Reach for the Stars: 19962006: Fame, Fallout and Pops Final Party: A Times Summer Read 2023

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A Times Summer Read 2023
A Guardian 50 Best Holiday Reads 2023
'This really is a wonderful book for pop kids everywhere' - RICHARD OSMAN

Using the arrival of the Spice Girls as a jumping-off point, this fascinating new narrative will explore, celebrate and contextualise the thus-far-uncharted period of British pop that flourished between 1996 and 2006. A double-denim-loving time before the glare of social media and the accession of streaming.

The bastions of '00s pop - armed with buoyant, immaculately crafted, carefree anthems - provided entertainment, escapism and fun for millions. It was a heady, chorus-heavy decade - populated by the likes of Steps, S Club 7, Blue, 5ive, Mis-Teeq, Hear'Say, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, Craig David and Atomic Kitten, among countless others - yet the music was often dismissed as inauthentic, juvenile, not 'worthy' enough: ultimately, a 'guilty pleasure'.

Now, music writer Michael Cragg aims to redress that balance. Using the oral-history format, Cragg goes beneath the surface of the bubblegum exterior, speaking to hundred's of the key players about the reality of their experiences.

Compiled from interviews with popstars, songwriters, producers, choreographers, magazine editors, record-company executives, TV moguls and more, this is a complete behind-the-scenes history of the last great movement in British pop - a technicolour turning-point ripe for re-evaluation, documented here in astonishing, honest and eye-opening detail.

Reviews

''If you're interested in pop history, I recommend this new book which explores in fascinating detail the dizzy, competitive and lost world of 'manufactured' nineties and noughties pop.'' - Neil Tennant, Pet Shop Boys

''So close to the reality... A fantastic book.'' - Nicola Robers, Girls Aloud

''A must-read for any pop fan. 5/5.'' - Classic Pop

''A hoot. You don't so much read it as inhale it.'' - The Observer

''So funny and detailed and, most importantly, with such a clear love and understanding of the people in it. (Michael) strikes such an entertaining balance of fan worship and camp detached wit.'' - The Times

Author Bio

Michael Cragg has been writing about pop music for over a decade and has interviewed everyone from Lady Gaga to Lorde, via Little Mix, Shawn Mendes, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. He has written for outlets including Vogue, The Guardian, GQ, BBC, The Observer, Popjustice, Dazed and Billboard. During his three years as contributing editor at The Guardian's Guide! newsletter, he interviewed '00s pop luminaries such as Steps, Emma Bunton and Nadine Coyle. He also edits the independent biannual music magazine BEAT.