Recently I've fallen in love again with one of the best pop bands since 'Steps' took their final bow back in Dec. 2001.
The band is 'Six' and they were formed via the Irish 'Popstars.' After writing about Room2012 the other day I dug up my old Six album and have fallen in love with them all over again. I remember the day I received their album in the mail directly from Ireland. There was a big rainbow on the cover and all I could think was... this is going to be an AMAZING album. Boy was I right!
When the final 6 members were announced back in 2002 the band included 'Nadine Coyle' who is currently a member of 'Girls Aloud.' At the time Nadine had auditioned her way onto the show and ended up being chosen for the band. That was until she finally admitted that she had lied throughout the show and that she was only 16 years old when she auditioned for the band (Contestants were required to be 18 years of age.) As a result she was disqualified and replaced. Obviously she isn't upset because she went on to become a member of one of the best selling british girl bands of all time.
So in February 2002 after months of hype and build up the debut single was finally released. 'Whole Lot Of Lovin' stormed up the Irish charts and to this day remains the biggest and fastest selling Irish single of all time. The single was eventually released in New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Iceland and Sweden where it reached top 5 in all markets.
When their second single 'Let Me Be The One' hit number one in July 2002 the band looked to be on the verge of a the big time. The band toured with Westlife, released a top 10 album and were told that they would be launched in the Uk. The band were keen to break away from the "Irish Popstars" label and break into the Uk market based soley on their music.
As Louis prepared to launch the band in the Uk rumours began to surface that the London record label was pushing to have the band change their name. Apparently the name 'Six' was not very original. Not only was the record label unhappy with the bands name... they weren't convinced that 'Whole Lot Of Lovin' should be the first Uk single as it sounded "too Steps-Like."
A date was finally set for their the Uk release of 'Whole Lot Of Lovin' but that day came and went without a word. Their website went dormant and the band was mysteriously never heard from ever again.
At the end of the day you have to remember that Six were only the second Popstars act to from from the United Kingdom. When the band were launched the only other act around was Hear'Say who at the time were the biggest act England had seen in some time and there were no 'failed' popstars acts at the time.
When the band was launched they were told by their management and their record labels that they were a surefire hit, the songs sounded great and they were going to be rich. When you're 18 years old and you have people around you telling you that you're going to be massive and all your dreams are coming true you have no reason to believe that things could go horribly wrong.
What happened? Where did Six go? Who is to blame for their downfall?
The answer comes down to one man - Simon Cowell who at the time was the head of the BMG Uk. When the time came to finally release their music in the Uk Simon Cowell pulled the plug on the project when he decided that the band were noth worth the financial risk and that they would not be successful in England. Although the band were still being managed by Louis Walsh, the group was under contract to BMG Uk who still owned the rights to release music from the band if they chose to. The problem was, although Simon Cowell had no intention of releasing music from Six in the Uk... he did not release them from their contract which meant they couldn't sign with another label.
So for one year back in 2002 the world was at their fee and Six were on top of the world. If you missed all that was Six you can download some ace tracks below.
*Hopefully I'm not the only one worried about this happening to Same Difference? Their single has been delayed for a second time and looks like it won't be released until the summer.
13 comments:
Oh i loved Six and still do. The album was genius. In fact it stands along side Allstars album as my fave "one album only" releases of all time. I am hopeful that Same Difference will make it big - i'm thinking that the single will be released the same time as the High School Musical 3 bandwagon rolls into town so gets some promotion out of that (what would be brill is if they could wangle their video onto an official Disney rerelease DVD of the first film) - plus whispers have it that it will be a double a side, so fingers crossed. Loving your work lately troy :)
Oooh I love Six! If only their album contained more upbeat songs though. They started recording a follow-up album with the lead single being "After The Goldrush" which you can hear them perform at the Irish version of the Brit Awards:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5DcZvUpFby8
Its very much like POP!'s Can't Say Goodbye. Sadly it was never released...
Paul - Thanks so much dude... I'm glad you guys are enjoying readign it still... makes me wanna keep it up!
Rob - Ive seent hat before and it's awesome... different from anything else they had recorded... i wish they had realeased a cd quality version of that!
I read this post a while ago and didn't have anything to add until I saw the comments today. Troy, did you know AcerBen posted (a studio version of) "After the Goldrush" on his blog? It's here. All I know about Six I learned from people like you all, but if you're into Six I'd think that's pretty exciting (I do like the song!).
Of course, Robpop or Paul may have already e-mailed you about this since they both knew about that as well...
cool great to hear that you were a fan!pity they spilt they could have represented Ireland in Eurovision!
I have this album and love Let me be the one which is classic PWL.
I'd love to see the video for it but cannot find on YouTube. There's a Whole Lot of Loving held less interest as the original by Guys 'n' Dolls is a seventies classic. Six, A Teens, Allstars, BeFour and S Club 8 all filled the PWL/Steps gap when we all needed some catchy cheese!
Whoops I forgot Pop! of course in that list!
Let's never forget Pop! AMAZING
I think i just fell i love with Six. I'm a fan of allSTARS, Steps, and everything basically pop. these 2 songs are amazing! Please post more of them if there's any. =)
Hi
Im selling my (signed) Six album on ebay at the moment, if you're interested in bidding let me know :)
Thank you very much for all this information. I loved Six! I bought their album and their second single and I quite like them! I'm still looking for their first single, but nobody is selling it! :(
Please, can somebody help me to get "After The Goldrush" mp3?
The ironic thing about it all is that Same Difference is covering two Six songs in their debut album.
Can you post their whole album please :D.
Hi there. Where can I find "There's a whole lot of loving"? I'm looking for the mp3. I've tried torrent, emule... but nothing. I'm also looking for a decent copy of that same video. The ones on youtube have a very low quality. Thanks in advance.
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