Flop pop acts from the 90s and 00s.

[MrsBsDayOff]

I thought I was such a cool indie kid as a teenager, but I loved this song!

(edited to add, this was co-written by Pam Sheyne, who also co-wrote Genie In A Bottle!j




Whoever posted the Damage video earlier for ”Love II Love”, thank you! I think it still sounds great today!

I saw an interview on Youtube with Kav, he said he was totally high on drugs the morning he filmed the MFEO video, I think it was the morning after the Brit Awards....

Did you see him on The Big Reunion? He had an alcohol problem and seemed like a very sad person. His mum was seriously ill and he said he had to sell the house he bought his parents, after his career went down the swanny. He seemed to be sleeping around friends sofas (admittedly that may have been exaggerated for dramatic effect).

 

[S4buk]

I’ve mentioned it before but has anyone else read the book ‘Freak Like Me’? It’s all about a 90s/00s pop superfan who literally met EVERYONE. I remember a really sad story about Britney when she came to London for the first time (circa Baby One More Time) and she wanted to stop in Tie Rack at Heathrow to buy a scarf and she wasn’t allowed to. Well worth a read.

 

[Sideboard Bob]

I saw an interview on Youtube with Kav, he said he was totally high on drugs the morning he filmed the MFEO video, I think it was the morning after the Brit Awards....

Did you see him on The Big Reunion? He had an alcohol problem and seemed like a very sad person. His mum was seriously ill and he said he had to sell the house he bought his parents, after his career went down the swanny. He seemed to be sleeping around friends sofas (admittedly that may have been exaggerated for dramatic effect).

Oh gosh, I was just wondering what he was up to now. He must have thought he had it made, I think he supported Take That on tour, he had a single written by Howard Donald, he was everywhere for a short time. I didn’t see that, but poor guy. Even if some of it‘s exaggerated, it’s still sad.

This is why this thread is so interesting. Of course we get to remember some fab songs, but it makes you think about the actual people involved. Some of them happily go back to an anonymous life, but then there’s people like Kav who must have been affected quite badly by it all.

 

[MrsBsDayOff]

Oh gosh, I was just wondering what he was up to now. He must have thought he had it made, I think he supported Take That on tour, he had a single written by Howard Donald, he was everywhere for a short time. I didn’t see that, but poor guy. Even if some of it‘s exaggerated, it’s still sad.

This is why this thread is so interesting. Of course we get to remember some fab songs, but it makes you think about the actual people involved. Some of them happily go back to an anonymous life, but then there’s people like Kav who must have been affected quite badly by it all.

Yep. He's gay too, so covering that up for years can't be easy.

@Sideboard Bob you might enjoy this, Kavana discusses his life at various points throughout the episode.

 

[Sideboard Bob]

Yep. He's gay too, so covering that up for years can't be easy.

@Sideboard Bob you might enjoy this, Kavana discusses his life at various points throughout the episode.

Ah thank you for the link, I’ll watch it this weekend!

I really feeling for Kavana being in the closet. People forget that the 90s was still quite a homophobic time. I used to really fancy David Ross from Bad Boys Inc (another flop act mentioned here), and found an interview where he was explaining that he was in the closet at that time, and felt self-conscious about his mannerisms etc in case anyone would realise.

 

[sleepflowers]

I’ve mentioned it before but has anyone else read the book ‘Freak Like Me’? It’s all about a 90s/00s pop superfan who literally met EVERYONE. I remember a really sad story about Britney when she came to London for the first time (circa Baby One More Time) and she wanted to stop in Tie Rack at Heathrow to buy a scarf and she wasn’t allowed to. Well worth a read.

Yes!! I followed the author on social media ages ago, the book has so many great anecdotes, it made me wish I was that age in the 90s, I would have been all over that TOTP audience!!

 

[nurseren]

I read that they were sort of set up for the crowd to heckle them. They were bullied as entertainment.

they were definitely an industry plant, and their label paid £££ to get them the Saturday afternoon Leeds slot.

Loved the dumdums! The lead singer had such a good voice - Josh I think was his name? ‘You do something to me’ was another one…..

it’s Josh! He still makes music now.

 

[Pinkii]

i remember very young teen me being so overjoyed at billie and richie from 5ive dating.

i have no idea why but i think it was the first time celebrities i followed and knew were dating. Seemed so big to me lol

But I remember they were trying to make it seem like billie and kav were a thing, did they by any chance have the same management?

Also billie piper as a popstar was great! I loved debut album. Still listen to it now.

 

[Jucyberry]

I grew up in the 90s/00s and was an avid consumer of: Smash Hits, TOTP and TV Hits magazines, The Chart Show, Live and Kicking, CD:UK and many other pop shows... i remember loads of pop acts that were heavily marketed but never succeeded, releasing a single or two and if they were lucky an album...then the news would come through of the dreaded D... DROPPED.

I thought it would be fun to start a thread for memories of such acts, links to their videos and maybe updates on what they're doing now.

I'll start the ball rolling with Upside Down. A fly on the wall documentary charted their creation. The 2 singles I remember were both shameless rip offs of Careless Whisper and Pray (the latter down to a shirtless beach video). They were rebranded to Orange Orange but I think the single struggled to make the top 80 and that was the end of them.

I like the one that tries to look seductive but fails dismally because he seems to be channeling a creepy stalker/serial killer lurking by a tree vibe.. Lol.
The others... Less seductive more constipated looking.
The whole video looks like an 18-30 promo for grindr holidays..

Other than that.............

 

[S4buk]

i remember very young teen me being so overjoyed at billie and richie from 5ive dating.

i have no idea why but i think it was the first time celebrities i followed and knew were dating. Seemed so big to me lol

But I remember they were trying to make it seem like billie and kav were a thing, did they by any chance have the same management?

Also billie piper as a popstar was great! I loved debut album. Still listen to it now.

Billie Piper was a GREAT pop star but wasn’t there a massive backlash when she started dating Richie? I’m sure there were numerous articles in the mags about her receiving death threats, being booed etc

 

[Pinkii]

Billie Piper was a GREAT pop star but wasn’t there a massive backlash when she started dating Richie? I’m sure there were numerous articles in the mags about her receiving death threats, being booed etc

Yeh the 5ive fans hated her. Imagine if there was social media back then.

alot of the popstars were lucker then, they only had to deal with paparazzi and the odd crazy fans.

 

[Cupid_Stunt]

Billie Piper was a GREAT pop star but wasn’t there a massive backlash when she started dating Richie? I’m sure there were numerous articles in the mags about her receiving death threats, being booed etc

Yeh the 5ive fans hated her. Imagine if there was social media back then.

alot of the popstars were lucker then, they only had to deal with paparazzi and the odd crazy fans.

I remember when Billie appeared at a Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. I can’t remember if she was there to perform, receive an award or present an award. 5ive were also on the same bill. The minute she came on stage the 5ive fans started booing her. She said what she had to say and then ran off stage

 

[Pinkii]

I remember when Billie appeared at a Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. I can’t remember if she was there to perform, receive an award or present an award. 5ive were also on the same bill. The minute she came on stage the 5ive fans started booing her. She said what she had to say and then ran off stage

Ah i don’t remember that. Must have been very hard for a 16/17 year old at the time

I remember on the reunion show Richie said how bad it was and they could never go out in public and would always have dates indoors etc.

 

[Cupid_Stunt]

Ah i don’t remember that. Must have been very hard for a 16/17 year old at the time

I remember on the reunion show Richie said how bad it was and they could never go out in public and would always have dates indoors etc.

It wasn’t very nice. I remember feeling sorry for her at the time.

It’s briefly mentioned in this 2012 article: “Her pop career led to two Brit Award nominations and a runner-up slot to B*Witched in the Best New Act category at the 1998 Smash Hits awards. The following year she won Best Female but was viciously booed by jealous fans of Five star Ritchie Neville, who she was dating.

7 things you never knew about Billie Piper

1Born Lianne Paul Piper on September 22 1982 in Swindon, her parents changed her first name to Billie three weeks after registering her birth.

www.birminghammail.co.uk

This article from 2006 (I think about the time she was playing Rose in Doctor Who) mentions booing from 5ive fans during other performances

“One night, touring with the other prodigies, she took her turn on stage, and found herself being booed. And the booing went on - night after night. "It was fuckin' awful. Yeah, that wasn't nice.

I was quite aware it was because I was going out with Ritch from 5ive, and he was part of the biggest boy band at the time, and he was a very desirable man, but then it did get personal. It was, like, 'you witch' and 'your fat thighs', and so on. And I'd really cling on to that because we love to cling on to something negative, don't we? It's the good things you just forget about."

Simon Hattenstone talks to Billie Piper

Teen idol, wife, nation's sweetheart - how has Billie Piper covered so much ground, asks Simon Hattenstone.

www.theguardian.com

 

[Fledgling Psycho]

Maybe already mentioned but what about A who had a hit with "Nothing". Loved them, the video to the song & the lead singer. They were so hard to look up on the net being just A.

 

[rebeccasaurus]

It wasn’t very nice. I remember feeling sorry for her at the time.

It’s briefly mentioned in this 2012 article: “Her pop career led to two Brit Award nominations and a runner-up slot to B*Witched in the Best New Act category at the 1998 Smash Hits awards. The following year she won Best Female but was viciously booed by jealous fans of Five star Ritchie Neville, who she was dating.

7 things you never knew about Billie Piper

1Born Lianne Paul Piper on September 22 1982 in Swindon, her parents changed her first name to Billie three weeks after registering her birth.

www.birminghammail.co.uk

This article from 2006 (I think about the time she was playing Rose in Doctor Who) mentions booing from 5ive fans during other performances

“One night, touring with the other prodigies, she took her turn on stage, and found herself being booed. And the booing went on - night after night. "It was fuckin' awful. Yeah, that wasn't nice.

I was quite aware it was because I was going out with Ritch from 5ive, and he was part of the biggest boy band at the time, and he was a very desirable man, but then it did get personal. It was, like, 'you witch' and 'your fat thighs', and so on. And I'd really cling on to that because we love to cling on to something negative, don't we? It's the good things you just forget about."

Simon Hattenstone talks to Billie Piper

Teen idol, wife, nation's sweetheart - how has Billie Piper covered so much ground, asks Simon Hattenstone.

www.theguardian.com

I worked in diesel in Cardiff (you have to remember it was massive back then) when she was filming doctor who, and I caught eye contact as she was browsing and I ‘acted normal’ and just smiled, she did back and looked down being inconspicuous and honestly she was so beautiful in real life. Obviously she is a pretty girl, but there’s lots of them about but in real life she was really stunning. Tv and magazines didn’t do her justice.

Do people remember all stars with Darren off hollyoaks. Bump in the night.

 

[PumpkinKing]

I knew I still had it somewhere!!!!
My signed point break picture

 

[MrsBsDayOff]

Oh gosh, I was just wondering what he was up to now. He must have thought he had it made, I think he supported Take That on tour, he had a single written by Howard Donald, he was everywhere for a short time. I didn’t see that, but poor guy. Even if some of it‘s exaggerated, it’s still sad.

This is why this thread is so interesting. Of course we get to remember some fab songs, but it makes you think about the actual people involved. Some of them happily go back to an anonymous life, but then there’s people like Kav who must have been affected quite badly by it all.

Yeah I find it interesting to find out how the singers discussed in this thread got on with their lives and whether they came to terms with it, after their pop careers flopped. They must have had an awful lot of hype around them, people telling them they're great and the next big thing and suddenly it all ends and the adultation stops overnight.

Even the stories of what the more successful pop acts (e.g. Five) did after their music careers ended are interesting.

Some seem to emerge relatively unscathed (on the surface at least)and pursure careers in the music industry as songwriters or producers (e.g. Peter Cunnah from D Ream). Some go back to a normal job or education and don't seem too bothered by the end of their pop career (e.g. Mariama from Honeyz/Solid Harmonie became a midwife, Lorna from Clock became a lawyer) Others seem to spend years clinging on to what might have been and really struggle that their career didn't hit the heights expected (e.g. Kavana, Steve Brookstein spring to mind).

You hear a lot about sleazy behaviour in the industry and I wonder how many of them were affected. For example gay acts covering up their sexuality, girls being told to lose weight (Billie Piper had an eating disorder possibly connected to her pop image). Maybe there was an equivalent of the casting couch too in the pop industry, not sure but wouldn't be surprised.

Yeh the 5ive fans hated her. Imagine if there was social media back then.

alot of the popstars were lucker then, they only had to deal with paparazzi and the odd crazy fans.

Yes, I remember this as my mate at the time was a Five fan and adored Ritchie and hated Billie Piper. I don't recall the other Five members being fancied as much by girls as Ritchie.

 

[UnknownTattler]

What about this?

 

[Fledgling Psycho]

Yeah I find it interesting to find out how the singers discussed in this thread got on with their lives and whether they came to terms with it, after their pop careers flopped. They must have had an awful lot of hype around them, people telling them they're great and the next big thing and suddenly it all ends and the adultation stops overnight.

Even the stories of what the more successful pop acts (e.g. Five) did after their music careers ended are interesting.

Some seem to emerge relatively unscathed (on the surface at least)and pursure careers in the music industry as songwriters or producers (e.g. Peter Cunnah from D Ream). Some go back to a normal job or education and don't seem too bothered by the end of their pop career (e.g. Mariama from Honeyz/Solid Harmonie became a midwife, Lorna from Clock became a lawyer) Others seem to spend years clinging on to what might have been and really struggle that their career didn't hit the heights expected (e.g. Kavana, Steve Brookstein spring to mind).

You hear a lot about sleazy behaviour in the industry and I wonder how many of them were affected. For example gay acts covering up their sexuality, girls being told to lose weight (Billie Piper had an eating disorder possibly connected to her pop image). Maybe there was an equivalent of the casting couch too in the pop industry, not sure but wouldn't be surprised.


Yes, I remember this as my mate at the time was a Five fan and adored Ritchie and hated Billie Piper. I don't recall the other Five members being fancied as much by girls as Ritchie.

In my experience it was Jay that everyone I knew lusted after.

I absolutely loved Stop Sign Abs did after they broke up.