Pop Essays #31: Sinead Quinn, ‘I Can’t Break Down’

Welcome once again to Pop Essays, where I continue my rifle back through the archives of my old iTunes library – and more besides – to revisit some overlooked beauties of pop from the last 30 or so years. This week: we reopen the doors to the Fame Academy to profile one of its first alumni…

• Artist: Sinead Quinn
• Song: I Can’t Break Down
• Released: 10/02/2003
• Writers / Producers: Sinead Quinn / Pete Glenister / Deni Lew
• Highest UK Chart Position: #2
• Chart Run: 2 – 3 – 8 – 15 – 24 – 35 – 44 – 53 – 53 – 58 – 51 – 52 – 85 – 99 – 100

When the reality TV age of pop music dawned in the early 00s, it seemed to give a shot in the arm to all concerned; the singles chart, which experienced some brief but brilliant periods of million selling hits, just as it was about to suffer the effects from illegal downloading biting into overall single sales, the programme makers and the wider media, and of course ITV, who had been the channel to air both the Popstars and Pop Idol formats.

The only people who weren’t truly benefiting from such a multimedia crossover, or from a show like Big Brother which had been such a huge hit for Channel 4, were the BBC (this despite the live final episode of Popstars including a live linkup with Mark Goodier on the Radio 1 Chart Show, where Hear’Say found out they were number one with their first single “Pure & Simple”).

Some of this is because, being a publicly owned broadcasting network funded by the TV licence fee, meant that, much like now, it was called into sharp questioning by the Government more than its immediate commercial competitors were. One only needs reminding of the furore surrounding their disastrous attempt at launching the “Eurosoap” Eldorado in 1992, which despite a blaze of pre-show publicity, was dogged with insurmountable problems that saw it get cancelled after just one year.

But it was clear that the BBC couldn’t ignore the wider ratings hits that reality TV was drawing in for ITV and Channel 4 much longer. However, being a publicly funded broadcaster, if they were to dip into the format, it would have to fulfill the obligations of its Charter, to “act in the public interest, serving all audiences through the provision of impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain”.

Fortunately, the perfect format to buy seemed to be available. First launched in Spain by Endemol, the production company that owned the Big Brother format, Operación Triunfo combined both the public singing competition of contestants like Pop Idol did, with them all living together as “students” in a kind of school where they learnt and honed their craft, not just as pop performers but as songwriters and musicians with different industry experts as teachers, all under the watchful gaze of hidden cameras 24 hours a day, 7 days a week a la Big Brother, with the winner receiving a major label record deal and the promise of stardom and untold riches.

It was a ratings hit, and subsequent other versions of the show in countries such as France and the Netherlands were a hit. It therefore seemed the logical format for the BBC to take. And thus, their version of the show – titled Fame Academy – was born. Launched in the autumn of 2002, just as the second series of Popstars – titled Popstars: The Rivals – was getting under way over on ITV, the Beeb truly seemed to be going all in from the off.

With a final 10 selected at auditions up and down the UK (and an additional two wildcards, one of whom was voted in by the public) the students were holed up in the “Academy” (in actuality, a sprawling Georgian mansion in Highgate in North London, called Witanhurst, at one time owned by Kate Moss), with daily vocal coaching, songwriting and dance classes with Kevin Adams, Pam Sheyne and Carrie Grant, plus visiting guest “masterclasses” from the likes of Shania Twain, Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey, all under the eye of the “headmaster” and then director of the Capital Radio network, Richard Park, who permanently had what my mum would politely describe as “a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp”.

The weekly live shows, hosted by Cat Deeley and Patrick Kielty, were being broadcast every Friday night on BBC One, as well as additional shows and live coverage on BBC Choice and the new BBCi service on the then launched Freeview, not to mention a daily spin off show for the CBBC Channel, and coverage on numerous other BBC shows, it was clear that Auntie Beeb was throwing big money at Fame Academy – £4.5m to be exact. Not to mention the £1m recording contract with Mercury Records and a year of their own car and posh London flat for the winner.

It was a shame then, that it got off to a very rickety start, with just under 5 million viewers tuning in. A figure that a primetime BBC One show would kill for now, but at the time was a paltry showing compared to the 9 million or so who had watched Pop Idol. Matters were not helped by the fact that, with a few exceptions – Lemar being one, who was in a class of his own vocally and as a performer – the students were largely quite average and far from being the cream of the crop.

Fortunately, one of the other students showed promise and delivered the most compelling performances week after week, and that was one of the two wildcard students who entered later into the show: the then 22 year old singer songwriter from Irvinestown in Northern Ireland, Sinead Quinn, who gained 51% of the public votes to enter the Academy.

As the series progressed however, and despite such largely negative feedback from the press and TV critics, ratings did improve, and over 6.5 million votes were cast in the final, where Sinead finished second to another late arriving contestant, David Sneddon. What undoubtedly did aid the cause was the fact that as the series progressed, and the number of students left got smaller, they were able to start showcasing the songs they’d written in the Academy, and talent did start to emerge.

“I Can’t Break Down” was one of those songs, and in the best possible way, sounds very much a product of the transitory bind pop music found itself in at the time, which the reality TV era had undoubtedly hastened, moving away from ultra shiny bombasticness to something with a more “authentic” approach. And coming from a contestant whose covers on the main show had included Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated” and No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, meant it was little surprise that her debut was a thundering, angsty pop rock stormer.

Indeed, written largely about Sinead’s time in the Academy, and the pressures she felt as her time continued on in there, meant that lyrically, it was an intense sounding song: “Now I know I can handle this / I close my mouth and clench my fist / I’ve lived this day in a thousand ways / But there’s a flaw to add to my list”.

It continues on in this theme into the bridge and chorus, giving more of a sense to the listener of how the pressure was apparently getting to her, with this song as the outlet: “And I’m so damn frustrated / Losin’ breath and now I’m shakin’ / Gotta keep myself from breaking down / Someone get me out / Tear don’t you fall / Eyes don’t you cry / Need to get me round this corner / I can’t break down, break down / Pride don’t cave in / Hair don’t let go / While I’m open and you can read me / I can’t break down, break down / Break down, break down”.

Music videos of debut singles from winners or even runners up on reality TV shows rarely have much imagination behind them, other than to crown their victory lap so to speak, but we dare say Sinead probably deserved a bit of a better deal than to perform her song in the deserted Witanhurst / Fame Academy on a snowy day after the series had ended. Particularly if this was the point where she was going to start establishing herself as an artist in her own right away from the show.

Still, being signed to Mercury Records for her own record deal did mean that she stood as good a chance as any as winner David Sneddon had had, as he had enjoyed two weeks at number one with his own self penned track, “Stop Living The Lie”. “I Can’t Break Down” followed a month later in early February 2003 for Sinead, and went straight into the chart at #2, staying in the UK top 40 for just shy of two months, whilst enjoying a healthy extended run in the top 100.

Ultimately however, in the long run, Mercury Records didn’t seem to quite know what they were doing with Sinead, just presuming that the exposure she’d had on Fame Academy would be enough. But it wasn’t, hence why her blinder of a second single, “What You Need Is…” stumbled into the top 20 at #19 in July, with her album Ready To Run just missing the top 40 a couple of weeks later.

Somewhere along the line, the BBC’s mission for a reality TV format that produced potential stars with genuine talent and longevity hadn’t translated into the charts of the real world – and, as we’ll discuss in another essay, even with a second, largely more successful series of Fame Academy, that problem largely still remained. It’s just a shame that Sinead fell victim to this, because her potential was there in spades.

Don’t forget to follow our Pop Essays playlist on Spotify, which includes this and all the songs we’ve written about. What are your memories of this week’s featured song or band? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or message us on our Instagram.