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

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Scott There would be rows that would break into fights. And J would always be in the middle of that. There were points where a couple of us would be recording and then we’d go and the other three would come in. When you're sad, you reach for me. I'll hold you close and tight. I'll teach you how to sing a song about the stars at night." Dreams are like stars. You may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny." Sean The label were in a rush and they didn’t want to wait, so they convinced the band to use a cardboard cut-out of me [in the video for Let’s Dance]. It did hurt a little bit. It was like the label saying, “Well, he’s so miserable anyway and he’s not smiling and he’s so quiet that he might as well have been a cardboard cut-out.” That’s what it felt like to me.

At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents. A lot of it, like the music itself, seems throwaway, the stuff of gossip. We learn, for example, that even in the early stages of the Spice Girls, Victoria Adams was far more interested in shopping for clothes than she was in recording vocals. “She just wasn’t there,” co-member Geri Halliwell says of the Wannabe studio sessions. “Bless her.” It’s revealed that Russell Brand once auditioned for the boy band 5ive, but has denied it ever since More than that though, it dug right into some really thoughtful aspects when it comes to the treatment of pop; the inherent sexism and homophobia that is attached to the critical snobbery when it comes to music genres that predominantly appeal to women and gay men. 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. It shifted abit but then, obviously, The XFactor came along,” he continues. ​ “And that machine was so big and so powerful that you then did have to sort of take what was going on. It was areal rollercoaster, as they say, of people not being able to say what they wanted. Or if you did, you were branded abitch, or difficult, or rude.”However, somewhere around the chapter covering Blue, I started to get the feeling that the narrative was incredibly repetitive. Although I appreciate that Cragg wanted to cover the length and breadth of his subject - the fact that most of these bands split after several years meant that all the chapters ended similarly. Although some of these chapters did include some intriguing titbits; such as Blue being in New York during 9/11 and the swift production of the S Club 7 movie, there were few memorable moments. I thought the smaller chapters covering the rise of Garage music and the anecdotes about being hungover on kids' TV could've been cut completely. The exception to this rule is the chapter on Sugababes; an act that the author clearly has a love for and could've probably written an entire book about. Scott J was breakdancing, which is hilarious because he went on to really not like fame and stuff like that. Everyone was standing in a semi-circle and J was in the middle doing head-spins. Why was everyone 16? I swear all these bands (Steps, Spice Girls, Westlife, etc) were two decades or more older than me, not barely a few years. Seriously, even Geri Halliwell is only 12 years older than me! 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.

Really interesting and informative. A fascinating look at what was going on behind the scenes from the people that were there, delivering these massive moments of my youth. In life, all people need some kind of motivation to move ahead and dream of a difficult goal. Some search it in a book, a movie, a quote, or dreams. These reach for the stars quotes will be perfect for you. In short: Great read for anyone interested in the late 90s/ early 2000s pop industry in the UK - whether this is because you're a fan of the music or want to find out more about how the industry worked. (Though I imagine it's a lot less enjoyable if you don't know the bands: LOTS of names.) Chris Herbert I knew the band were exhausted. But they were also becoming hard work as well. I couldn’t recognise whether it was pure exhaustion, whether they were suffering mentally, or whether they were just playing up. It was a combination of all those things. There was also a bit of bullying going on. Chris Herbert It burned them out. In hindsight, I would never do that again. We took on too much too soon.

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. Broadly chronological, the book spans ten years. It begins with the Spice Girls in 1996, ending in 2006 with the demise of three major media sources for pop music - Smash Hits magazine, Top of the Pops magazine, CD:UK on TV. 2006 marked the end of an era for myself also, as this is when I stopped following the charts, having become disenchanted with the manufactured sounds of pop music and taking an interest in music I considered more authentic and complex. I wasn't so familiar with the music discussed towards the end of the book, particularly the acts resulting from TV talent shows, which I've never watched. Most of the featured acts I remembered very well, however. I liked the chapter on Girls Aloud because of their strong personalities, even though I was never a fan of the music. I especially enjoyed the chapters about 5ive and S Club 7, my two favourites. Sadly, Paul Cattermole of S Club 7 died a week after the publication of this book. Reach for the Stars is a story about a mother's love for her child, watching her as she grows and wishing for the best for her future. In an attempt to keep a lyrical quality to the book, the author chooses to rhyme, even when the word choice might not be the best. Additionally, there are words like curiosity embedded in the story which children will not know. I am not a fan of children's books with complicated words, as it takes the reader out of the story to explain the meaning to their young ones. The overall message of the story is one of hope and positivity, which is not unlike many other stories but well done, just the same. Reach for the clouds up in the sky... I'll teach you how that pretty light came from the sun to you." I try to reach for the stars because if you say you want something small and it happens, you don't believe it. So I try to say something wild and crazy."