FEATURE T IN THE PARK
re pop stars born or created? Robbie Williams. the cheeky Northern raver who took his leave from the surprisingly enduring boy group Take That earlier this month. may be about to find out. On the slender evidence of his pop career so far. Robbie‘s decision to go
his senses.
In a teen-pOp group that was always about a songwriter plus the other four, Robbie was the sparest of parts. Hell. he didn’t even top Smash 3 Hits readers poll of the most fancied member
of the group. But clearly Robbie reckons he has accumulated enough of manufactured
6 The List 28 Jul-10 Aug l995
solo suggests he may have also taken leave of
The List brings you eight pages of news. previews and the running orders at Scotland’s largest music festival
pop’s raw material — the glitter of fame — to turn himself into a solo artiste.
Word has it that Robbie’s big decision was influenced by some big brotherly advice from George Michael who split Wham! in 1985 to pursue a hugely successful solo career. When Michael decided to go-go. Andrew Ridgeley’s career went too. Let‘s just hope Robbie considered all the angles. Maybe he would have done better talking to Kylie i'Vlinoguc. whose career path is a blueprint for any directionless celeb with no obvious talent. After all. Kylie was made by faceless songwriters. producers and image consultants. wasn‘t she‘.’
WHAT’S ON IN THE PARK
S G m L
Kylie Minogue has had almost as many hits as birthdays, but there are rather a lot of people she should thank for her success. Is the pop princess just one of the record industry’s more successful inventions, asks Eddie Gibb.
Kylie‘s pop career is a star vehicle that was set rolling by people who were handy with a rhyming couplet but not quite presentable enough for Top of the Pops. Her hit-studded spell at the late 80s Brit hit factory PWL Records, where artists were reportedly the last to hear the finished records before release, is proof that Kylie owes at least her initial success to the ability of others to put words in her mouth. Kylie herself has since said that at least she was consulted about the artwork for her singles; Sonia or Rick Astley should have been so lucky.
However. like Robbie Williams, Kylie did not embark on a solo singing career as an unknown face. She was already a household name as Charlene. the feisty apprentice grease monkey from Nag/1120mm: By the time this Aussie Barbie doll arrived in Britain, the twice daily visits to Ramsay Street were already a firmly