In Better Man, the biopic dedicated to Robbie Williams, in theaters on January 22, features his songs from his first group in 1991, the boy band Take That to his solo career which began in 1996. Return with 5 global hits from a crazy pop legend.
1 “Angels” (1997) de l’album “Life thru a Lens”
It’s Robbie Williams’ hit, his song that will be remembered in pop. A love ballad. From his first solo album, the song ranks in all the tops and the song won the Brit Award for Best British Single in 1999. Supreme coronation for the artist who dreams of becoming a star: during his concert at Glastonbury, the great English Music festival, 80,000 people will sing the song which begins with I sit and wait/Does an angel contemplate my fate? (I sit and wait. Is an angel contemplating my destiny?). The rest of his career is written.
2“Feel” (2002) de l’album “Escapology”
In a video clip with a western feel and the landscapes of the Great West, Robbie Williams rides a horse and takes baths in the open air before meeting true love in the forest. From rodeo to sensual scenes, kitsch pop at its peak. Seven million albums sold and Robbie Williams takes on the mantle of crooner. His admiration is boundless for Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, he is with Feel on the road to showmen Americans. The proof, in 2019, it is on the stage of the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas that he will achieve his dream.
3“Rock DJ” (2000) de l’album “Sing When You’re Winning”
In 2000, a hit could still owe its fame to its music video. This will be the case of Rock DJ. Awarded for best special effects at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2001, the clip reveals an increasingly naked Robbie Williams, which suits him well to finish his striptease as a skeleton. No Robbies were harmed during the making of this video (No Robbie was mistreated during the filming of this video) appears at the end of the clip. Technical success in the image, hit at the top of the charts.
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4 “Supreme” (2000) de l’album “Sing both ways”
Inspired by the 1970s, Robbie Williams knows his classics. For Supreme, he quotes I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor for the start of the piece, as he had borrowed a melody from Barry White for Rock DJ or the music of James Bond for Millenium. The story of pop hits goes that one New Year’s Eve before the countdown to the new year, Robbie Williams heard a crowd singing I Will Survive. Hence this inspiration.
By dissecting the piece, we also discover that the musical intro of this title also contains a sample of a soundtrack, that of the French film Last known residence, performed by the talented French composer François de Roubaix. This film is from 1970.
5 Take That : “Back for Good” de l’album “Nobody Else” (1995)
It would be unfair and incomplete not to include Take That in this list. The boy English band, one of the first of its kind, welcomed Robbie Williams between 1991 and 1995, as backing singer and dancer, the Englishman felt a little cramped in this costume. Tthree gold records and eight titles ranked number 1 in the United Kingdom for the group will not prevent Robbie Williams from slamming the door or rather from being kindly dismissed by the other members of the group. “It was too soon, too fast. I was the baby of the group”, he will confide more about this period. Addictions, hysterical fans and discord within the group will lead to millions of albums sold.
At the cinema Wednesday 22 January : “Better Man”, a film directed by Michael Gracey with Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies
