Hits 21 - 2002 (2): Westlife, Will Young, Gareth Gates

Episode Date: January 29, 2023

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every UK #1 hit single of the 21st century - from January 2000, right through to the present day. Twitter: @Hits21UK Email: [e-mail]

🎵 Alright there, all of yous, and welcome back to Hits 21, where me, Rob, me, Andy, and me, Lizzie, all look back at every single UK number one of the 21st century from January 2000 right through to this present day. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find us over on Twitter. We are at Hits21UK. That is at Hits21UK. You can email us too. Just send it on over to Hits21Podcast at gmail.com.

Thank you so much for joining us again. Just like our previous episodes, we'll be looking back at some number one singles from the year 2002. This time, we'll be looking back at some number one singles from the year 2002. This time we'll be covering the period from the 24th of February through to the 20th of April in the year 2002. We briefly mentioned the Twitter account just earlier. Andy, you're still carrying on with your album series on there. So if you're interested in Andy's thoughts

about his own CD collection from A to Z, then at Hits21UK is the place to go for that. And also thank you very much for just waiting for us for a couple of weeks. We would have ordinarily recorded last week, but we had to put our efforts into something else which will become clear in the future. Going back two weeks to our previous

episode our poll winner uh we put the poll out on spotify and on twitter and i was right we got way more engagements and a much better idea of how people feel about the songs that we're covering and it was tight it was tight but my sweet lord by george by George Harrison took the Song of the Week title from our listeners. Given that George Harrison's won it, every week from now on when someone else wins it, we can say, it's been done. I'm really glad we've got Simpsons fans listening to us because, oh my God, the amount of...

I wonder how many minutes of all the episodes we've done I wonder how many minutes have been lost on people who have just never watched The Simpsons Oh Jesus. It will never stop though Anyway, on to this week's episode and as always we're going to give you some news headlines from around the time that the songs that we're covering this week were

at number one in the UK charts The Queen Mother Wife to George VI songs that we're covering this week were at number one in the UK charts. The Queen Mother, wife to George VI and mother to Queen Elizabeth II, dies, aged 101. More than a million people lined the streets for her funeral and polls indicated that the popularity of the royal family increased in the aftermath. Elsewhere, singer Doreen Waddell, who performed with Soul to Soul and the KLF, dies aged 36. Waddell was accused of shoplifting by staff at a Tesco in Shoreham-by-Sea before she ran through a fire exit at the store and onto the A27, where she was hit by several cars. It's just very strange and very sad.

Yeah, very sad. Really, really sad. 13-year-old Amanda Dowler, known as Millie Dowler, goes missing on her way home from school. Her body was found six months later, and in 2011, convicted killer Levi Belfield was found guilty of her murder. Around the time that Belfield was convicted,

it was revealed that journalists working for the News of the world had hacked into Millie's voicemail after she was reported missing, giving her parents false hope that she was still alive. The public outcry led to a range of investigations and the eventual closure of the newspaper. Just an awful, awful, despicable story all round, basically. Meanwhile, Birmingham criminal Andrew Astin is sentenced to 26 concurrent terms of life imprisonment, the longest sentence ever imposed on any criminal in England and Wales, for attacking 26 elderly people in their homes across a series of robberies in 2001. Two

of his victims died as a result of their injuries. By the time he was sentenced a total of six of his victims had died, while many others were too frail to give evidence. Just bad news all around this episode. Yeah, really, just weak time. There were points during the year 2000 where I thought, oh, there's not a lot of news, is there? Really, and then 2002,

and it just feels like ever since September 11th, it just feels like the news has just suddenly got sadder everywhere and I'm not really sure why that suddenly happened but anyway moving on the films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period

were as follows Ocean's Eleven for three weeks, Ali G in the house for one week, Blade 2 for two weeks Ali G in the house for one week Blade 2 for two weeks and Bend It Like Beckham for two weeks as well in EastEnders Martin Kemp makes his final appearance as Steve Owen who is killed when his car explodes after crashing at high speed

and I left out the bit that sort of incriminates phil mitchell in his death where he's steve's screaming at him like phil can you help me phil the door's stuck and phil of mitchell's just stood on the other side of the road like yeah i can see that uh i'll think about it well wasn't that sort of the final climax to the who shot phil story because steve hadn't shot him but had helped arrange the shooting so Phil got his own back with Steve's fiery demise. I think that was the end of that story. But I may be wrong on that.

I don't know. I was sort of watching it this time but because I was very young and it was a very adult era of EastEnders as well with a lot of gangsters much of it went way, way over my head. So I may have pieced bits together

that aren't actually connected but who knows. Meanwhile, BBC Knowledge airs its final broadcast before being replaced by BBC Four, while The Big Breakfast airs its final episode after nine and a half years

on Channel 4. A joint report published by the ITC and the BSC reveals that for the first time, more than half of British TV viewers now have access to multiple channels beyond terrestrial TV. BBC Knowledge, not heard of that at all. Don't remember that. I kind of remember it. I seem to think that it was the only channel, because when TV channels only came on at 7 in the morning, I seem to remember that before CBBC, there was some BBC knowledge things on there, and then that kind of ended.

But that's a very, very foggy memory of the late 90s, that, for me. So sort of like open university type stuff. Exactly that. Like in the middle of the night, they'd show all the school's content. Ah, that's really cool. That's a shame that that was gotten rid of. Meanwhile, ITV Digital goes into administration after failing to reach an agreement with the Football League to broadcast matches over the next three years. The collapse of the deal, worth £350 million, had a devastating impact on many football clubs. million pounds had a devastating impact on many football clubs 14 football league clubs were placed into administration between 2002 and 2006 compared to just four between 1998 and 2002 and

yeah i feel like we're still feeling the effects of this now yes this was huge barry went under and like bolton nearly did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There are a lot of clubs who really, really hedge their bets with the money from ITV digital coming in every year. And then when that collapsed, well,

massive problems, like you say, that you're still feeling the effects of. And, you know, the team I support, City, like we got promoted from the championship in 2002

and it's a bloody good job that we did because you're right yeah we're one of the very very lucky few that managed to sneak out just in time yeah andy how are the album charts looking at this point i must say they're looking quite quiet during this period, to be honest. I've only got a few new entries to tell you about, and they're all sort of modestly... I mean, they're successful, but, you know, not huge hits. We pick up with the very best of Sting and the Police by Sting and the Police, which was number one at the end of last episode.

That's still here. And that's unseated by another best of compilation which is the essential barbara streisand who i know is very popular but is just not someone i ever imagined getting number one compilation albums if i'm honest it was around mother's day i guess that is a good shout it must have been around mother's day yeah um it was very successful in two times platinum but it was only number one for a week. And that was replaced by Silver Side Up

by everyone's favourite band, Nickelback. Yeah. Which, say what you like about them, but it was very successful. It was three times platinum, two weeks at number one.

It was much bigger. I'm sure, Lizzie, you'll be able to tell me this is much, much bigger in America as we have sort of previously discussed but Nickelback get an unfair rap don't they? But this is just evidence that they were actually genuinely popular

at this point in time. So let's hear it for them. But yeah. And then after that, that's replaced at the top by A New Day Has Come by an artist even more dull than Nickelback. It can only be Celine Dion, who has four weeks at the top. But oddly, it only goes one times platinum.

So definitely a very quiet period on the charts with three artists who I don't usually tend to in Barbra Streisand, Nickelback and Celine Dion. But there we have it. Yeah, that's the album charts. Lizzie, how are things in the States? Well, after Ja Rule and Ashanti spent two weeks at number one with Always on Time, which I mentioned in the previous episode, the number one spot would be claimed by Ja Rule, who returned to number one as a guest on Jennifer Lopez's single

Ain't It Funny, Murder Remix, which is sadly not a Danny Brown cover. It spent six weeks at number one and finished at number 13 on the year-end chart, but stalled at number four in the UK. Meanwhile, in the album's chart, Jennifer Lopez and Alan Jackson traded the number one spot for three weeks until Alanis Morissette reached number one with her album, Under Rug Swept, which stayed at number one spot for three weeks until Alanis Morissette reached number one with her album Under Rug Swept which stayed at number one for one week and went platinum in the US but got stuck at number two in the UK behind what else the essential Barbra Streisand oh yeah after that the soundtrack to the Coen Brothers film Oh Brother Where Art Thou hit number one for two weeks

going eight times platinum in the process and finishing at number six on the year end list and following that the American version of the Now series returned to number one with Now Nine which featured 20 hit singles from the time but none of which we've covered or indeed will cover

on this podcast and finally this week Celine Dion scored her third Billboard No. 1 album with A New Day Has Come, which went three times platinum, finished at No. 19 on the year-end list, and also went to No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart, as you've just heard. Okay then, alright then. Thank you very much, Andy and Lizzie, for those reports. Time to press on and get on with our singles this week and the first of three sort of four but technically three is this

you make me feel funny When you come around Yeah, that's what I found out, honey What am I to do without you? You make me feel happy When I leave you behind It plays in my mind now, honey What am I to do without you?

Oh, took for granted everything we had as if i find someone who's just like you we got a little world of our own i'll tell you things that no one else knows i'll let you in when no one else goes What am I doing without you? All of the things I've been looking for I've always been here outside of my door And all of the time I'm looking for something new What am I doing without you? What am I doing without you?

Okay, this is World of Our Own by Westlife. Released as the second single from the group's third studio album entitled World of Our Own. World of Our Own is Westlife's 11th single overall to be released in the UK and their ninth song to reach number one. It's not the last time we'll be covering Westlife on this podcast either. World of Our Own went straight in at number one as a brand new entry, knocking Enrique Iglesias off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for just one week.

In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 102,000 copies, beating competition from In Your Eyes by Kylie Minogue, which got to number three, stupid British public, The World's Greatest by Robert Sylvester Kelly, which got to number four, Be With Me by Mystique, which got to number five, and Nothing by A, which got to number nine. I can't believe I charted so high. Jesus. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, World of Our Own dropped five places to number 6.

I felt that from here. And by the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 18 weeks. So a pretty decent stay. Yeah, not bad. In the charts. Andy, World of Our Own, how how are we how do we feel yeah so you know we have our secret scoring system that we only reveal at the end of each year and i was i was coming to score this song and i thought i have to surely automatically give it

an extra point compared to all the other westlife songs we've covered because it's at least got a beat like it's got some rhythm to it. At least they've you know managed to step out of a tempo that's beyond 70 you know it's it's got a little bit more energy to it than all the other Westlife songs we've covered so far have really with the possible exception of Uptown Girl but the less said about that, better. I think, as though, before we before I listened to this song for this week, I was like

oh, I like World of Our Own, that's nowhere near as bad as all the other Westlife songs that's fine, I'll enjoy that. And I did but I think the contrast between this and Westlife's ballads is actually not as big as I imagined it in my head. It's still got a lot

of the familiar Westlife problems with it which is the kind of overall blandness of not just the vocal performance but the production as well the sort of sense that it's afraid to kick into high gear

and would rather tug at the heart strings than it would you know tug at the piano strings as it will you know rather than actually push themselves it kind of goes for the easy things with the key change and the strings and the big notes and I just think oh you know this was something a little bit different for Westlife and what's interesting is that the fans really responded to it at the time when Westlife did something more upbeat and more fun. Because, do you know the song When You're Looking Like That by Westlife? Am I supposed to leave you now?

That one. That was only released as a single due to fan pressure because it was like the only fast one. And World of Our Own sort of capitalises on that as well but it's a little bit of a damp squib I think unfortunately yeah the only other memory I really

have of this song from the time is a TV series I watched about Busted I think it was the one where they went to America, America or Busted which weirdly we've been all talking about recently, America or Busted. I think it was the one where they went to America, America or Busted, which weirdly we've been all talking about recently. America or Busted. But there's this bit where Busted are in the car singing along to World of Our Own. None of them

know the lyrics to the bridge bit, so it's just the three of them going, What you do? Because it's the only bit they know. Yeah, you can tell that they're sort of out of their comfort zone with the lyrics and certainly they keep on doing this thing in so many of their songs where they do a key change that they're not

capable of and they're audibly straining at the high notes it's really weird it's as though all of them and whoever is producing these songs has it in their head that they are capable of higher notes than they are, because this is a problem that's not being addressed and it makes it sound cheap and tacky, which it is. I think we've learned that at this point. Um, yeah,

I, I really, I'm so running out of things to say about Westlife and I was hopeful that this one would give me more. Um, but really it's the same old thing with just a slightly faster tempo given to it, which is disappointing. Yeah. Lizzie, do you's the same old thing with just a slightly faster tempo given to it, which is disappointing.

Yeah. Lizzie, do you feel the same? I feel exactly the same. You've pretty much taken the words out of my mouth. It's like, oh, thank God it's not another ballad. But I've got some bad news. This is the last Westlife number one that isn't a ballad. Oh, God.

Yeah. We've only had two. Oh know i know and like because they release um what was it bot bot baby a couple of months after this and it only gets to number five so yeah it seems like the the audience kind of rejected this up and fast west life fast life like people just didn't want it they wanted slow life and well here it is and i've again like you andy i find myself really running out of things to say because this is this is pleasant but it's not much more than that i think i kind of put it in the same vein as like life is a roller coaster but it's obviously better more than that. I kind of put it in the same vein as Life is a Rollercoaster, but it's obviously better than that. Have you been reading my notes, Lizzie?

Because when I get to my segment, you're going to be like, have you been reading my notes? For the record, I think it's way better than Life is a Rollercoaster. There's something about that song that just aggravates me, and this is not that bad, but yeah. Yeah, no no I totally agree it's got that kind of well it's sort of aiming for that new

radical sound it doesn't quite hit but it at least gives it a go and I think some credit where credit's due but I can kind of take or leave it but still it's better than Queen and My Heart, put it that way.

Oh, God, anything was. Yeah. Well, I hope I don't come across like I'm just cribbing off YouTube, but, yeah, I had the same feeling where this starts and you're like, hey, something a bit different. Like, you know, if Blue had tackled this sort of thing around the same time, I don't think their version would be that different. Like, you know, they might have souped up the drum machine in the back

to give it a bit of an R&B flavour instead of just kind of playing it straight like Westlife do. But you can imagine them doing something like this. And, of course, in the background, you'd get Lee with a... ..somewhere over it as well. But, Lizzie, this is where i was um wondering whether we've been reading each other's notes at the same time i can also imagine ronan keating doing something like this so you know oh yeah definitely some roundabouts um and i think that kind of taps into the considerable issues i do have with this but i'll get to those in a second like they are a little

bit out of their comfort zone here but by a little i mean like half a baby step but like they adjust fairly well and they they sound kind of happy with themselves the performances are a bit more spirited and their surroundings require a bit more of them and they're just about up to the task you know they can't rely entirely on the default settings of having a clean voice and a ballad that everybody already sort of knows even if it's an original composition of theirs you know this is original material that's a bit more upbeat than we're all used to and you know they've got to provide a bit of character themselves and they they sort of mostly get there but andy i think you described it as as bland and in my notes i've just put this is just so westlife in it

like this i mean i know it's westlife but it it just exudes Westlife. It's giving Westlife in, like, not in a nice way. It might be a baby step out of their comfort zone, but their comfort zone is literally just one thing. The same thing over and over. Like, it's a small box, and this is them thinking about lifting the lid but then deciding no no like it's like it's a tentative toe in this water testing how the public might respond to something a bit more 21st century and they still do absolutely everything to reassure you that yes this is westlife you know this that horrendous uninvited key change at the end, the way that

in my head, the way the song like, it leaves little gaps in the verses for them to like, smile at the camera and sway on their little stools when they're on top of the pops, you can just imagine, you know like, he goes you make me feel happy, and he's like smiling at the camera and doing a little like

you know, a little look to the camera and you know, they might cut to one of the other ones who's not singing, who and doing a little like you know a little look to the camera and you know they might cut to one of the other ones who's not singing who'll give a little wink and then the audience will go whoa and oh yeah it's just it's so precisely and transparently calculated and manipulative and like i get it like you know 50 of all pop is manipulation but i'm not in the audience that's going to be manipulate going to be like manipulated by this so there's nothing here for me and lizzie i also mentioned bot bot baby in my notes only get into number five which makes me think that they thought oh okay we'll

just go back to doing what we do best and so yeah not to spoil it too much but the next one we're going to come to is Unbreakable which is back to the same kind of ballads that if they were any slower they'd go backwards so this is left as like the teeniest risk like the teeniest risk that they ever took and they backtracked from it

immediately when you see like crisp snow with just a little paw print in it. Yeah. I do think that that thing that happened with When You're Looking Like That, though, where that was, like, the fan-based love to that one. I don't know maybe if it was just that song in particular,

but it's like, that one actually is okay. Like, I wouldn't be that harsh on that song. I don't mind that song. I don't know whether it's, like, some confusion over the fan base want more upbeat ones than the general public do. Maybe know whether it's like some confusion of the fan base want more upbeat ones than the general public do. Maybe there's a difference of perception there

and what people want from Westlife. But yeah, there's definitely something to this of like they're not sure whether to do up-tempo songs or just do a ballad every single time. And it's very frustrating to watch. You know, I so agree with what you said robin that it's like manipulative and by the numbers because i think i think at this point it's gone beyond formulaic and it's like they have an actual house sound i don't mean a house as in like

dance music i mean house as in like all of their songs are like produced exactly the same and unless you're like you know craftwork or sex pistols or bgs unless you're like, you know, Kraftwerk or Sex Pistols or Bee Gees and you're like genre defining, that's a really dangerous thing to do to have all of your songs sound basically the same. And it's like, how do they get away with this? I really don't

understand how they got so many number ones because it's like, come on big fellas. At this point, you're just so boring. Come on. Yeah. Thankfully, yeah. Thankfully, it doesn't last too far into the 2000s. But anyway, we'll move swiftly on. We'll leave Westlife in the dust for now.

And we'll pick up another Westlife song. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, let's kind of get on to it i suppose i never thought i could be feeling this way. Standing here in front of you this perfect day. It's hard to imagine where tomorrow will lead. I'll keep this moment in my heart for eternity. This moment in my heart for eternity Even through the rain

I kept my faith The will to follow through And I'll never lose my way again And it's all because of you I'm flying high Like the wind Reaching the impossible I'll never doubt again

I'm flying high Cause your love's made me see That anything is possible Possible Cause you believe in me. Okay, this is Anything is Possible, Double A Side with Evergreen by Will Young. Released as the lead single from his debut album From Now On, Anything is Possible, Double A Side With Evergreen,

is also William's debut single in the UK. It is of course his first to reach number one, but it's not the last time we'll be discussing Will on this podcast. Anything Is Possible, Double A Side With Evergreen went straight in at number one as a brand new entry, knocking Westlife off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one as a brand new entry knocking westlife off the top of the charts it stayed at number one for three weeks in its first week atop the charts it sold and brace yourself for this 1 million 108 000 copies becoming the fastest selling debut single of all time in the UK. It beat competition from Whenever Wherever by Shakira, which got to number two. Stupid British Public. I know, Stupid British Public.

Something by Lasgoe, which got to number four. Also, Stupid British Public. And How You Remind Me by Nickelback, which charted at number 73. And then, to quote Al Needham, soared 68 places to number 5. In its second week on top, it sold 377,000 copies, beating competition from I Will Always Love You by Rick Waller, which got to number 6. I know, Bless him. In its third and final week at the top, it sold 100,000 copies and beat competition from Me Julie by Ali G and Shaggy, which got to number two.

And, as we heard of before, Ain't It Funny Murder Remix by Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule, which got to number four. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Anything Is Possible, double A side with Evergreen, dropped one place to number two. And by the time it was done off the top of the charts, Anything Is Possible, double A side with Evergreen, dropped one place to number two. And by the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 23 weeks. It is, of course, the second number one of 2002 to sell a million copies in the UK. Okay, should we talk a little bit about him winning pop idol and then the single, or should we just go into the song?

There is just one more stat I want to mention to be fair. I mean, there was a lot of stats there, so thank you very much for them, but this is quite a big moment. We should acknowledge that this is the highest selling single of the decade. This is the number one selling song. Evergreen specifically, apparently is the number one selling song Evergreen specifically apparently is the number one selling song

of the entire noughties quite impressive because it sort of disappeared after this it had 1.8 overall 1.8 million sales overall and most of those you've just mentioned in the first three weeks

so yeah I think some of them were pre-sales as well there was like a million pre-sales and then they automatically got registered or something like that so but still wow the power of pop idol hey yeah all the x-factor ones that's worth mentioning you know that all the x X Factor ones didn't sell as well as this did. And I think that's because this is the original. I mean,

I say original, I'm just thinking about hearsay now, but this is not the same. You know, this was live on TV. They were voted for by the public, for the public.

You know, this was the public's ready-made pop star in the way that went even beyond what the series pop stars had done. And it did feel like a massive, massive moment. For a few weeks in time, Will Young was the most famous person in the UK

and Gareth Gates wasn't far behind, really. Yeah, it was massive. It was absolutely massive. Andy, what are your thoughts on the actual song Anything is possible first Yeah See it's a shame that we have to do that first Because for me Evergreen is

Clearly like the main single Here you know that's what they Sung in the final I believe And definitely the one that got more Airplay definitely the more well Remembered one Because they're very different catals of fish as far as I'm concerned Evergreen and definitely the one that got more airplay. Definitely the more well-remembered one. Because they're very different catalysts of fish as far as I'm concerned.

Evergreen, see, I kind of really like it. But I'm not going to deny that that's 100% out of nostalgia. You know, this really does take me back to this time far more than most songs do on this podcast you know it's just such an emblem of early 2002 here in evergreen because you never hear it anywhere now you never ever ever hear this song i don't know why i think it's because all the other x factor winners singles they were at christmas so they tend to get wheeled out at christmas so you do hear them from time to time whereas Evergreen I don't think I've heard it

at any point in the last 10 years unless I've put it on Spotify and so it's hugely motivated by nostalgia that I do really like it but also motivated by the fact that I really like Will Young I think he's just quite a nice guy he's quite a class act and

he's quite rare no disrespect to the other talent show winners that we'll cover but he's just quite a nice guy he's quite a class act and he's quite rare no disrespect to the other talent show winners that we'll cover but he's quite rare amongst them in that he is I think a genuinely really talented singer and would go on to be quite a good songwriter as well I think he has a really lovely tone to his voice that is not generic pop, it's got quite a lot

of soul to it and in retrospect at the time because I was a kid I of soul to it and in retrospect you know at the time because I was a kid I really supported Gareth but in retrospect there's no doubt that Will was the rightful winner

of that competition as far as I'm concerned and he deserves the career that followed and I think the whole genre of reality TV pop stars would not have taken off as much as it did if not for the fact that

a fairly credible authentic singer won pop idol and did very well out of it quite deservedly but anyway as for this song i mean evergreen is is not the kind of thing that you know he would do in the future you know he would very quickly change his style and you can sort of tell right from the start that this is not his bag you know it's pretty generic really i also hate the fact that he had to sing female gender references in this song. You know, he wasn't allowed to come out of the closet until several months, if not years, I think, after this single was released, which is not okay. It's not okay.

It's the work of Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell and would go on right until the end of the decade. But other than that, you know, Evergreen, it does hold quite a lot of fond memories for me. And I think it's a nice song. You know, it's overproduced to the max. You know, it's got a ridiculous key change in it, but it's a nice enough song. I'm happy to give it a pass.

And I think he does a better job with it than Westlife would have done, let's say that. Anything is Possible, on the other hand, not a fan of that. I think that, to me, feels like an obvious B-side. And it's weird that it's a double A-side, I think. Because Anything is Possible sort of feels like a chill-out song, like the sort of come down from Evergreen, like give you something a little bit more gentler paced,

but also it just feels like it didn't have as much effort put into it as Evergreen. The music videos are very different. Anything is Possible is just sort of Will on a beach Will singing at the camera Will having a walk, Will looking gloomy. Whereas Evergreen it's like the whole spotlight in a studio thing.

So Anything is Possible, I don't really like that one at all. I think it's quite bland and forgettable but evergreen probably is all those things too but it was a moment in time and I can't not acknowledge that so yeah love you will I agree with a lot of your points there Andy um I mean I'll start with anything is possible because that is technically the A-side or the A-side of the double A-side whatever um I mean yeah it's pretty unremarkable like it's written by Kathy Dennis and Chris Braid and their DNA is all over it like they co-wrote Never Had A Dream Come True and Have You

Ever for S Club and this song while not unpleasant feels like a retread of a retread of a retread you know and like kathy dennis only a couple months before i'd written can't get you out of my head so it's like this is a step down it's also one of the more blatant winners songs from the pop reality shows like not a million miles away from that song peter k wrote with gary barlow literally called the winner's song yeah so like yeah not terrible by any means but very easy to see why it was forgotten in favor of the b-side also there's one really weird bit in the middle of the song where i swear the track loses sync with the vocals did you notice this? I thought it was a very sort of painful move to that key change where it seemed that not lose sync exactly but it was just sort of out of step for a moment is that what you're

talking about or a different part of the song? I can't remember if it's like just before the key change now but there's a bit I think I want to say like in one of the bridges where the vocals and the actual instrumentation just kind of get lost. It's like one speeds up and one slows down. It's really strange. I'll have to point it out to you after this recording, obviously.

But yeah, go and have a listen to that and see if you can spot it. I felt it really distracting. that bit and the bit where he goes toward the end where he prepares to take off it's funny like you know the

Beyonce like walking downstairs with a cup of tea and thinking whoa it's kind of like this is just before he sees it sort of tip out of his hands. Like, what? No. Yeah, as for Evergreen, it's definitely the best song here. And it's very easy to forget that it's a cover of a Westlife song.

In fact, Westlifes themselves had dismissed the song by the time this cover came out, with Brian McFadden going on GMTV and calling it one of the weakest on their album and you know maybe it's just that the song wasn't suited to them which I can totally buy because I think Will puts in a really good version I think he gives it some vulnerability that it needs because otherwise it's just another ballad. I think the only problem with it is that obviously with it being the nature of what it is, which is a winner's song for Pop Idol, it kind of has to suit several different voices

and therefore it doesn't seem tailor-made for any one of them and this is a problem I'll come to with the next one as well but I think yeah that's my my biggest qualm with it is that it is quite generic it's nicely done for sure and you know what we obviously get much better things to come from Will Young but But, yeah, I maybe would have preferred something new. I think that might have... I suppose he didn't need it in the end because he had a perfectly good career. But, yeah, maybe, you know,

launching a brand new artist into the stratosphere. I don't know if a Westlife cover was necessarily the shot in the arm that he needed. But still, it's decent. It's better than anything is possible, put it that way. I feel the same as you in that I don't know why Evergreen is on the right-hand side of the line with this. I think that Evergreen should be the lead single of this AA side.

I think it's much better i think it's that's evergreen's actually a decent ballad i don't maybe you know westlife like you say just didn't fit with them but you know considering what they've served up and what they could have had you know it is a bit and a bullseye isn't it like you know i mean westlife are obviously very successful but it is a bit you know but uh yeah the thing with anything is possible is like i barely remember it and like i listen to it today like it just it just seems to drift along without ever landing that there's very very very few bits of it that that melodies that i actually pick out and think yes i remember this i could recall this if if asked to

do it on like a karaoke night or something like that you know you get up and get told to do it and i would really struggle the only feel like the only bit i'd be able to do would be the anything is possible and possibly the um like you say, Lizzie, the... Whee! Like the whee! Like the whee! Yes, Will Young takes off, as you said, Andy. But when I was listening to it, I think coming immediately after Westlife doesn't really do this any favours

because my partner's three years younger than me and she was born in 97 and so she was five around the time this came out and she had a different kind of upbringing to me where you know her parents didn't really

watch Pop Idol or get involved with anything like that and so when I played this to her sort of expecting her to remember it she went no i've not heard this is it westlife and i think that that kind of says everything you need to know and should explain my feelings about it let you say both of you it has that really syrupy kind of winner song feel to it that I can't quite look past, it's all very delicately arranged, but I don't know, it just, nothing sticks, nothing lands, it just, nothing feels weighty about it, it's all just

drifty, and it's like it's hard to get a grasp of the melody, it's hard to kind of grab hold of any part of it and pull it down so that you can look at it. It just kind of drifts along and does its thing. Whereas Evergreen, I think it's decent. Like for some reason, I remember this being on the radio more. I haven't heard this for 15.

Yeah, I haven't heard this for like 15 years, but I remember it very clearly. It also does have that same winner's song feel about it, but because the lyrics are all about wanting to seize a moment and make it last, and it's got that vague feeling of romance and love, it's broader in its themes and in its lyrics and i think it makes it more tolerable as a result um will is quite a sweet performer i think he's not my

favorite and i think we have much better to come with him both songs that get to number one and songs that don't the ones that don't like who am i and your game i really like both of those and it's a shame that we won't really get to say more about them but there is one of his that does get to number one that i like more than both evergreen and anything is possible but evergreen is nice i think it's will is like i say he's quite sweet and tender as a vocalist, but he knows how to go for and then achieve melodrama and get to it. I think that he was less of how do I put this? You know, Gareth on Pop Idol definitely went on a J word from beginning to end. on pop idol definitely went on a j word from beginning to end whereas will didn't really will kind of just arrived as who he ended up being really by the end of the show the only moment of

genuine drama and conflict that suggested towards a journey on his pop idol quest if you will is the moment where I think it's in boot camp where Simon tells him I forget what song he performs but Simon tells him that wasn't good enough that was kind of mediocre to me and Will says no it wasn't

he said I don't believe it was I thought I sounded really good yeah that's a fun moment. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. But that's the closest that I think a pop idol ever came to, like, making Will a character who you tuned in to see, like, you know, a bit of action or, you know, something to kind of perk the senses.

I thought, you know, Will clearly connected with a lot of people, but I think it was just that he arrived very clean you know it's like the like the kind of person who doesn't have a backstory doesn't have a life before he turns up in pop idol he just kind of is he arrives exactly as he is and then he finishes as he starts and people connected with him from day one there was no need to craft a story like there was with gareth where he walks into his audition unable to talk but then the voice of an angel comes out and there you go and he's even got like the the quite iconic hairdo that everybody copied for about three years afterwards with the little spikes and the the wet look gel and they built him out of those parts that were in the audition whereas with will there was a much less left to build i think he was more complete upon arrival i think is what

i'm trying to say um and i think he does get given much better stuff um as it as his career goes on like i say not all of it makes it to number one considering his first single sold over a million copies it's surprising how little we actually end up talking about will over the next few years but everybody who's our age well most people our age and older will always associate will with you know i with the with a big change in the uk and uk pop culture you know when we were going through those headlines before the news headlines like queen mother dying uh millie dowler um going missing allergy in the house oceans 11 bend it like

beckham you know the itv digital thing there's just there's loads of things that it's amazing that so many things that i associate with the rest of the naughty is happening in a really small period of time in 2002 it feels like 2000 you know the 2000s were very rudely awoken last year and now they're awake and now the 2000s are very much here. And so the winner of Pop Idol getting a number one single, you can kind of see the future out in front of you a little bit with how, especially how the Christmas charts are going to be on this show over the next 10 years. But also like, you know, the Millie Dowler thing that has repercussions a decade down the line. And it's amazing that all of this happened so

close together it was kind of like the episode where you had david beckham's free kick against greece 9-11 and kylie minogue all i can't get you out of my head all happening and the harry potter films being starting all within the same six week period and it's amazing what sticks and what doesn't um because i imagine just as many things happened around those periods of time in 2001 or 2002 that we don't remember but the things that have stuck and have become very important and have had big impacts down the line and a big legacy all seem to happen very close together so um i don't know if any of us have got anything more to say about this double A side. Well, can you remember if you were a Will or a Gareth household, either of you?

Oh, I was a Gareth. I was a Gareth household. Me and my two cousins all voted for Gareth and my grandma, she voted for Will. She was the sole victor in the house that night. My household was split. Me and my sister, who were both both kids we were huge gareth supporters my dad was ambivalent and my mom was a big will supporter and she she didn't like just stop there she um she really was a big will fan going on throughout his career she's been to see him

multiple times she's got quite a few of his albums. She was a really genuinely big Will fan throughout the sort of first 10 years of his career, really. And yeah, she was hooked on him from the start. So if history is written by the victors, then my mum won the war. So yeah. As the old saying goes.

Last up this week is this. Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea To the open arms of the sea Lonely rivers sigh, wait for me, wait for me I'll be coming home, wait for me Oh my love, my darling I've hungered for your touch A long, lonely time

Time goes by so slowly And time can do so much Are you still mine? It's too much I need your love This is Unchained Melody by Gareth Gates. Released as the lead single from his debut studio album entitled What My Heart Wants To Say, Unchained Melody is gareth gates first single to be released in the uk and his first uk number one it's not the last time we'll be coming

to gareth on this podcast unchained melody is a cover of the 1955 song written by alex north and hi zaret and recorded by todd dun. Gareth Gates is the fourth artist to take Unchained Melody to number one in the UK after Jimmy Young in 1955, The Righteous Brothers in 1965 and 1990 and Robson and Jerome in 1995. Unchained Melody went straight in at number one as a brand new entry knocking Will Young off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for four weeks. In its first week at number one as a brand new entry knocking will young off the top of the charts it stayed at number one for four weeks in its first week at number one it sold 851 000 copies beating competition from tainted love by brian hugh warner better known as marilyn manson which got to number five in its second week at the top it sold 228 000 copies beating competition from

for my people by missy elliott which got to number five in its third week at number one it sold 102 000 copies beating competition from i'm not a girl not yet a woman by britney spears which got to number two and in its fourth and final week at the top of the charts, it sold 84,000 copies and beat competition from Lazy by Express 2, featuring David Byrne, which got to number two. Gosh darn it. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Unchained Melody dropped three places to number four.

And by the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 38 weeks. It is the second number one this week and the third number one of 2002 to have officially sold 1 million copies in the UK. Um, Lizzy, how are we with this version of Unchained Melody? I guess you're going to go into your notes about Unchained Melody in general. But yeah. Well, yeah, because I was going to say, I personally think this is a bit of a cop-out on behalf of the Simons. Like, sure, it got to number one,

which I suspect is the end goal ultimately. But again, like I said with Will, in terms of launching a new artist into an already overcrowded market I personally don't think this does Gareth Gates much good like his performance on this is nice enough like he's got quite a soft androgynous singing voice and he pulls off the subtleties of Unchained Melody's vocal arrangements without veering too much into karaoke territory but again I kind of think we do we really need another version of Unchained Melody it seems kind of like cowardice as if they don't trust him with

an original song so they've got to give him something that's a guaranteed hit because as you've mentioned this has been number one what was it five times before this uh four times um four times with three different artists yeah so so this is the fifth yeah yeah yeah um but yeah i because i kind of don't want to go into a whole conversation about Unchained Melody itself I do like the song but I don't think there's much to really say about it, it's Unchained Melody

it's a standard you know, it is what it is I just find this cover while it's pleasant enough it's kind of, I don't really need it it almost sounds more like musical theater it's got that kind of there's another x factor star i'm thinking of which kind of springs to mind as someone who has a really good singing voice but it almost seems

more suited for that musical phase of style than it does for pop. And it feels like a bit of a dead end, this. Yeah, I'm curious to see what you have to say because I'm sure there are people who love this, but I'm sadly not one of them. Andy, yeah, how do you feel about it? I completely get what you're saying, Lizzie, that it's an uninspired song choice and it's quite by the numbers

and there's not much that Gareth can really do with this. I would like to posit that that's what makes this song really good. Okay. When I say really good, I just want to clarify that right from the start that I think that this is one of the first songs that we've covered on the podcast that I would say is so bad it's good. I think it starts as nice and enjoyable,

gets so over the top and so excessive and so manipulative that it loops back around again to be an enjoyable as a sort of funny artifact of what this song is doing. I mean, just everything about Gareth, right? I mean, Will Young obviously was the winner, but Gareth, he is

the key to the talent genre. Like, he is the one that people were like, right, yeah, this is how we get people hooked. He is the proton torpedo down the Death Star shaft. He is like the one that starts all this in that he's shy, he's young, he's, you know, very attractive, but also he's got this speech impediment, which means that we can kind of manipulate you with that,

but it's not something that you can see, so you can still admire this young twink you know it's like there's a lot that you can do with gareth and it's quite like surprising that he didn't win i think really like credit to the viewers for actually giving the best singer the victory because you would think gareth would have won because he really had the kind of whole voter package really and they keep on with this, like, oh, isn't he lovely? Isn't he adorable thing? Right after he's won.

I mean, right down to, have we clocked that album title? What My Heart Wants to Say? I know. Wants to say, because he's got a stutter. Like, come on. I know. Isn't that awful?

How did they get away with that? It kind of reminds me of coming back to Britain's Got the Pop Factor which I know we keep referencing and that's because

that's like a perfect microcosm of everything that these shows did it reminds me of you know two up two down that they have on that show

where it's the two people in the wheelchair is it is it R. Wayne as well one of the contestants R. Wayne the way they treat

the disability as a kind of feature of mild attraction more than anything else, like a selling point for him, it's just vulgar. And so immediately it's like, okay, so what point are we starting from here? Then they give him this absolutely ancient, archaic song that has been covered by about a million people. And he starts with this incredibly soft voice that he's got.

Like you say, quite androgynous, quite soft, like you want to give him a hug. But the production just keeps on building and building, and there's all these strings and drums that are so unnecessary. And so Gareth has to kind of power up to try and keep pace with it. And so by the point that he does the, ah, Nate, bit really high notes at the end, I just find myself wanting to burst into laughter.

Because it's like, Gareth is really just making the most of this moment. They've given him this really cutesy song that no one could possibly be offended by to maximise on his sales and to maximise on his popularity he's not like, it's not a good match for him and they've overproduced it to the nines so he just goes for it

and it kind of works in a way of like knowing you're being manipulated but sort of not minding like I've got to admit that it is really bad it's really quite trashy if I was on a train or something and this was on and was approaching that high note

I would just be like it's going to turn this down a bit you wouldn't want to be seen listening to this but I find it just so endearing that this is a really he's only 16 this is a really young star

who is seizing that moment was he really only 16 you know, this is a really young star who is seizing that moment, who is really doing something with it. Was he really only 16, 17 when he turned up on Pop Idol? Yeah, yeah. Full credit to him, I personally don't want to make fun of the speech impediment. That is a thing, that he is getting over live in front of the nation, making

a star of himself, making tons of money, getting to sleep with Katie Price, but we'll glaze over that bit. And he, he you know he's seizing his moment and he is just about owning it just about managing to stay in control of this song that he probably didn't even know before he went on the show um and i think full credit to and i kind of enjoy it just as a kind of heartwarming thing of if this isn't a winner's song it kind of feels like one anyway he's really making the most of this and got a number one and got the second highest selling song of the entire noughties with this unbelievable that will and gareth have the

top two like he he really could not possibly have done better with this song other than beating will directly which obviously he was never going to do so I just think you know what this is a nice kind of happy ending to what is a extremely manipulative and cheesy story but one that I can't help but get swept up in so yeah I actually quite

like it while acknowledging that it's really bad the only other thing I did not know that this song was written by Alex North. That's something I learnt today. So, thanks for that one. The only thing that Gareth Gates and 2001 A Space Odyssey

have in common. It's also the only thing that Gareth Gates and Bron from Game of Thrones have in common. Robson and Jerome, Jesus Christ. Oh my God. Imagine saying that to Gareth. So the song we're going to give you Most recently you might have heard it

From These two, you might know one of them From Cold Feet or whatever Robson Green was in I don't even know what Robson Green was in But imagine selling this to Gareth He would not have been impressed with this song choice But he makes it work and that's why that's why i really like it yeah yeah i think with the ones that we with the songs by gareth gates that we're going to cover

i think his i think he knew from the start once they were building this story around him that his shelf life as a genuine you know record breaking pop artist was gonna last about a year and so just pack in as much as you can into that year because by this time in 2003 they've got him on novelty songs and oh yeah it doesn't it really does not last long like you know i think he has one original number that gets to number one out of the four number ones i think he gets and three of them are covers and one of them is a massive novelty like they're basically just making him perform like a puppet by the time he gets his last number one so i think he knew and for somebody so young you know he must be thinking right i've got to find ways to set myself up now for life where i have to you know it's like kind of like sports stars you know they

try and make as much money through sponsorship as they can because by 35 40 it's all gone you know the career finishes and you have to find your own way afterwards and so it makes sense for pop stars to do a similar thing with regards to unchained melody you can't really go wrong with unchained melody um if you you know do it if you pay enough respect to it it has a similar kind of quality to something like uh you know in dreams roy alberstson and that it keeps finding it keeps finding new places to go new avenues to go down it's not entirely linear like um roy albertson's is but it keeps finding ways to rephrase itself and it finds new ways to

start its very few repeated sections and it's a song that makes i think makes you feel like you've come a long way in a really short space of time the 1965 righteous brothers version i think is really beautiful um the 1990 version yeah the 1990 version less so the re-recording is not great because i think that was that was for ghost i think and it's 25 years later and oh boy uh so i think as long as you stick to the main ingredients and don't fuss with it too much you're basically guaranteed hit with this you know it's been number one five times now 10 versions of the song have reached the uk charts and only two of those versions didn't make the top 40 there was a re-recording by jimmy young in 1964 and there was a 1986 cover by Leo Sayer and the Leo Sayer version fucks with the formula too

much usually I prefer cover versions that take the lyrics and maybe the vocal melody and then completely change everything else around it you know to turn it into something new but Unchained Melody's not really been successfully reinterpreted up to now you know at least not in a way i've heard um this version keeps with the formula so it's kind of on to a winner i guess and i mean it sold a bucket load in fact it sold several bucket loads it sold skip loads but it's very clean it's very clean it's polished and professional to the point where it starts to feel false the instrumental andy that you were talking about before like me and andy me and you we take part in a karaoke league and i have heard the karaoke instrumental to this that gets put out there by you know sunfly or zoom karaoke or something and the karaoke instrumentals are better than this.

This feels a bit Butlin's Unchained Melody. And Gareth's vocals, they're sweet, but they're very, very sterile and smooth. And it's not to do with him. It's to do with the way that they've produced his voice and produced the way and it's not to do with him it's to do with the way that they've produced his voice and produced the track the whole thing has been has had any life kind of vacuum suctioned out of it so that what you get is just you're looking at the bare essentials but it's all kind of like creased and wrapped in plastic you know that the original form is in there somewhere but

what you're looking at is the opposite really um i think it's the sort of right song to go with to launch him the facts say that it was fine but i feel a bit and i don't feel bad for him because you know he made a lot of money off this i'm sure but i don't know i feel like they were setting him up to be something bigger than he ended up being and i think a lot of the stuff that he did eventually sort of had to be not off his own back but you know i think he had to find his way again like a second time around when he was no longer the cute little boy with the stammer when he was a man who could sing and had as far as i'm aware had worked through the you know he had lots of vocal training and you know by the time he came not came back as such but you

know by the time he was forming a career with other things it was something you know the nervousness and the anxiety were mostly things he'd got over and so the image that he'd had built for him had to change and it all happened so quickly and fizzled out so quickly that i think he really did do anything they told him to just so that he could have other things to latch on to when he and when i think he must have i have a feeling that he was very well advised and he had it sounds like and you can tell from his audition as well they had a good solid family around him which i think is what if you're going to be that young and that famous that's what you need i think you need a really good family around you to make sure that you

don't necessarily stay grounded because by all means enjoy it but when it's all over something to come back to it's people who can help you build something else and kind of fair play to him for doing that. I feel like I'm doing a retrospective and we've got to come to him three more times on this show. I was about to say. So yeah, it's, Long Chain Melody's fine. Bit clean for me, but meh.

You know that family he surrounds himself with, they give him good advice is it the Kumars no I couldn't resist that one you know I was really about to say it's funny you should say that about how he was well advised and how he's probably made

a lot of money and has been giving good advice on stuff because yes he did a lot of stuff that you know he had to do like appearing in s club's movie seeing double as a clone of himself oh yeah doing the duet with the humors we'll come to in the future but amongst other things right he is an investor in an organization that helps to fund films, including Avatar. Oh! Yes, Gareth Gates helped to fund Avatar, so he must have made a fairly good amount of money out of that.

So I think he's doing okay. Apparently he was worth possibly tens of millions by the end of the noughties, so I think he's doing just fine. Good on him. Good on him. I don't, I don't begrudge him at all.

Oh, bloody hell. Yeah. The other thing I've just read about him is obviously publicly he was known for the, the stutter and having the speech impediment, but apparently he's used something called the McGuire program. And now he is a speech coach with the Maguire Programme. So he helps people who have had similar afflictions,

which I think is very sweet. The last thing I want to say about this is that as much as I'm not a massive fan of this version, I think that for our generation, this is the definitive version because the longest gap that there's been in the uk charts well i suppose with unchained melody the longest gap that unchained melody has gone without being number one by someone is 25 years between 1965 and 1990 you know it first hit number one in 55 then again in 65 10 years later

then again in 90 25 years later then in 95 five years later then 2002 seven years later so 2027 will be the cutoff point for unchained melody it will have passed through it will currently be on its longest run having not got to number one and I don't think that the current pop charts are in the place that they were or in a suitable place for Unchained Melody to be number one

which means that Unchained Melody may live Unchained Melody by Gareth Gates may live on as like the the kind of the last version to be number one to take it to those heights this was a year before specter though because phil specter um killed lana clarkson and he produced the righteous brothers ah yeah wow yeah that's true which is which is i'd say the most famous version of that song yeah so it's got that kind of yeah maybe that happened then

yeah do we think the next release of unchained melody will come before or after the release of bob the builder's next mambo well when was it supposed to be when was Mambo number 6 meant to be was it 2027 or 2026 so yeah the next Mambo is due in 2056

which is Mambo number 6 there's time well I was thinking should us three tackle it we can try and get this released get Unchained Velody to number one by the year

2056, New Year's Eve when we get to the end yeah tips on the high note I've got some Gareth Gates news if you want by the way oh always so at the time we're recording

this, we're in early 2023 you can actually see Gareth Gates live in Blackpool later this year he'll be starring in the Spongebob musical wow

as Squidward wow I tell you what it ain't much but it's honest work so fair play to him yeah and he'll be

get this he'll be starring with Davina DeCampo as Plankton. Wow. Oh my God. What? I want to go.

I want to see this. Davina DeCampo and Gareth Gates. Oh my God. Okay. Well, with that news, I know what I'm going to go and do now. Going booking tickets. But before we go, before we leave uh you lovely listeners we're just gonna check whether any songs from this week are going in the pie hole or the vault

so world of our own by westlife is is that going anywhere for anyone no no no anything is possible double a side with evergreen by will young nope no also no and unchained melody by gareth gates is that going anywhere for anyone sadly no no okay next time we'll be back for uh the period between the 21st of april and the 11th of may so that's a that's a bloody short time frame i hope there's enough news uh for us to do the early segment of the episode and not have to really, really look through editions of the local newspapers just to find something, anything.

But we will see you then. Thank you very much for listening this time and we'll see you next time. Bye now. Bye-bye. See you.