Howard Donald is looking forward to Take That’s return Quote:
Take That are back on the road and heading for Wales. The Western Mail’s Karen Price spoke to Howard Donald about fame a second time around
TAKE That’s new album The Circus is apparently packed with cracking tracks. How do I know? Robbie Williams told me.
Well actually, that’s a bit of a fib.
But it’s a fact that Robbie is a fan of the soon-to-be-released recording.
While everyone seems to think that Robbie and his former bandmates are still at loggerheads, the truth of the matter is they are all great friends again – so much so that Gary Barlow, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange recently spent time with him at his home in Los Angeles.
I discover this when I call Howard just 24 hours after it’s announced that Take That are embarking on a major tour next summer, which includes a return to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
So does the renewed friendships mean that Robbie will be joining them on stage this time (when they toured in 2006 Robbie appeared as a hologram)?
“I don’t think so,” says Howard, who, at 40, is the oldest member of the group.
“Robbie’s got his own thing going on and we have got our own thing going on. Take That are four guys. He was a big part of what we were.”
But Howard tells me that they all recently enjoyed some quality time together at Robbie’s house in LA – and he was pleased with the sneaky preview he received of Take That’s new tracks.
“We had a good laugh. We are all great friends. He’s really happy. He did nothing but praise the songs we played him,” says Howard.
“We are pleased about his success. He is doing well.
“He’s got a girlfriend who’s a lovely girl.
“I always said he needed a girlfriend. He is doing fantastic and looks well – he’s laughing a lot and smiling a lot.
“It looks like he’s in a good place.”
But while he may not be pencilled in to join the boys when they visit stadiums in Cardiff, Sunderland, Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester and London next June and July, Howard doesn’t rule out an appearance alongside Robbie in the future.
“We will see – watch this space.”
Although it may be eight months away, Howard already sounds excited about playing live to tens of thousands of screaming fans again.
Tickets for all dates went on sale yesterday morning and more than 600,000 had been snapped up in around four hours, making it the fastest-selling tour in UK history.
“We are looking forward to it. It’s our favourite thing we do.
“It’s the most enjoyable part of being in Take That,” says the father of two.
“Since we started writing the album we’ve been coming up with ideas. Lots of songs have been written to keep in mind for the tour.
“There are big performance songs on The Circus – that’s why we called the tour Circus.
“We are coming up with ideas all the time.
“We do like to invest in our shows and put a lot of money into them.
“We never do anything on the cheap when it comes to tours.
“We don’t want to disappoint.”
Take That’s last tour was so successful because of the pure showmanship.
“You can get as much of a buzz watching Oasis rocking on stage with guitars and playing songs but we like to do things a bit different and jump up and down and do whatever and have more of a theme to our show.”
Howard admits they particularly enjoyed playing to around 60,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in June 2006. The gig is one of the greatest shows ever seen at the home of Welsh rugby.
“Because the roof closes, it feels more intimate there. It feels like a massive arena.”
And he says the pressure’s now on to recreate the magic.
“We try to better our previous shows. Sometimes that’s quite difficult to do. But as long as we can keep on a par and be creative.
“We just want people to go away and say they enjoyed it.”
Take That formed in the early ’90s and their breakthrough came with a cover of the ’70s Tavares’ hit It Only Takes A Minute. After chart successes with tracks like I Found Heaven, A Million Love Songs and a cover of Barry Manilow’s disco hit, Could It Be Magic, the heady days came to an end when the band split early in 1996 – just months after Robbie Williams walked out.
All of them went on to carve out solo careers – Gary and Mark both released albums, Howard focused on DJing and Jason went into acting – but Robbie, often regarded as the least talented, was the one who enjoyed superstardom thanks to his hits like Angels, Millennium and Let Me Entertain You.
But in November 2005, when we thought the others had sunk without trace, they were the subject of a TV documentary about life after Take That.
Within weeks, they had released an album, Beautiful World, and announced plans for a tour.
Now while Robbie’s career appears to lie in the doldrums, Take That are back on a high.
Howard says fame is better second time around as they have families which keep their feet on the ground.
“Three of us have got kids now,” he says. “We have that security with us now.
“The first time round we only had Take That and it’s all we lived for and worked for.
“Family is now part of the equation. We move our schedules around to fit our family needs.
“We are much more relaxed now and it’s more enjoyable.
“The most important thing is our children. It’s good for them to see [Take That’s success].
“I don’t let fame go to my head. I walk around a lot of the time with my hat down.
“It doesn’t stop me going out – I go where I want to go and do what I want to do. I don’t want it to stop my normal life.”
Howard hopes to continue with his DJing career, which takes him to clubs throughout Europe.
“I love it. It’s a real passion of mine – it keeps my feet on the ground. I was doing it last weekend. I’ve only been doing three dates in a month. I could do three days a week.
“But it’s mixing the life of Take That and two children in two different countries and DJing as well.”
Howard has two daughters – nine-year-old Grace who lives near him in the Bournemouth area and three-year-old Lola who lives in Germany.
His elder daughter usually spends the weekends with him and they both travel to Germany to see Lola.
“My down time is spent with my children.”
And it seems they aren’t too concerned that their daddy is a star.
“My three-year-old doesn’t understand and my nine-year-old goes to school but isn’t the type of person to brag about it.
“But the difficulty is when I take my daughter to school and see a lot of mothers who were into the group so it rubs off on the children.”
While Take That used to appeal to the “teeny boppers”, they now appear to have a very broad fanbase. “I was in a service station not so long ago and a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls came up to me for an autograph – it was just like being in Take That the first time round.
“I think our fans range from eight to 50. You can see that when you look into the crowd.
“Girls are with their boyfriends and there are kids on their shoulders.
“It’s good to see that. The albums have crossed over and more people are buying the albums.”
The phenomenal success of the Take That reunion seems to have rubbed off on other bands, who have now reformed, including Boyzone.
“I think we might have sparked off an idea – I have to apologise for that,” he laughs.
“There’s obviously still a market there for them. The likes of Boyzone have done well recently and why not? There’s still a demand for them.”
Take That will be at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on June 16, 2009. The Circus is released on December 1.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz....2160263
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