2. Take That Take That are an English vocal pop group made up of five members: Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange, Mark Owen and Robbie Williams. Gary Barlow is the lead singer and primary songwriter. The group were created in the late 80s/early 90s by a man called Nigel Martin-Smith. Gary Barlow was the first to be found by Martin-Smith, who impressed him so much that the boy band was built around Barlow's musical abilities. Auditions were opened to men who could sing and dance, and Howard Donald was chosen after he got time off work as a vehicle painter to continue the process. Donald was asked to recruit other possible candidates, and he recommended fellow street dance Jason Orange, who had appeared as a dancer on The Hitman and Her. Mark Owen and Robbie Williams met on the day of their audition and interview. Martin-Smith named the band 'Kick It,' however the members of the band didn't like it, and instead changed their name to 'Take That.' Take that's first TV appearance was on The Hitman and Her, where they performed several of Barlow's self-written unreleased songs. The band's breakthrough single was a cover of the 1975s Tavares hit 'It Only Takes a Minute,' which peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. Followed by the track 'I Found Heaven,' then by the first Barlow ballad 'A Million Love Songs.' This reached number 7 on the UK Single Charts also. Giving them one of their biggest hits to date, their cover of Barry Manilow's disco hit 'Could It Be Magic' peaked at number 3 in the UK. Take That and Party, their first album, was released in 1991 which included all the hit singles to date.
3. Take That's dance-oriented pop tunes and soulful ballads dominated the UK charts in the first half of the 1990s, winning multiple BRIT Awards while also spawning two of the best selling albums of the decade with Everything Changes (which was nominated for the 1994 Mercury Prize) and their Greatest Hits album. Williams left the band in 1995 while the four remaining members completed their world tour and released a final single before splitting up in 1996. After 10 years apart, Take That officially announced a 2006 reunion tour around the UK, entitled The Ultimate Tour. On 9 May 2006, it was announced that the group were set to record new material together once again; their fourth studio album, Beautiful World, was released in 2006 and was followed up with The Circus, in 2008. The group achieved new success as a four-piece, scoring a string of chart hits across the UK and Europe while taking the number of records sold to over 40 million worldwide. Williams rejoined Take That in 2010 for the band's sixth studio album, Progress. It became the fastest selling album of the 21st century thus far, the second fastest selling album in British history, whilst also making it the first album of new material to feature Take That's original line-up since their 1995 album, Nobody Else. Since 2011, Take That have set the new record for the fastest selling tour of all time in the UK, beating the previous record set by their Circus Live Tour in 2009, won best British group, and have become Amazon's best-selling artist of all time.
4. TAKE THAT AND PARTY - First Album Take That & Party was the debut album from British boy band Take That. It reached #2 in the UK album chart and stayed in the UK Top 75 album chart for 73 weeks (1 year 5 months and one weeks). The album has been certified as 2x Platinum in the UK.
5. 1991 - Dance U.K. 'Do what u like' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpqAXZI0s0s&ob=av2e As their debut single 'Do what u like' was a commercial failure and only made it to 82 in the UK Singles Chart. It was released on then-manager Nigel Martin-Smith's record label Dance U.K. It seemed that the video made more of a stir than the single, in which the bad got naked and smeared jelly over themselves. It was banned from daytime television and placed at number 2 in VH1's all-time worst video list. The video was also omitted from the 2005 video compilation "Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection".
6. 1992 - Sony Music 'It only takes a minute' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J3U4Ke0SCY&ob=av2n Take that did a cover of the Tavares Hit 'It only takes a minute.' It was their fourth single on their debut album 'Take That and Party.' This song was released through Sony Music and it was the bands first top 10 single, charting at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video involves the band singing and performing the song with members Donald, Orange and Owen break dancing whilst Williams and Barlow chase after a girl.
7. 1992 - Sony Music 'A million love songs' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9mYlBo8MDI 'A Million Love Songs' was the penultimate single from their debut album and was written by Gary Barlow at the age of 15 . This was the second of their singles to make it into the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, again, reaching number 7. This song was also voted as the greatest ballad of all time by critics and music fans. The music video is shot in black and white, and makes use of the 'watercolour' video editing effect which effectively blurs the image. The video is simple and shows the band performing the song with Barlow at the piano performing the song.
8. 1992 - RCA 'Could it be magic' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVBIfSt0lAo This song also reached the top 10, being their best single to date, reaching number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. This song won Best British Single at the Brit Awards in 1993. This song has also received a Silver sales status certification and sold over 325,000 copies sold in the UK. The music video for this song, shows a young woman leaving a garage before the lights are turned back on and Take That perform the song with many other dancers.
9. EVERYTHING CHANGES - SECOND ALBUM Everything Changes is the second album for British boy band 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.
10. 1993- Polydor 'Relight My Fire' www.youtube.com/watch?v=reWpbs334KI This was their second of eleven number-one hits and it topped the UK singles chart for two weeks in October 1993. It featured vocals of Lulu and it was the first number-one single for her. At the time, it broke the record between an act's chart debut and their reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart, happening 29 years 148 days after her debut with Shout in 1964. The video depicts the band and singer Lulu dancing and partying in a club atmosphere. Scenes showing Jason Orange in a shower are also in the video. Owen’s ripped t-shirt in the music video has become somewhat memorable by Take That fans. It was very controversial at the time, as the text printed on it read 'Junkie's Baddy Power' which caused some music channels to blur out the writing due to its reference to drugs.
11. 1993 - 'Why can't I wake up with you? ' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY-OCmzOXzc Written by Gary Barlow, it was the lead single of their second album. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart and received a Silver sales status certification for sales of over 200,000 copies in the UK. The music video is almost a tribute to George Michael's 1990 video for 'Freedom'. It is parallel to the song as it has a particularly moody atmosphere. It depicts the band members on their own in different rooms of a house each singing the song. At the end of the video, the band members are shown trying to get past paparazzi.
12. 1994 - 'Love ain’t here anymore' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4P9no0AYBM&ob=av3e 6th and final single from this album. It peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and the song has received a Silver sales status certification for sales of over 200,000 copies in the UK. The music video shows the band performing the song in what appears to be a recording studio. Lighting effects are used to make the video more complex and appealing showing silhouettes of the band.
13. Nobody Else - Third Album Nobody Else is the third studio album from British boy band Take That. It was released on 5 May 1995 and was to be the last album released by the band until their reunion in 2006, and also the last album to feature Robbie Williams until his return to the band in 2010.
14. 1994 - RCA 'Sure' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5u_YDvhkYo&ob=av2e It was the first release from their third album.It was a departure from their previous singles, having a more American, R&B sound compared to their previous, more pop/dance orientated songs. It was written by lead singer Gary Barlow with contributions from fellow band members Robbie Williams and Mark Owen. The song has received a Silver sales status certification and sold over 215,000 copies in the UK. It also reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart and remained there for two weeks. The video was seven minutes long and is somewhat comical. It shows the band preparing for a party whilst Owen is also babysitting a disruptive little girl who is halting the band from getting ready. Barlow is writing a song, Orange is dancing, Howard is preparing food and Williams emerges back from shopping. Once the song starts, the video shows a house party occurring as well as the band performing the song in vest nets against a blue backdrop. A shorter edited version of the song exists in which music video channels play the video from where the song starts.
15. 1995 - Polydor 'Back For Good' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2ICtCO8TCw&ob=av2e It was released in 1995 as a single from Nobody Else and achieved great success in many countries. The song went on to reach the #1 spot in over 30 nations, making it the most successful song ever recorded by a boy band, sixth UK chart-topper, and their only US top ten hit. The music video to the song was relatively simple but iconic. It is shot in black and white and shows the band walking and dancing in the rain as well as the band performing the song in a shelter. The music video has often been an influence in the band performing the song live as they often make use of artificial rain when performing it. The music video appears on the DVD release: Never Forget: The Ultimate Collection. A 1958 Chevrolet Impala and a 1951 Mercury, both customised in the styles of the 1950s/early 60's feature in the video.
16. 1995 - 'Never Forget' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoO_1FFr56k&ob=av2e It achieved success in many countries, including the UK, Spain and Ireland where it topped the singles chart. It reached #1 in the UK chart, as the band's 7th number one single and remained there for 3 weeks. It was also the sixth track on the band's 1995 album Nobody Else. The music video is a montage of moments of Take That caught on camera. Most of the footage is taken from the band performing live, backstage at gigs or on tour. Other moments such as the band meeting Prince Charles and TV appearances are also shown.
17. Beautiful World – Fourth Album Beautiful World was their fourth studio album, which was released in November 2006; This was 11 years since their last album. The album features what they describe as "a throwback to the 90s, but with a modern twist". It is also their first album in which every member of the band sings lead vocals on at least one song.
18. 'Patience' (2006) and 'Shine‘(2007) It was released as the first single from their comeback album ‘Beautiful World.’ The single reached the top of the charts in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as reaching the top ten in countries such as Ireland, Italy, Austria and Sweden. The video was directed by David Mould and was shot in Iceland. The video shows each of the members trekking across the rough terrain dragging their microphone stands. After the middle eight, the band are shown on top of a cliff singing the song together at night whilst a storm occurs behind them. This song features lead vocals by Mark Owen and the song is featured in several commercials for the re-launched Morrisons supermarkets in the UK. It became Take That's sixth consecutive number one single and their tenth number one overall, making them one of only seven acts in the history of the UK charts to have more than nine number one hits. The song went on to win the British single of the year award at the 2008 BRIT AWARDS.
19. The Circus – Fifth Album The album was released on 1 December 2008.In the United Kingdom, the album was released in direct competition to the new Britney Spears album, which was also called Circus. They were released on the same day but the band's manager claimed the album's title choice was a coincidence.
20. 'Greatest day' and 'Up all night' (2008) This was the lead single from their fifth album, The Circus. It was written by Take That themselves and produced by John Shanks. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart upon its release, and became their 11th number-one single. The song has sold over 420,000 copies in the UK so far and has been certified Gold by the Official UK Charts Company. The band also performed the song live at Children in Need, in 2008, before donating £250,000 to the charity.The video for was filmed on location in LA on top of a 60 storey building in the downtown area. It was directed by Meiert Avis, who previously shot videos for U2 and Damien Rice. The single was only released in the UK and Ireland. The band performed the song on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway in February 2009. The single peaked at number 14, becoming the band's second single out of their recent six to fail to chart in the UK Top 10. However, it did become their 20th consecutive UK Top 20 single. The video was directed by Daniel Wolfe. It features them performing at a street party in Croydon, with footage of them on a lorry. Gary Barlow doesn’t appear in the second half of the music video because his pregnant wife went into labour whilst filming.
21. Progress – Sixth Album It’s the sixth studio album by Take That and it’s their first album to feature Robbie Williams since 1995. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the fastest-selling album of the century and the second fastest-selling album of all-time. It also became the biggest-selling album of the year by selling over one million copies in 24 days.
22. 'The Flood' and 'Love love' 2010 2011 The song features Gary Barlow and Mark Owen on lead vocals. It was released in the United Kingdom as a digital download on May 11, 2011.It serves as the official single of the movie X-Men: First Class. The music video was directed by AlexandLiane and shows the band members performing the song as a set of highly choreographed dancers parade around them. The video focuses on each of the members during different parts of the video as they sing from light emitting microphone stands as the picture flickers in and out of recognition. It’s from their sixth studio album, Progress and it was released as the lead single in the UK. The song is the first to feature Robbie Williams since his return to the band in July 2010. The video features the five members of the band racing against another crew in specially-made five-seaterSculling boats. The band's boat is named "Progress“ after the album, whilst the band wear old-fashioned white rowing kits, bearing a custom-designed Take That crest. They are shown to be competing in a race against a younger crew and although losing the race, the group continue going past the finish line and are shown to row down the River Thames past famous London landmarks before fading away into a stormy sea.
23. 'Progressed' – Extended Play The collection was released on June 10, 2011 and features eight previously unreleased tracks packaged alongside Take That's sixth studio album, Progress. It was preceded by the lead single ‘Love Love’ on 11 May, which serves as the main theme for the film X-Men: First Class.
