Notting Hill Soundtrack Pt 2

Top: Notting Hill soundtrack cover. Clockwise: Spencer Davis Group; Shania Twain; Boyzone; and Elvis Costello.

While I was feeling under the weather yesterday, I watched a Hugh Grant mini-marathon, catching both 'Notting Hill' and 'Love Actually' on cable. It reminded me how much I liked the soundtrack to the former, and so I decided re-post my take on if from two years ago.

Last Monday, I posted the first of two installments featuring the music of 'Notting Hill', a charming movie with some great songs. If you missed the post featuring the music of Al Green, Ronan Keating, Lighthouse Family, and cuties 98 Degrees, click here. I couldn't find anywhere on to purchase the soundtrack, but you can buy import on used copies on Amazon. The soundtrack is a delightful cross-section of great Pop music, covering several decades. The first song in this post comes from 1966, and a band some may have forgotten about. British band Spencer Davis Group, featuring the talents of Spencer Davis, Peter York, and then unknown Steve Winwood and Steve's brother Muff Winwood had a hit with "Gimme Some Lovin'", written by Davis and the Winwood brothers. This was before Steve had been a member of supergroups Traffic and Blind Faith, and before he had his solo success. I love this song! This is the Spencer Davis Group singing "Gimme Some Lovin'".

1999 was a huge year for Canadian superstar Shania Twain. She was still riding high with the success of her third album, 'Come On Over', a follow-up to the smash 'The Woman In Me'. 'Come On Over' sold 20x Platinum in the US, and the eighth single was a part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack. The beautiful ballad "You've Got A Way", written by Twain and then husband/producer Mutt Lange, proved Shania was at the top of her game.

Well, the first installment had the first release from Ronan Keating as he embarked on his solo career. The soundtrack also included a huge hit for Keating's boyband, the mega-popular Boyzone. Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch, Ronan Keating, and the late Stephen Gately were the guys in this band, and they made sweet music throughout the 1990s for the UK and Europe. In 1998, the boys released a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman, originally from the 1996 musical 'Whistle Down the Wind'. "No Matter What" was a huge hit for Boyzone, topping the charts around the world. It went to #12 in the US Adult Contemporary chart. Boyzone featured Ronan Keating, who had also contributed as a solo artist on the soundtrack. But for this song, he shared the lead vocals with a favorite of mine, the late Stephen Gately. In 1999, it was part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack.

One of my favorites off the soundtrack was the stunning cover of a song by Frenchmen Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer by Elvis Costello. I remember first discovering Costello in the 1980s, a New Wave star of the highest magnitude with hit after hit. By the mid-1990s, he selling power had diminished, but certainly not his talent. He recorded the Aznavour hit "She" for the soundtrack, and made it current, popular, and showed off what a great song it was.

Remembering Stephen Gately

It was a year ago today that Stephen Gately left us, and I still find myself listening to his music, both his music with the group Boyzone, and his solo stuff as well. It is with Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch that Stephen first became known as part of the Irish boyband Boyzone. Ronan and Stephen became the lead singers, and Boyzone shot to stardom in Ireland 1994, and soon conquered the UK and Europe. In 1998 they had a hit with the song No Matter What.



In 1999, Gately broke the news that he was gay, making headlines across the UK. While it was big news, Gately was fully supported by his bandmates. However, within a year the band went on a prolonged hiatus, and both Gately and Keating went on to release solo albums. Gately's was released in 2000, named New Beginning, also the name of the first single. It scored well on the charts. It should have, cause I think it is a wonderful song.



The second single was I Believe, which was also included as part of the soundtrack to the movie Billy Elliot. I really loved this song.



By 2007, Boyzone was starting to think about getting back together. First there were some live appearances, and a few on television specials. They returned to the studio, and did a couple of new songs that were to be included as part of a Greatest Hits collection. One of the songs was the beautiful love ballad. When doing the video, the boys decided, in a nod to Stephen, to cast a male actor opposite Stephen, and there would be physical contact. It was quite controversial, but it made for an exquisite video. This is Better.



In 2003, Gately entered married Andrew Cowles in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2006, they officially registered in London for a civil partnership. The couple were introduced by friend Elton John and his lover, David Furnish. A year ago, Stephen was excited about beginning work on a new album with Boyzone, having laid down some tracks before heading off on vacation with Cowles. It was shocking and quite sad that he passed while away.


Andrew Cowles & Stephen Gately

Sadly, even after his death, there was some controversy. A particularly poisonous and homophobic write for London's Daily Mail wrote and published a report filled with misinformation, lies, and stereotypical hate. Despite a report from the coroner which dispelled some of what was said, and many others, from other journalists calling it "vile" and "idiocy" to the former Prime Minister of Ireland to the record company complained about the homophobic swill. The article was removed from an Irish edition of the paper.



At the funeral, Ronan Keating gave an emotional and loving tribute to Gately, above. The band also finished the work on their album, and included the vocal tracks Gately had laid down to date. The first video was dedicated to Stephen, a loving tribute that can be seen here. And the band just announced that one year later, they are putting up a special webpage here that was a place to remember Stephen.

Then And Now - Boyzone

L to R: Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Keith Duffy, Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham.

After an exhaustive audition process in 1993, manager Louis Walsh assembled Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately to form Boyzone. The group was Louis' Irish answer to Take That, the UK boyband featuring Robbie Williams that was tearing up the charts. They didn't release their first album until 1995 One of the songs from that first album was Father And Son, a song written and recorded in 1970 by Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam. It was the fourth single from their debut, all of which went #1 in Ireland, and were in the Top 3 on the UK Pop chart.



Where We Belong was the third album release for Boyzone in 1998. The fourth single off the album, No Matter What, was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman for the musical Whistle Down The Wind. It topped the Pop charts in both Ireland and the UK.



As with many groups, even the overwhelming success did not manage to keep them together. In 1999, Gately announced he was gay and had a boyfriend, Keating recorded a solo album and a song featured in the movie Notting Hill, and other tensions were mounting behind the scenes of a big tour. In January of 2000, they announced they were breaking up the group.


L to R: Ronan, Keith, Stephen, Mikey and Shane.

In 2007, they announced they were reforming the group, and working together again. They started appearing in public together, and in 2008, they toured together and started working on a new album. They released the videos and singles Love You Anyway and Better. The later included the first depiction of Stephen with a same sex partner. They were recording in 2009, but on October 10, 2008, Stephen Gately was found dead by his lover in a vacation home. The other boys came together, all deeply saddened by his passing. The decided to remain together and complete the album they started, using the vocals Gately had laid down. In March of 2010, they released Brother, dedicated to 'Steo'. The first single, Gave It All Away, was written by Mika and included his vocals, and the video featured the remaining boys penning final goodbyes to him. The second single, Love Is A Hurricane, features the remaining boys in varying degrees of undress. It also happens to be a good song.



For more on Boyzone, check out their official website here.