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 The
birth of boyzone at the end of 1993 saw the Irish music well and
truly broken. Following the huge success of U2 and the Cranberries,
critics gave the five boys
from Dublin little hope of ever leaving
the Emerald Isle - let alone make it across the water.
However, when
their debut single "Love Me For A Reason" crashed into the charts
at No.2 in 1994 it ensured that Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Keith
Duffy, Shane Lynch and Mikey Graham became the most promising and
exciting Irish export since�.well �Guinness!
They won the
Smash Hits Award for Best New Act shortly afterwards, but a betting
man still would have given you even odds on them going the distance.
It's a jungle out there, after all.
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 But,
Boyzone's assault on the charts continued healthily with singles
"Key To My Life" and "So Good", both of which went to No.3. Their
acclaimed cover of Cat Stevens classic "Father and Son" proved even
more popular, hitting the number two spot, and showing no immediate
inclination to move down. The penny finally dropped when boyzone
scored their first No.1
hit in December 1996 with "Words".
Since then Boyzone
have become the first act in chart history to reach the top 3 with
their first 14 singles. Remember the good old days when records
stayed in the charts for more than the blink of an eye? Stephen
Gately does: "We just kept working, and working really hard back
then. There will always be people trying to knock you down but you
just have to rise above that. Boyzone are Boyzone and we enjoy what
we do".
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 We
all know the story from here onwards. While the press have been
poring over the band's marriages, babies and the colour of their
socks, Boyzone have been busy recording three number one albums.
Their last
long player "Where We Belong", saw the boys increasing their share
of the creative pie. Much of the album was written by the band and
showcases their work with the likes of Ray Hedges, Stirkin, Rogers
(most noted for their sterling work with Annie Lennox), and Johnny
Douglas, who has worked with All Saints and George Michael. The
album has now gone five times platinum, topping the charts on two
separate occasions.
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 Despite
the huge increase in musical respect now afforded to the band, it
wasn't until they walked home with the ultra-prestigious Ivor Novello
Award for "Picture Of You", (the lead song from the Mr Bean movie)
that they were notably evolving and were taken seriously by their
peers and steadily maturing, but loyal fans.
The very same
fans also ensured that Boyzone ran home with the Record of the Year
award for "No Matter What" at the end of '98. From school to cool
in a moment. Who says awards don't mean anything?
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 It
has all meant a lot to Ronan: "We are really proud of all our work,
but especially the last album "Where We Belong". It is slightly
more 'grown-up' than our previous material. We have taken a step
away from the boy-band thing lately. We want to bring in an older
audience without alienating the younger one".
Shane goes on
to say "Boy bands usually flop after the first album, but Boyzone
are still going strong after three. We never forget where we started
from, here's to the fourth". So it is all change in the Boyzone
camp. If you actually listen to the music, it's not too hard to
hear why popular opinion has changed so massively.
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 For
five years now, Boyzone have been dominating the radio play list,
the TV, and most importantly the charts. They have been the face
and voice of Pepsi. They have four Irish Music Awards under their
belts.
Ronan has presented
The MTV awards, Miss World, the Eurovision Song Contest as well
as the recent BBC1 talent show "Get Your Act Together".
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 Shane
races rally cars for Ford, beating British rally car champion Alistair
McRae in his first ever race! Stephen presented the 1998 Smash Hits
Poll Winners Party, Child-Line show and is currently working on
the sound-track for the film Watership Down.
Keith is turning
down modelling offers from the likes of John Rocha, and caused a
stir at the '99 Brits by playing drinking games with buddy Robbie
Williams. Mikey has been seen Kick-Boxing on an underground Irish
film.
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 Collectively,
boyzone have earned themselves fans including the all important
Mr. Bean and Israel's Miss World - not to mention George Michael,
Brian Kennedy, Bono (who asked the band to appear in U2's "Sweetest
Thing" video), the Bee Gees, Pavarotti and David Bowie, who recently
did a web-chat with Ronan.
Pretty good
for a band who have never taken their success for granted, aren't
constantly surrounded by a fog of controversy and according to Mikey
"Still go to the supermarket, sweep the floors and do the washing
up!".
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 As
if that lot isn't enough to make the whole planet realise that Boyzone
are in for the duration, they are also the first group from Ireland
to have six number ones, leaving Shane's sisters' band B*witched
in second place with four and U2 with three.
And one particular
TFI Friday (the ultimate barometer of late 90's cool - probably),
is noted for Chris Evans' public apology to the boys for the past
years of p**s-takes and put-downs. "Nuff said!"
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 Discussions
begin to commit the Boyzone story so far to film. A brand new deal
with Mercury records in the USA mean plans to crack America are
well supported and Boyzone embark on a tour to mark the release
of their greatest hits album By Request. The tour travelled all
around Britain before moving on to Europe, and included a spectacular
open-air gig at the RDS in Dublin on the eve of By Request's release.
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 By
Request certainly proves how far Boyzone have come, and was the
perfect way to kick start the second chapter of this band's shining
career. In a brand new Millennium, you can rely on Ronan, Stephen,
Keith, Shane and Mikey's unique brand of perfect pop not to lose
any of it's fizz. Rest assured Boyzone's Platinum discs will be
occupying wall space well into the 21st century...
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