Take That

Take That
Take That
Background information
Origin	Manchester, England, UK
Genres	Pop, Pop rock
Years active	1990–1996 2005–present
Labels	Sony Music (1990-1996) MCA Records/Polydor (2005-present)
Associated acts	Lulu
Website	www.takethat.com
Members
Gary Barlow (1990-1996,2005-present) Howard Donald (1990-1996,2005-present) Jason Orange (1990-1996,2005-present) Mark Owen (1990-1996,2005-present) Robbie Williams (1990-1995,2010-present)

Take That are an English five-piece pop-rock band consisting of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the group's main singer songwriter. Formed in Manchester in 1990, the band achieved major success as a five person boyband selling more than 25 million records between 1991–96 alone before disbanding.^[1] In 2005 the group reformed without Williams and achieved new success as a four-piece scoring a string of chart hits whilst taking the number of records sold to over 40 million worldwide. In total the band have had 22 top forty singles in the UK alone, ^[2] 11 of which have reached #1 as well as having five number 1 albums.^[2]

Their dance-oriented pop tunes and soulful ballads dominated the UK charts in the first half of the 1990s, spawning two of the best selling albums of the decade with Everything Changes (which was nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize^[3]) and Greatest Hits 1996, and according to Allmusic, "at this time were giant superstars in Europe with the main question about them not being about whether they could get a hit single, but how many and which would make it to number one". The band also won multiple BRIT Awards. Williams having left the band in 1995, the rest of Take That split up in 1996. However, after a 2005 documentary and the release of a new greatest hits album, they officially announced a 2006 reunion tour around the United Kingdom, entitled The Ultimate Tour. On 9 May 2006, it was announced that Take That were set to record their first studio album in over ten years, which was eventually released as Beautiful World. The band have released a second post-reunion studio album entitled The Circus and have completed their Circus Live tour 2009. In July 2010, it was confirmed that Robbie Williams had rejoined the band, and that they would be releasing new material together in late 2010 and also touring in mid 2011.

History

Early years (1989–1993)

In 1989, Nigel Martin-Smith sought to create a British male vocal singing group. Having seen the success and fame of what was the nascent concept of boy bands following the meteoric rise of the New Kids on the Block in the United States, he realised there was no such contemporary group in the United Kingdom. Martin-Smith's vision, however, was more teen-oriented than the clean-cut image that the New Kids sported in the media. A campaign to audition young men with abilities in dancing and singing took place in Manchester and other surrounding cities in 1990. Martin-Smith met budding songwriter Gary Barlow through an agent friend, whom Barlow had hired to take professional head shots. Impressed with Barlow's catalogue of self-written material, he put him under consideration for the group. At twenty-two, Howard Donald was one of the oldest to audition, but he managed to become accepted into the band after getting off work as a vehicle painter. When asked to recruit other possible candidates, Donald recommended fellow street dancer Jason Orange, who had appeared as a dancer on The Hitman and Her. Mark Owen and Robbie Williams met on the day of their audition and interview. Martin-Smith's original name for the band was Kick It but the members of the band claimed they did not like it. Gary Barlow has stated that Take That was the "worst of a bad bunch."

Take That's first TV appearance was on The Hitman & Her in 1990, where they performed the unreleased songs "Love" and "My Kind of Girl." They later appeared a second time to perform "Waiting Around", which would become the B-side for the first single, "Do What U Like". "Promises" and "Once You've Tasted Love" were also released as singles but were minor hits in the UK.

The band's breakthrough single was a cover of the 1970s Tavares hit "It Only Takes a Minute", which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. This success was followed by the track "I Found Heaven", then by the first Barlow ballad "A Million Love Songs" - both top 20 hits. Their cover of the Barry Manilow disco hit "Could It Be Magic" gave them their biggest hit to date, peaking at number 3 in the UK. Their first album, Take That and Party, was released in 1991, and included all the hit singles to date.

Superstardom (1993–1995)

1993 saw the release of Everything Changes, based on Barlow's original material. It spawned four UK number one singles – their first number one "Pray", "Relight My Fire", "Babe" (beaten to the Christmas number one by Mr Blobby), and the title track "Everything Changes". The fifth single "Love Ain't Here Anymore" reached number three on the UK charts. Everything Changes saw the band gain international success, but it failed to crack the US market where an exclusive remix "Love Ain't Here Anymore" (U.S. Version) gained little success. However, by 1994, the band had become radio and television stars across Europe and Asia. However, it was not until 1995 that the band would do their first World Tour.

It was during the years 1993–95 that the band fronted scores of magazine covers ranging from Smash Hits to GQ, becoming mass merchandised on all sorts of paraphernalia ranging from picture books, to posters, stickers, their own dolls, jewellery, caps, T-shirts, toothbrushes and even had their own annuals released.^[4] The band had also developed a large female teenage fanbase at the time. During this time, they performed at numerous music awards shows and chart shows such as the BRIT Awards and Top of the Pops, also winning the Best Live Act award in 1995 at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

In 1995 Take That released their 3rd studio album Nobody Else, again based on Barlow's own material. The release of "Sure", their first single from the album, achieved yet another number one on the UK Charts. It was not until their second release from that album however, that they would experience what would become their biggest hit single, "Back for Good", which reached number one in 31 countries around the globe and to date has been covered 89 times the world over. It was also their first and only US hit, where it reached the Top 10. The song was initially unveiled for the first time via live performance whilst at the 1995 BRIT Awards, and based on the reception of that performance, the record pre-sold more records than expected and forced an earlier release date. The album was also noted for its cover which was a parody of the famed cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band cover sleeve.

Departure of Robbie Williams and breakup (1995–1996)

In July 1995, Robbie Williams' drug abuse had escalated to a near drug overdose the night before the group was scheduled to perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards. According to the documentary For the Record, Williams was unhappy with his musical ideas not being taken seriously by lead singer Barlow and Nigel Martin-Smith, because his desires to explore more hip hop and the rap genre conflicted with the band's usual ballads. Barlow explained in interviews that Williams had given up trying to offer creative input and merely did as he was told. As well as the friction with Nigel, Jason had problems with Robbie's increasingly belligerent behaviour and his habit of missing the band's rehearsals. Both he and Barlow confronted Martin-Smith about the internal conflict, because they did not want Robbie dropping out while touring and before they planned to explore America in the next few years, which ultimately never came to pass. During one of the last rehearsals before the tour commenced, they confronted Robbie about his attitude and stated they wanted to do the tour without him. He agreed to quit the band and left; it would be the last time for twelve years that they were all together.

Shortly afterwards, Williams was photographed by the press partying with fellow band Oasis at Glastonbury Festival. Following his departure, he became the subject of talk shows and newspapers as he acknowledged his plans to become a solo singer, and he was spotted partying with George Michael in France. However, a clause in his Take That contract prohibited him from releasing any material until after the group was officially dissolved, and he was later sued by Nigel and forced to pay $200,000 in commission. Undaunted by the loss, Take That continued to promote Nobody Else as a four piece, scoring a further hit single with Barlow's "Never Forget" and completing the Nobody Else Tour in July 1995.

On 13 February 1996, Take That formally announced that they were disbanding. This was followed by the Greatest Hits compilation in 1996, which contained a new recording, a cover of The Bee Gees' "How Deep Is Your Love". The single went on to become what was to be the band's final UK number one until their 2006 comeback a decade later. Take That gave what was thought to be their final performance in April 1996 at Amsterdam.^[5]

Ultimate Tour and Beautiful World (2005–2008)

On 14 November 2005, Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection, a new compilation of their hit singles including a new previously unreleased song, also made the top end of the UK charts. The new song "Today I've Lost You" (recorded in September 2005) was originally written by Gary Barlow as the follow up to "Back for Good" but was never recorded. On 16 November 2005, the group got back together for the ITV documentary Take That: For the Record, in which they aired their views over the split and what they had been up to during the last 10 years. On 25 November 2005, there was an official press conference by the band announcing that the post Robbie Williams line-up were going to tour in 2006. The tour, entitled Ultimate Tour, ran from April to June 2006. The tour featured a guest appearance by British soul singer Beverley Knight, who replaced Lulu's vocals on the song "Relight My Fire"; although Lulu did appear during the stadium shows on "Relight My Fire" and "Never Forget". The American female ensemble Pussycat Dolls supported the group at their Dublin concert, and the Sugababes supported the group on the final five dates of the stadium leg.

On 9 May 2006, Take That came back to the recorded music scene after more than ten years, signing with Polydor Records in a deal reportedly worth 3 million pounds. The band's comeback album, Beautiful World, entered the UK album chart at no. 1 and, as of June 2009, had sold over 2.6 million copies in the UK. It is currently the 35th best selling album in UK music history.^[6]

In the album Beautiful World all four members of the band had the opportunity to sing lead vocals. Unlike the band's earlier works, where the majority of their material was written by Gary Barlow who received a sole credit, all four band members are credited as co-writers, regardless of whether they contributed to the writing process or not.^[7] The comeback single, "Patience", was released on 20 November 2006, with a special event launching it on 5 November. On 26 November "Patience" hit number 1 in the UK in its second week of chart entry making it the group's ninth No. 1 and stayed there for 4 weeks. Take That accompanied Leona Lewis in a version of "A Million Love Songs" in the final of The X Factor on 16 December 2006, just before she went on to win the show.

The week after Take That's comeback album Beautiful World was released it was announced that Take That had become the first artists ever to top the UK official single and album charts along with the download single, download album and DVD charts in the same week, as well as topping the radio charts.^[8]

The video for the number 1 hit single "Shine", the follow-up to "Patience", premiered on 25 January 2007 on Channel 4, ahead of its release on 26 February 2007. The band's success continued on 14 February 2007 when Take That performed live at the BRIT Awards ceremony at Earl's Court. Their single "Patience" won the Best British Single category. The third single taken from Beautiful World was "I'd Wait For Life", released on 18 June 2007 in the UK. However the single only reached 17 in the UK Singles Chart, falling out of the top 40 the following week. This was due to lack of promotion, as the band decided to take a pre-tour break rather than do any promotion for the single.

During 2007, Take That also wrote a song for the motion picture Stardust titled "Rule the World", which reached number 2 in the UK charts and went on to be the 5th biggest selling single of 2007. Meanwhile, the album Beautiful World was the fourth biggest-selling album of 2007. It was announced at the start of 2007 that Take That signed a record deal with American label Interscope, and would also release their album in Canada. Starting on 11 October 2007, Take That began their Beautiful World Tour 2007 in Belfast. The tour included 49 shows throughout Europe and the UK and ended in Manchester on 23 December 2007. The band received four nominations at the 2008 BRIT Awards. Nominated for Best British Group, Best British Single ("Shine"), Best British Album (Beautiful World) and Best Live Act, they took home the Best Live Act and the Best British Single awards.

The Circus (2008–2009)

"Greatest Day", the first single from the album The Circus, made its radio premiere on 13 October 2008 and it was released on 24 November. It debuted at Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 30 November 2008.^[9] An album launch party for The Circus was held in Paris on the 2 December. Prior to the official release of Take That's upcoming album The Circus it was revealed that the album had broken all preorder records and had become the most preordered album of all time.^[10] On its first day of release The Circus sold 133,000 copies,^[11][12] and after four days on sale it sold 306,000 copies (going platinum) making The Circus the fastest selling album of the year.^[13] The album reached number 1 on the UK album charts on 7 December 2008 with total first-week sales of 432,490, the third highest opening sales week in UK history.^[14]

On 28 October 2008, on the Radio 1 Chris Moyles show, it was announced that Take That would be touring again in June/July 2009, covering England, Scotland and Wales. Tickets for the Take That Present: The Circus Live tour went on sale on 31 October. The promoters, SJM, have said that the band's tour is "the fastest selling in UK history".^[15]

On 22 May 2008, Barlow and Donald attended the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards where Take That won the award for Most Performed Work with their single "Shine". Take That won the Sony Ericsson Tour of the Year award at the Vodafone music awards on 18 September 2008. They were unable to attend as they were in LA finishing off The Circus. They did send a video link message, which was shown at the awards. On 22 November 2008, Take That appeared on TV show The X Factor where the finalists performed some of their greatest hits. The band also performed on Children in Need 2008, singing their new single, "Greatest Day", before donating £250,000 to the charity from their Marks and Spencer fee. The band were also voted the Greatest Boyband of All Time,^[16] reflecting their ongoing marketability and success in the pop arena, even after two decades.

The band were nominated for one Brit Award in the category Best Group and performed "Greatest Day" at the 2009 BRIT Awards ceremony.

"Up All Night", the second single from The Circus, was released on 2 March 2009, and peaked at #14 on the UK Singles Chart,^[17] despite heavy airplay. In Germany and Australia, "The Garden" was released as the second single instead. On 7 May 2009, Take That's official website confirmed that the third single from The Circus would be "Said It All" which was released on 15 June 2009, peaking at #9 on the UK Singles chart.^[18] The video premiered on GMTV on 8 May 2009. It features all four band members dressed up as vintage circus clowns, which tied in with their forthcoming Take That Present: The Circus Live tour.

Take That started their Circus Live tour at the Stadium of Light on 5 June 2009 in Sunderland and ended at the Wembley Stadium in London on the 5 July 2009, which over 80,000 people attended. This tour quickly became the fastest-selling of all time, breaking all records by selling all of their 650,000 tickets in less than four and a half hours.^[15]

In November 2009 Take That released the official DVD of their Circus tour, which became the fastest-selling music DVD of all time in the UK on its first day of release.^[19] This overtook the previous record sales holder, which was Take That's Beautiful World Live tour^[19] and stayed at the number 1 spot for 8 weeks.^[20]

The following week Take That released their first live album, The Greatest Day - Take That Present: The Circus Live, which sold 98,000 copies on its first day of release and was certified Platinum in December 2009.^[21] They also released "Hold up a Light" as the fifth and final single from The Circus to radio stations and as a digital download to promote the release of the live album.

2010 album and Robbie Williams' return (2010–present)

On the 7th June 2010 the Robbie Williams website gave news of a new single called "Shame" which he wrote with Barlow and which features the vocals of both artists. The single is included on Williams' forthcoming greatest hits album, In and Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990–2010, to be released October 2010. This was the first time the pair had worked together since 1995.^[22]

On July 15th 2010, Robbie Williams announced he was returning to Take That. A joint statement between Williams and the group said "The rumours are true... Take That: the original lineup, have written and recorded a new album for release later this year," read the band's statement. "Following months of speculation Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams confirmed they have been recording a new studio album as a five-piece, which they will release in November."^[23] The lead single from Take That's forthcoming album has been announced as "The Flood"^[24][25]

Solo careers

In other media

In April 2006, Gary Barlow and EMI licensed the band's songs to be used in the musical Never Forget,^[26] a musical based on songs of the band from the 1990s. Take That posted and then later removed a statement on their website distancing themselves from it.^[26]

Take That wrote and recorded the theme song "Rule the World" for the film Stardust directed by Matthew Vaughn, which was released in cinemas across the globe in October 2007.

Take That presented their own TV show Take That Come To Town, a variety show in which they performed some of their biggest hits. The show also featured comedy sketches with one of Peter Kay's alter egos Geraldine McQueen. It aired on 7 December 2008 on ITV1.

The group appeared in the Taiwanese program Kangxi Lai Le, where they are one of the most recognizable groups outside of Taiwan. Unlike most traditional talk shows, the group were interviewed and trade jokes with the hosts.

Awards and nominations

Live Band

• Mike Stevens - Musical Director, Keys, Guitar, Saxophone.
• Michael "Milton" McDonald - Guitar and Vocals.
• Lee Pomeroy - Bass Guitar, Guitar and Vocals.
• Karlos Edwards - Percussion.
• Donavan Hepburn - Drums.
• Jamie Norton - Keyboard.
• David Tench - Keyboard.
• Ben Mark - Bass guitar.

Discography

• Take That & Party (1992)
• Everything Changes (1993)
• Nobody Else (1995)
• Beautiful World (2006)
• The Circus (2008)

References

External links

• Official website