Take That originally had bizarre name before band decided on ‘rubbish’ alternative

Take That, the titans of the Boy Band era who sold more records than any other English group since The Beatles, are still riding high on success. They have a new Netflix documentary in the pipeline and are set to grace the Baftas tonight.

But would they have tasted the same level of success under a different name? Mark Owen, one of the band’s singers, confessed they’ve been saddled with a “c**p” name for their 35-year career, but the alternatives they pondered were even worse.

In the nascent days of the band, before Robbie Williams, Howard Donald and Jason Orange joined, Gary Barlow and Mark Owen named their band The Cutest Rush.

Jason and Howard were part of a budding boyband called Street Beat until producer Nigel Martin Smith decided to merge the groups to create a British version of American superstars New Kids On The Block.

After expanding to a five-piece, the group was briefly known as Kick It, before morphing into Take That and Party.

This name was deemed too lengthy, and by the time their debut single Do What U Like hit the airwaves in July 1991, they had shortened it to the catchier Take That. Despite this, Mark admitted to The Sun: “There have been times when we’ve been a bit embarrassed about our name.”

The extended “And Party” portion of their name made a comeback as the title of Take That’s debut album, released the following year.

By the time Take That had made their mark cracking the UK Top 10 with a cover of Tavares’ disco classic It Only Takes a Minute, any concerns about their band name sounding silly were long gone.

Gary opened up about it, saying: “It’s a little bit like the Pet Shop Boys – as a name, you think it’s stupid. When you say the name Take That you do tend to think of us in a stadium or something, but it is a c**p name.”

Despite the self-professed “c**p” name, they’ve proven their mettle. Take That will perform their hit Greatest Day at the BAFTAs tonight (February 14) to signify its use in the opening sequence of Sean Baker’s sex worker drama Anora.

Source: Mirror