Take That - Classic or Dud?

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I can't believe this thread hasn't happened before now.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 18 November 2002 17:38 (twenty-three years ago)

classud

― slit magnet, Monday, 18 November 2002 17:55 (twenty-three years ago)

can someone tell me when the first take that single was released for the purposes of research? thank you.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:00 (twenty-three years ago)

91?

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:04 (twenty-three years ago)

May 92 or something. I remember the Stud Brothers ranting about it in MM, for some reason.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:04 (twenty-three years ago)

who was your favourite?

― slit magnet, Monday, 18 November 2002 18:06 (twenty-three years ago)

perhaps a more important question: when were they at their zenith of popularity?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:08 (twenty-three years ago)

harder to answer than (Q) when WEREN'T they at their zenith of popularity (A. being when they broke up). they never fell off; even when east 17 dropped 'stay another day'. even when ROBBIE LEFT they still ripped shit up with a dope bee-gees cover.

― slit magnet, Monday, 18 November 2002 18:18 (twenty-three years ago)

Do What U Like was 1991

height of popularity mid92-94/5? there was a very slow build up, they didnt become massive overnight

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:21 (twenty-three years ago)

okay i said "they re-kick started teen pop in the mid-90s" in something i wrote this weekend, so i guess that's still somewhat kosher.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Monday, 18 November 2002 18:23 (twenty-three years ago)

i experienced it as more of an explosion myself; but then, i was like 11 or summat. mid92-95 WAS their whole career.

― slit magnet, Monday, 18 November 2002 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Dud. Oh yes.

― meirion john lewis (mei), Monday, 18 November 2002 19:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Musically they were crap but you gotta love the fact that they were such tossers. I mean, Robbie Williams is the best boy band member ever, fact. NSync could learn a lot from him.

― Ally (mlescaut), Monday, 18 November 2002 19:04 (twenty-three years ago)

"Back For Good" is better than "Careless Whisper", but not as good as "Stay Another Day". their version of "Could It Be Magic" is awesome.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Monday, 18 November 2002 20:11 (twenty-three years ago)

The best Take That song by a MILE is Never Forget, but for spawning Robbie Williams they cannot be easily forgiven.

This comes from me seeing the video to Sure on TV, and thinking "fucking hell... this used to be the biggest band in Britain and now no-one ever seems to mention them!" Until recently, this was the reaction I got when remembering that John Major used to be Prime Minister.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Monday, 18 November 2002 21:22 (twenty-three years ago)

dud as far as the singles go. never actually heard the albums, but the thought of doing so grips me with unspeakable fear.

― angelo (angelo), Monday, 18 November 2002 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

They made a bunch of terrific singles. And I won't forget on holiday in Jamaica a couple of years back hearing about six different covers of Back For Good, which is my favourite TT single (lovely video too).

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 18 November 2002 23:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I took an intense dislike to "Never Forget" when it came out; don't know what I'd think of it now. "Back For Good" is still unimpeachably brilliant, though.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Monday, 18 November 2002 23:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Classic classic classic. They're the daddies of boybandsy2k and with good reason - yeah, Westlife and the fuckin awful Swing When You're Winning are kinda their fault but I'll forgive them anything for "Never Forget", the wonderful "Back For Good", "Relight My Fire", "Pray", "Could It Be Magic" and Howard's hair.

The first band to be killed by Britpop, anyone?

― Charlie (Charlie), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 01:27 (twenty-three years ago)

'Never Forget' is awful! i much prefer 'Pray' (best use of gospel in a pop song?) and the Manilow cover

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 01:28 (twenty-three years ago)

The greatest shit since Mozart.

― bella, Tuesday, 19 November 2002 01:34 (twenty-three years ago)

"Back For Good" is better than "Careless Whisper", but not as good as "Stay Another Day". their version of "Could It Be Magic" is awesome.

What are these lies?

'Careless Whisper' is better than 'Back for Good'. The former is beauty. The latter has a nice tune. A very nice tune.

'Stay Another Day' has no tune. But it sounds good. It sounds like Phil Spector. It sounds like Phil Spector producing a record with no tune. That's all right. But 'Careless Whisper' and 'Back for Good' have tunes.

I agree, however, that TT's 'Could it be Magic' is ace.

I will be the only one here, I think, to say that 'Babe' is TT's best tune and single. I bought it specifically because it was competing for Xmas #1 with Mr Blobby. But it is still their best tune.

I think some pussy from the Manics once said that 'Back for Good' was nice. That is only half an argument, I admit, but I insist that 'Babe' is the best tune.

― Eyeball Kicks (Eyeball Kicks), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 02:13 (twenty-three years ago)

I quite agree. The only TT single with a Mark Owen lead vocal. Had it not been for Blobby it would have been the bleakest Xmas number one single since Mud's "Lonely This Christmas" (OK, maybe the PSB's "Always On My Mind" - that sign-off line which inverts and subverts the whole of the rest of the song: "Maybe I didn't love you").

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 19 November 2002 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked that Mark Owen solo single'Child'but TT were pretty crap.

― alf, Tuesday, 19 November 2002 14:40 (twenty-three years ago)

You *liked* Mark Owen's solo single? There's always one ...

Christmas 1993 merited a bleak number one in place of Blobby; it was a horrible end to a grim, ugly year. TT were a massive shaft of light.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Tuesday, 19 November 2002 23:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Robin, I think that that 'massive' is a bit... excessive.

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 00:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Personally, whenever I sift through my Mum's CD collection and dig out TT's Greatest Hits, I only want to hear the first few singles (Do What U Like, Promises, Once You've Tasted Love), which are by far the best things they ever recorded.

After the fame and bloatedness set in, it was downhill all the way to How Deep is Your Love.

As for Back For Good, the Bee Gees wrote that one, everyone knows that?!??

― Zanny Gognet (Zanny Gognet), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 13:58 (twenty-three years ago)

My favourite TT song is "A Million Love Songs" - great chorus and I like meta-ballads.

They never got unpopular, splitting at their peak they were the Jam of boy bands and Robbie is the new Weller, god help us all.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 14:02 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't think i've actually ever heard a take that song

― H (Heruy), Wednesday, 20 November 2002 14:06 (twenty-three years ago)

"massive" is probably going too far, Andrew, but I was very young then

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Thursday, 21 November 2002 03:14 (twenty-three years ago)

Fill me in, were Take That considered "Post-NKOTB" or "Pre-Backstreet Boys"?

Either or, they were still just another 5 guys who sang crappy pre-fab songs to canned music, without use/possession of any soul or balls. I can't believe anyone bought their stuff in the first place, but I guess if you don't really like music then it's ok to just listen to whatever is spoonfed to you on the radio and not bother trying to find something better or, God Forsake, original and refreshing.

Classic, fer sher.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Thursday, 21 November 2002 03:22 (twenty-three years ago)

certainly that post wz tremendously original and refreshing, helltime

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 21 November 2002 09:42 (twenty-three years ago)

NME writing template 1988-present, surely?

― Marcello Carlin, Thursday, 21 November 2002 09:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Mark S,
At least I'm not making any money for my cookie-cutter, rockist, warmed-over ILM posts, right? You got it.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Thursday, 21 November 2002 22:06 (twenty-three years ago)

FITE! FITE!!!!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 21 November 2002 22:25 (twenty-three years ago)

"they were the Jam of boy bands and Robbie is the new Weller"

This is the greatest thing Tom's ever written.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 21 November 2002 22:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Erm... not all of Robbie's solo stuff is naff. I *liked* the early stuff. (Typical indie response, I know.) Come on, Let Me Entertain You is utter classic. Kiss costumes in the video, years ahead of Sloan. So now he's going to try and break the States with crap David Gray Lite (as if that's possible) ballads and cowboy videos, cause, like, Americans like cowboys, right? Aw, bless.

He went downhill when he dropped the All Saint.

― kate, Thursday, 21 November 2002 22:39 (twenty-three years ago)

See, what Take That needed to do was fire all five of them, and then hire Slash, and Euroboy from Turbonegro, and Robo from Black Flag/Misfits, and Eddie Spaghetti from Supersuckers, and get Ronnie James Dio to sing. They didn't do that, and that was their mistake.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Friday, 22 November 2002 00:33 (twenty-three years ago)

Robbie has done some good things - "Rock DJ" is great and "Stronger" is good.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 22 November 2002 00:45 (twenty-three years ago)

robbie=cool!

― gareth (gareth), Friday, 22 November 2002 01:43 (twenty-three years ago)

three years pass...

why has no one commented on the documentary that was shown recently? i just got the chance to see it, and boy was it good! I cried a bit and then began my "plan" which involves a bag, some string, a cupboard and mark owens home address.

how i wish that robbie and gary could have reconciled :(

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Monday, 28 November 2005 04:18 (twenty years ago)

The obviously answer is to say dud bar 'Back for Good'. However as much as hated them for thier ubiquity, they had a run of singles which is infitely better then the wet dreck Westlife, Boyzone et al inflicted on us after.

― MitchellStirling (MitchellStirling), Monday, 28 November 2005 07:55 (twenty years ago)

oh, and the scene with howard and his daughter on the beach was TO DIE FOR. that has got to be one of the most adorable things i've ever seen. almost made me want to have kids myself and i'm supposed to HATE them.

― Lovelace (Lovelace), Monday, 28 November 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

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