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Michael Cragg

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Episode 220 is a chat with the journalist, pop culture writer, and author Michael Cragg.Michael's new book Reach for the Stars is a rip-roaring oral history of UK pop music between 1996 and 2006, told through the interviews with the popstars, the songwriters, producers, label executives, pop fans, svengalis and culture writers of the day.It's an unputdownable behind-the-scenes history of British pop music that tells the story of the Spice Girls, 5ive, Steps, S Club 7, Atomic Kitten, Girls Aloud, JLS, Liberty X, Sugababes, The X-Factor and more.The book contains many anecdotes like Geri Halliwell missing the Spice Girls audition because she had sunburn or 5ive saying 'Baby One More Time' is "fucking wank” to Max Martin's face.We spoke to Michael about pop stars' mad schedules, the lack of mental health awareness, Xenomania, the moguls like Pete Waterman; the homophobia around boy bands coming out, TOTP, Smash Hits and the media landscape of the day, and the crazy pressure they were under in which a number two record is considered was failure.Michael Cragg will also be appearing for an interview and Q&amp;A with our pal Louise Bruton at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party on Saturday July 15th at Wigwam. Tickets are on Eventbrite.* Support Nialler9 on Patreon for extra persk.Show notesBuy Reach For The StarsMichael Cragg Author Interview and Pop Party on July 15thFollow Nialler9 on Insta | Twitter | Youtube | SpotifySubscribe to Andrea Cleary's Ghost newsletter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 220 is a chat with the journalist, pop culture writer, and author <a href="https://twitter.com/michaelcragg?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Cragg</a>.Michael's new book Reach for the Stars is a rip-roaring oral history of UK pop music between 1996 and 2006, told through the interviews with the popstars, the songwriters, producers, label executives, pop fans, svengalis and culture writers of the day.It's an unputdownable behind-the-scenes history of British pop music that tells the story of the Spice Girls, 5ive, Steps, S Club 7, Atomic Kitten, Girls Aloud, JLS, Liberty X, Sugababes, The X-Factor and more.The book contains many anecdotes like Geri Halliwell missing the Spice Girls audition because she had sunburn or 5ive saying 'Baby One More Time' is "fucking wank” to Max Martin's face.We spoke to Michael about pop stars' mad schedules, the lack of mental health awareness, Xenomania, the moguls like Pete Waterman; the homophobia around boy bands coming out, TOTP, Smash Hits and the media landscape of the day, and the crazy pressure they were under in which a number two record is considered was failure.Michael Cragg will also be appearing for an interview and Q&amp;A with our pal Louise Bruton at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party on Saturday July 15th at Wigwam. Tickets are on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/smash-hits-poll-winners-party-michael-cragg-author-interview-and-pop-party-tickets-638363491387?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&amp;keep_tld=1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a>.* <a href="https://www.patreon.com/Nialler9" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Support Nialler9 on Patreon</a> for extra persk. <h3>Show notes</h3><ul><li><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Reach+for+the+Stars+book&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enIE1021IE1021&amp;sxsrf=AB5stBghklPwk11iNyBl1y5zCeGnea7nJQ%3A1688644693601&amp;ei=VaymZLCTJNf9gAaJs4e4CQ&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjwkfTYg_r_AhXXPsAKHYnZAZcQ4dUDCA8&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=Reach+for+the+Stars+book&amp;gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIKCAAQgAQQFBCHAjIFCC4QgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOgcIIxCwAxAnOgoIABBHENYEELADOgoIABCKBRCwAxBDOg0IABDkAhDWBBCwAxgBOg8ILhCKBRDIAxCwAxBDGAI6BwgjEIoFECc6BwgAEIoFEEM6BwguEIoFEEM6CgguEIAEEBQQhwI6CAguEIAEENQCOggIABAWEB4QCkoECEEYAFCfAViyB2DOCGgBcAF4AIABPIgBogKSAQE1mAEAoAEBwAEByAET2gEGCAEQARgJ2gEGCAIQARgI&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-serp" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Buy Reach For The Stars</a></li><li><a href="https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/smash-hits-poll-winners-party-michael-cragg-author-interview-and-pop-party-tickets-638363491387?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&amp;keep_tld=1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Cragg Author Interview and Pop Party</a> on July 15th</li></ul> Follow Nialler9 on <a href="https://instagram.com/nialler9" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Insta</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/Nialler9" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6JRhzVyMRc8H9MSY51pdSQ" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Youtube</a> | <a href="https://open.spotify.com/user/nialler9?si=vYT6SjjaSoG2ddf4sx2nsQ" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a><a href="https://andrea-cleary.ghost.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Subscribe to Andrea Cleary's Ghost newsletter.</a> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

An Oral history of UK Pop - 1996 to 2006 with Michael Cragg

WARNING!This episode contains scenes of graphic and often gratuitous pop perfection. Listener discretion is advised.Summer 2004. The wettest summer in the UK for fifty years, and with it being another three years before Rihanna invents the umbrella, there is a need for something more drastic to help dodge the dampness. So where does one shelter from the storm? Well, certainly not the World Cup, at the cinema it’s a web-spinning yawn with Spider-Man 2 and TV offers up the first Strictly winning couple….who were of course…erm…shuffles notes…any-way…Of course, the real protection from a soggy summer is always POP and who better to serve up a slice of the latest and greatest top chart hits, than the ever resplendent NOW, Thats What I Call Music team, with it’s 58th wonderful offering of 42 tracks. Phew, what a scorcher!(Adopts serious journalistic look) But what was the state of the pop landscape in the year 2004?Actually, let’s not beat about the proverbial bush, Smash Hits would have confirmed at the top of its glittery lungs, Very Healthy Indeed, thankyouverymuch.The wizardry of pop’s perfect professors such as Richard X and Xenomania were dazzling us with their weird and wonderful masterpieces as served up deliciously by the likes of Rachel (it’s not anything like Goldfrapp) Stevens, Girls (who sang that line, Miranda?) Aloud and Sugababes version 2.0 (or was it 3.4?). Jamelia, Kelis and Christina Millian were proving that the girls could indeed more than hold their own with their ‘flavas’ (really - ED?) of r’n’b. And ver lads McFly and Busted (only slightly conjoined, obviously) were reclaiming power pop, silly hairstyles, big eyebrows and reinventing the boyband in the process - again, with full apologies to anyone who was on ‘that’ Air France flight (yeuch!)And of course there was SO much more! Franz Ferdinand and Scissor Sisters continuing to sell supermarket CDs to everyone, George Michael flying a flawless flag, Britney being weird, delicate and dead all at once and some couple called Eamon and Frankee, who weren’t a couple at all, were very potty mouthed and (checks notes) WON STRICTLY! Possibly.So, who better to steer us through this spectacular summer of sonic supremacy than writer, journalist and tall person Michael Cragg. In celebration of Michael’s utterly smashing book Reach For The Stars, Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party 1996-2006, we explore the stories behind many of the tracks on NOW58, a time of pop perfection but as always much, much more behind the curtain. Michael also reveals his first (king of) pop passions, how he escaped a shoe shop to discover his own musical journey and why Louis Walsh (and not for the first time) was very wrong about pop indeed!Along the way expect memorable and possibly even knowing nods towards Popjustice, MySpace, CDUK, Geri Halliwells’s dogs, Kimberley the BOSS and absolutely nothing about The Rasmus, O-Zone or Fatman Scoop. Was it all a sugar-induced, pop fever dream? Possibly, but isn’t it fun after all these years later heading back for one more bite…?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WARNING!This episode contains scenes of graphic and often gratuitous pop perfection. Listener discretion is advised.Summer 2004. The wettest summer in the UK for fifty years, and with it being another three years before Rihanna invents the umbrella, there is a need for something more drastic to help dodge the dampness. So where does one shelter from the storm? Well, certainly not the World Cup, at the cinema it’s a web-spinning yawn with Spider-Man 2 and TV offers up the first Strictly winning couple….who were of course…erm…shuffles notes…any-way…Of course, the real protection from a soggy summer is always POP and who better to serve up a slice of the latest and greatest top chart hits, than the ever resplendent NOW, Thats What I Call Music team, with it’s 58th wonderful offering of 42 tracks. Phew, what a scorcher!(Adopts serious journalistic look) But what was the state of the pop landscape in the year 2004?Actually, let’s not beat about the proverbial bush, Smash Hits would have confirmed at the top of its glittery lungs, Very Healthy Indeed, thankyouverymuch.The wizardry of pop’s perfect professors such as Richard X and Xenomania were dazzling us with their weird and wonderful masterpieces as served up deliciously by the likes of Rachel (it’s not anything like Goldfrapp) Stevens, Girls (who sang that line, Miranda?) Aloud and Sugababes version 2.0 (or was it 3.4?). Jamelia, Kelis and Christina Millian were proving that the girls could indeed more than hold their own with their ‘flavas’ (really - ED?) of r’n’b. And ver lads McFly and Busted (only slightly conjoined, obviously) were reclaiming power pop, silly hairstyles, big eyebrows and reinventing the boyband in the process - again, with full apologies to anyone who was on ‘that’ Air France flight (yeuch!)And of course there was SO much more! Franz Ferdinand and Scissor Sisters continuing to sell supermarket CDs to everyone, George Michael flying a flawless flag, Britney being weird, delicate and dead all at once and some couple called Eamon and Frankee, who weren’t a couple at all, were very potty mouthed and (checks notes) WON STRICTLY! Possibly.So, who better to steer us through this spectacular summer of sonic supremacy than writer, journalist and tall person Michael Cragg. In celebration of Michael’s utterly smashing book Reach For The Stars, Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party 1996-2006, we explore the stories behind many of the tracks on NOW58, a time of pop perfection but as always much, much more behind the curtain. Michael also reveals his first (king of) pop passions, how he escaped a shoe shop to discover his own musical journey and why Louis Walsh (and not for the first time) was very wrong about pop indeed!Along the way expect memorable and possibly even knowing nods towards Popjustice, MySpace, CDUK, Geri Halliwells’s dogs, Kimberley the BOSS and absolutely nothing about The Rasmus, O-Zone or Fatman Scoop. Was it all a sugar-induced, pop fever dream? Possibly, but isn’t it fun after all these years later heading back for one more bite…?  Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

NOW 58 - Summer ‘04: Michael Cragg

Michael Cragg, one of the best writers around on all things pop, releases his book, Reach for the Stars: Fame, Fallout and Pop's Final Party, on Thursday, March 30th.A celebration of British pop between 1996 and 2006, it takes in  Steps, S Club 7, Blue, 5ive, Mis-Teeq, Hear'Say, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, Craig David and Atomic Kitten, among countless others, and gives that scene – that moment – the contextualisation it so sincerely deserves. It's a truly great book, and I think, what follows, is a great conversation about it... and a fair bit more besides. Watch this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OqyIC0FR8&amp;t=8s  Twitter - @jamesjammcmahon   Substack - https://spoook.substack.com   YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Vf_1E1Sza2GUyFNn2zFMA   Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/jamesmcmahonmusicpod/  

<a href="https://twitter.com/MichaelCragg?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael Cragg</a>, one of the best writers around on all things pop, releases his book, <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/reach-for-the-stars/michael-cragg//9781788707244?awc=3787_1679870867_ac1448627836c3b2c3c7fece7b58bfc4&amp;utm_source=259955&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=Genie+Shopping+CSS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Reach for the Stars: Fame, Fallout and Pop's Final Party</a>, on Thursday, March 30th. A celebration of British pop between 1996 and 2006, it takes in <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-james-mcmahon-music-podcast/id1574593042?i=1000566874691" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Steps</a>, S Club 7, Blue, 5ive, Mis-Teeq, Hear'Say, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, Craig David and Atomic Kitten, among countless others, and gives that scene – that moment – the contextualisation it so sincerely deserves. It's a truly great book, and I think, what follows, is a great conversation about it... and a fair bit more besides. Watch this episode here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OqyIC0FR8&amp;t=8s" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4OqyIC0FR8&amp;t=8s</a> <ul> <li> Twitter - <a href="https://twitter.com/jamesjammcmahon" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jamesjammcmahon</a> </li> <li> Substack - <a href="https://spoook.substack.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://spoook.substack.com</a> </li> <li> YouTube - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Vf_1E1Sza2GUyFNn2zFMA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Vf_1E1Sza2GUyFNn2zFMA</a> </li> <li> Reddit - <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/jamesmcmahonmusicpod/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/jamesmcmahonmusicpod/</a> </li> </ul>

Episode 142: Michael Cragg on British pop's final party

Tom is joined by Beat and Guardian journalist, Popjustice features editor and Max Martin superfan, Michael Cragg, as they make a toast to shitty interviews (on the birthday of Lil’ Kim). The pair chat about the Swedish Polar Music Prize - specifically when awarded to Björk, Max Martin and Emmylou Harris; the rise, fall and rise of Lady Gaga; which member of Little Mix farted in an interview; the struggles of female popstars (a recurring theme!) and when Michael once bled in front of Usher. Michael recounts his once-in-a-lifetime experience on the 777 Rihanna tour, in which she took Michael and fellow journalists on a mini world-tour in seven days. It quickly descended into chaos. The pair also try to piece together the Top 100 biggest selling female artists of all time. Michael chooses Leona Lewis, Alphabeat and Brandy &amp; Monica for his Aux Cable Selections.

Tom is joined by Beat and Guardian journalist, Popjustice features editor and Max Martin superfan, Michael Cragg, as they make a toast to shitty interviews (on the birthday of Lil’ Kim). The pair chat about the Swedish Polar Music Prize - specifically when awarded to Björk, Max Martin and Emmylou Harris; the rise, fall and rise of Lady Gaga; which member of Little Mix farted in an interview; the struggles of female popstars (a recurring theme!) and when Michael once bled in front of Usher. Michael recounts his once-in-a-lifetime experience on the 777 Rihanna tour, in which she took Michael and fellow journalists on a mini world-tour in seven days. It quickly descended into chaos. The pair also try to piece together the Top 100 biggest selling female artists of all time. Michael chooses Leona Lewis, Alphabeat and Brandy &amp; Monica for his Aux Cable Selections.