Monika's Pensieve: "My Take" - Gary Barlow's autobiography

I started reading Gary Barlow's autobiography My Take yesterday and I got so hooked! I wasn't expecting that! I mean I was expecting to enjoy it because I'm in a Take That nostalgia phase at the moment, but not this much. Even though I started reading quite late yesterday, today in the afternoon I had it finished (and I'm not exactly an avid reader).

I mean it's probably not a book that somebody who has no idea who Take That or Gary Barlow are would enjoy, but I think there's quite a few people who are not fans, but would enjoy the read (and I think that's a big compliment to his writing). It's really funny in places, sounds very honest and at least for me (not knowing much about the music business) it was interesting also in terms of how this sort of work is done, what happens behind the scenes. There's also a bit of insight into the differences between the British and American music industries. Of course there's lots of scandal and drama as well ;), but as long as you keep it in the context of the book, somehow it doesn't sound cheap (well not to me).

I think I'm not breaking copyright laws or anything if I quote a few parts of the book - certainly some of the media have done it and in fact quoting it as if they were part of an interview not the book. At least I'm saying exactly where I got these quotes from and encouraging you to give the book a go if you think it might be for you :)

This is part of a chapter in which Gary details some of his stranger experiences of working in clubs (before Take That he had a solo act playing and singing in various clubs in the North of England):
some of the clubs in Yorkshire had a disconcerting way of showing their appreciation after you finished. The compere would get a mic and say, 'Come on ladies and gentlemen, show your appreciation for Gary. I think you'll agree he's well worth sixty quid.'
At another Yorkshire club, I was halfway through 'Love on the Rocks' when a guy got up on the stage, walked right in front of me, switched on the compere's mic and said loudly, so as to drown me out, 'Pies 'ave cum.'
Every chair in the place was scraped across the floor as, en masse, they all stood up and got in line for their food.
On another night I was on with a duo from London, a couple of black guys who were really good.
'Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a couple of darkies who've come all the way from London. We didn't really want 'em, but now they're 'ere, show 'em some appreciation.'
As I say, working the clubs was an amazing experience.

About Take That's first video:
Beforehand Nigel got us all together to reveal an amendment to the masterplan.
'Lads, we've got to get the video banned.'
How in the hell were we going to do that?
(...)
I have to admit that we loved the finished version, not that anyone ever saw it. To get something banned a TV station has to want to play it, and none of them ever considered the unedited version. All we could get played, and then rarely, was the clean version.

And here by the way is what Gary calls the clean version :D

And if you're wondering after seeing that video - yes, they were trying to appeal to a gay audience (they regularly did gigs in gay clubs in the early days of their career). And actually there's a lot about that aspect of Take That in the earlier chapters of the book (and it's mostly very amusing).

About fan mail:
Among the fan letters were a lot of naked pictures, but some were more off-beat. I had one fan, Ilona in Germany, who was a policewoman. She used to send me pictures of herself taking part in riots. She'd be all dressed up in combat gear, complete with truncheon, hitting people - that freaked me out.

Anyway, the book is really a lot of fun to read (as I think you can see from those quotes!), there's a lot more very amusing and interesting stuff in there! :) There are some sadder, more emotional chapters as well - like the ones about his unsuccessful solo career, but particularly the last one which details his experience of being on one of the trains in the 7th of July London bombings.
Part of what I think is so great about his story is that he seems to be a very ordinary guy in many ways - I don't mean that nastily. Just that if he had chosen a different career he would have probably been somebody with a very quiet and "proper" life, but instead he ended up a performer doing things like the Do What U Like video that I've linked to above ;) I think the contrast between the two makes his story somehow nicer (well to me anyway ;-P).

On a final note, here is Gary Barlow promoting his book on the Jonathan Ross show (the video is in 6 parts, but each is quite short).

Part 1