It’s fun to see it from the other side of the Atlantic. He was huge over here. It was also great to revisit some of his videos, he’s a fantastic entertainer with a wonderful sense of humor.
Wow, that Snow Job video! I didn't realize that there had been a Canadian push since I checked out following music in the 90s, but it makes sense because that was a common path for Commonwealth performers to break North America.
Also thanks for that Kids video. I recently bought In and Out of Consciousness and that song has been in my head a lot the last few weeks. It's...something else. Typical of Robbie though.
This is such a great retrospective. Will need to save for the next time I write about a Robbie song!
I've not listened to a lot of Robbie Williams but I do love that Rudebox album. "She's Madonna" is great! I still haven't seen the recent film about him but definitely plan to catch up with it soon!
Rudebox was actually very well-reviewed and hugely popular in Europe at the time. Unfortunately the U.K. press were in full-on ‘tear-them-down’ mode and Robbie’s mental health was suffering, so it got bad press in the tabloids and then he relapsed and disappeared for 3 years having done very little promotion for it. Lovelight and She’s Madonna - the other singles from the album - have never actually been performed live, let alone any of the album tracks. Which is mad when you consider how much important live performance is to music promotion.
According to Tony Wadsworth, the head of EMI when Rudebox was released, that story is likely to be a fabrication. He says that CD productions was just-in-time and they simply would not have warehoused that many for a single artist. It came out during the period when Guy Hands was mismanaging EMI after taking it over and had managed to upset the label’s biggest artists. Robbie’s management announced that he was on strike and would not put out an album because of how Hands was running the label, and shortly after this story appeared. Of course the press ate it up and didn’t question its veracity, and now it is repeated all over the internet.
You are welcome! I find myself repeating it whenever I see someone relate the story - so about once a month! I am amazed that a pop culture podcast or YouTuber hasn’t picked it up and looked into it properly for a debunking episode. If it really was fabricated as part of the PR tussle with Hands that makes it part of a much bigger and more interesting story.
It’s fun to see it from the other side of the Atlantic. He was huge over here. It was also great to revisit some of his videos, he’s a fantastic entertainer with a wonderful sense of humor.
I really love his music. The fact that people over here overlook it is almost criminal.
Wow, that Snow Job video! I didn't realize that there had been a Canadian push since I checked out following music in the 90s, but it makes sense because that was a common path for Commonwealth performers to break North America.
Also thanks for that Kids video. I recently bought In and Out of Consciousness and that song has been in my head a lot the last few weeks. It's...something else. Typical of Robbie though.
This is such a great retrospective. Will need to save for the next time I write about a Robbie song!
I'd forgotten how catchy "Kids" was!
I've not listened to a lot of Robbie Williams but I do love that Rudebox album. "She's Madonna" is great! I still haven't seen the recent film about him but definitely plan to catch up with it soon!
I know Rudebox has a mixed reputation but what I've heard from it is actually really good.
I remember the UK press having a field day when it hit that unsold copies of Rudebox were being used to pave roads in China.
https://www.nme.com/news/music/robbie-williams-88-1338919
Rudebox was actually very well-reviewed and hugely popular in Europe at the time. Unfortunately the U.K. press were in full-on ‘tear-them-down’ mode and Robbie’s mental health was suffering, so it got bad press in the tabloids and then he relapsed and disappeared for 3 years having done very little promotion for it. Lovelight and She’s Madonna - the other singles from the album - have never actually been performed live, let alone any of the album tracks. Which is mad when you consider how much important live performance is to music promotion.
According to Tony Wadsworth, the head of EMI when Rudebox was released, that story is likely to be a fabrication. He says that CD productions was just-in-time and they simply would not have warehoused that many for a single artist. It came out during the period when Guy Hands was mismanaging EMI after taking it over and had managed to upset the label’s biggest artists. Robbie’s management announced that he was on strike and would not put out an album because of how Hands was running the label, and shortly after this story appeared. Of course the press ate it up and didn’t question its veracity, and now it is repeated all over the internet.
Thanks for the info on that!
You are welcome! I find myself repeating it whenever I see someone relate the story - so about once a month! I am amazed that a pop culture podcast or YouTuber hasn’t picked it up and looked into it properly for a debunking episode. If it really was fabricated as part of the PR tussle with Hands that makes it part of a much bigger and more interesting story.