FRANCE: ROBBIE WILLIAMS LAUNCHES HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM SINCE SPLITTING WITH BOY BAND TAKE THAT WITH A CONCERT IN PARIS

Record ID: 387179

  • Title: FRANCE: ROBBIE WILLIAMS LAUNCHES HIS FIRST SOLO ALBUM SINCE SPLITTING WITH BOY BAND TAKE THAT WITH A CONCERT IN PARIS
  • Date: 29th September 1997
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 29, 1997) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) WILLIAMS SAYING, "YEAH I'VE GOT AN AWFUL LOT OF LIVING TO DO. I HAD TO GO OUT AND EXPERIENCE EVERTHING TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL AND I DID. I DON'T DO THINGS BY HALVES. IF I'M GONNA FUCK UP, I'M GONNA FUCK UP BRILLIANTLY AND I DID. I'VE GOT A LOT OF THINGS I CAN WRITE ABOUT NOW. PLACES THAT I WENT TO,
  • Embargoed: 14th October 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA9YQTFRN6AXTDMB5X005E17B3U
  • Story Text: He's done it in the studio. Now, he doing it live.

    British solo artist Robbie Williams has taken his first solo album to the stage in Paris at the start of his European tour.

    The singer's career is coming full circle since his departure in 1995 from the hugely successful boy band "Take That".

    In the past two years, he's been better known for his bad boy antics than his talents as a singer/songwriter.

    For the second time in his life, Williams is now sitting on the brink of major stardom with the international release on Monday (September 29) of his first self-penned album "Life Thru A Lens".

    He has already proved to his critics that his songwriting rivals that of his former colleagues Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, with three hits "Old Before I Die", "Lazy Days" and his current single "South of the Border".

    Although Williams' music represents a radical change in style from the soft pop of his Take That days, he does not give much importance to the opinions of "indie scene" (non-mainstream) pundits.

    "I couldn't care less. You know they're never going to accept me anyway and I don't want to be accepted. It's like I said before, I want to entertain. That's what I want to do," Williams said.

    The album, which was produced by World Party's Guy Chambers and Steve Power, embraces a wide range of musical styles from rock ("Let Me Entertain You") to tender ballads ("Angels" - a classic power ballad set to be released before Christmas 1997).

    The fitter and noticeably happier Williams admits that he got a lot of inspiration for his songs from his life. His lyrics reflect experiences which Williams says have proved invaluable in his work.

    "I've got an awful lot of living to do, I had to go out and experience everything to its full potential and I did," he said.

    "I don't do things by halves,... and I've got a lot of things I can write about now. Places that I went to, people that I saw ...

    it gave me a great opportunity to grow up." Although his split from Take That was a much-publicised and acrimonious one, the death of Diana Princess of Wales prompted ex-members to toy with the idea of reuniting to raise money for the Princess's charities. Williams acknowledges the idea was tempting.

    "I thought originally that it would be a good idea to do it and then I thought about the implications," he said.

    "In the heat of the moment you often get carried away ... and then I thought well "Take That" was remembered as being fantastic entertainment and a fantastic pop group. We're different now." The reincarnated Robbie Williams performed in Paris on Monday (September 29) to a select audience to launch the album and to kick off a tour which starts in the UK on October 1.

    The European leg begins in Ireland (October 22) followed by Holland (November 7), Germany (November 9), Austria (November 17), Switzerland (November 18), Italy (November 21) and ends in Spain (November 27).
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