The word went out early Tuesday evening on Facebook. They’d been spotted in Manly, a local beach suburb. And drinking at Hugo’s no less.
After screaming hysterically for an entire five minutes and dancing my way around the house with hands in the air and shapes being thrown, I jumped in the car, whacked the stereo on high to the sounds of ‘One Thing’, and drove the fifteen minute journey at high speed to find them.
Prepared for the biggest moment of my life, ever, I shoved the car into the nearest available parking spot, unfurled my favourite poster, pulled on my beloved t-shirt, and legged it over to the growing group of fanatics gathered outside the wine bar. We stood, we waited, we shared gossip, we laughed, we cried, we gripped each other’s hands tightly in anticipation of their arrival. My idols.
Then the word went out on Facebook for the second time that night. It was all a big, fat hoax. A false sighting. A rumour. A vicious, dirty lie. They weren’t drinking here after all. Never had been, never would be. They were down by the harbour, enjoying an early evening swim and sharing the limelight with other die hard fans. My precious idols were currently being adored by a bunch of undeserving little brats. It was beyond belief. I was devastated…
Now, if this story was true and if I was a teenage girl bursting with teenage hormones, then this might actually be the case. But if you live within 1,000km of Sydney, and unless you were whisked off to Mars late yesterday, you would have heard that the latest teen pop sensation to blast out of the UK landed here in Sydney on Tuesday. One Direction has finally arrived in the land down under.
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| One Direction. Photo credit: Irfaan Photography (Creative Commons) |
This popular troupe of British and Irish lads touched down to what can only be described as complete and utter pandemonium. Sydney Airport was packed to capacity with screaming teenagers intermittently breaking into ‘What Makes You Beautiful’. One friend flew into Sydney and was greeted by thousands of these teeny tiny One Directionites whilst another was diverting an air ambulance to the Botanical Gardens to rescue a fan who’d fallen out of a tree in uncontrollable excitement. Tuesday was sheer poptastic chaos and there is a teen frenzy in town.
Later that night, the biggest thing in mainstream music since Bieber cut his hair moved onto the suburb of Manly (allegedly) on the Northern Beaches to enjoy an orange juice or two by the water. Outsmarted by the paparazzi, the ‘boys’ took a quick dip in the harbour before preparing for the next few days of unadulterated media hype. And that hype was spewing left, right and centre – from the national radio to the local newspapers, online forums to TV chat shows, the airwaves of Sydney were filled with the music of One Direction and interviews with the fabulous five.
So who exactly is One Direction?
I’m too old to know but I do. Heralding from a third place finish in the seventh series of the UK’s X-Factor, the dapper five are as manufactured as the Ford motor car. When individually they failed to remain in the ‘single artist’ category, it was suggested that they form a band and enter the ‘group’ category instead. The rest, as they say, is history and Britain’s latest pop phenomenon is on a trajectory to greatness yet they’ve not even climbed out of their teens (with the exception of the old boy of the group, 21 year old Louis).
So do boy bands like One Direction put the ‘Great’ back in Britain? Should I feel pumped with pride at the sight of such a roadshow of fame and fortune gracing these distant shores? Does it make me want to return home for more of this commercial fare or stay right where I am on the other side of the world?
I’ll admit to a teeny tiny fluttering of pride at the arrival of these megastars from back home and thoughts that maybe Britain does it best when producing the boy band (alongside our American cousins). In my mind, Australia is too cool (and rightfully so) to produce anything so cringe worthy.
The UK has often proved how good it is at taking a seemingly average group of guys with the absolute bare minimum of talent, activating a hype machine the likes that NASA would be proud of, and sending these poor kids skyhigh into mainstream entertainment orbit. And they’ve done it before in the boy and girl band stakes, feeding us more of the same manufactured carbon copies until you’d think we’d had enough but no… think Bros, Take That, the Spice Girls, even Boyzone and Westlife. The boybands just keep on coming. In fairness, pop bands are the tip of the creative iceberg and Britain is well known for encouraging, developing and celebrating artistic talent, self-expression and all-round creativity… isn’t it?
So I started thinking about whether some places are better at embracing creativity and nurturing talent than others – and where the best place is to be an aspiring creative.
What do you think? Are some countries better for inspiring and encouraging creativity? Or is it more about the individual than the place? Where is your best creative place?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
PS. I think I just wrote a post about a boy band… I never would have believed it.
Hahaha! I think you DID! I’m going to bite my tongue here and focus instead on your question about which countries nurture creativity. I never expected Canada to be so artistic and embracing of creativity and self-expression, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Perhaps it’s the inspiration provided by the scenery, the strong connection to Nature or the celebration of difference. There’s definitely much more to Canada than Justin Bieber (although foisting him on the world is unforgivable).
Do you like the fact I threw in that question at the end to put you off the real reason for writing about 1D? 🙂
Creating Justin Bieber AND Nickelback are Canada’s major shortcomings… but I agree that the connection to the great outdoors (e.g. the melancholy environment created by Vancouver’s climate and scenery?) and the willingness to celebrate difference are probably good reasons why creativity thrives.
The music scene there is particularly good, as I remember it (aside from the two culprits above of course).
Russ,
You forgot to mention “Human Nature” as Australia’s “Boy Band” last I
heard they had a residency at one of the hotels in Las Vegas performing.
With regards to nurturing talent, the music and theatre industry is prolific
in the UK but unfortunately so is the manufactured drivel that comes out of
show’s such as X Factor etc etc! 7 seasons down and where are all the finalists
of this great talent show? Will Young, Leona Lewis aside, who else has survived
more than 2 years since appearing on their respective show. Unfortunately
the UK has alot to answer for
You’re not wrong, Mark. The UK has a lot to answer for. Think Gareth Gates, Girls Aloud and Atomic Kitten and we’ll leave it right there. Last time I was back, the pop reality shows were churning out winners – I even spotted an Opera star reality program… I wonder if Australia will go the same way eventually.
I did forget about Human Nature. Thanks for pointing them out. Squeaky clean and a real mother-in-law pleaser 🙂
When it comes to creativity, you’ve only got one direction… yourself. P.S Your boy band knowledge is very impressive.
Just read on smh.com.au that One Direction was ‘all in focus’ at the Logies, hope you were watching!
I really like that part of this story involves the boy band traveling to a suburb called “Manly.” It’s just too good.
Thanks LouLouLoves. And it’s new knowledge – promise. Amazing what you can find on Google these days! 🙂
All in focus? Love it. By pure chance, I happened to watch the Logies (which went on until 12.30am no less). The boys did us proud 😉
The name of the suburb always attracts a few laughs, Kate, and particularly so in this case. Interestingly, the local surf boat crews (the male crews) wear small pairs of budgie smugglers (Speedos) as swimwear with ‘Manly’ typed on their bottoms. Always gets a good reaction from the tourists!
hmmm i think ti’s more individual than the country…. though surroundings can stimulate creativity. we just need to be opened to ideas
Noch Noch
Hey Noch Noch, I think it’s a bit of both but also agree it’s more likely down to the individual over the place. The surroundings definitely help!
I liked Human Nature – the tunes were catchy and I still listen to them now. Although I would be hard pressed to tell you who was in the group or in fact how many of them there were (4 or 5 maybe)? Just not ever been the squealing teenager type – even as a teenager.
But I digress. What about Cold Chisel, Noiseworks, The Angels, Australian Crawl, Hoodoo Gurus, Hunters and Collectors and Men at Work (just to name a few and yes I am showing my age)? Aren’t these all Australia’s version of the ‘boy band’? Just becuase we don’t support youthful enthusiasm and good looks trampling over our Tall Poppy Syndrome doesn’t mean we have let the ‘genre’ pass us by. And let’s face it – we don’t do squeaky clean terribly well (I rest my case on your mention of INX).
Savage Garden might come close to the more preppy version found outside Australia’s borders. But there’s a question mark here too. Does 2 actually constitute a group/band?
Lol. Thanks Kym. Knew I could count on you to share some Australian gems. And I’m not going to say anything about your age 😉
I think you’re right that there probably isn’t a squeaky clean boy band template here down under. I don’t think it would sit well with the general population. Savage Garden would come closest for me but 2 would be more of a duo/twosome/pairing, wouldn’t they? I think you have to have 4 or 5 boys, each individualised for the public (think Scary, Sporty and Baby), and no strong singers (Darren Hayes was far too good a crooner).
But Cold Chisel? Aren’t they up there with rockers like AC/DC?
Amazing what you can find on Google. It tells me that Human Nature, Savage Garden and Silverchair are/were Australia’s top boy bands. There you go.
Well if Google says so it must be right! Had forgotten about Silverchair…
Apologies for the typo spelling mistake in because too *embarrassed*
You’re excused. Happens to the best of us 🙂