Oh, the nerve of those fans, you must think, to dare and knock on their favorite member's front door, or just sit for hours on the stairway, and be let inside, like I said, for a nice cup of Irish tea or biscuits, straight out of the oven. They even got guided tours of their idol's bedroom, leafed through their school notebooks, and peeked at their picture album. The fans were very proud of the boys who made it big (fairly big, at least back then), yet still kept in personal contact with their fans.
But July '95 changed all that. Boyzone came back to Ireland as "heroes" and gave a gig in Belfast, which concluded their very successful tour in Europe. That was the end of innocent popularity. They were edging toward worldwide fame, here!
About a hundred screaming female fans were waiting at their doors. Boyzone had become pop stars, mainly because of their two worldwide hits, "Father and Son", and "Coming Home Now" which both roller-coasted high on to every Music Countdown in Europe.
But the competition was still brewing. East 17 had just released another album, and the Backstreet Boys had released singles that swept many girls' hearts in just four months. Boyzone decided that they'd better change their beat, and fast.
So that's just what they did, with their BeeGee cover single "Words", "A Different Beat" and recently, "Isn't It a Wonder".
The beginning of Boyzone's walk (or dash) towards instant fame was totally innocent.
In November '93 Louis Walsh, a club owner in Dublin, put up a notice that he needed three hundred young (gorgeous-looking) lads to try out their talents in singing. Three hundred local cuties took up the challenge and from them five were picked; Ronan Keating (16), Stephen Gately(17), Keith Duffy (18), Shane Lynch (17) and Mikey Graham (20). They made a demo tape, which Polygram record company provided and the song "Working My Way Back to You", a cover of the Detroit Spinners' sixties classic was picked to record.
The critics in Ireland didn't think very much of it, but Boyzone's loyal Irish fans thought differently and got the single to rise high up to no. 3 on the UK Top 40. Walsh, who finally realized that the lads were a big hit, began to push the band into doing more.
He also decided that the boys should continue to cover old songs, if that's what was making them so successful.
"Victim" number two was "Love Me For a Reason", an Osmonds' cover. This single already had it's place reserved, at no. 1 of the Irish Charts. Clever Walsh hurried to London and met up with Ray Hedges, Take That's songwriter (except Gary, that is), so that they could work on a number of new BZ songs. While he was in London, Boyzone were outstanded at how fast it took for "Love Me For a Reason" to go straight in at no. 1 in the British Charts, and that's how their success spread rapidly.
The demand for Boyzone concert tickets grew, and in the end the famous British music mag "Smash Hits" gave Boyzone the title; "The Most Promising Band of the Year". Boyzone (or rather their management) decided to keep on doing cover versions, of course due to Walsh's tip.
After that the boys made time to start writing their very first album, "Said and Done", and from it they released their very first original single, "Key To My Life", which ALSO swept the charts. Their next single, "So Good", was less promising but still successful. When the album finally came out, the fans ran frantically into the record shops, and in just two weeks, Boyzone had reached to no. 1 spot in album sales in the UK and in Ireland.
When "Words" came out and started to attract older audiences, the lads decided to act a bit more seriously about their careers. That meant to start writing more songs of their own and not be controlled by people. They felt it was grotesque that they were only covering other people's songs (by the looks of the new album, they did something about it).
The five boys really make an effort to look responsible and more mature. They think about their answers in interviews a lot more carefully nowadays (Ronan REALLY regrets telling the press that he's a virgin...). They don't make too much of a fuss about how they look and their few dance moves have turned more professional (think "So Good-video" to "So Good"-Wembly Stadium '96).
So there you have it. The story so far. Let's hope they'll continue bringing us fabulous songs and never stop looking great. People, this is just the beginning...
