Gary has always had thick skin but i would presume it got even thicker when his solo career stalled, the press at that time was extremely tough on him. When Take That returned i would believe mentally he was prepared for how bad the press can be so i can only presume no matter what happens he will take it all on the chin. Outside a very successful career he has a strong marriage and family behind him and i would believe himself Howard and Mark are more genuine friends now than they were first time round.

 

Unfortunately showbiz has its highs and lows and when entering that profession you have to take the good and the bad. While the press have been hard on Gary at times he also had a good run of press from when Take That reformed right up to the end of the Progress era so he has experienced the good and bad of it.

I agree. The relationship between the three seems a strong and genuine one. I often think about Jay - he's disappeared off the radar completely. It would be lovely to see him attend at least one of their live shows. I understand that Rob was at the Hyde Park gig, but I've yet to read anything to suggest that Jay has supported them. If true I find that quite sad. I understand his wish to remove himself from public life but TT has given him a life he could only have dreamt off 25 years ago and it would be lovely to see him support them at least on some level.

 

You're also right Pippa in that until recently TT garnered positive press which if it wasn't for the tax issue would have continued. I hope The Girls musical turns out to be a great success and I'm hoping to go down to see it in the West End some time in January. However, for me the most important thing is for TT to produce a fantastic album. In all honesty I haven't fully enjoyed any of their albums post Circus which is a long time ago. Praying the new offering harks back to a more traditional TT sound.

Awww, I hope you feel better soon! :( It's so bad you can't have your comfort food when you most need it. You should take advantage of your small holiday (2 days sounds too little time to recover from surgery) and do everything that makes you feel better.

I'm the same as you - I'm going through a more stressful period - I have a big exam in November (to become a qualified lawyer, as opposed to a trainee lawyer, as I'm now) and have lots of papers to do and lots to study and all I can think about at the moment is watching TT and Gary videos :lol: I should probably take my exams in TT, as I'd know more :lol:

 

I love reading, from time to time, the comments under the medley video - they are 99.9% positive and they seem to be coming mostly from Americans, which is very unusual. The duet he did with James Corden is the one getting him all this attention, in my opinion. Fans of James's watch that video and the documentary they did together and get intrigued by Gary, which leads to them watching that video. I think it is, currently, Gary's most watched video, next to the one with James.

 

I don't think the BBC yt video is representative of what most people think of Gary or his show. The ones commenting there are some of the BBC yt channel subscribers - not very different to the ones who comment in the Dailyfail or the Guardian, so I wouldn't pay too much attention to what they're saying. All they do is troll the BBC videos and post hateful messages. I found some of the comments quite hilarious - especially the ones about the cheers and applauses being faked. If only they knew that the cheers have actually been muted on that video and that people were going crazy and screaming like nuts on the day. I still remember that the fb video garnered over 50k views in only a few hours after it was uploaded, that's how fast the news of Gary showing up in a mall to sing was spreading and that's how excited people were.

He truly can't win with haters: if he does appear on telly, they'll say he's an attention seeker and he's desperate to make money; if he doesn't appear, they'll say he's a has been whose career is finished. The only thing he can do is carry on with his projects. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that it works out well for him and the boys and that this show will remind people of TT's music and reopen their appetite for our boys' songs.

 

 

Oh thanks, Milly. Hope all goes well with your exams!!! The TT album should come out after your November exams so something to look forward to :)

 

My 'little' brother the brains of the family is a barrister - I'm sure everything will go well - will keep my fingers crossed for you. It's a long, long time since my uni exams and post grad work. My son has just completed his AS exams and will be applying to university later this year so I have some idea of the stress you must be going through, even if I'm not experiencing it directly.

 

Gary appears to have spent the whole of the summer period in the US and seems to enjoy the lifestyle out there. I saw a recent photo of him with JC so their friendship has obviously continued since JC's move to the states. I don't really like reality type music shows that much but I will give Let It Shine a go when it airs next year.

Wow, good luck to your son! Uni life is the best in the world - shame it has to end so quickly.

I searched on the internet to see what the correspondent of a barrister would be in our legal system and I think that it's the qualified lawyer, in the sense that both can plead before any level of court. Right now, I can only plead before ordinary courts and, after I pass my exams, I'll be allowed to plead in calls and appeals. But your system is really different to ours, so I'm not sure of the analogy I've made.

I wouldn't say your brother is the only brains in your family - I don't know what you do, but you present yourself like a highly educated and intelligent person and that's what counts the most ultimately.

 

I laughed hysterically when I found out what Gary, Dawn and James were practicing when they took that pic - I'd die to see Gary show off his twerking moves on the next tour. His lessons had better paid off; he has no excuse now not to dance :lol:

To be honest, at times I thought Gary had too much of a good time in the States - I think he might have suffered from sunburns...on his brain :lol: The man posted more selfies in a few days than he has in his whole life and he was shirtless in most of them. I was starting to wonder if he had hit his head or something like that :lol:

He seems to finally be in a very good place again and I hope that will help him with his music projects.

 

As for Jason, I agree with you. I perceive Gary, Mark and Howard like genuine friends right now and I'd have liked to think that Jason is still (if he ever was) a part of this "brotherhood". Honestly, I never understood his need for privacy overshadowing everything else - especially when his right to privacy is being paid by the work of a team of people-, but I can't find any excuses for him not to check in with the boys (when they did the Hyde Park interview, I think they mentioned not having talked to/seen Jason for a while) or to, at least, come see them at one gig. It's not like he has his schedule full.

 

In what concerns the albums' endurance over time, I have to admit III has only kept growing on me and I still believe it's their best album to date - and, shockingly, I've been able to even enjoy Hey Boy lately (minus the lyrics).

I'm just as excited about The Girls cast album as I am about the new TT album.

And there are rumours we might get a dvd of the Hyde Park gig - we have a lot to look forward to.

Oh, and Gary's appearance on The One Show on Sept, 16 - I learnt about it from a friend, cause I haven't had too much free time over the summer and I'm not in touch with all the news.

Milly, i wish you great fortunes in your exams, i am sure you will excel in the exams and your future career.

 

I agree with not fully enjoying a Take That album since the Circus, Progress/Progressed had some great songs and some not so great and likewise with Three, both are good albums that i enjoy but the Circus was the last album from them that i loved from start to finish, it was cohesive, it had the Take That sound but it was fresh and different.

 

I would welcome another album of the more traditional Take That sound but i fear it will not come on the next album. If anything it may come after the Greatest Hits album that will come for the 25th anniversary as when touring they will realise its the traditional Take That sound the fans truly want.

 

 

 

I don't know what the equivalent is legally. My brother specialises in criminal law. There are two strands in the UK: a person can train as a solicitor or a barrister which I think takes longer. It does sound like once you've qualified you'll have a similar role to my brother. In simple terms he gets to wear the 'funny wig' on his head :)

 

I wonder how Jay fills his time? I know he has a passion for travelling, in which case he must be a world expert. In terms of the HP gig, it would literally have been just down the road from where he lives. He and Howard were very close at one time and it's such a shame if that relationship hasn't survived Jay's departure.

 

Gary is indeed in a good place at the moment and I bet there were times over the past four years when he thought he'd never reach this point. I do wonder why he takes on so many projects but psychologically it may stem from his prolonger period in the 'wilderness.'

Thank you, Pippa :)

 

Yeah, we only have that distinction (solicitor-barrister) in law firms - certain lawyers specialize on doing research and other present the cases in court. But, if you're an independent lawyer, you get to do both - I'd hate to do all the research for a case and not get my time in court, it's what gives you the adrenaline :lol:

I specialize on criminal law as well :) A little on civil and family law, as well, but my inclination is towards criminal law.

I didn't know barristers in UK still wear wigs :lol: We just have the black robe - I always joke that it's like looking at death in multiple mirrors, when going to court :lol:

 

As much as I love TT, after their Greatest Hits album, I'm still hoping we'll finally get another solo album from Gary.

I'm curious what the GH album will look like: will it be a 2 parts album: 1 with all the 90s hits and 1 with the post-comeback hits?

I have no idea how they'll handle so many projects next year: the new BBC show, promoting the new album, a new tour, a GH album and the Vegas shows. Plus, The Girls for Gary.

It's a good thing the airplane that gets from London to NY in just a few minutes is almost ready to be launched. Unfortunately, they'll have to buy one all for themselves, cause it can only carry 10 passengers :lol:

 

Totally unrelated to what we were talking: I was watching today the video of Gary and Ronan's duet on Harvest of the World and I couldn't help thinking how much of a natural singer Gary is. I guess it hit me because of the contrast with Ronan (whom I do like). Ronan was trying so hard - and all that grit in his voice was just too much -, but Gary was singing effortlessly, without forcing anything. Even all the acutes he was doing sounded effortless. Maybe that's one of the reasons he's one of the few artists who, at this age, have the voice still in perfect condition. All the contestants on XF are oversinging so much - and not only them, big artists as well (Adele, Demi!!!! - boy, does she shout a lot!!- Leona, Beyonce)- that it's no wonder that their voices start cracking in their late 20s. Which makes me wonder who taught Gary his singing technique? I know he now has a vocal coach, but he had a good technique when he was very young too and I doubt he was taking singing lessons back then.

 

Interesting you should say that about Gary's voice. I noted that the YT clip I referred to earlier someone commented that they couldn't hear him breathe. It hadn't occurred to me but she was right. His vocal technique was so good on that section that his voice was seamless. Occasionally he doesn't have enough of a rounded vowel sound and very occasionally there is a nasal quality to his voice, but overall he has very, very good vocal technique helped by the fact that he rarely over sings.

 

I haven't listened to any of Adele's live tour but I know that she's received fantastic reviews. I do think she sounds far better in her lower range and I don't like the quality of her voice when she hits higher notes. I agree re the video with Ronan and yes, the roughness in his voice sounds too contrived. I think far too many modern singers equate shouting with quality, when the opposite is true.

I had noticed you can't hear him breath on the Relight My Fire live performances and on the Sure number (during the BW tour).

He has the ability to belt if he wanted to and he did it a few times, but he never overdoes it. Oversinging seems to be a problem especially with girls nowadays, but there are also some male singers who do it - Andrea Faustini, for example. For some reason, they have to belt 90% of the song and they ad-lib too much - too many runs, too many embellishments. To be honest, I even hate the vibrato that is too into your face.

 

I don't know how a native's ear perceives it, but I and many other foreigners find that Gary's diction is one of the best on songs. I need subtitles for Rihanna, Adele and even Elton (he had better diction when he was younger) :) I know that diction has nothing to do with vocal technique, but it's still indicative of a singer's quality, because it helps the listener relate more quickly.

I can hardly understand Elton these days. The quality of his voice has deteriorated considerably over time, although he still has a lovely tone. I generally don't have a problem understanding modern singers although I did hear one of Zayn Malik's song not long ago and I really struggled to understand anything the lad was saying!! I don't know if it was representative of his singing style, but the lyrics were inaudible.

 

In general singers don't appear to consider diction that important. My parents were jazz lovers so I frequently listened to singers like Ella Fitzgerald who had the most wonderful tone and fabulous diction. Gary is more of an old fashioned singer in that respect and one of the few who often sounds better live than on a recording.

If they want to be international artists, they should pay more attention to diction. Zayn, Ariana...they could as well be speaking Chinese for me; I never understand one word.

Italians and South Americans have, usually, perfect diction.

The British and the American singers are better, though, than the French, when it comes to pronouncing words properly.

 

PS: Did any of you know that It Only Takes A Minute video has over 1 million views? :lol:

Edited September 9, 20168 yr by milly

It Only Takes a Minute is a song i still enjoy and i welcome when they perform it on tour. It was the breakthrough hit for them as well and i would think it means alot to them.

I love it only takes a minute, that, A million love songs, love aint here anymore and never forget are my faves from their old catalogue. I still think Take That and Party is good album and was a very solid debut, its aged well too.

I got to meet and shake hands with a hero of mine yesterday. The wonderful film director Ken Loach. I'm certain none of you will know of him as you're a lot younger than me - but you must surely have heard of Kes at least.

 

 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/1...benefits-system

Edited September 11, 20168 yr by Kath

It is not someone i know of but as an idol of yours i am thrilled you got to meet him. Was he nice to meet, it is lovely to meet an idol and for them to turn out to be nice people.

It is not someone i know of but as an idol of yours i am thrilled you got to meet him. Was he nice to meet, it is lovely to meet an idol and for them to turn out to be nice people.

 

He was lovely. I took some pictures of him as people were milling around but didn't want to ask for a selfie (I just don't like them). I went up to him and told him how much I appreciated his work (I didn't even call him Ken - I called him Mr Loach). I did point out to him a lady who couldn't get close enough (she was in a wheelchair). He thanked me - and acknowledged the lady and then gestured to her that he would be over in a minute. A really lovely man (just go on IMDb to see his impressive output).

Really happy for you, Kath. I watched the trailer of Kes that you shared and it really got my attention. It will be on my list to watch this weekend.

Having lived the moment is always better than any selfie.

Ken Loach is a fantastic director, one of our best. His work is raw and very authentic . I can't imagine what it's like to meet someone you admire greatly. I'm so shy I think I'd just stare and say absolutely nothing! So pleased he was lovely and genuine :)

 

I am delighted he was friendly, it really makes a world of difference. I know one of two people who met their idols and had the opposite experience to you.