Robbie Williams 'Feel'

Chart Peak: 4
YouTube

Robbie followed the hugely successful Swing When You're Winning project with this Top 5 smash 'Feel'... It was his first release under his new multi-million pound deal with EMI - the 2nd single 'Come Undone' is due out in mid-April 2003.

That deal was reported at the time to be worth as much as £80 million, although even if true that would be a total investment, rather than an amount in his back pocket. Still, it's a massive amount to sink into a pop star, even at 2002 levels of album sales and is testament to how unstoppable the Robbie phenomenon seemed at the time. Also, he'd been in a position to record an entire album at his own expense and shop it around to different labels so they knew they could get it into the shops for Christmas; in the even it probably suited both parties for him to return to his existing home at EMI, since they could use rights to his catalogue as a bargaining chip.

With hindsight though, it was pretty much the high point of his career. His productive songwriting partnership with Guy Chambers had run into trouble and as a result Escapology had to be padded with some songs composed in previous years. 'Feel' was apparently a warmed-over demo from 1999, with Williams retaining large parts of the demo vocal. This might be why his performance comes over as more natural and less sneery than he often seems even on his other self-pitying songs. In fact I have to admit this is actually a decent song as well, with an understated quality pretty much unique in his catalogue. It took me a couple of years to realise though. I didn't even start to until we went on holiday to Berlin and during a ride on the S-Bahn a young man got on with a guitar, performed this song in its entirety and got off at the next stop. Somehow because this was so unexpected the memory has stuck with me and opened my ears to this a little.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 74, 75, 77 [with Gary Barlow], 83
Available on: Escapology [Explicit]

Take That 'Could It Be Magic'

Chart Peak: 3
YouTube

Take That's version of 'Could It Be Magic', a hit for its co-writer Barry Manilow, was voted Best Single Of 1992 by Radio 1 listeners... It followed 'A Million Love Songs', I Found Heaven' and 'It Only Takes A Minute' into the Top 20 and finally peaked at No. 3 in January '93.

Not sure I'd have voted it the Best Take That Single Of 1992, but that's boyband fans for you. What's not mentioned in the sleevenote - and wouldn't have been considered worth mentioning at the time - is that this one of the two first-run Take That singles to feature Robbie Williams on lead vocal, and as a result I recall this getting played on VH-1 a good deal at the turn of the century to the exclusion of almost anything else by the group, due to the massive fame of the solo Williams at the time. Oddly, I don't remember 'Everything Changes' getting the same exposure. It's a pretty functional kind of cover, which sounds slightly less dated than I expected now, possibly because it wasn't that up to date at the time either. It's not particularly interesting either though, so my attention is drawn more to the video. Frankly it looks like they were paying more attention to their dance moves than the song too, which might explain why Gary Barlow, whom you'd expect to be bang up for a Manilow cover, is hardly in it. It's one of those singles that seems to do the job rather than impressing.

Also appearing on: Now 22, 26, 29, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 78, 79, 90
Available on: Never Forget - The Ultimate Collection

Robbie Williams 'Lazy Days'

Chart Peak: 8
YouTube

'Lazy Days' smashed into the UK Top Ten in July, hot on the heels of 'Old Before I Die'... Releasing his first solo album and completing a UK tour this year, Robbie's career is set to go from strength to strength.

Side Four opens with the second consecutive track by a vocalist who also had a hit duet with Nicole Kidman.

It may just have been hype at the time, but that note was pretty vindicated wasn't it? It was  rather a brave prediction back then, with his early solo singles doing progressively less well and an initial 3-week chart run for his debut album. His next-but one single was to change things dramatically, but the seed was arguably sown with this, the first of his singles co-written by former Lemon Trees guitarist Guy Chambers. I seem to recall reading at one point that the song was indeed based on an unused track by that group, though Williams certainly did contribute the lyric.

'Lazy Days' was dismissed at the time as an Oasis wannabe, and there's more than a grain of truth to that, but there is a slightly lighter, more melodic side to this which reminds me more of The La's (who were of course also a much-cited influence on Oasis). I wouldn't even have contemplated liking this at the time but all these years later I can understand why this was released in the summer and I can almost understand why people liked it, apart from the irritatingly monotonous vocal. It's certainly much better than a lot of other Robbie Williams songs that are better-remembered these days.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 37, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 74, 75, 77 (with Gary Barlow), 83
Available on: Life Thru A Lens

Robbie Williams 'Strong'

Chart Peak: 4

YouTube

You can't get a better recommendation for a place in pop's hall of fame than 3 Brit Awards - in February '99 Robbie scooped Brits for Best Video ('Millennium'), Best Song ('Angels') and Best Male Solo Artist... 'Strong' is due for release on March 15th.

Well, that first point is debatable (what about 4 Brit Awards?) but it does neatly link Robbie who holds the records for both Brit Awards and Now appearances. 'Strong' was the opening track and third single from his  enormously popular album I've Been Expecting You, though if the titles suggest bullish confidence, this one at least is undercut by the self-doubt that was - and presumably still is - always part of his stock-in-trade. "You think I'm strong/You're wrong, you're wrong!" he bellows into the anthemic chorus, which is mildly brave but the effect is somewhat spoilt by the fact that he can't think of a better lyric to follow than "I'll sing my song, my song, my song". In the video, intentionally or otherwise, he's shown performing these lines to a huge stadium crowd who sing it straight back at him, not necessarily taking on board the message. There again, it's always hard with him to be sure how much is a real cri de coeur and how much mere grandstanding; the harder-hearted might argue that even the constant insecurity and self-deprecation is itself as self-centred as his more obvious boastfulness.

Certainly, there's a lot of mugging and acting-up in the rather lazy promo video, compiled from tour and home video footage rather than specially shot, though they have at least lined up the lyric "I dance like me Dad" with a shot of him on stage with his father. This may be part of the reason why the song wasn't much of a hit outside the UK, even in countries where he was generally popular, or perhaps the lyrics about "a thousand fags" and "easy lays" didn't fully translate. Maybe people saw through the rather half-baked nature of the song (it's quite simplistic musically too) but his British fans had to buy the CD single anyway for his Brits performance.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 74, 75, 77 (with Gary Barlow), 83
Available on: I've Been Expecting You

Take That 'Pray'

Chart Peak: 1 (4 weeks)

YouTube

Gary, Howard, Jason, Mark and Robbie have already had 4 massive hits in Britain year... 'Pray', a No.1 in July, was the biggest seller of them all.

They'd got off to a relatively slow start, by modern boyband standards, and had to wait until their ninth single to get to the top of the chart - but this was the start of a run of four consecutive Number Ones for them. It's the only representation in the Now! series of their second album Everything Changes, which proved to be the biggest seller of their original career. Like a lot of their catalogue, it was rarely heard between about 1994 and 2005, but has become a regular airplay favourite in more recent years. In truth, it's a good fit for commercial radio, a smoothly-produced song with a clear soul influence but no real grit to it. It lifts up in all the right places for a chorus, but as with a lot of Gary Barlow's compositions, I find it easier to nod at how well it's done than to be caught in any sort of passion about it, emotionally or rhythmically. It is clever that they thought to angle their musical style to appeal beyond the typical boyband audience and thus prolong their career but I'm more impressed than pleased.


Also appearing on: Now 22, 24, 29, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 78, 79
Available on: Everything Changes

Robbie Williams with Pet Shop Boys 'She's Madonna'

Chart Peak: 16

YouTube

Robbie teams up with the Pet Shop Boys on the pulsing new single 'She's Madonna', described as "a dynamic piece of synth-pop"... The video shows Robbie as we have never seen him before and features a plethora of LA's most famous (and infamous) drag queens.

Madonna herself has famously never appeared on a Now album, but she's also exceptional in pop music culture for the sheer number of hits by other people which refer to her or spin off somehow from her fame - anything from the self-aggrandising ('If Madonna Calls' by Junior Vasquez), through the brilliantly odd ('The Wheels On The Bus' by Mad Donna) to the unspeakably dreadful ('Do It With Madonna' by the Androids). Inevitably, some of this has slipped into the Now discography, but rarely has it been more obvious than with Robbie's hit supposedly based on Guy Ritchie's parting words to the girlfriend he left for Ms Ciccone. It's a pretty thin idea for a song, in all honesty, and the lyrics fail to live up to even this limited promise; the Pet Shop Boys production and backing vocals are so perfunctory it's hard not to suspect that they were in it for the postmodern appeal of collaborating with Williams. He presumably is a fan of theirs anyway, but they fit this song in particular because of its obvious flirtation with gay or at least sexually ambiguous imagery, especially in the video.

This was the third single from the infamous Rudebox album, and it's a sign of where his career was at the time that he could get away with releasing an album full of half-baked in-jokes and odd cover versions. It didn't last though, and whilst the Number 16 peak of this single would be considered a success for most people, it was at the time his second-lowest-charting solo single and one of only three to have fallen short of the Top 10. The album itself, despite would would again be considered massive initial sales for almost any other act, was a major flop by his standards which apparently led to heads rolling at EMI. It was outsold by Take That's comeback release (see disc 1) and although it did slightly better internationally, it did lead to a couple of years' silence from Williams. His career still doesn't seem to be back in gear.

Also appearing on: Now 34, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 74
Available on: Rudebox [+video]

Robbie Williams 'Freedom'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

Gosh! I'd completely forgotten this track was on here: and something tells me Williams would be quite pleased with that, as he's refused to include this track on any album release, even the Greatest Hits. 'Freedom 96', as it's sometimes called, is of course a cover version of George Michael's self-referential 'Freedom 90' and a fairly obvious cash-in for his first single after leaving Take That (who had in fact split by this point, but he'd jumped first). He later covered 'Making Plans For Nigel' just to labour the point.

As a production, it doesn't sound like any more time was spent on it than it deserved, and the effect is more like a record made by somebody famous for something else than the beginning of a major pop career. Just a pale facsimile of the George Michael record.

Also appearing on: Now 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 74

Robbie Williams 'She's The One'

Chart Peak: 1 (1 week)

YouTube

It's unlikely to be more than coincidence, but Geri Halliwell is followed by the man whom she'd probably have liked to see as a precedent - a high-profile member of a five-piece group who walked out at the height of their fame and became a major solo star. Indeed Robbie Williams was for several years the biggest pop star in Britain, eclipsing the success he'd had with Take That and clocking up a record-breaking number of Now appearances in the process (see below). Even though this was only his second solo Number One, he'd already reached a level of ubiquity that meant I couldn't stand the sight of him, and I did what I could to avoid it.

His profile has receded fairly rapidly in the last couple of years though, so it wasn't as hard as I thought to bring myself to listen to this one. So, the track then: it's a cover version of the little-known World Party song which was already the best part of a year old by the time it was afforded a single release as a double A with the previously-unreleased 'It's Only Us' (see Now 45). Surprisingly, it was this which proved to be the more popular side. It's a solid piece of writing from Karl Wallinger, but not one that arouses great passion in me. And much as I wouldn't have rushed to admit it, Williams puts in a decent performance - in fact it's probably the best singing on the album so far. I'm never going to love his voice or mannerisms, but this is him at his most tolerable.


Also appearing on: Now 34, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 45, 47, 48, 49, 51 (with Nicole Kidman), 52 (with 1 Giant Leap & Maxi Jazz), 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 62, 63, 65, 66, 74
Available on: Greatest Hits