This week saw the announcement that Bros are to reunite next year for a gig at the O2. This sold out in 7 seconds so they've turned it into a full tour. So I thought it would be appropriate for them to be the next subject of my Nothing Lasts Forever series.
Bros first hit the charts at the beginning of 1988 with "When Will I Be Famous". At that time, it had been 18 months or so since Wham! had called it a day and there hadn't really been a boy band to fill that void since. Though singer Matt Goss has said since that Bros were not a boy band because Luke played the drums and Craig played the bass whereas the boy band concept is to all be vocalists. My argument is that several other boy bands had instrumentalists including arguably their nearest rivals Brother Beyond, but also future boy bands Take That and East 17 would occasionally play instruments too. Also, clearly not all the music of a Bros song was made just by a bass guitar and drums.
The follow up was "Drop the Boy" which could be seen as and early indication that Matt didn't want to be seen as a boy band. Then came their only number one hit "I Owe You Nothing", a sure sign that Bros mania was now in full swing. Their fourth single was called "I Quit" which is exactly what bass player Craig would do several months later. Just before Craig did quit they released their own version of "Silent Night" at Christmas time in 1988 which was a double A side with "Cat Among The Pigeons". This entered the charts at number 2, but fell to number 4 the following week with Cliff Richard taking the top spot with "Mistletoe and Wine" and Kylie and Jason taking number 2 with "Especially For You" and Kylie and Jason's wedding song on Neighbours "Suddenly" by Angry Anderson taking number 3. So as popular as Bros were, they couldn't compete with Neighbours. Still the first five singles all reaching to top 5 was a decent record.
So the beginning of 1989 saw Bros being reduced to just a singer and a drummer. They returned in the summer with the first single of their upcoming album "Too Much". My recollection of hearing this for the first time was that Matt appeared to be angrier in his vocals. This reached number 2 keeping up their record of top 5 hits and a couple of weeks later they played what turned out to be their last gig, at Wembley Stadium to 77,000 fans.
However, their next single "Chocolate Box" was their first not to reach the top 5, though it still reached a respectable 9. Then their Christmas time ballad "Sister" got to number 10. By this point, the UK had now been introduced to American boy band New Kids On The Block who were ready to steal their crown. The next single "Madly In Love" failed to reach the top 10 in early 1990.
Bros then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth until the summer of 1991. By this point they had parted ways with songwriter Nicky Graham and had written their own songs for their third album. They returned with single "Are You Mine" which I managed to listen to a few seconds of on the top 40 countdown until my uncle turned the radio off because it was Bros. Everyone else seemed to agree with my uncle with the song failing to reach the top 10. Their final single "Try" only managed number 27 and their final album spent just 2 weeks in the album chart. So they called it a day.
The mid 90s saw Matt Goss attempt a solo career. I recall seeing the video to his cover of Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Her Tonight" and if it wasn't for his voice I wouldn't think it was the same person. He eventually made it as a solo artist though, performing regularly in Las Vegas and popular enough to do a solo gig at Wembley Arena. Luke has made a name for himself as an actor whilst Craig has now made the move into music management and will not be part of the Bros reunion.
So the glory days of Bros lasted just 2 years, from the beginning of 1988 to the end of 1989. Despite this, Bros fans will need to wait almost a year to see them in concert.
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