Don't get me wrong - I was never into Take That. Just five pretty expertly-styled boys with a modicum of talent. I do remember when something happened, either they split, or maybe it was when Robbie left. But it was big news. Bigger news than the IRA ceasefire that was declared that day.
Four boys that got lucky to be in a band with Gary Barlow who wrote some fairly decent songs. Still, their best songs are covers - How Deep Is Your Love, Relight My Fire, Could It Be Magic, It Only Takes A Minute And they got lucky in getting producers who could transform their voices into something bland enough to be inoffensive, and something sweet enough not to grate.
There was a time, back in the 90s, when I made all the disparaging comments about five pricks and oh was that one about the front row of a Take That concert, all just small kids? Then there came a time, 1996, when it became imperative to buy their Greatest Hits. In fairness, it's not a bad record. Tunes, and that sort of thing. Some of them fairly memorable - Everything Changes, Babe, A Million Love Songs. I expect for a fair proportion of people now in their mid-Twenties Take That provided a soundtrack to their growing up. Fair enough. But there's nothing on this album, except perhaps How Deep Is Your Love? that really speaks to me as anything other than a pleasantly executed pleasant tune. I haven't played it more than probably a dozen times in nine years, and I can't see myself playing it many more times in the foreseeable future.
But you can bet that when I see Robbie on Saturday, I'll be waving my cigarette-lighter or whatever appropriate sheeplike gesture is required in order to feel the sense of momentous occasion.
And if the Spice Girls make a Greatest Hits I expect I'll buy it...
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