Has-Been British Boyband Score Third Biggest Opening Week In British History

Watching the New Kids On The Block perform at the American Music Awards was hard to do. There is just something not right about a group of over-the-hill fake-baked men dance in unison. I guess I just felt embarrassed for them. Over in the UK this week however, another early 90's group, Take That, prove that old washed up boybands can make a successful comeback.

Take That formed in the late 80's as the British response to the New Kids. From 1991 to 1996, they were one of the biggest acts in European music, notching up eight #1 hits on the British singles charts and selling more than 30 million records. One of their members, Robbie Williams, became buds with Oasis, ditched the band, and made it on his own as a solo star.

Ten years later, Take That returned, sans Williams, and scored two more #1 singles from their chart topping album, Beautiful World. This past week, Take That released their follow-up, The Circus (not to be confused with this Circus) which became the fastest selling British record of 2008, shifting 432,000 copies in its first week. That puts The Circus third in rankings for the highest first week sales in British chart history behind Oasis' Be Here Now (1997) which sold 663,000 in a single week and Coldplay's X&Y which sold 464,000 in a single week(2005). I guess pop does have a place for tired old boybands to end their retirement and make a comeback. Take that New Kids on the Block.