tabloids such as News of the World) who are asked to take part in things like this that they are pretty much not really looking at things through a different lens. You could say the same about the managers too but I guess they were also going with what they knew at the time. Two things can be right at the same time - these bands were very overworked and it wasn't sustainable but also a boyband (or any music act really) is a brand.
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Robbie wrote an open letter to Nigel Martin-Smith: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCd76Fpu_FE/
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Perhaps A1 and Another Level were asked but didn't agree to participate in the programme.
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Robbie wrote an open letter to Nigel Martin-Smith: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCd76Fpu_FE/ Oh damn I don’t have insta so cuts off after the second page. :( Would love for a girl group edition to happen next year: episode 1 about the Spice Girls and All Saints, episode 2 about Atomic Kitten, BWitched and Mis-Teeq, episode 3 about Girls Aloud and the Sugababes. :wub: maybe even a 4th episode for the Saturdays and Little Mix!
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Oh damn I don’t have insta so cuts off after the second page. :( Would love for a girl group edition to happen next year: episode 1 about the Spice Girls and All Saints, episode 2 about Atomic Kitten, BWitched and Mis-Teeq, episode 3 about Girls Aloud and the Sugababes. :wub: maybe even a 4th episode for the Saturdays and Little Mix! There is apparently talk - although mere speculation at this point - that the production company who did this documentary will be doing one for the girls. Can see that working, particularly if they followed this sort of structure suggested.
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Just finished this and it was a really interesting watch - They couldn't have known, but coming so soon after Liam Payne's death does make this especially thought-provoking and shows that lessons haven't really been learned (which does sort of contrast against the optimistic feeling they went for at the end). While there definitely could've been more scope covered with other boybands of the era, it was really interesting to hear some anecdotes, especially from 5ive and Damage, which I admittedly didn't know a lot about compared to the others and how the managers were so close in age and experience to the actual band members, and while it wasn't really shocking, it is really quite horrible the sort of blatant racism and harrassment the press did and still do, that former tabloid journalist was a particularly nasty piece of work. I think I would've most liked them to expand to the late 2000s and early 2010s when the boyband craze came back for a little bit with JLS, The Wanted and (though I know now it would be a bit of a minefield for obvious reasons) One Direction, I'd be interested given the former were an all black band that actually did manage to break through, but I'm sure there would've been some covert racism going on as well, their fellow talent show graduate Alexandra Burke certainly experienced it. Indeed, a girlband one would be very interesting, particularly as they enter into an industry which is inherently sexist so have bigger hurdles to overcome.
November 17, 2024Nov 17 Just finished episode 1... really interesting tbh and I'm gonna binge the other 2 tonight. I've always, had a lot of sympathy towards Brian Harvey in particular from the boyband world. His story is so sad and that opening shot of him smashing up his "1,000,000" sales plaque thing was so hard and sad to see.
November 18, 2024Nov 18 Robbie wrote an open letter to Nigel Martin-Smith: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCd76Fpu_FE/ That's a very powerful letter and so well-written. Really shows how far Robbie's come in terms of his maturity.
November 19, 2024Nov 19 Robbie wrote an open letter to Nigel Martin-Smith: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCd76Fpu_FE/ I loved this letter. So eloquently written and articulated, it shows firstly how much Robbie has grown and become his own man and how he wishes love even to those who he didn't have the best experience with. More than can be said for Nigel Martin-Smith, whose line of defence in that first episode was basically "I made him famous, so I refuse to acknowledge that I could have handled it a bit better with the gift of hindsight because I'm too het up about what people think of me". It certainly shows who the - pardon the pun - better man is here.
November 19, 2024Nov 19 Author If a girlband British documentary is done I'm guessing it would start with Eternal and finish with Girls Aloud/Sugababes. Covering the same timeline, '90s - mid '00s. In the same way they kept this documentary to Take That, East 17, Westlife, Blue, Damage, Five, 911. The documentary was fantastic considering Take That, Blue, Damage, Five and 911 have all been covered before. Boyzone are clearly holding out for their Sky doc and A1 and (briefly) Another Level --through Dane's account-- have also been profiled. The girlbands would likely be: Eternal, Spice Girls, All Saints, Atomic Kitten, Sugababes, Girls Aloud. Which of the managers do you feel came off well? I think Five --Chris, not so much Simon-- and Blue's weren't too bad. Most of Blue got their heads turned by others by the sound of it. I also think Nigel Martin-Smith wasn't bad when speaking about the group as a whole and trying to protect them. He spoke a lot of logical sense there. However, with regard to Robbie there are clearly some unresolved issues on his part and lack of compassion/empathy. Jason's story would actually be the most compelling as he was by far the worst treated by Nigel, with Robbie following next. Nigel liked Gary and Howard the most, with Mark placed behind. Edited November 19, 2024Nov 19 by nirvanamusic
November 19, 2024Nov 19 If a girlband British documentary is done I'm guessing it would start with Eternal and finish with Girls Aloud/Sugababes. Covering the same timeline, '90s - mid '00s. In the same way they kept this documentary to Take That, East 17, Westlife, Blue, Damage, Five, 911. The documentary was fantastic considering Take That, Blue, Damage, Five and 911 have all been covered before. Boyzone are clearly holding out for their Sky doc and A1 and (briefly) Another Level --through Dane's account account-- have also been profiled. The girlbands would likely be: Eternal, Spice Girls, All Saints, Atomic Kitten, Sugababes, Girls Aloud. Which of the managers do you feel came off well? I think Five and Blue's weren't too bad. Most of Blue got their heads turned by others by the sound of it. I also think Nigel Martin-Smith wasn't bad when speaking about the group as a whole and trying to protect them. However, with regard to Robbie there are clearly some unresolved issues on his part. Jason's story would actually be the most compelling as he was by far treated the worst by Nigel, with Robbie following. Nigel liked Gary and Howard the most, with Mark after. I was gonna say, Chris Herbert (Five) and Daniel Glatman (Blue) came off the best I think. Relative to some of the other managers, they were both roughly the same age as their bands, and they had a greater degree of self reflection. I'll be honest, when I'd seen Chris on a few videos of both Hear'Say and Girl Thing - both of whom he managed afterwards - my opinion wasn't so great, and I got why the Spice Girls left him for Simon Fuller. But actually, his self reflection, him saying "I worked with the knowledge I had at the time which maybe wasn't the best" and being able to take ownership for some of what happened with Five actually did turn me back around to him more. I find that more admirable than Simon Cowell, who just came out with his stock "You have no private life, if you don't want it be an accountant" comment, I especially felt that was an illustration of his true colours. And also, proves to a degree how hollow his tribute to Liam Payne was when he passed away. Because those boys really didn't have the welfare they needed around them. I just hope sincerely that any new boybands or girl groups coming through are better protected and looked after mentally as well as physically. And yeah I imagine that's probably who they'll go for with the girl groups.
November 19, 2024Nov 19 Well I too have watched all three episodes now and revisited many of the original hits these bands had in their hayday and floods of memories and nostalgia come back, especially from life following artists before the internet was big. It was a time I was first getting into music properly, around 1998, and I was already somewhat aware of who was around at the time but I didn't know enough about their journeys. I admire very much what all these boybands did at the time, and what they went through too. The story surrounding Five was the most sad to hear. I didn't know much about their breakup at the time at all, and they seem to have taken the biggest toll from their auditions to their demise. I could add more, but much of what I thought and felt others like Jay, Rich and Hassaan have all said. In terms of a girlband show, I would point out that if that were to happen, then something too should be done to not ignore the mixed group hysteria; Steps Scooch S Club 7 A*Teens Hear'Say Liberty X They too should be documented for their contributions to the pop industry.
November 24, 2024Nov 24 I think Take That had the formula right when they reformed - an album every two years (or more) and just focus on the touring aspect in between. Now, I'm not sure if that approach would have worked during their first run in the 90s but then they probably didn't know themselves then, never mind how to navigate the music industry. There's striking when the iron's hot and there's running yourself into the ground, and I do question if it would have made that much of a difference to One Direction's popularity (for example) had they released an album every two years and just focused on getting as much as they could out of each one, through touring and other stuff. East 17 are actually still going although with barely any of the original members. I guess they've carved out some kind of niche for themselves amongst the "legacy" circuit, like 5ive and to a lesser extent Blue (as they released an album of new material in 2022). It seems it's tricky for the older boybands to cut through with their new material but maybe that's applicable to most acts who had a lot of success in the pre-streaming age. Westlife and Take That's most recent releases of new material in 2021 and 2023 respectively both charted well (#2 and #1 respectively) although the singles released with the album didn't do much - #66 for Starlight (Westlife in 2021) and Windows (Take That in 2023) not making the top 100, though both performing well in the sales only charts. Touring wise, they're both capable of selling out arenas and stadiums whenever they do them, so they're very much in a cushy position.
November 24, 2024Nov 24 Definitely second a mixed-group edition too with the bands Wardy listed. S Club 7 and Steps' stories would be super interesting especially! Also could throw in Big Brovaz and S Club Juniors too!
January 8Jan 8 Brilliant documentary that perfectly spanned 'my' era of pop, from being a 5 year old hearing Relight My Fire played a lot right up until Robbie rejoining Take That when I was a uni student. They could have done a fourth episode featuring JLS, The Wanted and One Direction as already mentioned as there'd be a huge amount of material spanning the last 15 years, but I suppose it wouldn't really have had the nicest ending given what happened to poor Tom Parker and Liam Payne (who in both cases are the only two members of each band I've met, both four years ago when my workplace was doing some filming while it was shut to the public). Ending as it began with Take That reunited and the other boybands now mostly doing well for themselves did give it much more closure, and while it did mean the whole documentary could have been made circa 2010 perhaps it's not quite time yet to tell the story of the later boybands in such great detail, both because it's a bit too raw and recent for the band members themselves and also because the 2010s don't have that 'full' nostalgia factor for many just yet, although admittedly the earlier part of the decade is perhaps starting to for those who were kids or teenagers then. I also found the tabloid intrusion quite sickening especially the Five honeytrap story, which felt like full on entrapment that they probably got away with legally as it took place in a foreign country. I already knew much of their story from The Big Reunion, but I feel like if they hadn't imploded the way they did then they'd have probably carried on maybe another year or two before calling it a day anyway around 2003, as music landscapes were shifting around this time with anything 1990s being cast aside in favour of new artists and reality TV acts. Agreed that a Girlbands Forever would work too starting with Eternal and the Spice Girls in the first episode, and if they did want to include the last decade this time they could feature Little Mix as well and finish with the 2019 Spice Girls reunion.
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