was an added bonus; the band’s appearance on the show, along with the Best Newcomer award, drove Love Me For A Reason to No. 2 in the UK charts. It sold over 700,000 copies and also made the top 10 in most European countries. Boyzone was officially a success.
“I had no idea how big it was going to be. I just thought it was great. We might get a top 20 record in the UK. Fantastic. It went to No. 2. East 17 were at No. 1 with Stay Another Day ,” says Louis.
Although Mark Frith may not have been the person who engineered Boyzone’s acceptance onto the Smash Hits Roadshow, he was the person who decided to put them on the cover of the magazine. He says he had been rooting for Louis and the band for some time, after reading about them in Hot Press .
“Before I met him, I kind of noticed that Hot Press was so pro-rock, and the cooler side of music, that they had, not an anti-Louis campaign, but they were kind of disparaging of the guy at times,” says Frith.
“He got a lot of criticism because Ireland is home-grown rock music, or home-grown roots influenced music, and really this guy was seen as someone who was bringing these English or American boyband ways into the culture and had a lot of stick. I always love the under-dog, so I immediately became a fan because the poor guy was trying to do this thing in the face of adversity,” adds Frith.
While Boyzone performed at the Smash Hits Awards, Frith and his team were putting the finishing touches to the magazine’s awards issue. They had decided that Boyzone should feature on the cover, with the headline “ The Six Days That Made Them Famous! ” When the design work was completed, Frith decided to take a photocopy of the cover with him to the aftershow party.
“This was a real breakthrough for a band that had been slagged off back in Ireland,” he says. “Given the incredible false start on the Late Late Show . I remember taking down this photocopy of the cover to show Ronan and the band, and to show Louis. They formed around me and they wanted to keep the photocopy of the cover. Louis was all bear hugs and was so, so proud that they had done it. For him, Smash Hits was all. Smash Hits meant everything. Smash Hits represented British music so it was a real symbol for him of having made it in Britain, and having shown people that he could do it, the fact they got on the cover of Smash Hits . And that was quite an amazing moment and it was great to be there at that moment.”
Ensuring the band kept their feet firmly on the ground had worked. Making the front page of Smash Hits and winning the award reaffirmed his commitment to music. This was a different type of success to that Louis had experienced with Logan, Martin and the Eurovision. It reinforced his own belief that he was making all the right decisions and that he was right not to be swayed by criticism.
“We didn’t get anything for nothing,” says Keating. “We worked hard and we reaped the rewards. He always said be nice to everyone on the way up because you meet them on the way down. These were some of Louis’ phrases and feelings about how Boyzone would make it. And it was down to hard work, it really was. Louis definitely pushed us and helped us to realise that.”
Having his charges appear on the cover of the UK’s leading pop magazine undoubtedly meant a huge amount to Louis. As a pop fanatic, he had read Smash Hits for years. This was the turning point in his career.
Of course, he couldn’t have done it on his own. The increasing success of Boyzone entailed more admin-istration. Louis didn’t have an office filled with staff, preferring to operate on the go, with his mobile phone glued to his ear, but he did have two very able partners in Reynolds and Keogh.
Keogh explains the division of labour in the manage-ment team. “At the time, Louis had all the ideas in terms of the songs and covers and what the guys should do. But he hadn’t got a clue in terms of the marketing and image and
“I had no idea how big it was going to be. I just thought it was great. We might get a top 20 record in the UK. Fantastic. It went to No. 2. East 17 were at No. 1 with Stay Another Day ,” says Louis.
Although Mark Frith may not have been the person who engineered Boyzone’s acceptance onto the Smash Hits Roadshow, he was the person who decided to put them on the cover of the magazine. He says he had been rooting for Louis and the band for some time, after reading about them in Hot Press .
“Before I met him, I kind of noticed that Hot Press was so pro-rock, and the cooler side of music, that they had, not an anti-Louis campaign, but they were kind of disparaging of the guy at times,” says Frith.
“He got a lot of criticism because Ireland is home-grown rock music, or home-grown roots influenced music, and really this guy was seen as someone who was bringing these English or American boyband ways into the culture and had a lot of stick. I always love the under-dog, so I immediately became a fan because the poor guy was trying to do this thing in the face of adversity,” adds Frith.
While Boyzone performed at the Smash Hits Awards, Frith and his team were putting the finishing touches to the magazine’s awards issue. They had decided that Boyzone should feature on the cover, with the headline “ The Six Days That Made Them Famous! ” When the design work was completed, Frith decided to take a photocopy of the cover with him to the aftershow party.
“This was a real breakthrough for a band that had been slagged off back in Ireland,” he says. “Given the incredible false start on the Late Late Show . I remember taking down this photocopy of the cover to show Ronan and the band, and to show Louis. They formed around me and they wanted to keep the photocopy of the cover. Louis was all bear hugs and was so, so proud that they had done it. For him, Smash Hits was all. Smash Hits meant everything. Smash Hits represented British music so it was a real symbol for him of having made it in Britain, and having shown people that he could do it, the fact they got on the cover of Smash Hits . And that was quite an amazing moment and it was great to be there at that moment.”
Ensuring the band kept their feet firmly on the ground had worked. Making the front page of Smash Hits and winning the award reaffirmed his commitment to music. This was a different type of success to that Louis had experienced with Logan, Martin and the Eurovision. It reinforced his own belief that he was making all the right decisions and that he was right not to be swayed by criticism.
“We didn’t get anything for nothing,” says Keating. “We worked hard and we reaped the rewards. He always said be nice to everyone on the way up because you meet them on the way down. These were some of Louis’ phrases and feelings about how Boyzone would make it. And it was down to hard work, it really was. Louis definitely pushed us and helped us to realise that.”
Having his charges appear on the cover of the UK’s leading pop magazine undoubtedly meant a huge amount to Louis. As a pop fanatic, he had read Smash Hits for years. This was the turning point in his career.
Of course, he couldn’t have done it on his own. The increasing success of Boyzone entailed more admin-istration. Louis didn’t have an office filled with staff, preferring to operate on the go, with his mobile phone glued to his ear, but he did have two very able partners in Reynolds and Keogh.
Keogh explains the division of labour in the manage-ment team. “At the time, Louis had all the ideas in terms of the songs and covers and what the guys should do. But he hadn’t got a clue in terms of the marketing and image and
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