Gary Barlow Shirtless? It Must Be Friday!

Here's Gary Barlow ensuring that Take That's The Circus will stay #1 for at least a month, from a photoshoot with U.K. mag i-D.

Of course, 37-year-old Gazzer is no stranger to whipping off his top, as evidenced by this old pic of he and Howard Donald just before they boffed each other numb in a hotel room frolicking in the sun in the mid-'90s.

Written by D'luv on January 2nd, 2009 with no comments.
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In The End, Was Take That’s ‘The Circus’ Really Any Good?

D'luv likes the idea of Take That. The world, at least European side of it, needs a band like them, it might be safe to assume. Something iconic and familiar to latch onto in uncertain times.

But The Circus was a bit wobbly, I feel. Or was it?

Admittedly, the holiday season was a bit hectic, no doubt for everyone. And my deluxe edition copy of The Circus arrived smack at the onset of it.

Granted, there was that first Saturday after the CD showed up in the mail, where I drove around running errands and listened to it three times. "The Garden," "Said It All" and "You" stood out immediately, warranting repeated plays. "Hold Up A Light" and "How Did It Come To This" were a bit more subtle, but proved to be growers.

I guess what I'm saying is that it wasn't an instantly catchy album. In fact, I haven't listened to it again as a whole much since that first Saturday three weeks back. Maybe it was just too much Mark Owen, and not enough Gary Barlow for my taste?

Anyway, Take That ended up with the second best-selling album of the year in the U.K., at 1.4 million copies sold, behind Duffy's Rockferry (nearly 1.7 million).

And, as mentioned before, The Circus just might get a 2009 U.S. release, according to Universal's U.K. chief.

I've got a long flight ahead of me this afternoon, with a layover in Memphis. It might be time to revisit The Circus. Who knows, maybe what I needed all along was to hear it at a high altitude?

Written by D'luv on December 30th, 2008 with no comments.
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Hallelujah! ‘The X Factor’ Slides Down Your Chimney And F***s Your Christmas Once Again!

Right. To understand the whole "Hallelujah"/Alexandra Burke/Jeff Buckley nonsense, read this and this. Enjoy your new, totally unsurprising Christmas #1 single, United Kingdom.

What I'd like to know is how Geraldine McQueen's "Once Upon A Christmas Song" (written by Take That's Gary Barlow and Geraldine's alter ego, Peter Kay) didn't make it to the top. Of course, I'm still perplexed by how the Fast Food Rockers' "I Love Christmas" not only peaked at a dismal #25 five years ago, but dropped a piano from the top of a 12-story building onto the cheesy pop trio's career.

Watch "Once Upon A Christmas Song" and "I Love Christmas":



For us pop fans, "I Love Christmas" was a landmark defeat. A victory snatched from our warm hearts. A doom-laden pall of despair heaped upon the Christmas holiday like a dumptruck full of dead hookers backing over a small child on a tricycle, over and over and over again.

But we swore, never again! We'd come back and achieve glory! We'd ensure that pop would reclaim its rightful place at the top of the festive chart each year! And, wow-wow-WOW! Look how great we did!

Halle-fucking-lujah, Great Britain! You've got The X Factor!

Things could always be worse, however—or in Boyzone's case, "Better." Their latest single of that title peaked at #22 last week on the U.K. chart, and this week drops to #30.

Any sugar plum fairy visions the aging boy band had of patterning a Take That-style comeback might best be dashed from the 'Zone's heads at this point.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Hallelujah" - Alexandra Burke *new* *1 week*
2. "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley *new*
3. "Run" - Leona Lewis
4. "If I Were A Boy" - Beyoncé
5. "Once Upon A Christmas Song" - Geraldine *new*
6. "Broken Strings" - James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado
7. "Use Somebody" - Kings Of Leon
8. "Listen" - Beyoncé
9. "Greatest Day" - Take That
10. "Womanizer'" - Britney Spears

Written by D'luv on December 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Alexandra Burke and Boyzone and Gary Barlow and Geraldine and Take That and U.K. chart and X-Factor.

Good ‘Times’ With Take That

England's Times Online has a pretty groovy interview with Take That. It was conducted while the foursome were in L.A. shooting the video for "Greatest Day"—the single cover art for which has now been unveiled (below)—and mixing new album The Circus.

Much of the piece retreads the territory covered in Gary Barlow's book My Take. But here are a few new classy quotes from the gents:

GARY: “I just can’t control myself around food, if I’m honest. Anything fatty or high-calorie is out. Mine is definitely a future without fries. In the studio, while making the album, the others would be dialling out late at night for burgers and chocolate while I’d be there with my tuna salad and protein bar thinking, ‘This is shit!’ I mean, look how thin they are. It isn’t fair."

JASON ORANGE: "To be honest, I think fame is shit. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I know it’s a huge aspiration for a lot of young people these days, but really I can’t think of one redeeming feature it has other than that of a quick ego caress or being able to jump the queue at a club. Otherwise, it sucks."

MARK OWEN: “It would be bloody brilliant if [Robbie Williams] came back some day. There’s nothing missing without him in a musical sense, but still it would be so great. I think we’d all have Rob back tomorrow if he wanted it and the time felt right."

Written by D'luv on November 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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The Full Take That “Greatest Day” Video

Polydor finally posted this fucker:



ALSO SEE:
* Take That's Circus Album Cover: "We've Had This Much Sex"
* Take That's "Greatest Day" Video In A Nutshell

Written by D'luv on October 27th, 2008 with no comments.
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Take That’s ‘The Circus’ Album Cover: “This Is How Much Sex We’ve Had”

Golly, Take That, in some ways, you've come such a long way since 1992's Take That & Party. And yet, there you are, still flailing your arms about on the cover of upcoming December release The Circus.

That new cover says to me, "Our d***s are thiiiis big!" Or, "Hey, this is how much sex we've all had...with each other."

Speaking of which, that brings to mind this classy passage from Gary Barlow's autobiography, My Take:

"[1994] ...Life in Take That was slowly but surely becoming unbearable. I was even beginning to tire of the unending menu of girls. It was beginning to feel like it had less and less to do with me, as if it was taking me away from who I was. You name it, I'd tried it, all varieties, every scenario, things I can't write about here—I've got kids now!

There was no effort in it, no chatting them up, not even for five minutes, but there was always some girl who'd come up and say, 'Take me back with you.' I wouldn't even spend the night with them—I wanted a good night's sleep. You'd get them back to your room, do the business, and then say, 'Right, out.' I'd started off polite but now I couldn't be bothered."

Well, it's easy to see where the inspiration for all those romantic ballads came from...

Written by D'luv on October 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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Take That’s “Greatest Day” Video In A Nutshell

Take That's video for "Greatest Day" premiered today. And since it keeps getting pulled from YouTube, here it is in a rapid play-by-play. (The clip is also posted below—watch while it lasts!)

The That basically stand on the roof of a Los Angeles skyscraper. They emote and rapidly vibrate—apparently they've got the music in them.

For some reason, L.A. is portrayed in this video as some post-Apocalyptic, Bedlam-looking hell. Oh, wait...

A bunch of pollen flies around in the air and Gary Barlow starts sneezing. I know, Gary, the Santa Anas get me every year, too.

Finally, the West Coast sun is too much for the lads' pale English skin, and they spontaneously combust.

Either that or they realized this song is no "Rule The World," and they're like, "Yeah, later..."

Here's the vid for "Greatest Day":

Written by D'luv on October 22nd, 2008 with no comments.
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Gary Barlow, Keane And The Saturdays Have A Bloody Good Week

Well, one of those Gary Barlow-penned singles I mentioned last month—"The Winners Song"—charts this week in the U.K. at #2, as performed by "Geraldine," Brit comedian Peter Kay's drag character on his two-hour special Britain's Got the Pop Factor ... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice (which featured Pete Waterman as a judge).

In a bit of an ironic twist, just behind the reality-show-mocking Geraldine single on the chart is last year's X Factor winner Leon Jackson, who debuts at #3 with "Don't Call This Love." Should Jackson look this boffable with his new haircut? Hmmmm....

Also, besting the #8 chart placing of their debut single "If This Is Love" back in early August, The Saturdays return with "Up," which goes in at an impressive #5. This is what this new contenders for the British girl group throne needed to do to make a case for longevity. Let's see how the gal's album Chasing Lights does upon its release next week.

And speaking of which, Keane's Perfect Symmetry debuts atop the Brit album chart this week. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Boyzone's Back Again—No Matter What, which settles for a #4 placing. Sorry, Ronan Keating...next time maybe drop your shorts on the record cover if you want us to buy your reheated collection of low rent dirges.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "So What" - Pink *3 weeks*
2. "The Winner's Song" - Geraldine *new*
3. "Don't Call This Love" - Leon Jackson *new*
4. "Sex On Fire" - Kings Of Leon
5. "Up'" - The Saturdays *new*
6. "Take Back The City" - Snow Patrol
7. "Miss Independent" - Ne-Yo
8. "Disturbia" - Rihanna
9. "Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)" - Sash feat. Stunt *new*
10. "Girls" - Sugababes

Written by D'luv on October 19th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Boyzone and Gary Barlow and Geraldine and Keane and Leon Jackson and Pete Waterman and Take That and The Saturdays and U.K. chart.