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An outstanding music book. England's Dreaming for people with a working knowledge of 5ive.' -- Fergal Kinney On 11 February, the Brit awards will break new ground, taking place on a Saturday for the first time in its 46-year history. With performances from acts including Lizzo and Harry Styles, the hope is to “breathe new life into the ceremony, while also introducing a new and more engaged audience”, according to this year’s Brits chairman, Damian Christian, who is managing director and president of promotions at Atlantic Records. Alongside Ian Winwood’s excellent ‘ Bodies’, ‘Reach for the Stars’ acts as a love letter to music and also as a cautionary tale of how the industry consumes, adapts and sets the agenda without any regard for the artists. You won't find a more comprehensive and entertaining pop book than this.' -- Jordan Paramor, journalist and author If you're interested in pop history, I recommend this new book which explores in fascinating detail the dizzy, competitive and lost world of 'manufactured' nineties and noughties pop.' -- Neil Tennant, Pet Shop Boys
Reach for the Stars: The perils of being a 90s pop star Reach for the Stars: The perils of being a 90s pop star
Music journalist Michael Cragg, who interviewed key players from 1996-2006 for his new book Reach for the Stars, said: “Nearly everyone I spoke to go misty-eyed.”I never wanted to be on TV. I was very naive to television. But I think it helped that I was naive. So funny and detailed and, most importantly, with such a clear love and understanding of the people in it. (Michael) strikes such an entertaining balance of fan worship and camp detached wit.' -- The Times
stars from the Spice Girls to On cloud nineties! When music stars from the Spice Girls to
Adele’s acceptance speech for best album (for 21) was cut off to fit in a live performance from Blur (whose frontman Damon Albarn would, years later, accuse her of being “insecure”). Adele flipped the bird to “the suits, not the fans”, and ITV apologised. In the period covered by his book Reach for the Stars, Cragg said, pop stars wanted to win Brits “because it was a shot at recognition that they weren’t getting elsewhere. It was pop versus indie, and winning offered credibility.” But two decades later, pop is taken seriously by critics and every popstar can reach fans directly online. What is a Brit award worth in 2023? I had been touring Europe when I was nine, doing Filipino dancing and singing. I was also on Michael Barrymore’s show My Kind of People. So when we were in the Sugababes I was so comfortable performing and travelling. Nobody buys books. No one's going to read this. No one's going to read these sorts of things. They just don't.' -- Louis Walsh
Mercury made his last public appearance to collect the award for outstanding contribution to British music alongside his Queen bandmates. Looking gaunt, his only words were: “Thank you … goodnight.” He died just under two years later. I didn’t have a great relationship with them because I said Nadine was the best singer. So, obviously the other four hated me. He said: “Sorry, girls, I don’t think you’re quite right,” and went into his office. We’ve both laughed about that since because he was so very wrong. The late nineties to early noughties was the golden era of TV talent shows making sudden pop stars of ordinary people, writes Natasha Wynarczyk.
Gender inequality and outdated voting metrics: are the Brit
Prepare to be left open mouthed...some of the finest secrets from the pop-music landscape of those heady times.' -- Heat From Girl Power to Girls Aloud (and all the glorious points in between), the definitive study of British pop music at the turn of the millennium, told by everyone who was there.
About the Author: Michael Cragg has been writing about pop music for over a decade and has interviewed everyone from Lady Gaga to Lorde, via Little Mix, Shawn Mendes, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. He has written for outlets including Vogue, The Guardian, GQ, BBC, The Observer, Popjustice, Dazed and Billboard. During his three years as contributing editor at The Guardian's Guide! newsletter, he interviewed '00s pop luminaries such as Steps, Emma Bunton and Nadine Coyle. He also edits the independent biannual music magazine BEAT. To have a number one, to be on Top of the Pops, to have artists I was a fan of be fans of my music, it
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