7 西部生活 誓必成功(doc)
7、Westlife : Swear a Success The Westlife story really began way back in December 1996 when the three original members of Westlife were performing in a local production of the musical‘ Grease 1’ . Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehilly were all born and bred in Sligo, a small town a few hours west of the Republic of Ireland’s capital city, Dublin. During breaks the three would get together and sing covers of some of their favourite songs including Boyz II Men’s ‘ I Make Love To You’ . The reaction to their singing was so positive that they decided to form a band as soon as they had finished their exams at school. This they duly did and on July 3 1997 they formed I.O.U. The boys organized concerts in the area and even produced their own CDs to sell locally. This local success led to an appearance on TV that was to prove extremely important. Among the viewers who saw the trio perform in a children’s hospital was Boyzone’s manager, Louis Walsh. Soon after Shane’s mother contacted him about I.O.U. and found he had been desperately trying to get in contact with them. Louis Walsh decided to hold auditions2 to recruit3 two new members in June of 1998. This is when Nicky Byrne and Bryan McFadden, two Dublin boys and friends entered the picture. A quick name change and Westside was born. Yes,WESTSIDE. This was to be the quintet’s4 name until they discovered another band already using the name and a final change to Westlife was called for. The final link in the chain was Ronan Keating, Boyzone’s lead singer, who at Louis Walsh’s request Joined him to help and nurture5 this raw talent. His experience proved an invaluable help. 　　The next step was to secure a record deal. The band organized a showcase6 in Dublin and soon representatives of every major record label were offering the bewildered7 boys contracts. In October 1998 Westlife signed to RCA, a label that had a proven track record with the successful marketing of both Take That and Five. 　　Barely had the ink on the contract dried when they headed out on tour as part of the Smash Hits Show, which led to them winning the Best New Tour Act in December 1998 (this was an award Boyzone themselves had won in 1994 which seemed like a pretty good omen8). 　　Styled by Kenny Ho, who was responsible for The Spice Girls image, Westlife’s first single “ Swear It Again” was released in March 1999. In their native Ireland it went straight to number one and became the biggest selling debut single in the history of the Irish charts. A month later “ Swear It Again” repeated the feat in the UK, staying at number one for two weeks and following on from Boyzone’s dominance9 of the UK top spot. This success was soon matched all around Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. 　　They look set to repeat their success now in the USA. A tour throughout the States has meant “ Swear It Again” is rapidly climbing the Billboard charts. This is the good news the boys needed as Bryan McFadden recently suffered nervous exhaustion and had to miss some shows while recuperating10 back in Ireland with his family. Not only that but Ronan Keating’s solo plans have forced him to give up his co-managing duties due to lack of time. More good news, though, is they have recently recorded with Mariah Carey and are due to begin work on their second album. “西部生活”誓必成功 “西部生活”故事的真正開始要追溯到1996年11月。當(dāng)時“西部生活”的三名創(chuàng)始成員參 與演出一部本地制作的音樂劇《油脂》。沙恩·菲蘭、凱恩·伊根和馬克·費(fèi)希利都出生和成 長在斯萊戈小鎮(zhèn)。它位于愛爾蘭共和國首都都柏林以西，只有幾小時的路程。每逢幕間 休息，三個男孩兒就站在一起，翻唱他們喜愛的歌曲，包括“BoyzⅡMen’s”的《我要和你相 愛》。觀眾對他們的演唱反應(yīng)十分積極，他們因此決定學(xué)校的考試一完就組建樂隊。他們 就這么做了，于1997年6月3日成立了“I.O.U”。 　　男孩兒們在當(dāng)?shù)嘏e辦演唱會，甚至還制作并出售自己的光碟。本地的成功使得他們 在電視里露了臉，結(jié)果大為成功。在觀看三人組合在一家兒童醫(yī)院表演的人群中，有一 位是“Boyzone”的經(jīng)理路易斯·沃爾什。此后不久，當(dāng)沙恩的媽媽找他商談“I.O.U”的事宜 時，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)他一直在想和男孩兒們聯(lián)絡(luò)。 1998年7月，路易斯·沃爾什決定進(jìn)行面試來招收兩名新成員。就是自那時起，這對好 友，兩個都柏林男孩兒——尼基·伯恩和布賴恩·麥克法登開始演唱了。樂隊很快更名，“西 邊”誕生了。沒錯兒，“西邊”。它將成為這支五人組合的稱號，直到他們發(fā)現(xiàn)已另有樂隊 使用同樣的名字而需最終改叫“西部生活”為止。成功鏈上的最后一環(huán)是羅南·基廷——“Bo yzone”的主唱。他應(yīng)路易斯·沃爾什之邀共同攜手幫助和培養(yǎng)這群璞玉。他的經(jīng)驗被證明 是無價之寶。 　　下一步是獲得唱片簽約。樂隊在都柏林組織了一場亮相演出，很快各大唱片公司的 代表都向這群懵懂的男孩兒發(fā)出了簽約邀請。1998年10月，“西部生活”和RCA簽約。這家 公司成功地推出了《拿去》和《五》兩張專輯，取得了有目共睹的佳績。 　　合約上的墨跡未干，他們就出發(fā)開始了作為“轟動表演”一部分的巡回演出。此舉為 他們在1998年11月贏得了“最佳新人巡回演藝獎”(“Boyzone”本身在1994年也曾獲此獎， 似乎是一個吉兆)。 　　肯尼·霍曾負(fù)責(zé)“辣妹”的造型。經(jīng)他裝扮，“西部生活”的首張單曲《再度發(fā)誓》于199 9年3月問世。在男孩兒們的家鄉(xiāng)愛爾蘭，它直升排行榜之冠，成為愛爾蘭流行唱片榜上 有史以來銷量最大的首張單曲。一月之后，《再度發(fā)誓》在英國又現(xiàn)輝煌，連續(xù)兩周名列 排行榜第一，接替了“Boyzone”對英國流行音樂頂尖位置的占領(lǐng)。不久，在歐洲、亞洲、 澳大利亞和新西蘭到處都取得了成功。 　　他們眼下看來肯定又在美國再度成功。全美巡演令《再度發(fā)誓》在排行榜上急速攀升 。在布賴恩·麥克法登最近患精神衰弱，不得不放棄一些演出，回愛爾蘭和家人團(tuán)聚療養(yǎng) 之際，這無疑是男孩兒們需要的好消息。另外，由于時間問題，羅南·基廷的個人演唱會 計劃也迫使他放棄和路易斯·沃爾什共同管理樂隊。盡管如此，還有好消息，他們最近和 瑪麗亞·凱麗一起灌制唱片，并將開始第二張專輯的錄制。 1.grease[⊥ρι:σ]n.油脂，動物脂，潤滑脂 2.audition[Χ:5διΦΕν]n.(對志愿藝人等的)面試(指試唱) 3.recruit[ρι5κρυ:τ]vt.吸收(新成員)，招聘 4.quintet[κωιν]n.[音]五重唱小組，五重唱 5.nurture[5νΕ:τΦΕ]vt.培育，教養(yǎng)，培植 6.showcase [5ΦΕθκεΙσ] n.(主美)顯示優(yōu)點的東西 7.bewildered[βεωιλδερ]adj.困惑的，不知所措的 8.omen [5Ευμεν]n.預(yù)兆，征兆，預(yù)兆性 9.dominance [5δΡμΙνΕνσ]n.最高位置，優(yōu)勢 10.recuperate [ρι5κφυ:πΕρειτ]vi.恢復(fù)，休養(yǎng)，將息
7 西部生活 誓必成功(doc)