Simon Rushworth
Self Made Man likes to mix it up with his exclusive RUSHONROCK column but this week our resident blogger might have gone too far…
…as he introduces a dodgy pop combo to these pages on the weekend the rest of us are praying the Eurovision Song Contest throws up another Wig Wam or Lordi.
I’ve a confession to make – and it’s a big one.
This is undoubtedly a first for this esteemed website and a last too. I promise!
Because this week, I’m going to write about Steps, a band which has about as much in common with RUSHONROCK and its proud content as Boris Johnson has to male modelling.
For I’ve become quite hooked on the documentary Steps: The Reunion, a six-part series currently being shown on Sky Living.
Now before you starting accusing me of taking leave of my senses or turning camp in my middle age, let me first issue a caveat.
I don’t own a Steps album, I never have done and I can probably only name two or three of their hit singles. So I’m not watching the series for its muscial content. Let me make that perfectly clear.
And while I find the slim, blond girl, who I’ve subsequently found out is called Fay and now lives in Cleadon, near Sunderland, rather attractive, I’m not some sad old perv watching it for “babe” value either.
No, the reason I’ve been probably the sole ABC1 45-55year-old male in the UK watching is because I’ve always been fascinated by fly-on-the-wall, behind-the-scenes programmes about bands.
Naturally, I’d have loved the subject matter to be slightly different. Let me repeat, I’d have loved the subject matter to be slightly different.
What I’d give for a programme featuring AC/DC, Aerosmith, Rush or the Rolling Stones instead.
Increasingly, concert DVDs come with extras, which include behind the scenes footage of a band on tour.
Looking through my own collection, David Gilmour’s Live At The Albert Hall features two lengthy documentaries which include footage of the guitarist relaxing with his family and friends, sound checks, roadies preparing the stage and even a meeting with Polish president Lech Walensa before his open-air gig in Gdansk.
Whitesnake’s most recent DVD reveals that David Coverdale undergoes a rigorous massaging session (yes, the masseur is female and no, it’s not the kind you’re thinking of!) before and after every show.
Perhaps the best DVD of its kind is Rush’s highly acclaimed Beyond The Lighted Stage, which as well as detailing the Canadian trio’s history, sheds fresh light on their personalities by revealing how they relax on their days off.
Anyway to take a Step back, so to speak. The Sky Liviing programme provides a fascinating insight into tour scheduling, the race against time to get everything right before the big night, the tensions, the disagreements and the anxiety of life on the road.
It takes the viewer inside the tour bus – the five members rejected the first one management laid on for them, demanding added specifications, it underlines the arduous life of the road crews who are often seen working through the night dismantling equipment before travelling to the next venue to assemble that same equipment, wiithout much more than a few hours’ break.
And of course, there’s also access to the aftershows when the band members find time to wind down with family and friends.
It’s hardly sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. In fact, it’s very definitely NOT sex, drugs and rock n’ roll..
But the days of Jack Daniels, red snappers and smarties with the pink ones taken out, are long gone.
On the last occasion, I obtained a backstage pass to interview UFO’s Andy Parker after the band had played a two hour set at Newcastle’s O2 Academy, reality proved a lot more boring than myth.
Pre-packed sandwiches, pizza slices, mineral water and one bottle of wine and a packet of extra strong mints were the only refreshments I could see.
Perhaps Steps have more in common with our rock gods after all!
Ian Murtagh