Time once again for The Story of Pop: 1998, our weekly series every Thursday at 9am, revisiting all the biggest UK chart hits of 25 years ago. This week: five bad boys with the power to rock you…
- Artist: Five
- Song: Everybody Get Up
- Released: 31/08/1998
- Writers / Producers: Alan Merrill / Five / Jake Hooker / Herbie Crichlow / Denniz PoP / Jake Schulze
- Highest UK Chart Position: #2
- Weeks on Chart: 19
Now, it can’t have escaped your notice that 1998 was by all means a bit of a pure pop explosion. And it’s fair to say that with every major new act appearing on the scene, they all had their unique selling point, be that ABBA-esque sounds with foolproof dance moves, a rebellious, precocious teenage streak, or hell, even pop magic with a random Irish jig thrown in the middle.
And this week’s featured artist were no exception. Having formed the Spice Girls three years previously, but finding themselves despatched of their services for Simon Fuller (i.e. before they got really big), father and son management team Bob and Chris Herbert were keen to form, along with a high trousered record exec called Simon Cowell at RCA Records, the so dubbed “Spice Boys” – a boyband that could appeal to both demographics of fans rather than just girls exclusively, as had always been the way.
Auditionees who displayed talent, but also a certain attitude and edge, descended upon the auditions in May 1997, held at Nomis Studios in Shepherd’s Bush, London (including a pre-fame – and more than likely not sober – Russell Brand). From these auditions, Jason “J” Brown, Richard “Abs” Breen, Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville and Scott Robinson were found – and Five was formed.
Installed in a house together in Maidenhead in Surrey – which resulted in them infamously appearing on the ITV docusoap, Neighbours From Hell, they immediately set to work on their first album for the new project, working with esteemed talent including Eliot Kennedy, Herbie Crichlow, Max Martin and DenniZ PoP, the latter two of which of course, were the musical power behind the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, who had bought a tougher sound to boybands, that seemed the logical fit for Five.
By December of that year, after winning the coveted “Best New Tour Act” prize at the annual Smash Hits Poll Winners’ Party, they had scored their first top 10 single, “Slam Dunk (Da Funk)”. And as 1997 gave way to 1998, the hits just kept on coming, and their fanbase grew with each new release; “When The Lights Go Out” made #4 in March (and also made the top 10 of the US Billboard charts), whilst “Got The Feelin'” made the top 3 in June.
After their self titled debut album smashed into the chart at number one in July, it seemed as if Five were on the way to becoming one of the UK’s biggest boybands. Another masterstroke of genius was their marketing as being against the grain of what boybands were archetypally supposed to be: namely, that they weren’t pure, clean cut, innocent virgins. But what really cemented their position as pop’s streetwise “bad boys”, was the release of their fourth single, a thundering, potent mix of rap, rock and funked up pop, known as “Everybody Get Up”.
Utilising the guitar riff from Joan Jett and the Blackhearts‘ hit “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”, it perfectly encapsulated the anthemic, rebellious nature of their music and personalities, not just in the chorus (“Everybody get up singing / 1, 2, 3, 4 / Five will make ya get down now (Baby bring it on, bring it down”) but also in the bombastic raps from J and Abs which added a genuine air of cool menace: “Now I’m the bad boy that you invite for dinners / Ain’t got no manners cos I eat with my fingers / Lost boys terrorise the neighbourhood / And Hounds of the Baskerville will be up to no good”.
And the video solidified this even further, as they marched into a school during an exam, and promptly started trashing the place (and thus presumably rendered themselves unqualified from any GCSEs or A Levels). Of course, as their career took off, this edge and air of danger that hung around Five would ultimately spill over into and drive wedges between them, that ultimately lead to their demise.
But in September 1998, that was all a very long way off, and fans didn’t seem to care; evidenced by the release of “Everybody Get Up”, which at the time, became their highest charting single, debuting and peaking at #2. Their year was rounded off with a return to the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party – where they cleaned up in gongs – and in November, they went for an uncharacteristically slow but genuinely brilliant ballad, on which Scott and Ritchie took lead vocals, called “Until The Time Is Through”, which would also peak at #2.
We have of course, discussed their real ascension to the big leagues on both The Story of Pop: 1999 and The Story of Pop: 2000. But in 1998, these five bad boys with the power to rock us did something that was, in relative terms, a break from the norm where pop music at that time was concerned. And “Everybody Get Up” is the perfect showcase as to why that was, and why fans got so behind them.
Don’t forget to follow our brand new playlist on Spotify – updated weekly so you never miss a song from the story of pop in 1998. And you can leave your memories of the songs below in the comments, Tweet us or message us on Instagram, using the hashtag #StoryofPop1998.
The Niche Reference 