| Welcome to Westlifefanaticvip. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Simons Pet (about Westlife) | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 30 2007, 10:44 AM (305 Views) | |
| JoanneVIP | Oct 30 2007, 10:44 AM Post #1 |
|
THE BOSS
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHILE it may seem inconceivable, Westlife has Simon Cowell to thank for their career which spans almost a decade now. While any fan worth their salt would know that acid-tongue Cowell was the man responsible for making the band, which in Britain ranks at number three with the most number one singles behind only Elvis Presley and the legendary Beatles, it's an eye opener that, even today, the Irish quartet are still the apple of his eye. "It's something he really feels for," Westlife member Shane Filan told FLIP in a phone conversation recently. "No matter how much obscene amounts they shovel to him on American Idol, or no matter how many other projects he's got. Westlife has been very important for a lot of reasons, more to sentimentality, for Cowell. When Simon signed us at the very beginning, he wanted us together, picked who would be part of the group and has since then, picked every single we've ever released. "And after 14 No. 1s in Britain, he's prouder of the group than you would ever imagine." While it may seem ironic that Cowell would be so attached to a boyband - an insulting term that many acts try to break free from to establish credibility in the new millennium - it is indeed an obvious testament to his Midas touch, if not Westlife's actual ability to weather the changing musical currents. "He is our A&R for every album, and he's had some great ideas," added Filan. And the group's comeback single of sorts in Home, is another Cowell venture from the Irish lads' latest outing in Back Home. "It's a great album with a lot of original pop songs, and we decided on the cover of Home, originally done by Michael Buble, after Cowell's idea to try it. "THERE was no real reason why it wouldn't work, after all, he's always right," said Filan. On paper, it may seem Westlife may be opting for a return to their boyband roots rather than covers. Despite Allow Us To Be Frank being a forgivable venture which bought them much credibility among music lovers, Filan says the band is making a return to pop. "We've always wanted to do more original music, but the material was at one time hard to come by, though good songs are coming in again. "Luckily for us, we've been associated with some really good tunes throughout our career. Maybe, some would think we should inject more of our selves into our songs by writing our own material, but songwriting is not something we do, plus we've always had the right songs." And who can deny that with their track record? Back Home however, has apparently struck fear into the hearts of their peers - with even the Spice Girls rescheduling their comeback release, despite initially wanting to proceed with a clash of pop titans dubbed The Tits versus the The Hits. "We heard they pulled out and changed their release dates, and all I can say is that it's a compliment to Westlife. I don't blame them really, as everyone seems to have lost against us, and I don't mean that in a cocky way. "Them coming back, they need that and so do we. We don't really care for a showdown, as we're fans of them as well and we're really glad they're coming back. I think more bands from the last decade are coming out of the woodwork, and you see Take That come back with their phenomenal return, it just shows that there are pop fans out there." Filan said it marked a change in attitude to music `as we know it' to music `as we knew it'. "It doesn't get tired. It's pop. We've been around for ten years. Every year it seems to work, and we grow with the fans, and they don't outgrow us. "Take That coming back gave us confidence, as they're much older than us, but they've showed us success is possible still and good old fashioned pop is still alive." He said while many negatively viewed the `90s as the period of manufactured acts with mechanically-churned out hits, it was a period where pop was everything it should be. "Record companies don't want to take chances, but times are slowly changing, and more pop music is coming back in." Who would have thought pop acts were losing ground? Still, pop music seems to be reclaiming its territory. However Westlife, who has, and most probably will continue to, conquer with their tunes, is not going to expand their empire and take on America. Not yet at least. "There is no point going to America unless you have the proper people behind you. The people who are going to get you a tour of the country, and get you on all the big TV shows like Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey." Anyone who would have thought having Cowell in your corner would assume you had it made! "Simon is the man who signed us, picks our music and yes, he's a star in America. He wants us to break into the American market but maybe with another album in the next two years. "Which will be another year and a half away or so, as we intend to do promos and tour with Back Home - before we even get on that. But it's not an obsession or even a real target for us to break the American music scene." For now, their fans, who have helped them set the enviable records are still their priority - and closer to our shores, Filan says Westlife will be returning to Malaysia sometime in April or May 2008 as plans were still being worked out. "Things haven't changed much and I think our fans like the fact that we have normal lives. Westlife is a dream job to me. Screaming girls are a bit of a laugh though it's always nice to get a reception, a reaction like when you're in Kuala Lumpur, and our wives and our partners hardly mind. "It's after all - part of the job." * Interview courtesy of SonyBMG WESTLIFE: THE JOURNEY WESTLIFE officially got together in July 1998. Signed by Simon Cowell and currently managed by Louis Walsh, the group made it big virtually everywhere, failing only to break the American music market. From the pop-py boyband sounds, the group has evolved into a more mature repertoire. With 14 No.1 one singles in Britain between 1999 and 2007, Westlife is tied with Sir Cliff Richard and hot on the heels of Elvis Presley and The Beatles and is the only act ever to win Record of the Year in Britain four times. With 28 platinum discs each for their eight albums, the group has sold more than 36 million albums, though actual figures place the band with higher sales, making them worth no less than 28 million Euros. Back home, the group has been awarded Best Irish Pop Act, as voted by the public at the annual Ireland Meteor Awards, for the seventh consecutive year in 2007. The initially known line-up of Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, and Brian McFadden were actually the six- member, IOYOU (sometimes IOU), with their mates from Sligo Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron and Michael `Miggles' Garrett and groomed and managed by choreographer Mary McDonagh and two other informal managers. They released a single called Together Girl Forever before the band was unearthed by Louis Walsh, the manager of Boyzone after being contacted by Filan's mother. Cowell, however, got his way and two members were given the boot and Byrne and McFadden were recruited. Garrett was later dropped and the group became known as Westside, before they changed their moniker to Westlife, after a clash of names with an existing band. Ronan Keating was brought in to co-manage the band with Walsh, and their big break came in 1998 when they opened for the Backstreet Boys in Dublin. A year later, their first single swear it again was released and topped the charts in Ireland and Britain. Their follow- up If I Let You Go, entered the charts at No. 1 several months later, and the feat was repeated by Flying Without Wings. They became the first No. 1 artist of the new millennium when their double-A-side single, I Have a Dream/Seasons in the Sun knocked Cliff Richard's The Millennium Prayer off the top spot. Their first album, simply titled Westlife, was released in November 1999 and spawned a total of four No. 1 singles. Their next album, Coast To Coast, was released at theof 2000. The duet with Mariah Carey on the Phil Collins classic Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) and My Love hit the top, making their first seven singles consecutive chart toppers. World of Our Own followed at theof 2001 and they had continued success with a remake of Billy Joel's Uptown Girl apart from other songs in Queen of My Heart and World of Our Own. While it may have seem a little too soon, theof 2002 brought about their Unbreakable - The Greatest Hits Vol. 1, as rumours of a split made their rounds. Regardless of that, Unbreakable as well as the double A-side single of Tonight and Miss You Nights were hits, and they went on tour to prove the group was still together. The album Turnaround, at theof 2003, came about and Hey Whatever and Make or Break raced up the charts with the latter hitting the top spot. Their cover of Barry Manilow's Mandy was a hit as well before McFadden decided to leave the group weeks before their fourth Britain and Europe tour, to devote more time to solo projects as well as his family life with former Atomic Kitten member Kerry Katona and their two children, Molly and Lilly Sue. The new look of the remaining quartet returned with a new sound in Allow Us to Be Frank, which affirmed their new adult contemporary sound that showed just how much Westlife had grown. In 2005, after taking a short break, Westlife returned with a vengeance with the cover of Secret Garden's You Raise Me Up, the first single off their seventh album Face to Face. In fact, both the album and the single hit the top of their respective charts, earning them another first. Their second single, When You Tell Me That You Love Me, a duet with Diana Ross was followed by the third single, Amazing. In late 2006, Westlife signed a brand new five album deal with Sony/BMG and came up with their eighth studio album, The Love Album, with a collection of covers. The first single, a cover version of Bette Midler's classic The Rose, became their 14th UK No. 1 single. This made Westlife the third act (along with Richard) in British chart history to have the most No. 1 singles. Westlife's success in Europe and Asia however, has not been mirrored in America. Their debut single and music video swear it again was released in America in 2000 and was a moderate hit. Their debut American album was also released in 2000, and was their only release there. In 2002, an attempt to promote and release an American version of Westlife's World Of Our Own album was cut short due to the sharp decline in the popularity of boy-bands and pop music that year; and Flying Without Wings peaked at No. 10 when American Idol winner Ruben Studdard released it after winning season two of the show. Now, their ninth studio album, Back Home is set for release on Nov 12 with the single Home, a cover of Michael Buble, set to welcome fans back again. Source: Malay Mail (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Thanks to Gitta @ http://www.nishakimabry.de.vu/ |
![]() |
|
| jlovenicky | Oct 30 2007, 07:13 PM Post #2 |
![]()
Jacqueline
|
it's long :o thanks my hunnie.. |
![]() |
|
| « Previous Topic · Interviews · Next Topic » |








7:30 PM Jul 11