Take That have, no pun intended, quite literally ruled the world of British pop music for the last 35 years, but there’s one huge milestone left to tick off the bucket list.
The band – currently made up of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald – have launched their new three-part Netflix series today, which follows the group’s extraordinary career with unflinching honesty, from behind-the-scenes spats between members to the perils of being the most famous band in Britain, only for their careers to come crashing down as former member Robbie Williams went on to become the biggest British popstar of all time.
Their comeback, however, set the benchmark for comebacks. Take That have spent the last 20 years bigger than they ever were in the ’90s, selling out stadiums and maintaining an unbroken track record of number one albums, even now they’re down to three members following the abrupt exit of Jason Orange. It only feels right that Glastonbury is ready and waiting.
‘I’ve been to Glastonbury as a fan many times,’ says Mark tells Metro. ‘I know it’s not on this year but it would be so nice at some point in our career to play there just because it’s exciting. There’s a massive audience, you get to meet all the new bands, you get to become part of a weekend experience. I’d love these lads to have this feeling, of being here. I’d like to put them in a tent!’
Howard adds: ‘The main thing is about creating excitement as a band I think that’s making new music, which is exciting, and then creating a new tour and new show. That keeps us hungry to carry on.’
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In their new Netflix series, the remaining three members reflect on 35 years of Take That, leaving no stone unturned. Each member airs their grievances with each other and the industry, but arguably, no one takes more accountability for their mistakes than Gary.
He owns up to stifling Robbie’s confidence, shutting down his hopes of collaborating as songwriters, and even giving him a weight complex. ‘I called him Blobbie instead of Robbie one day, which I hold my hands up, I shouldn’t have done,’ he says.
‘We could have been less honest,’ Gary laughs, albeit with a hint of nervous energy. ‘We’ll have different answers but it wasn’t an easy watch. But they’re not meant to be and I do believe it tells a nice, true and honest story.’
Take That’s story is well documented, but for the first time, fans will watch a staggering amount of unseen footage from the band’s early years, as well as behind-the-scenes moments from their comeback and second domination.
Mark said: ‘It’s the first time when Netflix came to us I was quite excited about and we know our story and a lot of people know our story but it was the first time someone wanted to put all of it down.
‘We’ve had up until the beginning, when we got back together and then we didn’t really have anything else after that but it’s the first time someone’s documented the whole 35 years, so you go back into a time capsule to the very beginning, spend a lot of time in that area.
‘We’ve moved on, I’ve got two kids, etc., but the bit that really got me when I sat and watched it was at the end after we finished Progress and Rob came back and then it went 15 years later and showed us in a dressing room arguing about cauliflower cheese and thought, “My god, we’ve grown up.” Seeing that bit for the first time, I thought “we’re old! But what a journey and they were still here moaning about cauliflower cheese”.’
Executive producer Gabe Turner insists it was vital that Take That became a series rooted in unfiltered truth rather than a vacuous promotional video, which has become an increasing frustration in documentary-making. Take That is as much a story about a band’s resilience, willingness to forgive, and emerging from the trenches to come back for good as it is about their career.
’It’s really important,’ he says. ‘We got really lucky because we’ve got a long-standing relationship with them, so they trusted us.
‘If you just meet someone to make their documentary, you have to build that trust on the job, it’s really hard. Whereas with these guys, we’ve known them for so long, they really trusted us, and they just basically said to us, “We know that your intentions are good. Just tell our story in the best possible way, and we’ll leave you to the rest.”
‘They just completely handed us the keys, and they didn’t really push back on anything at all. There was no times where they went, “Oh, can you not do this?” It was just, “This is the story, ask us what you want and we’ll tell you everything.’
Take That is available to stream on Netflix now.
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