Take That: For the Record
Encyclopedia
Take That: For The Record is a television documentary
about the British boyband Take That
. It was originally screened in 2005, a decade after the group had originally split up.
Marking the tenth year anniversary since the disbanding, the documentary featured all the members of Take That in recorded interviews, including former member Robbie Williams
who was not physically present at their reunion. It also contains over 100 minutes of rare and previously unseen footage including clips of Howard Donald
's unreleased single "Speak Without Words". The production company, Back2back productions, won a Grierson Award for "Best Documentary on the Arts".
Following the telecast of the documentary and subsequent interest in the band, Take That announced they were to go on tour again. Ultimate Tour 2006
was also recorded and released on the video release "TAKE THAT : The Ultimate Tour" the following year. The documentary was released on DVD
in April 2006.
" triggered his decision to form a band.
Reviewing their early years, the band commented on their early performances in schools and gay clubs as well as their first single, "Do What You Like". Gary acknowledged that the song nor the video was brilliant. Their follow-up single "Promises" is shown as they remembered themselves going around the country performing roadshows and Robbie remembering his fascination with it being their first chart entry. Gary admitted defeat in releasing cover version of Tavares
's 70's hit "It Only Takes A Minute
" in order to get officially noticed by the world.
Looking back on their first No.1 single "Pray", Gary claimed he was determined to write an unbelievable second album (Everything Changes
), and believes it was the first song that allowed people to take them seriously, despite their image now being dominated by sexy images of the band and realising how successful they had become, primarily with girls becoming obsessed with them.
Jason Orange reflected on his friendship with Lulu
following the success of their cover version of Dan Hartman
's 70's hit "Relight My Fire
", stating that she met the success of the band very well despite Nigel Martin Smith stating that the record company preferred a black diva. Fans interviewed claimed that the life of a Take That fan saw the world revolving around the band. Security guards escorting the band reflected the danger and harm that was caused pulling the band through the crowds and protecting the band from obscene behaviour from the fans. Following on from the band's split, the film reflected the hurt and pain of the fans and the suicide counselling lines that were setup for young women.
The documentary details the cracks in the success they achieved with the band acknowledging the arguments between them were escalating to higher degrees and perhaps too much money was coming in for them to handle. The films main focus on this is the drug and alcohol abuse from Robbie, with the band acknowledging that they would never have guessed the amount of booze and drugs he was taking as they always saw him as a lively person who never wanted to be taken seriously.
The band claimed the reasons behind Williams' departure from the group were due to drug abuse, as well as friction with Gary Barlow
and Jason Orange
. Williams admits that he had experimented with different kinds of drugs before joining the band, and that "I was sort of heading into that direction anyway" http://www.news.softpedia.com/news/Robbie-Williams-Misses-Take-That-Reunion-12303.shtml. After the other four members confronted him about his erratic behaviour, he angrily vowed to quit Take That and stormed off. Nigel Martin Smith stated he sued Robbie for £200,000 in commission following his departure, and expresses he feels sorry and sad for Robbie to this day after claiming Robbie is ungrateful for the part he played in his career. In turn, Williams described Martin Smith as "the most disturbing person I've worked with" and confesses he only wanted love and acceptance from him.
The band says they pulled together and finished off the tour without Robbie; without thought for what he was doing. But upon finishing the tour, they realised the band was no longer fun for them and decided it was time to call it a day. When the group finally announced the break-up in 1996, Nigel Martin Smith revealed that Howard Donald was the only one who wanted to keep the band going and did not want it to end. Donald then admitted that he did consider committing suicide by jumping in the River Thames http://www.bryanappleyard.com/article.php?article_id=90. Following the split, the film reflects on the brief media hype that saw Gary and Robbie battling for highest record sales, with Gary defending his first album and singles, but admitted he felt as those he was repeating old ground.
Williams claimed that he was at his worst with alcohol and drugs at the time of the hype between him and Gary, but he clearly remembered hearing Gary's solo work and not rating it at all. At the time, Williams was becoming a powerful influence in the media following his worldwide hit single "Angels" and made his feelings public on Gary's work, playing a major part on Gary's decision to leave the music industry. On his time away from the industry, Barlow stated in the film that having been dropped by record company RCA
following his second album, he felt too humiliated to continue on and was eager to leave the industry. He revealed he spent most of time in the beginning lying in bed feeling down and low, and asked if he ever wished he was Robbie Williams, Barlow stated he didn't care for Robbie's persona, but wished he had the same career status.
Ten years after the band split, Take That meet together for the first time. Since leaving his solo career, Gary reveals he started a family and focused exclusively on song-writing and producing. Howard briefly attempted a career by recording an album, but the album was never released and admits he went to pieces, but he nonetheless returned to the nightclub circuit as a DJ focussing on his life with his daughter from a previous relationship. Mark details his success as a solo artist and later joining another band, and Jason reveals his isolation from music and spending his time traveling the world. They learn that Robbie turned down their invitation, but he filmed a video message for them. He admits he is shocked and sorry to hear of Howard's suicide attempt and jokes about how their memories socialising with one another. He apologises to Jason for acting the way he did before and after he left the band, praises Mark for being the nicest person he ever met as well as a musical genius, and he apologizes to Gary for taunting his flagging solo career. Each of the members agree they should have tried to help Robbie, and that they were more interested in protecting the group. In a private interview, Robbie confesses that he still would be unable to get any resolve from meeting with Barlow still believing that he doesn't acknowledge to present day what irritated Robbie so much about him, but he states that he would trade all his wealth and success for Barlow's happy family life.
The documentary ends with the group walking off, with the narrator acknowledging the path they laid for acts such as The Spice Girls and Boyzone
, and with "Never Forget" playing over the end credits.
.
Following the success of the tour, the band decided to compile their first album since the break-up, Beautiful World, although Williams opted not to be involved.
The success of their work had led the band back to mainstream fame, and since continued to produce new albums. 2010 saw the return of Robbie Williams to the line-up and the release of the first album with all five band members Progress
since 1995.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the British boyband Take That
Take That
Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group comprising Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Barlow acts as the lead singer and primary songwriter...
. It was originally screened in 2005, a decade after the group had originally split up.
Release Information
Take That: For The Record was a documentary recording of the first reunion since the band's 1996 split. Aired on 17 November 2005, it reached an audience of over six million viewers.Marking the tenth year anniversary since the disbanding, the documentary featured all the members of Take That in recorded interviews, including former member Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
who was not physically present at their reunion. It also contains over 100 minutes of rare and previously unseen footage including clips of Howard Donald
Howard Donald
Howard Paul Donald , is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer, DJ and house producer. He is a member of English pop band Take That. As well as working with Jason Orange as band choreographers, he sang lead vocals on one of the band's many number one singles first time round, "Never...
's unreleased single "Speak Without Words". The production company, Back2back productions, won a Grierson Award for "Best Documentary on the Arts".
Following the telecast of the documentary and subsequent interest in the band, Take That announced they were to go on tour again. Ultimate Tour 2006
Ultimate Tour 2006
The Ultimate Tour is a reunion tour by British pop group, Take That. The tour, featuring four of the original members of the group Gary Barlow, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Howard Donald; ran for a total of 32 shows in Britain and Ireland...
was also recorded and released on the video release "TAKE THAT : The Ultimate Tour" the following year. The documentary was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in April 2006.
Synopsis
The documentary starts with each band member describing how they were founded by their manager Nigel Martin Smith, with Nigel acknowledging that a demo tape from Gary Barlow with a song called "A Million Love SongsA Million Love Songs
"A Million Love Songs" is the penultimate single released by Take That from their debut album and was written by lead vocalist Gary Barlow at the age of 15.-Song information:...
" triggered his decision to form a band.
Reviewing their early years, the band commented on their early performances in schools and gay clubs as well as their first single, "Do What You Like". Gary acknowledged that the song nor the video was brilliant. Their follow-up single "Promises" is shown as they remembered themselves going around the country performing roadshows and Robbie remembering his fascination with it being their first chart entry. Gary admitted defeat in releasing cover version of Tavares
Tavares
-People:Tavares is a common surname in the Portuguese language, namely in Portugal and Brazil and other places – especially very common in the Cape Verde islands. It was originally a toponym...
's 70's hit "It Only Takes A Minute
It Only Takes a Minute
"It Only Takes a Minute" is a 1975 song by Tavares. It would become the group's only Top 10 pop hit in the United States, peaking at #10. It also became their second #1 song on the American soul charts....
" in order to get officially noticed by the world.
Looking back on their first No.1 single "Pray", Gary claimed he was determined to write an unbelievable second album (Everything Changes
Everything Changes (album)
Everything Changes is the second album for British boyband Take That. It reached number one in the UK Albums Chart, and was nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize. The album was the third best selling album of 1993 in the UK. The album reached number one in Ireland and the UK and was the bands...
), and believes it was the first song that allowed people to take them seriously, despite their image now being dominated by sexy images of the band and realising how successful they had become, primarily with girls becoming obsessed with them.
Jason Orange reflected on his friendship with Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
following the success of their cover version of Dan Hartman
Dan Hartman
Daniel Earl "Dan" Hartman was an American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for such songs as: "Free Ride", "I Can Dream About You", "Instant Replay", "Love Sensation", and "Relight My Fire", all of which had world-wide success.-Career:Born in Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg,...
's 70's hit "Relight My Fire
Relight My Fire
"Relight My Fire" is a popular song which was written and released by Dan Hartman in 1979, when it topped the U.S. dance-music charts for six weeks...
", stating that she met the success of the band very well despite Nigel Martin Smith stating that the record company preferred a black diva. Fans interviewed claimed that the life of a Take That fan saw the world revolving around the band. Security guards escorting the band reflected the danger and harm that was caused pulling the band through the crowds and protecting the band from obscene behaviour from the fans. Following on from the band's split, the film reflected the hurt and pain of the fans and the suicide counselling lines that were setup for young women.
The documentary details the cracks in the success they achieved with the band acknowledging the arguments between them were escalating to higher degrees and perhaps too much money was coming in for them to handle. The films main focus on this is the drug and alcohol abuse from Robbie, with the band acknowledging that they would never have guessed the amount of booze and drugs he was taking as they always saw him as a lively person who never wanted to be taken seriously.
The band claimed the reasons behind Williams' departure from the group were due to drug abuse, as well as friction with Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow
Gary Barlow is an English singer-songwriter, pianist and record producer. He is frontman and lead vocalist of pop group Take That and is currently the head judge on the eighth series of The X Factor. Barlow is one of Britain's most successful songwriters...
and Jason Orange
Jason Orange
Jason Thomas Orange is an English musician and dancer. He is a member of the pop band Take That who gained popularity in the 1990s and are currently enjoying further success since their reunion in 2005.-Early fame and Take That:...
. Williams admits that he had experimented with different kinds of drugs before joining the band, and that "I was sort of heading into that direction anyway" http://www.news.softpedia.com/news/Robbie-Williams-Misses-Take-That-Reunion-12303.shtml. After the other four members confronted him about his erratic behaviour, he angrily vowed to quit Take That and stormed off. Nigel Martin Smith stated he sued Robbie for £200,000 in commission following his departure, and expresses he feels sorry and sad for Robbie to this day after claiming Robbie is ungrateful for the part he played in his career. In turn, Williams described Martin Smith as "the most disturbing person I've worked with" and confesses he only wanted love and acceptance from him.
The band says they pulled together and finished off the tour without Robbie; without thought for what he was doing. But upon finishing the tour, they realised the band was no longer fun for them and decided it was time to call it a day. When the group finally announced the break-up in 1996, Nigel Martin Smith revealed that Howard Donald was the only one who wanted to keep the band going and did not want it to end. Donald then admitted that he did consider committing suicide by jumping in the River Thames http://www.bryanappleyard.com/article.php?article_id=90. Following the split, the film reflects on the brief media hype that saw Gary and Robbie battling for highest record sales, with Gary defending his first album and singles, but admitted he felt as those he was repeating old ground.
Williams claimed that he was at his worst with alcohol and drugs at the time of the hype between him and Gary, but he clearly remembered hearing Gary's solo work and not rating it at all. At the time, Williams was becoming a powerful influence in the media following his worldwide hit single "Angels" and made his feelings public on Gary's work, playing a major part on Gary's decision to leave the music industry. On his time away from the industry, Barlow stated in the film that having been dropped by record company RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
following his second album, he felt too humiliated to continue on and was eager to leave the industry. He revealed he spent most of time in the beginning lying in bed feeling down and low, and asked if he ever wished he was Robbie Williams, Barlow stated he didn't care for Robbie's persona, but wished he had the same career status.
Ten years after the band split, Take That meet together for the first time. Since leaving his solo career, Gary reveals he started a family and focused exclusively on song-writing and producing. Howard briefly attempted a career by recording an album, but the album was never released and admits he went to pieces, but he nonetheless returned to the nightclub circuit as a DJ focussing on his life with his daughter from a previous relationship. Mark details his success as a solo artist and later joining another band, and Jason reveals his isolation from music and spending his time traveling the world. They learn that Robbie turned down their invitation, but he filmed a video message for them. He admits he is shocked and sorry to hear of Howard's suicide attempt and jokes about how their memories socialising with one another. He apologises to Jason for acting the way he did before and after he left the band, praises Mark for being the nicest person he ever met as well as a musical genius, and he apologizes to Gary for taunting his flagging solo career. Each of the members agree they should have tried to help Robbie, and that they were more interested in protecting the group. In a private interview, Robbie confesses that he still would be unable to get any resolve from meeting with Barlow still believing that he doesn't acknowledge to present day what irritated Robbie so much about him, but he states that he would trade all his wealth and success for Barlow's happy family life.
The documentary ends with the group walking off, with the narrator acknowledging the path they laid for acts such as The Spice Girls and Boyzone
Boyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
, and with "Never Forget" playing over the end credits.
Reception and Band Reunion
Following the film's critical reception from fans and the press, on the 25th November 2005 9 days after the film aired, the post-Williams line-up announced the film had inspired them to reunite and tour their greatest hits, naming the concerts, Take That: The Ultimate TourTake That: The Ultimate Tour
- Release Information :The video features a full length concert of Take That recorded at the City of Manchester Stadium on June 17, 2006 during the "Ultimate Tour 2006" it was released in the UK on November 6 2006 and internationally on December 7 2006...
.
Following the success of the tour, the band decided to compile their first album since the break-up, Beautiful World, although Williams opted not to be involved.
The success of their work had led the band back to mainstream fame, and since continued to produce new albums. 2010 saw the return of Robbie Williams to the line-up and the release of the first album with all five band members Progress
Progress (Take That album)
Progress is the sixth studio album by British band Take That. It is the band's first album to feature Robbie Williams since 1995. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2010. The album received positive reviews, with most critics commending the influence of electronic music and...
since 1995.
Release History
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
22 April 2006 | Sony BMG Europe |
| International | 24 April 2006 | Sony BMG Europe |