A ROCK n roll look at one of the great pop phenomenons is how BP Fallon describes Boyzone Go East!, a pictorial log of Ronan, Steve, Shane, Keith and Mikey s recent trawl through India and the Pacific Rim.
While Boyzone are far too well-scrubbed a product to have warts, Beep s Pentax-all-areas clearance means that we at least get to glimpse a few calluses. And spots.
The difference between the shots I took and the photos you normally see of Boyzone is that there were no stylists or make-up artists, Beep reflects. For the first couple of days it was, Oh gosh, where s our safety net? , but then they relaxed and more or less forgot that I was snapping away in the background. It was a trust thing. They knew I wasn t going to stitch them up and I didn t have to worry about some big burly minder saying, No no no, you can t take a picture of that!
So he didn t have to leave his camera in the hotel when the band decided to hell with teenybop megastardom and went on a drink and drugs bender through the fleshpots of Manila?
I m sorry to disappoint you, the former U2 vibemaster laughs, but there was none of that sort of thing. The main reason being that they re schedule is just too tight. I can t think of any group I ve been on the road with who work harder. Their attitude is totally professional.
While the little girls and slightly older boys will buy it for the yummy photos, there s much to be gleaned from the Q&A sessions which suggest that the lads are ready to be more than mere merchandise-shifters.
Asked What s the worst thing about being in Boyzone? , Mikey immediately replies, Being an individual in a machine that the public think they own. They own the concept but they don t own the individual.
Ronan, meanwhile, wants to know: Why can t we go home to our town and be welcomed and feel proud to be Irish? U2 can. We can sell more albums than them, than the Cranberries, any of them bands.
Keith s concerns are rather more fiscal: Having become accustomed to this lifestyle, if the band came to an end . . . I wouldn t be able to give my son the lifestyle he has already. I m frightened that I might lose everything.
So what does BP reckon the future holds in store for Boyzone?
The band aren t controlled puppets, he avers. Louis Walsh is the same as any manager in that he has his say but, otherwise, they re in control of their own destiny. Y know, if they suddenly wanted to make a rap record, the latitude exists for them to do just that.
My impression is that they d like to tackle the challenges still in front of them America being the biggie and then maybe move onto the solo projects. Or careers. This is such a crazy business you never know what might happen.
Boyzone Go East! is published by Chameleon at #7.99.