From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: The Brits’ truest form of relevance, said the publicist, may be that “when you see uncertainty around the Brits, you’re watching the anxieties around the music industry play out on stage: how do we break British acts on a global scale? What does diversity, equality and inclusion look like within a label, or in the nomination process? Are pop stars so ‘online’ that they’re scared of doing or saying anything interesting?”

Reach for the Stars: Michael Cragg with Nicola Roberts - Foyles Reach for the Stars: Michael Cragg with Nicola Roberts - Foyles

It still has PR value, though it is less a long-term sales driver than a desired co-sign,” said a publicist for several Brit-winning UK pop acts. “If you win a Brit there is heightened belief within a label that other territories will engage more.” Artists still campaign around the Brits by “building to a crescendo in [their] ongoing release and touring plans that run parallel to the well-known voting window”, they said. I never wanted to be on TV. I was very naive to television. But I think it helped that I was naive. So funny and detailed and, most importantly, with such a clear love and understanding of the people in it. (Michael) strikes such an entertaining balance of fan worship and camp detached wit.' -- The TimesA book that does justice to an extraordinarily fertile period for British pop - Michael Cragg's assessment of new millennium bubblegum is top rate storytelling.' -- Bob Stanley The Guardian review is here . Here’s a nice one from The Observer. Another from The Times , and one from its weekend sister, The Sunday Times . Classic Pop gave it 5/5, which was lovely. I wrote something about it for the Daily Express , while The Mirror ran this extract . Heat did one too . As did The Guardian . I also wrote this piece for The Guardian about how bonkers some of the pop was. In the period covered by his book Reach for the Stars, Cragg said, pop stars wanted to win Brits “because it was a shot at recognition that they weren’t getting elsewhere. It was pop versus indie, and winning offered credibility.” But two decades later, pop is taken seriously by critics and every popstar can reach fans directly online. What is a Brit award worth in 2023? You won't find a more comprehensive and entertaining pop book than this.' -- Jordan Paramor, journalist and author

Reach for the Stars: 1996–2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Reach for the Stars: 1996–2006: Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final

But these attempts to reach fans where they are may not be enough. Michael Cragg is author of the forthcoming Reach for the Stars: 1996-2006 – Fame, Fallout and Pop’s Final Party, which details the Brits coronations and disappointments of Y2K pop acts such as Steps. “Award shows need that sense of collective hysteria,” he said. “You could watch a funny acceptance speech on TikTok, but I’m not convinced that makes a solid connection between the Brits and the viewer. It’s just more content.” Rather than accept that two competing ideas can both offer up positives and negatives, the pop vs indie debate became a war. Frankly, in book-form at least, it feels like the indie side has had its say. Part of why I wanted to do this book…was to add some extra weight to a hugely important period of UK music that often felt ignored in the stream of chin-stroking think pieces on Britpop, the post-Strokes UK indie resurgence or the post-MySpace Arctic Monkeys chatter.I didn’t have a great relationship with them because I said Nadine was the best singer. So, obviously the other four hated me. Jones said the BPI “will review our processes for the next event in 2024, as we always do, to make sure we take on board any learnings and ensure our approach is the right one”. You want the Brits to dance like no one’s watching, and to recapture the chaos that made it a must-watch in the 90s From Girl Power to Girls Aloud (and all the glorious points in between), the definitive study of British pop music at the turn of the millennium, told by everyone who was there. Mercury made his last public appearance to collect the award for outstanding contribution to British music alongside his Queen bandmates. Looking gaunt, his only words were: “Thank you … goodnight.” He died just under two years later.

Reach for the Stars by Michael Cragg review — were we too

But it wasn’t like I didn’t feel it every time someone was shouting my name in a northern accent. I had to ride the storm and I’m so thankful the second wave of my music happened. Arguably the best possible combination of writer and subject since Jesus wrote the Bible.' -- Stuart Heritage, Guardian writer Described in 7 Heaven as “a bit of thinker”, he was often the one who cared about the band’s perception. After the excellent, disco-tinged Don’t Stop Movin’ earned them a slither of credibility – helped by Cattermole, McIntosh and Jon Lee being arrested for smoking weed in central London, leading to copious “Spliff Club 7” headlines – it was Cattermole, realising the chance the band had to move beyond DayGlo kid-friendly pop, who pushed for the follow-up single to be equally as exciting. He didn’t get his way. I had absolutely no doubt we were going to make it. We found out Simon Cowell was a big deal in the industry, drove up to London really early and jumped out on him singing Wannabe along to our tape.He said: “Sorry, girls, I don’t think you’re quite right,” and went into his office. We’ve both laughed about that since because he was so very wrong. Perhaps it was inevitable that, in 2002, after three albums in three years, two Brit awards, the spin-off TV shows and the spin-off mini-me band S Club Juniors, Cattermole hopped off the S Club 7 conveyor belt. Keen to focus on his pre-S Club nu-metal project Skua, he told the Sun he wanted “a change musically”. Unfortunately, success was fleeting and Skua split a year later, only for another reunion in 2014 to be scuppered by the return of S Club 7 and a subsequent arena tour. I’d been on Irish Popstars in 2001. They had an over-18s limit and I’d just turned 16 at the time. I got disqualified. I went to Scotland to audition. You don’t think you’re going to win these things.

The Guardian Books | The Guardian

We know everything about our current crop of pop stars because they begrudgingly have to make TikToks every morning. In Reach for the Stars, Michael delves into the pre-internet pop era, speaks to the people that (just about) survived it and makes some extraordinary discoveries. I can't think why anyone wouldn't love this book.' -- Greg James, radio and TV presenter Explores in fascinating detail the dizzy, competitive, lost world of nineties and noughties “manufactured” pop”If you're interested in pop history, I recommend this new book which explores in fascinating detail the dizzy, competitive and lost world of 'manufactured' nineties and noughties pop.' -- Neil Tennant, Pet Shop Boys Using the oral-history format, Cragg goes beneath the surface of the bubblegum exterior, speaking to hundred's of the key players about the reality of their experiences. Compiled from interviews with popstars, songwriters, producers, choreographers, magazine editors, record-company executives, TV moguls and more, this is a complete behind-the-scenes history of the last great movement in British pop - a technicolour turning-point ripe for re-evaluation, documented here in astonishing, honest and eye-opening detail. About the Author: Michael Cragg has been writing about pop music for over a decade and has interviewed everyone from Lady Gaga to Lorde, via Little Mix, Shawn Mendes, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry and Britney Spears. He has written for outlets including Vogue, The Guardian, GQ, BBC, The Observer, Popjustice, Dazed and Billboard. During his three years as contributing editor at The Guardian's Guide! newsletter, he interviewed '00s pop luminaries such as Steps, Emma Bunton and Nadine Coyle. He also edits the independent biannual music magazine BEAT. A brilliant, celebratory, gossipy history of 90s pop. Great stories and interviews. If that's your era, you'll love it.' -- Richard Osman Music journalist Michael Cragg, who interviewed key players from 1996-2006 for his new book Reach for the Stars, said: “Nearly everyone I spoke to go misty-eyed.”