For their fourth #1 in nine months, Take That once again take turns at lead-vocal duty. We’ve had two Garys, one from Mark, and now a Robbie…
Everything Changes, by Take That (their 4th of twelve #1s)
2 weeks, from 3rd – 17th April 1994
Which gives a fairly throwaway pop song, a chart-topper more because of the band singing it than because of any innate quality the song might have, some significance. For here is the voice of the biggest British star of the coming decade… Though you might not have realised it at first, given the strange American accent he puts on for the album version’s intro…
On the single edit that bit is cut out, and we are rushed straight into another disco-tinged piece of retro-pop; the skinnier, sickly brother of ‘Relight My Fire’. I did wonder if ‘Everything Changes’ might have been a cover, as nobody under the age of sixty has ever used the term ‘taxicab’, but no – it’s a Gary Barlow (plus guests) writing credit. I guess they just needed the extra syllable to make it scan…
It’s perfectly serviceable pop. There’s nothing wrong with it (if we overlook the dated sax solo…) but neither is there much particularly memorable about it, apart perhaps from the for-ev-er… hook. There’s a reason why it was the fifth and final single from the band’s second album. There’s also a reason why it still made number one for a fortnight despite everyone already owning a copy of said album: Take That were bloody huge by this point.
While it might not have been his first lead vocals on a Take That single (I have little inclination to go back through their discography and check) it was definitely Robbie Williams’ first lead vocals on a #1. On their previous three, he very much took a back-seat. It felt strange to see him dancing gamely behind Barlow and Owen, knowing that he would go on to be bigger than any of them. But then, at the time, his departure was unexpected, and nobody would have bet on him having the success that he did.
Anyway, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. They’ve got a few more hits, and a few more chart-toppers, before he strikes out alone. And of the Take That #1s that have gone before, I’m starting to think I was a bit harsh on ‘Pray’… It’s head and shoulders above their other chart-toppers so far – as fun as ‘Relight My Fire’ was, and as strange as ‘Babe’ was. Quite possibly one of their very best…?
The UK Number Ones Blog 
So is Robbie another Kylie who’s a megastar everywhere except the states or has putting on a stupid fake American accent made them take notice of him? After all it worked for Sheena Easton
Yes, I don’t think he’s ever quite broken through there. But in the end, I suspect he doesn’t mind. I think he lives in happy anonymity in LA these days
I’ve heard of him more than I heard him…I thought that name was familiar.
Yeah he was huge in the late 90s and 2000s. Another big British act who never cracked the US…
I’ve heard of the guy for sure.
“Angels” was a moderate hit in the US – it was more a pop/adult contemporary radio hit but it went to #53 on the Hot 100 – but outside of that song and Take That’s “Back For Good” (which went Top 10 in the US) he’s basically unknown. Like The Stereophonics, Slade, Squeeze, Ash, McFly, etc.
Not to forget Sir Cliff, who has had some US hits, but nothing like the sixty year long career he’s enjoyed in Britain
Man, I have not been impressed with Take That’s No. 1s so far chronologically. This is pretty mid. Sounds a bit faceless – nothing really there in terms of personality and character, which is the opposite of Robbie Williams as a solo artist.