Take That

Take That was a boy band which originated in Manchester, England in 1990. Between the band's first single release in 1991 till their cataclysmic break up in 1996, the BBC describes Take That as "the most successful British band since the Beatles, beloved of young and old alike". Take That's Hi-NRG dance-pop tunes and soulful ballads dominated the English charts in the first half of the 90s spawning two of the best selling albums of the decade with 'Everything Changes' 1993 and 'Greatest Hits' 1996, and according to the AMG Music Guides, "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".

Related Topics:
Boy band - Manchester, England - BBC - Hi-NRG - 1993 - 1996

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According to an article in Rolling Stone magazine by Stephen Thanabalan, Take That were a relatively new phenomenon when they first emerged as they were the first British boyband and an in fact were the British answer by RCA and BMG to arguably the first and most succesful boybands in America: New Kids on the Block, and Menudo. Proclaimed as the biggest male group since the Beatles, Take That's hype made it hard to distinguish the value of their material and it was not till some time after their break up that critics other than their legion of fans began to appreciate their albums of dance-pop and ballads. Sung by five young men, with a greater maturity than most boy band albums thanks to the writing by lead singer Gary Barlow, Take That were renknowned around Europe for their fanatical female supporters and when they broke up in 1996, the British authorities set up large numbers of telephone help-lines to assist distraught fans.

Related Topics:
Rolling Stone - RCA - BMG - America - New Kids on the Block - Menudo - Beatles - 1996

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Take That Members included songwriter Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, and Robbie Williams, who left the band to follow a solo career in 1995 after differences with the other four. Take That had a total of eight number one hits in the UK singles chart and the success of the band as both an act and a formulaic format inspired a cycle of manufactured Pop acts that came to dominate the UK music industry of the next decade. Take That's image was often described as purposefully homoerotic which may have contributed to their failure to break into the North American market.

Related Topics:
Gary Barlow - Mark Owen - Howard Donald - Jason Orange - Robbie Williams - 1995 - UK singles chart

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Their first album, "Take That and Party," was released in 1992. Notable single releases from this album included "It Only Takes a Minute" and "Could it be Magic", covers of previous hits by Tavares and Barry Manilow respectively.

Related Topics:
Tavares - Barry Manilow

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"Nobody Else", their 1995 album, included the songs "Never Forget" (subsequently released as a single in a Jim Steinman remix version), and their biggest hit single "Back For Good", and was followed by the "Greatest Hits"-Compilation in 1996 by which time they were already a four-piece band.

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