Doomed to failure? I'll give it a month. .................................................................................................... A decade ago, Busted were the biggest pop band in Britain. (**** off) Guitarist James Bourne's next band Son Of Dork soon slipped into obscurity - so why are their songs being revived for a stage musical? (God alone knows). The time when Busted ruled the charts (eh?) feels like a different era, and perhaps 10 years does qualify as an epoch in the fickle and fast-moving pop world. The top 40 was based on CD sales rather than downloads, Top of the Pops still existed and three spiky-haired young chaps played punchy punk pop about fit teachers and time machines. They appeared exciting to their pre-adolescent fans and harmlessly hummable to the parents. What's more, after years of manufactured pop like Take That, the Spice Girls and Westlife, Busted wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. (But they were manufactured, they were put together by a Record Company). "I do think that we were the band of our era," says Bourne, the guitarist, singer and songwriter remembered for his two-tone dyed hair and baggy skate shorts. (And a loose grasp on facts). "While we were around, we were the pop band in this country. So without my band, there's a big hole in pop music between 2002 to 2005." Bourne, now 28 and more manly in face structure and stature than his former boy band self, believes Busted's music has stood the test of time. (He is probably alone in that belief though) "They still play it on the radio," he says. "Ten years ago, I used to do interviews and people used to go, well, it's not going to be around, is it, in 10 years? And it is." After Busted's acrimonious split in 2005, Bourne formed Son Of Dork, whose debut single Ticket Outta Loserville went to number three in the UK and follow-up Eddie's Song also made the top 10. However their album Welcome To Loserville limped to number 35. But when Bourne bumped into neighbour Elliot Davis, a musicals composer, he liked the clever, character-led storytelling in Son of Dork's songs. And listening to the lyrics, some tracks are fabulous, self-contained teenage sagas. So the pair decided to use them in a stage musical and came up with a story about a geek in an American high school in 1971, who invents email and at the same time discovers girls. Titled Loserville, the musical is a classic story of an underdog come good - which will appeal to a teenage audience - while the heavy nostalgia will strike a chord with the parents. It is being staged by the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, one of the country's most respected producing theatres, where it opens on Monday. The creative talent includes musical director Martin Lowe, who worked on Mamma Mia! and War Horse and has just won a Tony Award on Broadway for Once. And the cast features Gareth Gates, former chart star "Lil" Chris Hardman (who?) and former EastEnders actor Aaron Sidwell. (again, Who?) Five songs from Son Of Dork's album have made it into the show. (With big stars like these on board how can it possibly fail?)
At the height of their fame, their drummer was a Weegie Rangers fan in his mid-thirties. He was an alright guy, as it goes.
The sad thing is that all of the members of Busted are probably out of work but will be portrayed by actors in the musical. You know your life is sh1t when you have to be replaced in a show that is about you by some f*ckwit from a reality show or 'Enders!! It's like coming second in your own look-a-like contest.
I've been to the year 3000. Not much has changed but they lived underwater. And his great,great,great-granddaughter.......... ..............SUPPORTS CELTIC
