Nineties Pinups countdown - Number 3

04-09-2008 15:04

Mark Owen - Take That

Walk into any teenage girls bedroom and you will usually find her walls plastered with posters of the popstars she wants to marry; usually with their perfectly coiffured hair and fake white smiles beaming right back at you.

So we at FemaleFirst have decided to count down the Top 10 Nineties pin up icons, who we were constantly cutting out of Smash Hits and Top Of The Pops magazines and carefully blue-tacking to our walls, school books and mirrors.

Manchester lad Mark Owen was born in 1972 and went on to become the cute one from the original boyband Take That.

Take That were the boyband, pioneering the movement and dominating the charts through the nineties. So succesful were they and so loyal their fans, the boys, well, men now, have enjoyed a succesful comeback with a hit album and a string of new singles.

The rest of the band were of course Robbie Williams, Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Jason Orange. Formed in 1990, their breakthrough single It Only Takes A Minute peaked at number 7 in 1992. Following that the group had a string of hits including Babe which Mark sang lead vocals on.

Mark and Robbie dominated the female attention that the group got. Girls loved Robbie's cheeky personality or Mark's cute good looks.

With the departure of Robbie in 1995 Take That carried on as a foursome , promoting the latest album and completing the Nobody Elae tour.

Take That announced their split in 1996 and hysteria ensued. Upon the announcement of their break up, millions of teenage fans were seen crying all over the country and across Europe. The situation got so dire that counselling hotlines had to be specially set up by local authorities to cater to suicidal tendencies in many young women.

It was not to be the end though, almost ten years later, a 2005 documnentary paved the way for a reunion tour and in 2006 the group returned to the studio to work on new material for the first time in ten years.

After an outstanding year of success in 2007, Take That received four nominations for the 2008 BRIT Awards, Best British Group, Best British Single (Shine), Best British Album (Beautiful World) and Best Live Act, taking home the Best Live Act and the Best British Single awards.

On 22nd May 2008 Take That won the award for most performed work with their single Shine.

Following the 1995 split Mark became the first to release a solo record. He reached number three in the UK charts with his debut single, Child. His second single, Clementine, also went to number three. In 1997 his album Green Man was released, charting at a disappointing number 33. After another single, I Am What I Am, charted at number 29, Mark was dropped by BMG Records in late 1997.

However it wasn't all bad as Mark won the second series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2002. After being invited to perform on stage with Robbie Williams at Knebworth, he returned to the spotlight and signed a deal with Island/Universal Records. In August 2003, he returned to the charts with the Top 5 hit, Four Minute Warning, which remained in the top 40 for eight weeks.

His second album, In Your Own Time, was released in November 2003, entering the charts at number 39. After a second single, Alone Without You, charted at number 26, Mark was unfortunately dropped once again.

In April 2004 he established his own record company, Sedna Records. He released his third solo album, How the Mighty Fall in 2005, which was recorded at Sunset Studios LA in 2004. In February 2006 he released Hail Mary as a single from the album.

Unfortunately for his fans Mark is very loved up with his girlfriend actress Emma Ferguson. She gave birth to their first child, Elwood Jack Owen in August 2006 and the couple have announced that they are expecting their second child in December this year.

FemaleFirst - Jessica Watson