28 July 1995
This isn’t the final Take That single, but it feels like it. There’s a valedictory air to the lyrics, from the clunky “We’ve had success / We’ve had good times” to the better and more evocative “Soon this will all be someone else’s dream”, the latter being an excellent subtext to the entire TV talent show pop star experience of the ’00s and after. The recording and promotion of ‘Never Forget’ was already done and mapped out before Robbie quit the group, but I suspect that Gary Barlow wrote it with an inkling that Take That, at least as a teen-oriented boyband, were coming to the end of their natural cycle.
The Jim Steinman-esque bombast of ‘Never Forget’ is because Jim Steinman remixed it. Fortunately, his involvement doesn’t spoil what is a likeable single. Howard, heretofore one of the lads at the back which every boyband has, sings the lead vocal with diligence, leaving the fireworks and hoopla to those around him. The boys choir part could have turned out badly but is actually a nice wry counterpoint to the impish (and in the case of Robbie, drug-using and hard-living) boyband it bookends. Take That will pop up at number one in Ireland again – not for their triumphant ’00s reboot but much sooner than that, as they try their hardest to destroy our goodwill with one needless final act of boybanditry.
