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| Burslem Stoke on Trent's finest! |
Cast your mind back to when you were at school. Long time ago, I know, but have a go! Peer pressure was all the rage back then wasn't it? You had to like certain things, wear certain things . . . you all know the score. Never more so, in my opinion, was peer pressure more prevalent than in music.
Boys liked certain acts as did the girls. Back in the 1980's at Westlands High School in Congleton I seem to remember a certain band from Birmingham called Duran Duran and their guitarist John Taylor in particular. Boy did the ladies like him! We lads, much to the consternation of the girls, were thinking Alexei Sayle's "Ullo John, Got A New Motor?" was the height of music and comedy rolled into one.
The bands with the cutest/sexiest members always did well didn't they? It's nothing new. It's been going on since well, Frank Sinatra crooned his way into the hearts of adoring fans.
In more recent times here in the States and back home in England "boy bands" flooded the market. Here it was "New Kids on the Block", "Back Street Boys" and "Nsync" to name but a few. Back home, "Take That", "Boyzone" "Westlife" were flooding the charts with hit after hit that put them in the record books very near to the original boy band - you know the one with John Paul George and Ringo in it!
Of course, it couldn't last. As we grow up, we all change and want different things. The trick is to maintain your interest in doing what you all originally had a desire to do. A by product of chart success is fame, adoration, no private life and a desire to get away from the thing you wanted to do in the first place. Weird huh?
Boy bands came and went. Some people had solo success. Justin Timberlake springs to mind over here and the man who originates from a town not too far away from Congleton is a great example from Britain - I refer to Robbie Williams. When I had my British music show on Valley Free Radio Robbie used to get played quite a lot by yours truly.
However, time is a great healer and after a period of time it has become ever more evident that these fellers now believe it might not be a bad idea to get back together again.
Over here in the States, the big "gig" has seen the revival of "New Kids on The Block" and "Back Street Boys" as they tour together. They performed on "Dancing With The Stars" and were pretty good in my book! Here they are, introduced by presenters Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke
A talented group of performers methinks! I've always, or at least I like to think I have, been open to persuasion when it comes to music. It's not difficult to be sucked in by peer pressure, whether it be consciously or sub-consciously. Maybe I was, because I never owned Duran Duran music when I was younger, or sat glued to the telly when NKOTB's video was on Top of The Pops. "Manufactured rubbish" was the usual cry.
Watching New Kids on The Block there reminds me that deep down, they aren't talentless individuals. They are talented and can do other stuff. Justin Timberlake was excellent in "The Social Network" and Donnie Wahlberg recently excelled in the TV cop show "Blue Bloods". Linda and I never missed and episode.
I've been following the revival of "Take That" back home in Britain with interest. Now reunited with all five original members - Gary Barlow, Mark Owen (once served a coffee by my sister at Piccadilly Train Station in Manchester) Jason Orange, Howard Donald and Robbie Williams - they've just started out on a huge tour. Eight nights at the Council House (that's "The City of Manchester Stadium to the uninitiated; my United bias coming out there!) with 58,000 there each night. There's many a "credible" rock band that would love those kind of stats for certain! We heard that there were more arrests for drunken behaviour from the mainly female crowd than there were when City were playing!
Where does my "interest" in this come from? Well, as I said earlier, back in the day I used to play Robbie Williams a fair bit on "The Late English Breakfast" on Monday mornings on Valley Free Radio and when the show merged with "The Nightclub" to become "The Nightclub featuring The Late English Breakfast" on Sunday nights.
So, watching the clips on YouTube of the revived full "Take That" obviously inspired my lovely wife to buy me Take That's "Progress" CD for a Christmas present. I was surprised to be honest. I didn't know what to expect.
I can tell you this - I really like it! They are a band at the top of their game. Now, they can do what they want when they want. In some ways, there's no pressure and the music shows. Yes there's pressure to perform well but they have proved beyond reasonable doubt in my opinion that they can sing and dance and well, if there's people willing to pay top dollar for them to do stuff, hey, why not??!!
Peer pressure makes us do silly things. The silliest thing it makes you do is not to be true to yourself. It's OK to like music that "only girls are supposed to like". We spend a lot of time trying to make young people feel good about themselves yet we never quite truly get the idea of allowing people to feel comfortable within their own skin. The subject matter I've spoken about is the tip of the iceberg but the point remains valid - let people be who they want to be and like what they want to like. Let's encourage diversification in tastes but allow a boy to like what he wants to like and a girl to like what she wants to like. It's taken me a long time to be comfortable with who I am and the way I look. I thank my wife for that with all my heart. Let's encourage all young children to enjoy being who they are and to fulfill their dreams in whatever way possible.
Enjoy your music, whatever it is!
Ed
The Nightclub featuring The Late English Breakfast Video Memories
So, in keeping with the theme of "boy bands", to prove this isn't an exactly new phenomenon, how about some classic "Motown" for "The Nightclub" memory? In January of 2009 we spotlighted the legendary label as it turned 50. Chuck Berry famously said that if you write about basic emotions and subject matter that appeals to everyone, you're guaranteed a hit. He wasn't wrong in my book. Here's Smokey Robinson and The Miracles with their classic 1960 hit "Shop Around"
For our "Late English Breakfast" memory I'm opting for a double dose; in keeping with the format of the successful Manchester shows that Take That have just performed, here's Robbie Williams with his 1998 number 3 UK hit "Let Me Entertain You" followed by Take That with their cover of The Bee Gees' classic "How Deep Is Your Love", complete with classic 1970's "Saturday Night Fever" white suits! It got to number 1 in 1996.
