Take That

Remember David Spade’s “look children, it’s a falling star” joke about Eddie Murphy on SNL?

This time, the falling star is Justin Timberlake.

Lou Pearlman was one of the most influential music moguls of his time. And one of the biggest fraudsters.

Gary Barlow was supposed to be the next George Michael. Compared to Robbie Williams, he might as well have been Andrew Ridgeley. What happened?

How record label politics, changing times, deteriorating personal relationships and splitting with hitmaking songwriters and producers ended Boyz II Men’s run as chart-topping hitmakers.

Kudos to Take That for trying something (a little) different the usual “Greatest Hits” anniversary package.

Is U2 out of touch?  

Between leaving 1D and allegations of infidelity and substance abuse, Zayn Malik had a lot to sing about. So, how did he do?

I recently went to London to cover the 800th anniversary celebration of the sealing (no, King John never signed it- but I bet he still had that sourpuss expression on his face) of the Magna Carta for the ABA Journal. I may have also made a detour to Manchester to see Old Trafford. Anyway, here are the stories that came out of it:

“Wow, that new One Direction song is pretty catchy.”

This is an old favorite of mine. I originally wrote it for my Livejournal blog and decided it was time to import it over here. Still holds up, except for the fact that the Verve broke up shortly afterwards. That and the Robbie Williams line about not wanting to rejoin Take That.