#like 1d type boyband

[jgracie]

CYNTHIA!! congrats on 600 ml i’m so proud <33

for your event,, can i please req on the radio?? a playlist based on perseus jackson himself pleaseee

love you!!

💬 THANK YOU EMMAAAA!!!

ON THE RADIO — PERCY JACKSON ˚⟡˖ ࣪

nervous (the neighbourhood)

some nights (fun.)

i’m in love with you (the 1975)

fight or flight (conan gray)

sweater weather (the neighbourhood)

welcome to new york (taylor swift)

cigarette daydreams (cage the elephant)

perfect places (lorde)

end of beginning (djo)

hooked (why don’t we)

[clumsyclifford]

11, 42, 121 for ‘23 playlist pls🎄

yes ur honor [salute emoji idk i can't find it on desktop]

11: calm down by all time low (again w the tmia moment)

42: adam's song by blink-182. i was studying for the blink concert i went to and like. angsty banger blueprint

121: not the 1975 by knox THIS SONG IS LIKE CRACK

send me a number 1-142 for a song from my 2023 playlist

[campbyler]

What are Mike and Will’s top three artists? (Idk if you’ve mentioned it before sorryy)

oooh i don’t think we’ve named specific favorites for them before!! i don’t know if we’ll be able to just name Three (edit: coming back to proofread after typing out this ask. i did not just name Three), bc to me acswy mike and will both have pretty varied music tastes — i think they’d both listen to a lot of different genres and artists, especially music that their friends/family/assorted loved ones introduce them to that might not be something they’d usually go for.

mike: we did mention in ch2 that mike has a demon days poster above his bed in the blue cabin, and while i don’t think gorillaz is one of his Favorite groups by any means, i do think he 1. listens to them a lot while driving specifically and 2. just reallyyyy loves their album art. to me mike is also such a pop punk enjoyer, so i think some of his go-tos include bands like all time low and paramore and blink-182, probably with a little midwest emo thrown in bc the boy did literallyyyyy grow up in indiana. i do also think he has a soft spot for feel-good pop, especially boyband music like 1D and BTR, and i think 5sos is not technically a boyband (or that they don’t like to be called one? iirc? maybe?) but i think he would listen to them quite a bit as well! really and truly i think mike would just like a little bit of everything, and his fav artists probably rotate a lot depending on his mood.

will: always a jeff buckley enthusiast across universes to meeeee, and the clear answers here are also the cure/the clash and other oldies rock OBVIOUSLYYYY but i think he would also totally dabble in typical 2020s Male Manipulator Music lol with likeeeee peach pit and the backseat lovers and the strokes especially. i think he’d also be into midwest emo (cannot escape his fate), and maybe also deftones and ptv a little bit (<- self indulgent and me projecting but i am not sorry). i think he also has a soft spot for pop, but not really in the same way mike does — for example, el definitely makes him listen to a lot of carly rae jepsen and the like when they’re together, and he also has a lot of good memories of listening to older pop songs with his mom when he was younger! like. he hits shuffle on his liked songs and it’s destiny’s child followed by radiohead followed by jenny by studio killers. he contains multitudes i’m afraid

[savebylou]

https://www.tumblr.com/awesomefringey/752478298910703616?source=share

Saw this on dash agree with all the reblogs BLAH FUCK SIMON LEAVE BOYBANDS ALONE lmao but what I wanted to add was cowbell and music producers similar to him have tried so hard to find/create a "new one direction" since it ended but have yet to actually succeed bc you can't recreate the magic that was one direction. This feels like those who undermine one directions success and level of fame. These people acting like 1D was just another boyband and think oh we can make another 1D type band no, NO YOU CAN'T! 1D/directioners were compared to beatlemania and 1D was pretty much mobbed in just about any country they went to you can't recreate that kind of crazy success when will they learn this?

Hi Bria! Yes you are right, seems like for years they have tried to do that in their shows and other ways and they fail because as you said they "can't recreate the magic that was one direction".

I mention this to @enchantedlandcoffee that Simon did this specific show a few years ago, it was The X Factor: The Band. Is same idea just trying to marketing for a streaming service.

I think the problem for Simon is that he is making this with an intention of create more money, he doesn't care the band find their own voice, that they growth, create their own lyrics and music. We know how hard the boys and specially Louis try to have more a voice and control of the band. Simon never cares for the artists just himself.

I agree with you. The boys were talented and called destiny or luck but they find each other and created something unique and were know during a young generation that grow up with them, is just a matter of time and opportinity, you can't force those things especially when your intentions are not music and is just create more money.

I do hope not streaming service pick this show or just fails for raitings. Is incredible that to this day he still is working on tv and gets exposure on the press after all the horrible things he has done to so many artists.

Thanks for sharing your opinion with me.

[allyougottado]

Hello! Its been so long since I saw you on my TL haha

I know that youre kinda sick(get well soon<3!) and very busy with school, but if you have the time to do it, about the ship bingo, your thoughts on Harper x pound the alarm p1?(I started to like them simply bc of the battle mode haha)

Good luck with your school stuff:)

i remembered kiss you was in just dance but i totally forgot abt pound the alarm lmao so i had to watch that and the battle mode again

also OMFG YEAH I THINK THE 1D COACHES ARE THE SAME THROUGHOUT ALL THE SONGS AS WELL 🤝 (JD team plz confirm this hahaha…)

anywayzzzz I THINK THEY’RE SILLY

i think she’s super annoyed at his attempts at flirting cuz he was being REALLY corny in the dance battle and she’s all fierce and sexy so it like totally doesn’t fit her vibe. but he can’t take a hint so he keeps on attempting and it’s such a boyband type of corny it’s embarrassing her 😭😭😭 but he’s totally oblivious to his cheesy-ness in an innocent way (my interp :3)

they’re funnyyyyyy i think they’re silly :DDDD

also ty i think i’m getting better ❤️‍🩹 school wasn’t that bad either i just get easily scared of nonsensical things haha

[pop-punklouis]

1D machine was probably a nightmare, It was amazing and mind blowing but we are talk about a group that moved a lot of money, every decision probably was watched like crazy, the pressure and they were young, when 1D stopped Louis was like 25 and he was the oldest, imagine the pressure. If we look at the industry we as fans are lucky that those man are doing relatively ok today and actually healing from that time

he was actually 23 about to be 24. insane. but yeah i agree 1000% i think sometimes people forget how young they all were and they were vacuum sealed into this bubble 1DHQ placed them in for years because of how much money they were making the suits. it’s unfortunately the same type of journey most boybands go through that become successful.

[skepticalarrie]

I’ve often wondered if Louis would have had an easier transition to the type of music he wants to make if he had formed a band instead of continuing to be a solo artist. Let him meld into the mix of a band, instead of being out in front on the marquees. It would have been a bold move for sure - I can’t think of any former boyband members who have gone that route. Any thoughts on this?

Great point, yeah! That’s interesting. I think Louis looks way more comfortable when he’s part of something as opposed to being a solo act. Even with his band, putting them on his music videos and stuff like that, it makes it clear that he likes this dynamic better. But, IMO, what makes his transition harder is the fact he was in a boyband, there’s so much prejudice, it’s going to take a while until he’s able to present himself in a way people are not looking down on him because of that. I mean, look at Harry, and he’s a pop artist which is supposed to be much easier than Louis’ indie and still people look down on him a lot. It’s hard to guess what that would be like if he had formed another band. To be honest, I never really thought about any of them in other bands after 1D, but it’s a *very* interesting thing to think about, I wonder if Louis himself ever thought about it at some point

[statementlou]

you’re completely ignoring the fact that the video bbc sounds used of harry is not from them but from his show in munich. i looked up his outfit and his outfit for bbc big weekend was a dungaree. it’s a fan video but they couldn’t be bothered to do it for louis

I am because I don't really CARE all that much about digging into it: maybe you're right that they got that off youtube. Maybe not! But sure let's say this social media person did all that to get Harry video- does that prove there's a conspiracy against Louis from the top of the BBC? The likeliest explanation STILL is not that, it's that this person is a harrie (extremely likely by the numbers), or, even more likely, that this person isn't a 1D fan at all and just did a bad job! Or any number of other random ass things tbh... but 'the BBC has an agenda that involves pretending a member of popular boyband One Direction doesn't exist' is NEVER going to be the simplest explanation (especially when Louis has literally been on the BBC indie show repeatedly but sure, he's banned.) Does Louis get good radio play, no. Have BBC1 programmers been helpful and willing to give his music a shot, no. Are his songs top 40 type stuff, also no and possibly a factor, and hey maybe there are even some people at the BBC who hate him for being difficult and resent him: but the BBC is not a monolithic dictatorship with a big whiteboard with a list of people to be avoided at all costs in airplay and SM mentions, and sometimes it's NOT THAT FUCKING DEEP

[alarrytale]

marte, do you think harry and louis could sign to any label after the hiatus? Because I don't think it's a coincidence that louis and harry both are still with sony. If I were them I'd get as far away as possible from sony.

Also, what are your thoughts on 2013 harry already planning a solo career? Do you think the rest of the boys also geared up to go solo? Or do you think harry wanted to become a more famous, popstar without 1D?

Some ask about Harry going solo, Harry and the Azoffs, and Harry's ambitions under the cut.

Hi, anons!

I don't think any of the boys could sign to any label they wanted after the hiatus. Sony had the right of first refusal and they were still under Sony controlled image clauses.

I think all the boys knew when the 1d label contracts with Syco/Columbia were up. Either it was a 5 year deal or it was a five albums and tours deal. I think everyone was ready to sign on for more albums, but they wanted a break first after 5 albums in five years. Zayn unexpectedly left after the fourth album. I think Sony and Columbia would rather have solo Harry than three or five more years of 1d without Zayn. They'd make more money this way and they couldn’t risk Harry's star fading when 1d dipped in sales. So they refused to sign 1d on for more albums. I'm not sure Harry new about all this. He might have and though it was unfair to the others, but that he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to continue having a career in music. He was planning his own future. I think Harry's got less agency here than some of you do.

It's not like the label and the azoffs are forcing anything on him to do anything. He doesn't have any problem to be 'seen as anything other than what he is now'. He chose that. He broke up the band for that. He established these relationships in 2013 and ruined his relationship with the boys for that. He never wanted to be an indie star. He wanted fame. He wanted to be a superstar. Besides the azoffs r basically his American family.

I'm not sure that is correct. If he wanted a continued career in music after 1d he had to sign with Columbia. He didn’t have a choice. I think he chose the Azoffs himself. Even in 1d he had deals for himself the others didn’t have, like with BBC and fashion brands and he needed management. I don't think Harry broke up the band. See answer above. I think he's relationship with the boys are fine, but i think Sony had him distancing himself from the boyband days because they wanted a slight rebrand of him over to dad rock. I think Harry is ambitious and there was no way he wasn't going to sign on for a continued music career after 1d. I still don't think fame and superstardom is a major driver for him, being the best at what he does? Yes, absolutely.

Idk what to make of Harry when it comes to the people he surrounds himself with and his desire for more and more fame/love. He’s not the helpless victim some Larries think he is but he’s also not the manipulative villain Rads see him as. It’s impossible for anyone to tell what kind of situation he’s in and exactly who is pulling the strings and etc, but I think it’s clear that Harry doesn’t hate the Azoffs at all despite them being pieces of shits. He’s changed so much…I feel like he was at least fine in 2016-2018. But the past few years I’ve found him to be off putting, and I wonder why he continues to surround himself with super fake celebrities and business people. He doesn’t mind the fakeness of these A list events. Idc if i sound selfish or delusional, but this boy has been thru a lot from the industry and I don’t see why he’s sacrificing authenticity for success. Look at him while in the band/during HS1 vs now. I don’t even wanna go to his concerts because of his audiences. This type of stuff also makes it hard to imagine L&H together. I’m not talking about the fact that they have opposite images, that’s irrelevant to love. But i dunno, you see Louis not even being promoted by his own team and going indie and not being a fan of phoney industry stuff. Then you have Harry who’s 100% on board with playing the game. I wonder if there’s a long term plan for all this, like maybe he’s planning on making a lot of money for the management and himself so it’s stable for him to come out?

"I don’t agree with Emma that the Azoffs were roped in to help the band. I never subscribed to that theory." It wasn't a theory. Angela @/lapelosa had inside information that Irving promised to sign the entire 1D and save them from Syco. She had contacts who worked with the Azoffs. Might be why Zayn was so pissed is that he found out that only Harry will be signed with a solo career superstardom like Zayn said Harry was making deals behind their backs. And don't you dare say Zayn is lying !!!

I think he knows the business is ugly and if he wants to be the best he needs the best management. Since everyone is ugly he had to pick ugly but good at what they do. So he picked the Azoffs with a network ready to go and huge artists under their belt. Harry does surround himself with a lot of ruthless, morally grey and down right horrible people. But i don't think he's in the business to make friends, it's work. I do think he hates the fakeness and these industry events. I can see it on his face. But he's so good at charming people and knows very well who to talk to to get exactly what he wants and the opportunities he wants. Don't hate the player hate the game. He just plays the game well.

I think it's s a constant battle between his wishes for authenticity and freedom and his label and management need for commercial success and making money on their investments in him. I think he compromises a lot of the time.

Hello, could you please answer the last question about this hiatus thing? It has come to my attention that Harry was the one who wanted the hiatus in order to go solo himself, knowing he would get a good career since Sony always favored him and the Azoffs promised him a life full of fame and money ans glory. Just knowing he was already ready to go solo in 2013 makes me sick, especially because it seems like backstabbing. He knew he had his future made because he had it all: the best treatment, great connections etc and the other boys didnt have any of that. He knew they didn't have a secure future solo career and he still did it so he could be the break out star. That alone makes him a mean and sly person.

That is not something i recall happening at all. I don't believe Angela had any inside info, she just had hope Azoff were the knight in shining armour here to save 1d. I'm not saying Zayn is lying, but this is Zayn's version of events and he's got an agenda here too. And i'd appreciate you being less agressive in your ask.

Not to mention the shade Harry threw at zayn for leaving, most likely he was mad because Zayn would steal his thunder. You can be as ambitious as you want to be but what Harry did isn't called ambition, its literally greed. Not to mention him hiding behind a mask with TPWK and that so called nice image of his. None of that seems true now.

My question is knowing thus information, hiw can I still stan/love him? And how do you guys still stan and love him?

It's important to figure out the facts here and not mix it with theories or headcanons. We don’t know that Harry wanted the 1d hiatus. I don't think that's true. I don't think he was ready to go solo in 2013, but it is a fact he started to look for management and networking. We don’t know why he did or what for. Yes, he was the favoured one from the start and were given preferential treatment. That isn't his fault and i think it made him feel guilty. But he also shouldn't be blamed for being the one with the most ambitions and clear goals for himself. I believe he was 100% loyal to the boys. I'm also sure Louis knew everything going on with Harry. If Sony gave bg to Louis to help furher Harry's career (likely) then Harry would have felt even more guilt if he just gave everything up. Harry was manipulated too here.

I think the shade being thrown at Zayn were because they felt betrayed. Louis was also in a major public spat with Zayn and Harry took Louis' side of course. He couldn’t do it publically so he did it in the way he could.

I think Harry is a good person who tries to be nice, considerate, empathic and understanding of everyone he comes in contact with. He's generally well liked and everyone only got good words to say about him. I also think Harry is ambitious and knows he has to give some to get some and play the Hollywood games. These things don't need to be mutually exclusive.

I still love him because i think i know who he is and why he does what he does. I don't agree with everything he does and i call him out for it. I'm not a solo harry stan at all, so you have to speak to someone else to know how they manage that.

[zot3-flopped]

It’s interesting about the outright “we made this song to get male audience” (paraphrasing) because Harry also actively (and successfully) expanded his fan base beyond 1D-type fans (i.e., younger and predominantly female) but he did so without disrespecting or dismissing the importance of those fans. Things like covering sledgehammer showed off his vocals and made older, snobbier people pause and give his music a chance. He said that HS1 and, to a lesser extent, fine line were influenced by pressure for critical (HS1) and then commercial (FL) success, but he ultimately made the music he wanted to make. He worked on his showmanship and made smart decisions that exposed him to wider audiences. The goal itself is not bad: younger fanbases are typically more fickle and aren’t going to be as interested in a 30-year-old man as they are a teen pin-up. Harry and his team were smart in how they approached the process of separating Harry from the band, and they recognised that it was a process. Now, most people forget that he was even in 1D. You’re not going to attract a wider audience with woe is me bs, harping on about a defunct boyband, and simply ripping off the swagger of another artist without the music or showmanship to make it your own.

Absolutely. They did 'recognise it was a process' and seven years later, nobody talks about '1d's Harry Styles'. Louis seems to think that he's one and done with a 'punk' single.

[silverfoxlou]

The playlisting is terrible and what little he's on is Pop. (1D adjacent) JUST NO! he should be on indie/rock type lists get his music out to people who haven't had a chance to hear what he's doing. And the 1D shit isn't helping because people have preconceived notions about ex boybanders (and that's true for all of them/throughout history) so promote him like a NEW artist, so people just hear the music and decide. Stalking fan girls asking questions on JS show is NOT it

Yeah - they need to try harder to get his music on playlists that make more sense. Louis' songs would do so well on rock/alt playlists.

The thing is... the preconceived notions only seem to be affecting Louis and his team isn't helping. Push his music independent of his name and his background and it would do crazy numbers.

[stilydinski]

you ever just listen to a fanfic playlist and it's....so bad

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Wed 2 June ‘21

Louis sent a message to a fan looking for a hello after a major surgery-- “Get well soon mate. Sending you loads of love x”- and added that he hopes ALL of us are doing alright; I never doubted it Louis! Niall got a little more specific with his really lovely message today- “HAPPY PRIDE MONTH, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. It’s your life, LOVE who you want to LOVE,” he tweeted! THANKS GUYS.

Liam though, Liam was all over today! He checked in on his way to play golf, on his way back from playing golf (with videographer Conor!), posted comments on discord, joined a new chat platform (Telegram; 5 minutes into Telegram and chill Liam was like OKAY it looks like we may need some moderators for this app lol YOU THINK?), he did a whole 25 min live, AND checked in even later to say he’d just had a shower and was about to play a new video game! New news of the day-- he is going to host a Veeps show showcasing new artists in July!! NEAT! His post about how his team forgot to turn off notifications on the phone they set it all up on for him on is really funny, YIKES; “this used to be an iphone now it’s just a bell” he joked, with video of the phone frantically chiming nonstop (“the power of you guys still blows my mind to this day”.) Also he said that he was very busy getting ready for June 15. Why, you ask, what is on June 15? UH? IDK?? He has so many things coming up? But that’s the NFT I think, which I KNOW a lot of people are mostly not that excited about but I will say that while I don’t care about the technology, I am excited to see Liam’s artwork he’s working on for it (which hopefully the purchaser will share with us), and Liam is truly so excited about the platform, he’s really trying to talk us into it. More on that in a sec...

But let’s get to the other parts of Liam’s live first. He has that new song coming, about which he said “it’s one that I’ve written the most on so far actually, as a single, I’m excited to say my own stuff for once a little”, love that. He’s still coughing but says he’s tested repeatedly and it isn’t COVID, and that he’s gone vegetarian recently, and he says the chat channels were inspired by seeing people using the veeps chat rooms even after the show ended, not wanting to leave. And he talks about 1D- about the notifs mishap he said “back in the band we used to wait for people we didn’t like to leave their notifications on and then we would like- oh make sure you follow this person on twitter! And then their phone would break for days- if someone did something that annoyed you.” HAHAHA where’s my masterpost of people who annoyed them 1D told us to follow, PLEASE? And also “it’s hard sometimes you’re watching people stories from afar that you used to know so well and that can be difficult… we’ve all felt this at different times me and the boys… it’s almost like missing a very dear friend a lot of the time but everyone’s so busy… I’d love to get us all in a room somewhere sometime” aww. But also he said he talked to Harry recently, “really a lovely call, he has a sixth sense for if I'm struggling or if one of us is in trouble, I spoke to him and it was a really lovely catch up. I have a lot of love for the man, he's really, really great"; well I wish Liam wasn’t stuggling but that’s lovely. And Louis too! "I spoke to Louis, I wanna say yesterday. We speak a lot, there's just a lot of laughing about random crap," he said, plus some Louis memories- “I can just hear his laugh in the back of my mind. We once broke into one of the stadiums in America and got chased by a woman… on one of those cop type things, a mall cop thing, and that was quite crazy. He also left me on my own while I was being arrested nearly by a French policemen that I had to push over… which that still scares me to this day. [laughing] That’s what friends are for! I helped him over the fence to get in somewhere, he left me with the policeman, who didn’t have a clue who I was and tried to arrest me even though I was just trying to go into my hotel.” UMM sorry I can’t hear anything past LIAM PUSHED OVER A COP?? Go ahead, make a list of ‘1D members most likely to fight a cop’ and if Liam isn’t DEAD LAST you’re just wrong and yet HERE WE ARE!! WHAT A DAY.

But alas rather than fighting cops now Liam is partnering with an entrepreneur (which I have had to type so many times in the last two days thanks to Liam that I guess I know how to spell it now they just keep SAYING it SO MUCH). Steve Bartlett said “the secret” is out, he recorded a podcast with Liam yesterday-- I’d call secret a bit strong, we had actually got that mate, but okay; he called Liam an entrepreneur and said “yesterday I recorded one of the most powerful, honest, REAL conversations on my podcast to date” and “if you love Liam you’ll love this.” I can absolutely guarantee you that is not true, I love Liam and already hate everything about this collab, but his wording does make me think we’ll get a bit of Liam’s trademark emotional spillage which I suppose I might appreciate despite this self help CEO guy being there too. Liam does have one thing to say that could sway me in this guy’s favor though- “he has the cutest dog ever” apparently! Anyway I may as well get used to him he’s suddenly everywhere-- Liam also patched him into his live to try yet again to convince us that NFTs are good by awkwardly relating it to “fans of boybands” by saying you know this could eliminate like fake tickets and such… Sure Steve sure but anyway he also says of Liam, “the guy you see on camera is the exact same guy off camera”.

Harry and Olivia were seen together in London (well, a grainy ass video of their backs was seen anyway), walking, with some people who look to be her parents and Harry’s PA (so romantic! Not at all work related!) I was initially skeptical of the claim that it was her parents since this fandom is obsessed with saying everyone is so and so’s parents (we’ll NEVER top the time the fandom was sure Harry was seen having lunch with Eleanor’s father though) but it actually seems like maybe it was. More for Harry to add to his collection, that man truly loves an extended family! I mean the whole thing is sketchy as hell, from the assurance that that’s DEFINITELY actually Olivia in the grainy video, FOR SURE, to the confirmation that that’s her mom with them which came when a blank insta page produced a random old picture of her mom in the same skirt, but like is it them, sure I imagine so, and people making sure we get the story anytime they’re together isn’t exactly new. In other news, Dave Meyers, director of the Adore You music video, says he originally pitched the Eroda story idea (“I have this idea, of you love- liking a fish”) to Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas, ASJKJASKL CAN YOU IMAGINE?

[kiwikiwiandkiwi]

hi kiwi! how have you been lately?

ive been thinking a lot lately about louis really diving back into his ‘donny chav’ sorta personality or whatever you want to call it, do you think there any special reasons why?

why over the last couple years he has really started wearing super comfy casual clothes, speaking extra chavvy and english?

im inclined to think its just to give him a sense of home and control, something he can do without repercussions. of cours it was always there, but back in the day he was never this loud with his roots!

as always, love to hear your thoughts on this! 😊

hello! i love when you call me kiwi 😌

louis has always spoken about being proud of his doncaster and working class background, and despite all the fame/success/money he still very much loves his roots - football, drinking beer, smoking, going to the pub, wearing tracksuits, etc. and ever since he went solo, he got the chance (and maybe more freedom) to express more this part of himself. during his 1D days, he had a role to fit in, he had to wear certain types of clothes, act a certain way... you know how manufactured boybands are. so now that he has a little more control over his image, he has embraced his "chav style", and i believe he wears it because he actually likes it and feel comfortable doing so, and because it’s a part of his culture and childhood - something he's really proud of, and he wants to show it.

if you want to read more about it, i have this tag with some posts that talk more about this subject

[1ddotdhq]

Thurs 21 Jan ‘21

Welp. Today was a busy week, huh? 

Let’s start with Zayn’s INZAYNLY AWESOME idea of writing a comic book based on his own album - take THAT reviews that said he had no concept behind it! The first panel of the story is a man in a white car speeding away from a man with purple eyes and white pupils (REALLY creepy btw), and it reads, “A madman has been chasing me for the past hour. When I go faster, he comes closer”. I am intrigued! I hope that this is some sort of enemies to lovers type thing, but knowing these guys, its strictly horror/suspense. This is being presented in video form, so the panels are moving figures and they are scored with songs from the album, which I assume is how the rest of the panels will also be presented. You can watch these two panels with the songs “Calamity” and “Better” over on YouTube for the full effect! Also, Zayn’s last listening party was today and he was the DJ! “DJ Malik”, he said in a sentimental throwback to his boyband days. He and his team had a great time throwing airhorns into the the listening party and then they did a “from Dusk Til Dawn '' encore, which I’m sure means Zayn wants us to be streaming NIL from Dusk Til Dawn! 

To keep the party going, Paul Roberts, TPWK and longtime 1D choreographer, had a chat with the BBC about working with Harry and Phoebe (WB) on the music video. He knew right away, he said, that everyone from 1D could be a great dancer if they really wanted to be, and, ten years later, he finally got the chance to test the theory! Spoiler alert: he was RIGHT! Harry had seen Phoebe in Fleabag on the West End and got on with her from the word go, and so the idea came about. “It was about three weeks before the world started to burn”, he says about the filming of the video,“We didn’t know how lucky we were”. 

Finally, let’s CHAT: it’s stunt timeeeeee!! Today is, of course, Freddie’s birthday, which meant the usual round of pictures stolen from social media from the Tomlinson sisters, silence from Louis, and birthday pics from the Clarks. Including a picture of a sonogram posted by Briana that was taken on August 3rd, 2015 (Louis confirmed the baby on the very next day on GMA). This sonogram is notable BECAUSE - drumroll pleasseeeee - it was taken at a FERTILITY CLINIC which specialized in surrogacy and IVF. So this is a clinic that only treats people who cannot have children naturally. To make matters more interesting, the clinic does not do non-client visits, and they did not do them in 2015. You simply could not go to this clinic if you had an accidental pregnancy because those are not the kinds of clients served by this clinic! I mean, if nothing else, this shows that Briana did not get accidentally pregnant by Louis, if she was pregnant at all. Likely, it was another fucked up photoshop job, where they switched Tammi’s name for hers and just forgot to change the name of the clinic. Sighhh. We knew this, of course, but WOW does this prove it concretely, huh? Anyways, I cannot BELIEVE that they are still fucking up THIS BADLY five years later, but uh. Yeah. Happy Birthday, Freddie, hope you got more than an apple this year! 

But that’s not the ONLY stunt that’s becoming faker and faker: Fauxlivia is proving itself to be nothing but the cash, and the cars, and the glory...and the pretty clothes, apparently! Turns out, Olivia is a brand ambassador for La Ligne in much the same way that H works for Gucci. She’s been featured on their instagram many MANY times, and has, thus far, worn their clothes for no fewer than TWO of the Holivia pap walks. Strangely enough, though, when this whole stunt began to manifest in late October, HARRY began featuring on their Instagram page as well. Totally Organically, of course, considering that they’d never talked about him before! That AND: the pink beanie that H was wearing in their dumb af Parking Lot Pap Walk has ALSO been idenfied to be La Ligne, which I’m sure he Just Decided to begin wearing and it had NOTHING to do with Jeff being Right There and them having promoted Gucci together at Jeff’s wedding. Mhmmmmm they’ve convinced me they’re TOTALLY in love. Celebrities that promo together, stay together, after all! (Oh, is that not the saying?)

Meanwhile, Liam’s Final Act merch has been delayed, and he has asked people to “contact him when they get it” (Harry’s team could NEVER), and JC Stewart called Niall “one of the nicest guys in music”. I’m sure he agrees! And, Niall has his own little discourse today - so much for him not creating any drama, huh? There were some shirtless pics of him posted by an ~source~ where he seems to have been working out (Niall has ABS now??) and is arranging a stack of boxes that read “nude” (just like Niall, huh?). UAs battled it out whether or not these pics should have been posted because he did not know they were being taken and there’s ETHICS involved, but Niall hangs out shirtless so much ANYWAYS that I bet he doesn’t mind.

[pop-punklouis]

when you say that boyband’s work on a shelf-life and theyre thought of as a cash crop what do you mean? that they’re only an object to the industry?

i mean, let’s break it down. boybands, more times than not, are curated by someone else. it isn’t exactly the boys that come together, find each other, and then start a career. usually, a higher up will pluck 4-5 boys from the crowd and put them in a group together expecting them to be puppets to their success. from the beginning, a boyband is fundamentally under the thumb of the industry due to their origins. then, of course, you have the image branding. these boys, at a young age, are given labels to be to sell records and garner favorites from the fans— which in turn gives more reason to sell more individual product with a certain boy on them. the boys will go through image training/publicity training, and besides putting on a character depending on their branding (zayn malik literally talked about how he couldn’t even really grow a beard in the band), they’re also walking on eggshells to present to the media in a way that is not only broad enough for most of the GP to favor them, but also to give just enough personality away that most of what one knows about them is either created in a boardroom or acts as surface level for fans to push their own attitudes onto them without compromising this carefully patched together image. this doesn’t mean these boys aren’t genuine in how they perform, but there is a lot of tightening of screws and pushing into molds at a young age that can fuck with them when carried out for long periods of time. it’s like appearing as yourself but mimicking someone else’s idea of who you ought to be. it’s the alien impersonator. it makes me think of NSYNC’s music video where they were all puppets on a string, being controlled by the omniscient puppet master. do i think that visual was pointed in makeup? not necessarily, but it is a good reference point for how i’m sure many boybands feel throughout their lifespan

then, you get into the lucrative amount of $$$ people are making off these groups. the global merchandise. the touring. the albums pumped out every 12 months. the chosen teams that surround the boys to keep them on track and keep them feeding into the machine as long as their contract permits. when the $$ begins raking in, that’s what the label begins to view you as. your expectation revolves around their bank accounts, and the more $$ you generate, the harder it is to have freedom and orchestrate a life outside of the spotlight that isn’t predominantly cast in the form of making more $$ for these companies. and these companies know that the pop-sphere only has a general attention span of 5-6 years before a revolving door of new talent comes in, so they’re even heavier handed with how they pump the content out knowing the shelf-life is waning, and there’s only a specific area of time they can milk them for what they are— using it as a justification for dehumanizing a group to line their own pockets.

and god forbid one of them tries to “mess” with that money. even if the intention isn’t malicious. take for example, Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys or Niall Horan. Brian had to get open heart surgery, and they pushed him back into a worldwide tour and promo cycle almost straight after. Niall Horan has had knee surgeries that were prolonged for long enough until they were mandatory and he was on crutches during promo stints. their health and well-being is on the back burner if it compromises their ability to be a cash crop. their agency is stripped to be objects to an industry who looks at them and instantly sees wealth. they walk in a room not as individual people but as a well-oiled machine, which can mess with how you think people view you outside of the group. “would these people speak with me if i wasn’t apart of this?” “would i be able to get into the studio with certain producers/song writers if i was on my own?” “would i have the same opportunities without this goliath presence on my back?” “will i always have that part of my life carried on my back, unable to pick apart if my own talents or my past talents is what’s given me the success i have now?” “is this image the only thing people see and use me for when i walk in a room now?” “what is success if it isn’t the success i had in the band?” a lot of identity issues are created in this isolated bubble, and it’s no wonder why any member of a boyband has insecurities and doubts when they leave that model, not knowing who they are or what they represent.

and finally, you have to take into consideration how tightly controlled their entire life is beyond just promo or images. their schedules are blocked months if not years in advance, not being able to have personal freedom unless it works around things that have already been confirmed for the group (i mean let’s example girl group little mix here. two of them were afraid of becoming pregnant when they did bc their schedules are confirmed ages in advance, and they thought they’d be scolded for it). their agency is gone. their independence is gone. their freedom of just existing is gone. they exist in relation to the label and their “handlers.” they have lives, and they can do things, but many of those things have to be worked through the system and approved. think about how isolating the 1D bubble was. almost none of them had gaggles of famous friends that weren’t also there to sell a certain image of the group. they were contained for most of their youth to just those five boys. from 16+, their teen years and growth into adulthood was centered around this bubble mentality. they were stunted, and you can see the affects of that even now— years later.

so, i don’t blame these groups for taking indefinite breaks or disbanding altogether. that environment is toxic and erasing and superficial. it’s harmful. and i think it’s important to know this. because there’s no foul in loving boybands/girl groups and who they are, what their music sounds like, and what they represent to you. they’re a special type of celebrity that many connect with in different ways than they do individual artists. in ways, who they showed to you was genuine and loving and their friendships within the band cannot be faked. most times, they only have each other through the chaos of fame so they rely on themselves and their fans every night as their support beams so, don’t feel guilty or shameful for liking a band and supporting a band as you weren’t the ones who created this for them— it’s the age-old history of how the boyband model operates and tbh until it “breaks” i unfortunately don’t believe it’ll be fixed.