Reach for the Stars: 1996–2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party: A Times Summer Read 2023

Product Information

Ritchie Neville I turned up and it was a media circus. There was press there and a Spice Girls tribute band performing. I was in this queue just going, “What the hell is this?” A quote that motivates one to achieve goals is best. This quote-list to reach for the stars will be perfect for you. It shifted abit but then, obviously, The XFactor came along,” he continues. ​ “And that machine was so big and so powerful that you then did have to sort of take what was going on. It was areal rollercoaster, as they say, of people not being able to say what they wanted. Or if you did, you were branded abitch, or difficult, or rude.” I tell young people to reach for the stars. And I can't think of a greater high than you could possibly get than by inventing something." When you're sad, you reach for me. I'll hold you close and tight. I'll teach you how to sing a song about the stars at night."

Ritchie They wanted a band with edge and that’s what they bloody well got. We’re all very strong characters so eventually there’s going to be those eruptions. We were young, we didn’t have that level of maturity. Really interesting and informative. A fascinating look at what was going on behind the scenes from the people that were there, delivering these massive moments of my youth. Formed in May 1997, Five, AKA Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, J Brown, Sean Conlon and Abz Love, released their debut single Slam Dunk (Da Funk) just six months later and found themselves living in a house together as teenagers. The band’s 11 UK Top 10 singles, three Top 5 albums and two arena tours spanned less than a four-year period. That it ended in burnout, depression and fist-fights was hardly surprising given their light-speed ascent. In recent years, there has been a happy ending of sorts with Neville, Robinson and Conlon reuniting as a three-membered Five and releasing a new album last year. But it all started out via five lads standing out from an initial crowd of 3,000 wannabes that featured a pre-fame Russell Brand among their number … Pete Waterman Had I heard of them before? No. Had anyone? No. Did I care? No. I felt sorry for Steps.Probably a robbery … Steps smile through losing out to indie’s Belle and Sebastian. Photograph: JMEnternational/Getty Images

Reach for the Stars: and Other Advice for Life's Journey is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Serge Bloch, which tells a story about various life lessons, like reaching for the stars, to anyone including children. At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents. Sean There were frictions within the band. And between the band and management. Then the band and the label. Frictions everywhere. What I most liked about this is that, much as the author clearly loves 90s/2000s pop, the book also offers a lot of information about the less fun-and-bubbly side of the music industry of the time: particularly the racism and homophobia.Man stands alone in the universe, responsible for his condition, likely to remain in a lowly state, but free to reach above the stars." You'll reach for your boogie board and catch a wave or two. I'll teach you how the lunar pull made those tides for you." In short: Great read for anyone interested in the late 90s/ early 2000s pop industry in the UK - whether this is because you're a fan of the music or want to find out more about how the industry worked. (Though I imagine it's a lot less enjoyable if you don't know the bands: LOTS of names.) The text is simplistic and straightforward, yet captures the hopefulness and youthfulness that is quite unexpected. The illustrations are beautifully rendered and wonderful done filled with wit and whimsical line drawings and photography, which give a delightful and charming aura for the book.

Broadly chronological, the book spans ten years. It begins with the Spice Girls in 1996, ending in 2006 with the demise of three major media sources for pop music - Smash Hits magazine, Top of the Pops magazine, CD:UK on TV. 2006 marked the end of an era for myself also, as this is when I stopped following the charts, having become disenchanted with the manufactured sounds of pop music and taking an interest in music I considered more authentic and complex. I wasn't so familiar with the music discussed towards the end of the book, particularly the acts resulting from TV talent shows, which I've never watched. Most of the featured acts I remembered very well, however. I liked the chapter on Girls Aloud because of their strong personalities, even though I was never a fan of the music. I especially enjoyed the chapters about 5ive and S Club 7, my two favourites. Sadly, Paul Cattermole of S Club 7 died a week after the publication of this book.

Ritchie I personally harbour no ill-will to J or Abs. I would want nothing more than to hear that they’re happily getting on with their lives. J was quite a domineering character and he wanted things done his way. He was willing to get that point across in a physical way sometimes. Sean The label were in a rush and they didn’t want to wait, so they convinced the band to use a cardboard cut-out of me [in the video for Let’s Dance]. It did hurt a little bit. It was like the label saying, “Well, he’s so miserable anyway and he’s not smiling and he’s so quiet that he might as well have been a cardboard cut-out.” That’s what it felt like to me. The book begins with the Spice Girls, who changed everything. Their cheeky attitude and catchy tunes made pop music exciting again. They influenced so many new bands around that time - All Saints were seen as edgier version, whereas Five were imagined as a male equivalent. But we also hear from other groups that didn't make quite the same impression - the likes of A1 and Girl Thing. It's fascinating to hear them discuss their reasons for not quite succeeding.

Despite enjoying this book my reason for rating this book 3 out of 5 is because at times it felt that if you weren't a band that the author personally liked then you weren't featured or not featured very much, so bands which were very successful like All Saints barely get mentioned in comparison to bands who arguably had less success such as Triple 8 who are featured a lot. Potentially this is because some of their members were contributors to the book. There were also a few disparaging remarks about Westlife so I assume the author isn't a fan of theirs which is fine but they were one of the most successful bands of that period so to skim over them doesn't really give an accurate picture. I enjoyed the last section on the rise of programmes like Pop Idol, Popstars etc and the artists that they created but there was only one passing reference to Fame Academy which was also popular at the time.I was moving into my teenage years when the Spice Girls started, and so Iwas trying to work out who Iwas. But Iwas also trying to sort of hide who Iwas, and it was too revealing to talk about pop music. It was too revealing to say that you were afan of Girls Aloud, even, when they first started. And so Iwouldn’t.” Even at uni, Cragg would pretend to like Radiohead (“I kind of did… for abit”), while he was working out his sexuality and identity. ​ “I didn’t really talk about [pop music] – Ididn’t say that Iliked it.” To achieve your goal you need to do the undoable. This quote-list is one of the best motivations just like a book. For being brave does not mean that nothing makes you scared. It means you never let your fear prevent the dreams you've dared." Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face, and then reach for the stars." However, somewhere around the chapter covering Blue, I started to get the feeling that the narrative was incredibly repetitive. Although I appreciate that Cragg wanted to cover the length and breadth of his subject - the fact that most of these bands split after several years meant that all the chapters ended similarly. Although some of these chapters did include some intriguing titbits; such as Blue being in New York during 9/11 and the swift production of the S Club 7 movie, there were few memorable moments. I thought the smaller chapters covering the rise of Garage music and the anecdotes about being hungover on kids' TV could've been cut completely. The exception to this rule is the chapter on Sugababes; an act that the author clearly has a love for and could've probably written an entire book about.