My Love Affair With Take That

It all started in the late Spring/early Summer of 1992. I was 11 years old, coming to the end of primary school and preparing myself for the big bad world of high school. On the Sunday in question, I was going about my business as normal, little suspecting that my life was about to be changed forever.

As I did every Sunday, I set the video recorder to tape The Disney Club while I went to church with my family. As I remember it, I wasn't even that big a fan of the show, but I utterly adored The Gummi Bears (still do!) and didn't want to miss it. This particular episode though had a guest band that I'd never heard of. This wasn't unusual however, because up until this point, I didn't really have an interest in music. But that was all about to change! The video for the song the band was promoting came onscreen. A boxing ring, sepia colouring, and then.....the boys! From that moment on, I was completely lost to them. I remember rewatching the video for It Only Takes a Minute about 10 times because I loved it so much. It's funny how that is now one of my least favourite Take That songs.

Anyway, that was the start of it. My obsession grew from there. I bought loads of TT merchandise: watches, videos, posters, magazines with interviews of them, etc. Stupidly, the one thing I never bought was an album! My friend gave me copies of all of their stuff. So as much as I loved them, I actually never once helped them in the charts.

Fast forward to the start 1993, and we were organising my sisters wedding which was in August. I was one of her bridesmaids and she offered to buy me a ticket to the TT tour that was coming up in the summer as my gift and I readily agreed! Even though I would only be 12 at the time, my mum let me go to the concert with a friend who was a couple of years older than me, as long as we were dropped off and picked up and didn't do anything stupid (my mum had a lot of trust in me, which actually turned out to be justified because I was a goody two shoes!). My friends at school were all incredibly jealous of me because they hadn't managed to get tickets. In fact, my friend and I had bought the last two tickets from the local music shop (I was 12! I'd never heard of a telephone box office!). The day before the concert, my friends helped me make a poster to hold up at the concert: WE LOVE YOU MARK! No, really.

I won't go into detail about the concert except to say that it was amazing! We were ten rows from the front, and I swear Mark looked right at me! He obviously saw my poster. :P The whole experience just solidified my belief that TT were the best band in the world and I would love them forever.

The band announced the Everything Changes tour for December 1993. I was desperate to go, but couldn't find anyone to go with. My sister realised how badly I wanted to see them again and agreed to take me. Only after some substantial moaning, mind you. After all, she was a 19 year old married woman, being dragged to see a boy band by her 12 year old little sister. Obviously, she fell in love with them after the concert. So much so, that when they announced their 1994 summer tour (bloody hell, they toured a lot in a short period of time!), it was more a case of her dragging me. Not that I was reluctant to go of course, but she put all the wheels in motion for it.

When it was announced that Robbie was leaving the band in 1995, I was pretty gutted. Next to Mark, Robbie was my favourite member of the band and I was really going to miss him. He brought a fun and energy to the band that I thought would be lacking when he left. And I was right. Take That were never quite right after that. When they finally announced their split in 1996, I wasn't as upset as you might think. I'd seen it coming for a while and was actually a little disappointed that they hadn't called it a day when Robbie left. At least then, they'd have been finishing on a high. My sister, on the other hand, the 22 year old married woman, was devastated! :P

Fast forward 10 years to the TV documentary on Take That, chronicling where they are now and what went wrong. Rumours cirulated afterwards that they might try to make a comeback and I pooh-poohed the idea, saying that it reeked of desperation. Of course, when they announced the tour, I was first in line to buy tickets. I know it makes me a hypocrite, but I'd never have forgiven myself if I hadn't at least tried to see them one more time. It does reek of desperation, but I can't help it. I love them. Even 10 years later, I still adore their songs. I can honestly say that I've only ever fallen under the boy band spell once. Unfortunately, I never quite recovered.

I'm going to see Take That tomorrow!

~ Mark is still so damn cute! ~