Gary Barlow--The Biography by Justin Lewis

Author:Justin Lewis [Justin Lewis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784182441
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2014-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

THE OBLIVION BOY

Gary Barlow was desperate to get back to basics with his records. He had plenty of material ready for a second album. ‘I want to get back to my sound, not make albums for markets, or remix for markets, and not involve computers and fiddling with a drum sound for three days.’ But the Barlow hit machine was running out of steam by 1999. He was used to being number one, but now he wasn’t even in the Top 10 anymore. Added to that, he tried the patience of his fans by postponing a whole British tour not just once, but twice. First scheduled for autumn 1998, it was shifted to the following spring, and finally to the end of 1999, partly so that the artist could complete a second album.

Gary still had wealth – with an estimated £20 million in the bank, he was second only to the Spice Girls in an April 1999 list of British entertainment’s richest aged 30 or under – but his credibility and profile was plummeting. He may have been primed to be the next George Michael, but the existing one wasn’t so hot on the idea. ‘I resent it when people make out my contribution to the early 80s was influencing future boybands. Just because he was fat and we both have inflatable cheeks,’ George told Q magazine, ‘does not mean we’re working in the same area.’

In July 1999, Gary was back with a new single, ‘Stronger’, which caused some comment due to the title’s uncanny similarity to a recent Robbie offering, ‘Strong’. Pure coincidence, insisted Gary: ‘When I heard about Robbie’s song, I thought, Oh God. I was trying to distance myself so much from him, I just couldn’t believe it.’ Besides, he continued, it was only the song titles that had anything in common; the themes were completely different. ‘His song is all about not being strong and my song is just about being strong, being reborn and feeling fresh. It’s the total opposite, which is good.’

‘Stronger’ was co-written with a hitmaker of a different generation. In the 1970s, Graham Gouldman was one of the founder members of 10cc, a clever, witty and melodic pop quartet from Manchester, who knowingly plundered pop and rock history for inspiration, and came up with something new. Their many hits included ‘Rubber Bullets’, ‘Dreadlock Holiday’, ‘Wall Street Shuffle’ and, most famously, their 1975 number one ‘I’m Not In Love’. Before 10cc, Gouldman had been a hit songwriter for 1960s groups such as Herman’s Hermits and The Hollies.

Despite the pedigree of ‘Stronger’ – another of George Michael’s producers, Jon Douglas, was involved in its making – its chart fortunes were disappointing. It entered the charts at a lowly 16, Gary’s worst placing since Take That’s ‘I Found Heaven’, seven years earlier. And it stood no chance of reaching number one – it was a long way behind ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ from another ex-boyband member, Menudo’s Ricky Martin. Others outselling Barlow that week included the Manic Street Preachers and soul siren Beverley Knight.

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