Once again I state that the following is merely a translation of what was written ages ago. My views may have developed since then, my knowledge deepened… Still in the process of translating. Sorry, folks it’s taking longer than I expected, but we’re getting there.

I have just checked and realized that my last article was published on 5th January. How embarrassing! March is well underway and still no sign of new articles. Just when there’ are so many interesting things going on in the TT world. So let’s get down to business before it’s too late. We’ll have a bit of news (with pictures and a song) and in the end a serious editorial question towards the readership.

If the contents of the article do not interest you enough to read through, please, jump to the end, read my question and have your say. Please! I mean it!

The last time we talked about what was actually going on, was in November when Progress was released the lads were singing on television everywhere they could, travelling up and down Europe to promote the first single.

Now let’s have a look to the middle of the last month. Tuesday 15th February was a very exciting day/night: BRIT Awards – the most important music awards in Great Britain. Take That were nominated in two categories: Best Group and Best Album. And what’s more, they performed live. Their performance opened the whole award ceremony, which was in a British way very glamorous and “showbiz”, packed with world famous stars (to name but a few of the other artist who performed as well: Adele, Rihanna, Cee Lo Green).  So we had Take That at the beginning… It was the very first live performance of the new single called Kidz. WOOOOW! They couldn’t have had anyone better to start the show! that was one breathtaking number! with the whole stage crowded with dancers dressed up in costumes of… what do you call it… riot police. with TT signs on the shields.

Interesting gossip: There have been rumours that the number had been ready for the X Factor performance before Christmas, but the boss of it all, Simon Cowell, said no to it. Not to cause any troubles in respect of the, at the time recent, student protests in London. Well, I do understand that decision. After all, the chorus sings: “There’ll be trouble when the kids come out…” hehe. Well the number was amazing, very impressive, maybe even a bit terrifying. I do not in the least suspect that TT would any way “promote” violence or something like that… That is simply out of the question. I take it more as a sort of warning, raising a question about the society of today… (The lyrics are really interesting, but I won’t get into that now. that would make this article truly never-ending. Maybe there’ll be space for it some other time.) However, should anybody misinterpret things… hm… Although it did have a sort of a “Happy end” where the folks threw away the batons and tore up the uniforms…

As for the awards, TT won one of their two nominations: Best Group. and so they received one of the statuettes designed by Vivenne Westwood. In respect of the return of a certain Mr R.W. and so on… the whole fairy tale, which seems to finally have reached the happy end, it is a very nice, fitting and well deserved award :) They tried not to drag the thank you speech too long, only Mark heartily thanked Robbie for coming back, and expressed his immense delight over being able to accept the award as a five-piece band.

So that was the BRITs… a rather fancy advert for the new single, but I’m afraid that was it for the promotion. The single was released on 21st Feb, and it had a never-heard-before track Rocket Ship on the B-side, and as a bonus Howard’s remix Revenge of the Kidz. You see, Howard, on top of being a member of Take That and father to two daughters, is a DJ. We had to wait for the music video for another week then. Some of the fans got a bit upset that there have been few TV appearances and all… That’s why Kidz did no miracles in the chart. In fact, for a TT single, it did rather … below average.

*A little excursion to the Official Chart system… I don’t completely understand it. Well I have understood that it’s common practice to release the first single of the album (usually the one expected to be the most successful) before the whole album. Then, if it really is a hit, it will soar to the top ranks in the chart. The part that I don’t understand is what happens with the following singles from an album. Especially if the album as a whole has had record breaking sales. So a lot of people have already bought the album. Why would they buy a track from the album as a single now? Well there is certain “bonus material”, like a B-side or something… but I think that only works for the real hardcore fans… I just can’t imagine how any other following single could reach no.1. I don’t know if it’s ever happened… Or if this is common practice among all the interprets… Or is there somebody who first releases a few singles and then the album… All in all, I don’t understand. That’s another mystery of the UK pop scene that I have to unravel yet.

I personally am not too much troubled with the lack promotion, and I think the lads have no need to be either :D They’ve had plenty of success with the album and now they’re getting ready for the tour… Anyway I think the music video was worth the wait! Even the few pictures that were released the day before hinted that things will be a little different from what was expected. Well, it was clear there would be some sort of a military theme, but it would be approached in a quite different way than what we could have imagined after the BRITs performance. btw, the video was shot in Bulgaria! lol

An interesting thing I’ve found out, or more like realized, is the difference between simply hearing a song and seeing it with a video for the first time. The moving pictures strongly influence what you think about it and the impression it makes on you… Nevertheless, the song is created a long time before and usually, at the time it’s written, there’s no thought about the video at all… It’s just a song being written. The video comes later. Sometimes it is more fitting, sometimes there’s a bit of a story made up from somewhere else… sometimes it doesn’t fit at all and it’s more of a joke… What I’m trying to say is, that we must not forget that the song has been living its own life even without the music video.

I dare you, if it’s worth a try for you, try not to watch the video, and have only a listen first. And then watch it a bit later. I first heard the song sometime in the autumn, and the first impression, the first feeling is still in me: a very lively, energetic thing, with strong rhythm. Very… inspiring, so to say. Oh and don’t be surprised, it’s a Progress song, so don’t expect it to be similar to the songs I’ve played you so far. *I still do not own a copy of Progress, so some kind of a report, remotely resembling a review, will not happen in the near future, I’m afraid. I don’t even know all the songs yet. only what appears on the radio, or just small samples…* There. I’ve talked enough. Kidz:

So, what do you think? We (= the international internet fan community), and not only us, are over the moon, of course! Omitting the fact that we are so happy to see them again and that they look awfully good… It induced a lot of analysing and discussing… And I’m telling you, after about three or four times you see it, if you really try and look under the surface of things, and discuss it with the others, you can discover some pretty amazing things :) What fascinated us the most, was that the characters Take That represent in the music video, reflect their real characters and the roles they have in the band. (Like not that they play the roles, it’s just who they are.) Gary– Captain Barlow, captain of the Take That ship, he’s the power, the force that drives the band forward. Howard – the heartbeat, the rhythm. Jason – the vision. Mark – the voice. Robbie – the dynamic force, joy.

That’s enough for now... In March there’s a few more television appearances ahead of us: Red Nose Day in the UK and then some Netherlands, Denmark… So we’re all curious how it turns out.

And now it’s time for the important question towards the readership:  Apart from the occasional news, we are now going to tackle the Ultimate Tour. But there’s a bit of a catch: the Ultimate Tour consists of the biggest hits from the 90’s, although some of them in a different light. I thought it might be interesting to compare what a specific song looked like originally and how they interpreted it 10 years later… But I’m not sure. It would be more interesting with some songs than other… Anyway, my question is: Would you be interested? Would it be acceptable for you to have the same song twice in an article, each time in a different light? I’m just trying to find out in what way, what format, I should introduce the Ultimate Tour. Please, give me some advice. Originally I was going to do flashback articles about the 90’s, but now it’s clear that the connection to the Ult. Tour cannot be avoided… So what do you think? I’m waiting for your comments! :))

God save the Queen, God save Take That and God save all of you!

P.S. Sorry, the question is no more relevant for you, readers of May 2012, but feel free to make any comments either here, or if you can’t, visit the Official Take That forum and make your voice be heard there.