Take That & Party

Take That & Party is the debut studio album by English boy band Take That. Released on 17 August 1992 on RCA Records, it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and stayed in the UK Top 75 album chart for 73 weeks (one year, five months and one week). It was their only album not to reach number one until Wonderland peaked at number two in 2017.

Take That & Party
Studio album by Take That
Released	17 August 1992
Recorded	1991–92
Genre	Pop dance
Length	51:30
Label	RCA
Producer	Duncan Bridgeman Ian Curnow Billy Griffin Pete Hammond Phil Harding Ray Hedges Ian Levine The Rapino Brothers Graham Stack Nigel Wright
Take That chronology
Take That & Party (1992) Everything Changes (1993)
Alternative covers
Japanese cover
Singles from Take That & Party
"Do What U Like" Released: 12 July 1991 "Promises" Released: 18 November 1991 "Once You've Tasted Love" Released: 3 February 1992 "It Only Takes a Minute" Released: 1 June 1992 "I Found Heaven" Released: 10 August 1992 "A Million Love Songs" Released: 5 October 1992 "Could It Be Magic" Released: 30 November 1992

The album has been certified two-times platinum in the United Kingdom.[1]

Background

In 1989, Manchester-based music mogul Nigel Martin-Smith sought to create a British male vocal group, his vision being a teen-oriented group with multi-demographic appeal. Martin-Smith was introduced to young singer-songwriter Gary Barlow, and was so impressed with his catalogue of self-written material that he decided to build his new-look boy band around Barlow's musical abilities. A campaign to audition young males with abilities in dancing and singing ensued, taking place in Manchester and other surrounding cities, in 1990. At 22, Howard Donald was one of the oldest to audition, and was chosen after he got time off work as a vehicle painter to continue the process.

Martin-Smith soon managed to land them a slot on hit television series The Hit Man and Her in 1990. The group chose to perform two of Barlow's self-written tracks, "Love" and "My Kind of Girl," neither of which have ever been commercially released. Shortly thereafter, Martin-Smith got the group a studio session with music producer Ray Hedges, for which Barlow wrote "Do What U Like," "Take That and Party," and "Waiting Around," the first three tracks written specifically to be recorded by the group. "Do What U Like" was released as the lead single on Martin-Smith's own label Dance UK on 15 July 1991, with "Waiting Around" appearing as the B-side, and "Take That and Party" being sidelined for release on their debut album.

The single, despite peaking at #82, was enough for Take That to be noticed by RCA Records, who signed them to their label and put them in contact with one of their most prolific songwriters, Graham Stack. Stack and Barlow then co-wrote the group's debut single on RCA, "Promises," which was released 18 November 1991, with "Do What U Like" appearing as the B-side. Shortly after the single peaked at #38 the band began recording again, this time with producers Billy Griffin and Ian Levine, with "Once You've Tasted Love" being the first single released from those sessions. A remix and reprise of the track "Guess Who Tasted Love" appeared as the B-side. Although it peaked at #47, Take That was given one last chance by the record label. Levine and Griffin persuaded the group's handlers to release a cover of the 1975 Tavares hit "It Only Takes a Minute," and despite the group's apprehensions it peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. For the release, they recorded "I Can Make It" and "Never Want to Let You Go," two original tracks penned by Barlow, both of which later made the album release, but each in slightly remixed form.

Riding the crest of this wave, "I Found Heaven," written by Griffin and Levine, was released as their next single. Group member Robbie Williams performed the lead vocal, a first for him. It was not as successful as its predecessor, however, peaking at #15. During the recording of this song, the group experienced a falling-out with Levine, and requested that they not record or write with him in the future. The single's B-side, "I'm Out," was written about this situation. RCA subsequently enlisted the services of executive producer Duncan Bridgeman, who decided to change the direction of the band's music style, and chose to record "A Million Love Songs," penned by Barlow when he was just fifteen years old. The single was a success, also peaking at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. After positive reception by critics, Bridgeman then decided to release as a single the group's cover of the Barry Manilow classic "Could It Be Magic," recorded shortly after their version of "It Only Takes a Minute." "Could It Be Magic" was the first song recorded featuring Williams on lead vocal. It peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart.

During Bridgeman's time with the group they also recorded "Why Can't I Wake Up with You," a saxophone-assisted ballad which was later reworked into an electronically advanced number, and released as the lead single from their second album Everything Changes. The album's track list included "Satisfied" and "Give Good Feeling," two tracks recorded during the time with Levine and Griffin, which had remained unreleased until that point. The album was released 17 May 1992, including a limited-edition vinyl pressing and cassette, containing twelve tracks. "Could It Be Magic" was first released on the compact disc version of the album, made available on 17 August 1992, so vinyl and cassette copies do not contain the tracks. The album was re-issued in July 2006 to celebrate the group's fifteen years, complete with three bonus tracks, including the B-sides "Waiting Around" and "Guess Who Tasted Love," as well as "How Can It Be," one of three songs written to accompany the release of "A Million Love Songs".

Around the time of the original album release, a VHS videocassette titled Take That and Party was also released, containing eight music videos, two compilation videos, a live a cappella performance, plus footage and interviews with the group.

It is notable that the album does not feature Mark Owen performing lead vocal on any of the tracks.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Gazette	C[3]

In a contemporary review, The Montreal Gazette gave the album a C rating, noting that although "This album starts with '90s dance music but sometimes takes you back to the era of disco and polyester, a time that most people would rather forget, [it] is tolerable only because the rest of the album is good."[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Gary Barlow, except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Found Heaven"	Ian Levine Billy Griffin	Levine Griffin	4:01
2.	"Once You've Tasted Love"		Duncan Bridgeman	3:43
3.	"It Only Takes a Minute"	Dennis Lambert Brian Potter	Nigel Wright	3:46
4.	"A Million Love Songs"		Levine Griffin	3:52
5.	"Satisfied"		Bridgeman	4:29
6.	"I Can Make It"		Bridgeman	4:09
7.	"Do What U Like"	Gary Barlow Ray Hedges	Hedges Graham Stack^[a]	3:06
8.	"Promises"	Barlow Stack	Pete Hammond	3:33
9.	"Why Can't I Wake Up with You"		Bridgeman	4:12
10.	"Never Want to Let You Go" (new studio mix)		Bridgeman	4:55
11.	"Give Good Feeling"		Bridgeman	4:22
12.	"Could It Be Magic"	Barry Manilow Adrienne Anderson	Levine Griffin	4:24
13.	"Take That and Party"	Barlow Hedges	Hammond Phil Harding^[a] Ian Curnow^[a]	2:54

American edition (1993)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Found Heaven"	Levine Griffin	Levine Griffin	4:01
2.	"Once You've Tasted Love"		Bridgeman	3:43
3.	"It Only Takes a Minute"	Lambert Potter	Wright Musto^[a]	3:45
4.	"A Million Love Songs"		Levine Griffin	3:52
5.	"Satisfied"		Bridgeman	4:29
6.	"I Can Make It"		Bridgeman	4:10
7.	"Do What U Like"	Barlow Hedges	Hedges Stack^[a]	3:06
8.	"Promises"	Barlow Stack	Hammond	3:34
9.	"Why Can't I Wake Up with You" (Everything Changes version)		Steve Jervier Paul Jervier Jonathan Wales Mark Beswick^[b]	3:38
10.	"Never Want to Let You Go"		Bridgeman	4:56
11.	"Give Good Feeling"		Bridgeman	4:23
12.	"Could It Be Magic" (Radio Rapino mix)	Manilow Anderson	Levine Griffin The Rapino Brothers^[a]	3:30
13.	"Take That and Party"	Barlow Hedges	Hammond Harding^[a] Ian Curnow^[a]	2:54

VHS – Take That and Party: The Video

No.	Title	Director(s)	Length
1.	"Take That and Party" (music video)	Phillip Ollerenshaw	2:56
2.	"Do What U Like" (music video)	Rosemary Barratt	3:06
3.	"Promises" (music video)	Willy Smax	3:41
4.	"Once You've Tasted Love" (music video)	James Lebon	3:43
5.	"Why Can't I Wake Up with You" (music video)	Liam Kan	3:45
6.	"It Only Takes a Minute" (music video)	Smax	3:45
7.	"Satisfied" (music video)	Ollerenshaw	4:29
8.	"Why Can't I Wake Up with You" (live a capella performance)	Michael Max	3:32
9.	"I Found Heaven" (music video)	Smax	4:06
10.	"A Million Love Songs" (music video)	Brad Longford	3:52
11.	"Could It Be Magic" (music video)	Saffie Ashanty	3:30

Expanded edition (2006)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"I Found Heaven"	Levine Griffin	Levine Griffin	4:01
2.	"Once You've Tasted Love"		Bridgeman	3:43
3.	"It Only Takes a Minute"	Lambert Potter	Wright Musto^[a]	3:45
4.	"A Million Love Songs"		Levine Griffin	3:52
5.	"Satisfied"		Bridgeman	4:29
6.	"I Can Make It"		Bridgeman	4:10
7.	"Do What U Like"	Barlow Hedges	Hedges Stack^[a]	3:06
8.	"Promises"	Barlow Stack	Hammond	3:34
9.	"Why Can't I Wake Up with You"		Bridgeman	4:12
10.	"Never Want to Let You Go"		Bridgeman	4:56
11.	"Give Good Feeling"		Bridgeman	4:23
12.	"Could It Be Magic"	Manilow Anderson	Levine Griffin	4:24
13.	"Take That and Party"	Barlow Hedges	Hammond Harding^[a] Ian Curnow^[a]	2:54
14.	"Waiting Around"		Andrew Lee Peter Lee	2:56
15.	"How Can It Be"		Barlow	4:03
16.	"Guess Who Tasted Love" (edit)	Barlow	Bridgeman	5:21

Notes[4]

• ^{^[a]} signifies a remixer
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional vocal producer
• "Could It Be Magic" is inspired by "Prelude in C minor" by Chopin. The track is omitted from the LP version.

Personnel

• Gary Barlow – vocals, songwriting
• Howard Donald – vocals
• Jason Orange – vocals
• Mark Owen – vocals
• Robbie Williams – vocals
• Duncan Bridgeman – producer
• Tobin Sellars – engineer
• Nigel Stock – arranger
• Pete Hammond – DJ
• Ian Levine – co-producer
• Billy Griffin – co-producer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1992–94) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[5] 6 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[6] 21 European Albums Chart[7] 26 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 35 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 28 Irish Albums (IRMA)[10] 8 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 45 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 38 UK Albums (OCC)[13] 2

Year-end charts Chart (1992) Peak position UK Albums Chart 32 Chart (1993) Peak position UK Albums Chart 19

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI)[14]	N/A	100,000[15]
United Kingdom (BPI)[16]	2× Platinum	870,000[17]
Summaries
Worldwide	—	1,500,000[18]

References

1. "British album certifications – Take That – Take That and Party". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Type Take That and Party in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
2. Fawthrop, Peter. "Take That and Party > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
3. Makridis, Aris (25 April 1993). "Review; Music". The Gazette. Montreal. p. F5. ISSN 0384-1294.
4. Take That & Party (booklet). Take That. RCA Records. 1992. 74321 10923 2.CS1 maint: others (link)
5. "Hits of the World - Belgium". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 23 January 1993. p. 65. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
6. "Dutchcharts.nl – Take That – Take That & Party" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
7. https://books.google.com/books?id=jw8EAAAAMBAJ&lr=&rview=1%7Ctitle=Hits of the World - Eurochart|work=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|date=23 January 1993
8. source: Pennanen, Timo: Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava, 2006. ISBN 9789511210535. page: 280
9. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
10. "Take That & Party in Various Charts". Hung Medien.
11. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/106788/ranking/cd_album/ Oricon Archive. Take That & Party. 24 March 1993
12. "Swedishcharts.com – Take That – Take That & Party". Hung Medien.
13. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
14. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Take That; 'Take That & Party')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
15. Billboard. 16 April 1994. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
16. "British album certifications – Take That – Take That & Party". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Take That & Party in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
17. Eames, Tom (30 January 2016). "Take That: All 8 albums ranked from worst to best". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
18. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (7 October 1995). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 119–. ISSN 0006-2510.