ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Break Magazine, 23rd May 1997

GARY BARLOW IS BACK AND HOW!

Break Magazine, 23rd May 1997

Is there life after Take That? For ex-Thatter Gary Barlow there is, in any case.

After the split of the very successful group Gary has changed his life drastically. The glamour and glitter are past tense for him and maybe even his dreams of gigantic chocolate bars are vanishing.

Hords of fans, a butler, expensive cars. This was the life of Gary Barlow during his time as the singer of Take That. Gary is glad that he is freed of the hysterics that surrounded Take That.

"I couldn't even go to a movie undisturbed. When on tour I couldn't even escape from my hotel. At the entrance hysterical fans stood time after time. Of course, all the attention was nice, but sometimes you like to go shopping like a normal person or go to a discotheque. Everything was arranged for us. Now a days I have to get my coffee myself and that is wonderful."

Gary also changed a lot.

"I have fired my butler. I also sold a few of my cars. Eventually you can only drive one car at a time. I just don't like wasting money and don't have the urge anymore to be in the spotlights. In the past I was a true workaholic, but not anymore. I give all my spare time now to Dawn, my girlfriend."

Gary eyed dancer Dawn Andrews (27) while working together on the last Take That tour. In the meantime he lives with her in a delightful villa.

Gary is a real familyman. His parents and his brother live with him on his estate.

"I love to have my family around. My father runs the estate. He never lets anyone leave without a basket of eggs. Sometimes I get the feeling I'm living in a zoo. My brother Ian is raving mad about birds. Recently he came to me with a eagle. My mother keeps a donkey in her backyard. Furthermore there are peacocks and cows around here. I am very happy with this quiet, rustic life at the moment."

Besides a new life, Barlow also gained a new look. Where he was pestered by persistant fat-rolls in the past, now he has a slim-lined body with a muscular tummy. This metamorphosis wasn't easy, but Gary thinks he might been seen now:

"I think my body really looks good now, but it will always be a struggle. I do like good food. I even dreamed I slept on a gigantic chocolate bar. I woke up licking my pillow. That's pathetic ain't it?"

Where the other boys of Take That were worshipped for their bodies, Gary was worshipped for his singing qualitys.

Gary: "The photographer had to perform many tricks to make me look fat-roll-free on the pictures for the Everything Changes CD. I feld so ashamed! Over and over again they told me I was getting too fat. They even laughed at me behind my back. During photoshoots, my manager got told right away that the pictures were a failure because my double chins showed clearly again. For a long time now I have been dieting and of course I do a lot of sport. But the result is great! Now I can be proud of my body. Now I can have a laugh at anybody else."

The firing of his manager Nigel Martin-Smith, the man behind Take That, was a horrible experience for Gary.

"Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions. And you can hurt people in the process. I have choosen for myself now and sometimes you have to be hard. I'd like to break the US, but Nigel didn't see anything in it. My attorneys have handled the case. I didn't have the courage to fire Nigel myself. We haven't spoken since. But Nigel is the man that made me what I am today, which I will never forget. I don't know if we'll ever get together again as friends."

As replacement to Nigel is no less then Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls. For breaking America Gary also hired Clive Davis. Not a small guy either; he is the man behind the success of the likes of Bruce Springstein and Whitney Houston.

Gary: "I searched a long time for a new manager. In my opinion I can't go wrong with Simon and Clive. They have made so many people famous....."

Now Gary is working on his solo career, he feels a lot of pressure: "Take That had 8 number 1 hits and 4 number1 albums. I have to match that and that is a very hard task to follow. People expect so much of me."

But Gary won't have to worry, because his latest single Love Won't Wait has become a number1 hit in England already and is showing well in the hitlists here (Holland) already. Love Won't Wait is written by Madonna. The singer laughs: "Madonna didn't write it especially for me. We hardly know eachother. But I've admired her for years. It's wonderful what Madonna has achieved. Love Won't Wait is another indication of her skills. Watch it. Love Won't Wait will become an absolute top-5 hit in your country!"

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Top Of The Pops Magazine, May 1997

Top Of The Pops Magazine, May 1997

He's shed two stone and mixes with the likes of Madonna and Elton John, but left his old manager by sending him a letter! So what's the new Gary B really like?

T.P.: So, why such a long gap between Forever Love and Love Won't Wait?

G.B.: I was re-inventing the whole thing! The album was almost finished when I was given the opportunity to go to America and work with the biggest producers and writers in the world, people I've respected since I was a kid. I'm a few months behind schedule, but I'm glad I went.

T.P.: And does the album sound like Gary Barlow?

G.B.: Open Road has my voice and my style running through it. It has an acoustic quality - but it's not just me and my piano! This is the type of record I could have made with Take That - it could have been our fourth album. People listen to it and say it sounds like the boys are on there. But I keep up with the mood of music at the time, which is fresh and young now. It's a great time for English pop music. It's gonna be a good year.

T.P.: You're about to start over. Again. How does it feel?

G.B.: I'm under a huge amount of pressure to get my act together and I'm worried that people have forgotten me, forgotten Take That. A new phenomenon's come along with the Spice Girls and everything's changed. When I released Forever Love last summer it was to say, "I'm here, I'm working, this is how it looks now and this is how it sounds." Also, I had my fan base just where I wanted it to be. The risk involved in waiting to release Love Won't Wait was that the fan base would lose interest. I've not been able to check the fans are still there, but I'm hoping.

T.P.: Love Won't Wait is a Madonna song. Why release someone else's tune?

G.B.: The emphasis on the album isn't on my songwriting. I don't care who's written the song as long as it's a brilliant record. I want people to say I've a good voice - they already know I'm a songwriter.

T.P.: How does one 'acquire' a Madonna song?

G.B.: It's very exciting innit? I had a phone call from the head of her record label saying he had spoken to Madonna about me. He told Madonna he wanted 'this english guy' to sing her song saying, "You probably won't have heard of him, he was in a band called Take That." Apparently Madonna said, "Aw, I've seen their videos." I was made up about it until I thought, "Ooh, I hope she hasn't seen me dancing!"

T.P.: Robbie's chart return coincides with yours. Again. We're not up for round two, are we?

G.B.: Nah, we've now worked it between his team and mine that Robbie's single is released a couple of weeks earlier. We're supposed to be here to make people's lives better, cheer 'em up by giving them our records. But here we are making war - it's absolutely ridiculous.

T.P.: You recently left the manager who guided you through the Take That era. Why?

G.B.: When I left the band I thought everything would continue with Nigel, but nobody was keeping up with my vision for the album. I desperately wanted to go to America - there's a big future out there if we can get it. Nigel wasn't interested, and I realised I had to go. He's brilliant with new bands, but I'm at a different career stage and a pop set-up isn't enough.

T.P.: Was it a friendly split?

G.B.: No. I really wanted to go in and say, "I'm sorry, it's not working out," but I didn't. I sent a letter. That's the only thing I'm disappointed with myself about. Nigel did a brilliant job with Take That, but sometimes loyalty is an obstacle. I had to go, so I did.

T.P.: Your new manager, Simon Fuller, also manages the Spice Girls. Did that have anything to do with it?!

G.B.: Simon was the reason I left Nigel, although I hadn't met him at the time. But he's had years of success in America and not just with the Spice Girls. He's used to working with all the people I've been working with on this album here and in America. He's perfect. He's a lovely guy, too.

T.P.: The then unknown Spice Girls' Wannabe knocked Forever Love off No 1. Were you angry?

G.B.: I think Wannabe is just a novelty record that everybody loves. It's been No 1 everywhere and I can understand why. My mum's into the Spice Girls. SHe said to me ages ago, 'They're gonna be big!' and I was like, 'Nah, I don't think so!'

T.P.: Now. Been working on the old diet, haven't you?

G.B.: Ha ha. I'm at my perfect weight now. I was 13 stone in Take That but now I'm down to 11. It was a conscious effort to get my weight down. I've cut down on me food and I exercise more, I used to eat six chocolate bars a day easy. Two spoons of sugar in coffee, always three-course meals at night. The best food in the world is really bad for you. And I love it.

T.P.: Will the new shape last?

G.B.: It'll be interesting to see how long I can keep it going! When that sweet menu arrives it's hard to say, 'I'll give that strawberry cream a miss.' I was feeling really big again after Christmas. It was 'orrible.

T.P.: How important is your image to your career?

G.B.: I want to feel confident about the way I look and I never did in Take That. I can't go out feeling shy and unable to look people in the eyes. I don't want to wear clothes that make me look slim. I'm working at it instead. I now have the confidence to wear what I like, I'm able to stand up there and feel proud of it all. I now feel the best I've ever felt about myself.

T.P.: But you hate having your picture taken.

G.B.: I want people to have a certain picture of me in their head. I don't really want my picture walking down the Kings Road looking rough. I don't want my fans to see that. I want to look the way they want me to look. Suave and sophisticated? Phrrrrt! Maybe not quite that good!

T.P.: You have a reputation for being a big tight...

G.B.: Hmmmm I understand the value of money. To do that you've got to be careful with your money - but then go out and have a real blow out, just buy loads of things! I went shopping about two months ago and I nearly cleared Dolce & Gabbana, I tell ya. They've got lovely stuff in there. I'm into clothes now.

T.P.: Are you still a workaholic?

G.B.: For the first time I've had the time to relax as well as work. I've been watching lots of TV - I love Eastenders. I watch all the episodes then the omnibus on Sunday. I really want to be on This Morning with Richard and Judy, who are brilliant, and I've asked to do the Clive James Show too. I'd refuse to sing with Margarita Pracatan though! (*GBDL Members: read the transcript from The Clive James Show for an interesting revelation!)

T.P.: Ahem. Any non-couch potato interests?

G.B.: I'm into geography. I have some amazing atlases and travel books - I could be the next Judith Chalmers. I fancy going to the Galapagos Islands and doing an hour-long turtle documentary. We went all over the world with Take That, but we couldn't look around because it was difficult leaving hotels without being followed around. Travel absolutely fascinates me now.

T.P.: Will you be given enough time for sightseeing this time?

G.B.: Oh yeah, I'm in charge now! Let it be known - I'm the boss!

T.P.: There isn't much about you and Dawn in the gossip columns these days.

G.B.: We don't advertise our relationship and I like to keep it that way. We're not Patsy and Liam. It's hard enough to keep a relationship together, without the pressures of being watched.

T.P.: But you didn't go to the Brits together?

G.B.: I often go out on my own. We'd love to have fun together but I'd feel sorry for Dawn if she was forced into the spotlight, cos she hates the attention. Dawn holds tight to her own life, she still works and she's enjoying herself.

T.P.: Any sign of wedding bells?

G.B.: I never said I was getting married - well, not soon, anyway. I'd consider marriage - it's a long old life to be on your own - but not for three or four years yet. There's too much, way too much to do. I've too many ambitions left.

T.P.: Which ones are they then?

G.B.: In four years I'll have done a couple of albums and two tours. I'm hopefully touring in Spring '98. I'd like to find an artist, maybe a girl singer, to write songs for and produce. Ummm, but that's a future project!

T.P.: Is that a control thing?

G.B.: I want to watch someone do what Take That did, to help them. It would give me a complete buzz but I'd need to find an unbelievable talent to inspire me. I could never work with an image without talent, only 'potential'. It's not a money-making thing.

T.P.: Quite a businessman, aren't you?

G.B.: I find the business side easy. In Take That I was attentive, studying and watching what was going on every step of the way. They were my learning years, my apprenticeship.

T.P.: Do you ever feel old?

G.B.: I never feel old. Every day I feel as though I've learnt something new. I thank God for all my time in this business, cos it can be short-lived. I feel very positive about the future. Fingers crossed time, I think! Seriously.

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Now Magazine, 22nd May 1997

Now Magazine, 22nd May 1997

He's a nice lad is Gary Barlow...still lives with his mum and dad, even though he's a multi-millionaire pop star on the verge of making it big in America. Mind you, at 26 Gary felt it was time for a little independence. So while he shares his house on his 60-acre estate in Cheshire with girlfriend Dawn Andrews, his mum and dad have their own house in the same grounds.

Elder brother Ian also has his own place there - courtesy of little brother Gary, of course. "I love it there," he says. "I've been working non-stop lately but, whenever I've got a couple of days off, I go home to Cheshire. I go and see my mates, go down the pub. That's the brilliant thing about living at home. People don't see you as anybody different, so you actually go back to being you at home. And I love just being me."

Open Road, Gary's first solo album since leaving the hugely successful boy band Take That, is released on May 26th. His latest single Love Won't Wait which went straight to Number One in its first week of release, was written by Madonna. But Gary, who wrote six Top 10 UK hits for Take That and won four Ivor Novello Awards for his songwriting talents, isn't going to waste time worrying that other people share the credits this time around. "It's wrong to talk about songwriting ability being everything. Whitney Houston's never written a song in her life," he says. "It's about having a good song and getting on and doing it."

EXCLUSIVE - Gary Barlow live @ Live @ Apollo Theatre 1997 PREVIEW

Just a preview from the amazing Gary barlow concert live in Manchester - 1997 ! Follow TakeGaz on Twitter and Facebook for the full recording !

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW The Sun Newspaper, UK, 3rd May 1997

The Sun Newspaper, UK, 3rd May 1997

Interviewd by Andy Coulson

Ask Gary Barlow to analyse the difference between the success of Take That and The Spice Girls and he'll answer straight away from the wallet.

"Huge worldwide companies like Mercedes and Pepsi are paying a fortune to sponsor the girls" he says. "Take That had Kellogg's Corn Pops. I think that says it all." For Gary, a self confessed tightwad, the Spice Girls' incredible rise to fame has left him full of admiration and just a little bit envious.

He adds: "I've watched The Spice Girls clean up and wondered, "Why didn't we do it like that? I don't think they're any bigger in Britain than we were at our peak. But the marketing of The Spice Girls and the success they're having in America is phenomenal - and we should have had it first! I think they watched Take That for six years and took what we did one step further. Now the girls are turning over multi millions in less than a year."

"I'm not complaining because I came out of Take That with more money than I could ever spend but I do think there were missed opportunities. We had a hit in America with Back For Good yet we were completely unrecognisable over there. The Spice Girls had a hit with Wannabe and were almost instantly a household name. It was partly because we didn't have the time to promote ourselves but mostly it was down to our American record company RCA being so crap."

"I got together with the other lads from Take That recently and we talked about The Spice Girls. It doesn't seem fair that we had all the same hassle and grief as them but, as a group nowhere near as much money. I know the girls and I can see a lot of similarities to how we were when we were the hottest thing. They're professional, hardworking and lively and their characters are very similar to us. "My only worry is that they've become very famous, very quickly. I hope they don't disappear as fast."

Gary has been closer to The Spice Girls' success than most as they share a manager, Simon Fuller. With Fuller - now a serious player in US music circles - Gary stands a very real chance of making his American dream a reality.

He also has the backing of one of the most influential men in showbiz, Arista Records' Clive Davis.

They have helped him create an album of self-penned songs, co-writes and cover versions painstakingly made with the difficult-to-please Yanks in mind. But one man not now in Gary's life is Take That's creator Nigel Martin-Smith. Gary admits - not without shame - that he parted company from Martin-Smith because he didn't 'fit in' with his ambitious plans.

"It's not something I'm at all proud of" Gary says. "And I did it in a really s**t way. I sent Nigel a letter from my lawyer and didn't even phone him. He had no warning and it must have been a hell of a shock. But I couldn't cope with doing it face to face. After six brilliant years I just couldn't walk into his office and tell him I was looking for a new manager. But it was time to move on and Simon was the right man to help me crack it as a a solo artist here and in the States. He has shown that with The Spice Girls. I can never repay Nigel - I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him - but I just had to act in my own best interests."

Now that he's on his own. Gary - always the ugly duckling in Take That - knows how important his looks will be as a solo artist competing with the likes of George Michael. He decided a washboard stomach was the way to make sure his career doesn't go belly up.

Gary, 26, is now a devoted keep fit fanatic and is in incredible shape having lost two stones. He says: "I was always the least fancied one on Take That. I was determined to change myself. I still have very vivid memories of stepping off the tour bus to be confronted by a thousand screaming fans - only for every one of them to push past me to get to the other lads. I absolutely hated photo sessions and video shoots. But I've worked hard to get in shape and I really do feel like a new man. It was a combination of dieting and working out and it has changed my life."

Gary transformed himself with the help of his stunning girlfriend, dancer Dawn Andrews, 27. The pair started dating on Take That's last tour and Gary has hinted at marriage.

"If you'd asked me six months ago, I would have said Dawn and I would be engaged within two years. But I think it's going to be a lot sooner than that now. My career is hopefully going to move up a step and from now on I'll be spending two weeks of every month in America. Dawn has her own career and being apart is bound to put an enormous pressure on us. But if we can survive the mad period that's about to start then I think we'll be together forever. We've talked about it and we are realistic. But I love her - she's a fantastic girl and we have a great relationship. If we keep it together. I'd want to have children and that's when we'd get married. Now is just the wrong time."

Gary is already looking at buying an apartment in New York as a base for his US jaunts. Home, however, will always be his 60-acre Cheshire estate he shares with Dawn, mum Marjorie and dad Colin.

The reported £6million he pocketed as Take That's songwriter is safely invested in that £1million house and the antiques that fill it. Gary's first single for ten months - Love Won't Wait, written by Madonna - will chart on Sunday. A Top Five hit would be great - a No 1 perfect. "The Spice Girls have shown it can be done. Now I want to be flying the flag as well."

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Ma'Ariv Lanoar, Israel, April 97

MA'ARIV LANOAR INTERVIEW

Ma'Ariv Lanoar, Israel, April 97

M.L.: The achievement list of Take That is huge. As a solo singer, do you have more things to wish for?

G.B.: I want to sell more records then we ever sold as a band, I wanna break the American market and break selling heights. A lot of artists say 'I don't care how much I'm going to sell', but you can know by that that people make temselves time in the day to go to a store and buy your album, and they probably listen to it. In our time we thought that we did everything, but no, I think that I can be much more successful then what Take That were.

M.L.: To reach out to different crowd is also one of your wishes?

G.B.: Not sure. I think that everyone that was a Take That fan will accept me as a solo artist, this album is not far from the things I taped with the band. In a lot of ways it reminds me of things that we taped, like Back for Good and Pray. Its still pop music and anyway my voice reminds immediately of the band, so I don't think that the fans feel a big change. It's continued exactly from the spot that we stopped.

M.L.: Do the other four think that too?

G.B.: Howard and Mark heard a few songs, and said that they love it. I think that they hope I'll succeed cause my success builds the way for their careers too.

M.L.: Do you keep in touch?

G.B.: Yes, and now there's no job that interferes with our friendship. I see Howard 2-3 times a week, Jason almost every month. Mark and I really haven't met for long time. I think he's really trying to stop being with us And of course (laughing) no one's seen Robbie.

M.L.: Are you still not talking?

G.B.: Me and Robbie went in totally different directions since the split. It's a weird situation, with Rob. He's on very weird planet right now. Here, it's been two years, and he's only on his second single. On the other hand, he did a brilliant move changing to pure pop. In the end of things, that's why they loved us as a band.

M.L.: What do you have to say about Mark's music?

G.B.: George Michael left Wham and keep making pop, but Mark left a pop band and started to do indy music, and that's very brave. He went even further then me. It's a great achievement for him, to put out an album all alone, cause in all our 6 years of Take That the other boys were never involved in making music. They almost even didn't go in the studio.

M.L.: They usually compare you to George Michael. What do you think about that?

G.B.: I think it's coming from that he left Wham and started a solo career, but in the last decade they've compared at least 15 people to him. Anyway I don't see how my career is like George's career. My career will be more of me and the piano, and George's is about image, much more then I want for my career.

M.L.: What are the other two doing?

G.B.: I think that in the meantime Jason's just enjoying his freedom, and you'll be hearing from Howard real soon (his debut single Speak Without Words is out probably in the summer).

M.L.: Do you think that you will ever come back to working with a band? With Take That, maybe?

G.B.: I don't think that I'll ever join a band. To come back to Take That maybe, yes, I have this little funny dream that one day we'll rejoin to tape an album and to perform. It will be very amusing, I think.

M.L.: And in the near future?

G.B.: In Howard's album, there's a song that we wrote together before the split, and now we're working on it in the studio. For the rest, I don't think - some of them prefer to forget what has happened with the band.

M.L.: Why? Do they still blame you for the spliting?

G.B.: No, but the reporters are, probably cause I was the one who asked who wants a break from the band. But that was all our decision, and how smart it was. If we were continuing, how could we compete with the Spice Girls?

M.L.: Your new career has brought with her new change of image to you.

G.B.: It's something that I'm working on right now. When I was in the band I didn't care how I looked, what I ate, how much I got fat. It just didn't bother me. I never checked negatives of pictures. But now, when you see me alone on TV, I wanna look in my best, be proud. I think I look the best I've ever looked, and that gave me a lot of confidence.

M.L.: How did you become half the size you had been?

G.B.: I stopped going to restaurants and ordering the whole kitchen, ate 6 chocolate snacks a day and drank 20 cups of coffee with 2 sugar in it. I do 200 different exercises a day. I saw all the jokes that Robbie got in the last years because he's fat, and I don't want it.

M.L.: While in the band you were always single. Right after the split, you all brought girlfriends of your hats. Didn't the fans get mad for you lying to them?

G.B.: We didn't lie. Our girlfriends were around about four years, but no one knew! With my girlfriend, Dawn, we've been going out since the last tour.

M.L.: Sounds interesting.

G.B.: Yes, there is marriage and kids on the plate, but only in three years maybe. Anyway, things are going to happen with me much slower now, I'm not going to make new albums every year. The performances will go on - I'm not going to dance anymore, never. Even though, they're going to be much longer, and for a change, with a lot of music. In the future I hope to start to produce projects and write for the best artists in the world.

M.L.: Like?

G.B.: Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Michael Jackson...people like that.

M.L.: They're all Americans. (Editor's note: Celine Dion is Canadian.)

G.B.: That's right. I can't think of British artists that I fancy.

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW The Ticket, NBC Europe, 29th April 97

THE TICKET

The Ticket, NBC Europe, 29th April 97

This interview was made during the videoshoot of Love Won't Wait in a south London hangar. During the interview, scenes of the videoshoot and of Back For Good are shown while the interviewer comments. Gary gives his answers sitting on the site of the shoot wearing a black T-shirt and trousers.

The piece starts with a part of the clip of Back for Good.

C.L.: In the haydays of Take That it were Mark, Robbie and Jason who received the lion's share of the adulation of the teenage fans, but it was Gary's songs who got them there in the first place. Now the record bosses are banking on his skills as a songsmith to make him the solo artist from the caliber of the likes of George Michael.

Gary walks along a road in the set showing the viewers around:

G.B.: And here we are; this is the last big post. Don't keep your hands on the electric cables there now.

C.L.: To show their faith they spent a fortune on his promo to turn a hangar in the south of London into an exact copy of a road in the south of France.

Shown are a few pieces of videoshoot going on.

C.L.: The lyrics of the new single, Love Won't Wait, are courtesy of Madonna. The Evita-star sent a demotape to Gary to work on, but she wasn't so keen to meet him in the flesh.

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Clive James Show, UK, 27th April 97

CLIVE JAMES INTERVIEW

Clive James Show, UK, 27th April 97

C.J.: Gary Barlow. (Gary enters the stage and sits down)

C.J.: So Gary you've come pretty well full circle because you started out on your own didn't you?

G.B.: Do I really have to tell you!

C.J.: Confess.

G.B.: I started playing when I was about eleven I used to be a pianist and by the time I was sixteen and just about to drive my own car I had an act of my own. I used to do some embarrassing things, I used to sings songs like Phantom of The Opera, my mum made me a cape once.

C.J.: Phantom cape?

G.B.: Phantom cape, I didn't need the mask!

C.J.: Did you lug your own gear in those days you must have had a lot of stuff?

G.B.: There was my Ford Orion, was full of gear right up to the roof. I arrived at this club one night, it was in Liverpool actually, and pulled up at the front and got to the guy at the front desk and said "Where shall I bring me gear in?" He said "Oh bring your car round the back son, no problem". And I took me gear in that way and did my first spot. But me Nan lived about 15 minutes down the road so I thought 'Beautiful, I'll go and see me Nan in the break'. Got out in the car and it had been raining, windscreen wipers shifting the rain off, put it into first gear ready to pull away and the wheels spinned. I thought 'Wow that felt good', you know Miami Vice had been around at the time. So I put it into first gear and span it a bit harder. It was really going at this point, within the next ten minutes I was revving up to 40 mph, spinning the car 180, reverse 180. Anyway I realised I'd spent all this time doing the Dukes of Hazard I'd better get back in the club. So I went back in the club and did me dance spot. Are you keeping up with this? (Laughs) I went back in the club, end of the night - fantastic night - and I said to the same guy "Where do I get my gear out?" and he said "Where are you parked, on the bowling green?". "Bowling Green!" I'm telling you I've never put my gear back in the car so fast I still had the wires in!

C.J.: So how did you get your big break?

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Internation Community Radio, 3rd April 97

Internation Community Radio, 3rd April 97

Interviewed By David Wang

D.W.: Good evening and welcoming you to another edition of Youth Nightline right here on ICRT the station of the stars....(info on how to fax or phone questions etc)

D.W.: A big hello to our international listeners via the internet as well, everybody's looking forward to the Gary Barlow interview and we're going to get him on the show as soon as he gets into the hotel room. He has had a busy day and you'll find out more what Gary Barlow has been doing here in Taiwan... (breaks off to interview a reporter in Taiwanese - sorry, I'm not *that* good!)

D.W.: So, Gary Barlow is in the hotel room and he's going to call us later on in just a few seconds... (News stories, time stalling waiting for Gary to phone-in!)

D.W.: Ladies and Gentlemen let's welcome Gary Barlow. Hi Gary!

G.B.: Good evening.

D.W.: Good evening to you, nice to have you on the show again. Remember the first time you were in ICRT studios, that's about 4 years ago, on a very, very, cold winter day.

G.B.: Yeah I do!

D.W.: And how is everything now?

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Smash Hits, 23rd April 97

"We all decided to split up and what a great move it was. If Take That were still together, how could we compete with the Spice Girls?"

Geri's chest wasn't the only one everyone was gabbling about at the Brit Awards. Swankin' along the podium, with the lovely Louise in tow, came the finest sculptured torso The Hits had seen in many a long year. The music 'biz' nearly dropped their canape's when they realised it belonged to Gary Barlow. Gaz, you see, is back. Long gone are the days when he was the talented-but-slightly-lardy one in the pop combo they all called Take That. Now he's muscled up and mouthing off about Sheryl Crow ("a real woman"), his favourite Spice Girl (Emma), Madonna (apparently the writer of his new single, Love Won't Wait, though no one's admitting it due to a bizarre copyright wrangle) and his girlfriend Dawn ("yes we're still together"). He didn't enjoy the Brits much - "Too much attitude, you'd see the Fugees with their entourage and it'd be just ridiculous." The thing is, Gary's still a pretty down-to-earth bloke. He's got his house near Manchester, complete with a massive swank kitchen 'range' and an eccentric collection of animals including dogs, donkeys and peacocks. And here he is, braving his first Smash Hits interview for many a 'moon'. Gary Barlow, what the heck have you got to say for yourself?

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Focus Magazine, Germany, 14th April 97

THE COMEBACK - BACK FOR GOOD

Focus Magazine, Germany, 14th April 97

The year after: Ex-Take That-star Gary Barlow on girls, complexes and his change.

FOCUS: You are 26 and earned millions with Take That. Have you already blown the money?

G.B.: If you have money, you should not only invest it well, but also spend it well. I´ve bought myself a huge villa in Cheshire - you could call it a small castle. I´m also spending too much money on books, clothes and CDs. I have over 15000 albums in my cellar, all in alphabetical order.

FOCUS: You have postponed the release of your solo album "Open Road" again and again. Why did you keep your fans on tenderhooks?

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW Dotmusic April 97

The US opens up for debut album

A year ago, the industry was keenly anticipating the debut solo single from Gary Barlow. The singer himself meanwhile, relaxed and garrulous, was looking forward to the imminent completion of his album and its impending autumn launch. Forever Love duly debuted at number one only to be knocked off the top spot a week later. Then the project slid quietly off the schedules and was put under wraps until now with the release of the second single Love Won't Wait on April 28 and its attendant album, Open Road, scheduled for the last week of May. Had there been a crisis of confidence or was everyone playing their cards very closely to their chest? In fact, Barlow freely admits they chose to rerecord almost the entire album after Clive Davis, the president of his US label, Arista, became involved with the project. "After I played the BMG conference in LA he asked if he could help out on the album and offered to put me in touch with anyone I wanted to work with," says Barlow. "Everyone I asked for he could deliver, so I thought I can either finish this album pretty quickly at home, or I can take the chance of my life and work with all these people I'd dreamed of working with. I decided it didn't matter if it took another six months, I had to do it and I'm glad it's taken as long as it has because I've become more comfortable with being on my own." Barlow duly overhauled the entire album, jettisoning all but three of the original eight finished tracks, recorded with Chris Porter, and collaborated with several big US names including producers David Foster (Michael Jackson) and Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey) and songwriter Diane Warren. Accordingly the album, a mellow ballad-heavy affair, appears to be pitched squarely with the US in its sights, though RCA managing director Hugh Goldsmith maintains that the performance of Forever Love, a worldwide hit everywhere but the States (where it was not released) had no bearing on events. "Clive Davis had always felt that he wanted to wait for the finished album before releasing a single, but at the time Gary felt that he wanted to get a record in the market so we put one out. The decision on the album wasn't influenced by what happened to Forever Love. We simply wanted to make a comprehensively brilliant record and I think we've done that." Barlow agrees the album is now more suited to the States but maintains that wasn't the only thing which influenced his decision. "I haven't done it just for America. This is my most important album, my debut and it's got to be right," he says. "Fundamentally it's still my voice which is probably more English than it's ever been." A separate agenda accordingly exists in the States with a different single, So Help Me Girl, and a June release date for Open Road. Another factor in the delay was Barlow's acrimonious split from his manager of six years standing Nigel Martin-Smith. Simon Fuller of 19 Management, currently riding high with The Spice Girls, takes over officially next month. "It was a real upheaval, a horrible time," Barlow admits. "I lost faith basically. I wanted things to move on, but the ideas weren't right, there was conflict there." One immediate by-product of the partnership is the track Lay Down For Love written with The Spice Girls team of Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe. "I desperately needed uptempo stuff and it worked really well. They're going to be very big writers in the future - great real potential," says Barlow. Barlow's difficulty in writing uptempo numbers explains the presence of several covers on the album - despite his earlier declaration there would be none - including the Shep Pettibone-penned single Love Won't Wait and the Trevor Horn-produced take on Johnny Bristol's Hang On In There Baby. "I struggle to do uptempo stuff, the lyrics are a problem, but it comes together when I collaborate," he says. "Next time I'd like to co-write the whole album, a real star-studded affair - duets the lot." That prospect is a long way off, as Barlow is scheduled for heavy promotional work for the entire year that precludes even touring. "This is a very important album," says Goldsmith. "We need to work it with every ounce of energy and vision to make sure we establish him as a world artist for the future. Our first objective is to nail his career in the UK then move on. We have an ambitious campaign which involves intensive exposure here before he goes to the States and so on." We can expect a tour but not until early '98. "I can't wait to play," says Barlow. "I want it to be really musical, very vocal orientated with five or six backing singers, three or four numbers at the piano. With Take That it was always 'the lights!', 'the dancing!' No one ever mentioned the music." That, without doubt, is all set to change.
Mike Pattenden

ARTICLES - GARY BARLOW 1997 Pops Best 10 Radio Show, Tokyo, 29th March 97

JAPANESE RADIO INTERVIEW

Pops Best 10 Radio Show, Tokyo, 29th March 97

P.B.: How do you like to sing in the studio alone?

G.B.: I love it! It's great!!

P.B.: You look so fit and tight. Are you on a special diet or something?

G.B.: Sushi-diet, yeah .

P.B.: Just for a week, right?

G.B.: No, always. Specially, Sushi, Tenpura, Shabushabu (Gary is talking about Japanese foods.)

P.B.: So you're enjoying a Japanese cuisine this time too.

G.B.: Unfortunately, we have to go tomorrow. I've been here for a week and had a fantastic time. So thanks everybody with made it welcome for us.

P.B.: You're here to promote your new album, right? How do you want the listeners to enjoy your album?