Touted as the British answer to America’s New Kids on the Block,
Take That were the most popular British teen pop sensations of the 1990s. The Manchester, England group were led by singer/songwriter
Gary Barlow and also included
Robbie Williams and
Mark Owen. Following extensive auditioning in 1990, Jason Orange, a former breakdancer brought up as a Mormon, and Howard Donald , Orange's partner in dance group Street Beat, were added to the group and Take That were officially born. Despite their boyish appeal to legions of female fans, the band also built up a key fo
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llowing among the country's gay scene. Their first tours were around Manchester's and Britain's gay nightclubs and their July 1991 debut single Do What You Like caused a minor sensation when the video, featuring their ten naked buttocks smeared with jelly, was released. Later the same year, the band were snapped up by RCA Records and by the end of the year they had their first top 40 hit for the label when
Promises reached #37. The band broke through in the summer of 92’, when their cover of Tavares' "
It Only Takes a Minute" reached number seven on the charts. Soon after, the group came out with their debut LP Take That and Party, which had several hit Take That songs including a cover of
Barry Manilow’s “
Could it Be Magic” and “Why Can’t I Wake Up With You.”
Take That went on to sell more than 25 million records between the years of 1992-1996. Between the band's first single release in 1991 and their breakup in 1996, the BBC described Take That as "the most successful British band since
The Beatles in the UK, beloved of young and old alike". Take That's dance-oriented pop tunes and soulful ballads dominated the UK charts in the first half of the 1990s, spawning two of the best selling albums of the decade with Everything Changes (which was nominated for the 1994
Mercury Prize) and Greatest Hits 1996. The boy band split in 1996 but, after a 2005 documentary and the release of a greatest hits album, they announced a 2006 tour around the United Kingdom, entitled The Ultimate Tour 2006. In May 2006, it was announced that Take That were set to record their first studio album in over 10 years, proving their resiliency and commitment to pop music.
