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

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Mark Beaumont (writer for Melody Maker and NME) It was the first show of strength of the internet because the Brits were the establishment stronghold and here was Belle and Sebastian using the weight of their fanbase to break the stranglehold of pop. I think it was the first high-profile example of the internet being used to shift culture.

When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either."

International

I was very much buying pop music through a lot of this era, so it was fascinating to read the story behind the music, as told by (most of) the people who were there. The majority of this book takes the form of quotes from the people involved - with comments and context from the author inserted where necessary. Michael Cragg is a music writer, who works (or has worked) for a lot of major UK publications - so if he hasn't interviewed the people specifically for this book, he has interviews that he's done with them in the past that he can draw on. So you have four of the five Spice Girls (you can guess which one isn't in this) and members from pretty much every band that is mentioned. As a young person at the time that a lot of this was happening, I found it really interesting to read about what was going on behind the scenes and the press coverage and see how that affected my perception of the various bands and band members involved. And of course the other thing that's really fascinating is how the spotlight of fame affected the people in the bands. Many of them were very young when they joined the bands - and you get to see an array of different ways that fame - or being in a band can mess your life up. But in the early stages of this period, a lot of it was going on behind closed doors - as the book hurtles towards the mid 00s, you see the arrival of TV talent shows and people learning how to be in a band whilst on camera and making their mistakes in public. 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. It’s from Redbubble,” admits Cragg of the Sound of the Underground-branded tee. So, not an original piece of tour merch. ​ “I’m not ahuge fan of all the songs [on the album], but Brian did his best to rescue it,” he adds, the namedrop typical of Cragg’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the period. Cragg’s central thesis is that, essentially, they don’t make pop like they used to. It’s a convincing one. Acts today are neither quite as DayGlo nor as recognisable. There’s no Top of the Pops for them to appear on, no Smash Hits magazine to feature them. Mental health is now centre stage, and there is at last slightly less objectification. The book reminds us of the treatment towards Kym Marsh, member of reality TV band Hear’Say, about whom producer “Nasty” Nigel Lythgoe said: “Christmas is coming, and the goose is still fat.” It points out, too, that Sugababes’ Mutya Buena was required to work throughout her pregnancy, and then, in time to film a new video just a couple of months later: “I was the skinniest I’ve ever been.”

Reach for the clouds up in the sky... I'll teach you how that pretty light came from the sun to you." The central thesis of this book is that this period was a golden age for pure pop (slippery as that term is) before many of its platforms like TOTP collapsed, competition shows obliterated the landscape, and social media drove expectations of performative authenticity. But I have my doubts—for a lot of reasons, but I’ll limit myself to two. Firstly, the current Y2K pop boom is a classic example of how nostalgia warps our perspective. Between the Spice Girls and Girls Aloud, quite a bit of this music doesn’t hold up. Secondly, Cragg understandably wanted to limit the scope of this book to the UK but in doing so he’s made 2006 look like the end of the line. The UK is no longer at the forefront of innovation in pop and that is regrettable but not because we were left without stuff to listen to. You simply cannot mourn 2006 as the death of big silly pop artifice when Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were just around the corner. We think of pop in eras because it’s neat and to a point it can be done but in reality it is a continuum. The market was becoming increasingly globalised, and we were not able to compete at that level.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. 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. Carl Schurz, a 19th Century politician, and former U.S. senator was the first one to use the quote 'reach for the stars' indirectly in one of his speeches. Since then, many influential people have used this quote in many of their saying and speeches.

Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong. Sponsorship & Advertising Policy Reach for the Stars takes a delightful look at British pop music from the years 1996 to 2006. It was a more innocent time, before the dawn of the internet - radio, Top of the Pops and magazines like Smash Hits were the main ways teenagers learned about their favourite bands. CD singles sold in vast amounts and reaching the number one position in the weekly charts was still a meaningful and much-coveted achievement. Scott It was funny but it was mental. Put five young teenagers in a house with no parents and see what happens. There’s a lot of drinking, but also a lot of work. We worked so hard.

Popular Reach For The Stars Quotes

You could include anything you wanted to by using the editable version of our cute printable bookmarks. We're sure that you have some great ideas of your own, but here's a few of ours to get you started: Expand your reach throughout the globe to cities all around. Take risks and do the scary things. That's where the stories will be found." Sean There were frictions within the band. And between the band and management. Then the band and the label. Frictions everywhere. Ritchie At the time, pop bands had always been five people, so they wanted to do something different and have four people. But they couldn’t decide which one of us to lose, so they kept it as five. Which is one of the reasons we called ourselves Five. The more you reach, the more you learn. There's so much here to see. The world has wonders waiting for your curiosity."

When reading this book, you're likely to vanish down a YouTube wormhole, revisiting forgotten gems or favourite songs from the likes of A1, Billie Piper, Sugababes and Steps, or discovering that the music of certain groups still sounds awful more than twenty years later (Atomic Kitten...) I should note that it's not exhaustive, which is OK as the book is long enough without going into even further detail. The focus is on Britain, with occasional references to Irish groups popular in Britain, but not much context outside of this, or else we would certainly be hearing about Aqua, who were massively popular. Perhaps the British band Scooch could have had a mention, as they did moderately well in the early 2000s. I would've appreciated a little more about B*Witched, as the way I remember it, they were almost as popular as the Spice Girls. Regarding the Spices, the chapter would've have more appeal if I hadn't recently read Melanie C's memoir, which more or less covers the same territory. Don't wait for the stars to align. Reach up, rearrange them the way you want them to be. Create your own constellation." Stars are echoes of the past. It's important to look to them for guidance, but as long as people reach for them, they never realize the beauty and potential awaiting just in front of them."Our cute printable bookmarks make a great little gift that can be given to your pupils to recognise all the hard work they put into their reading exercises! And you can include a little message to your students on the editable version of these bookmarks to inspire your students to carry on reading, both in and out of school. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to review an advanced listening copy of the REACH FOR THE STARS audiobook. We are big fans of Emily Calandrelli in our house! Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face, and then reach for the stars."