Birthday Number 1s: 2002 - Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake)

I'm not entirely sure I've ever heard

Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake) - Gareth Gates

all the way through (until just now).

I did know the chorus. I remember hearing a woman at a party singing it and thinking "that must be what that is". I remember that extremely well, because the same woman, who I knew a little but not very well, reacted to the news that my intention was to become a primary school teacher with unhidden disapproval and disbelief, saying "that is something you're really not suited to" and I often think about how she, a slightly drunk slight acquaintance, was the only person who hit the nail on the head, and the favour that almost did me. If just one other person had been so blunt, I might have spared myself a stoopid mistake of a year. (all turned out fine in the end, mind!)

This was one of four (four!) UK Number 1s for Gareth Gates, the only one that wasn't an obvious cover of an obvious song. Listening to it, it's fairly catchy, nothing outstanding. 2002 was really the year that Cowell's creations dominated the charts. For 18 weeks of the year, with 8 different songs, the Number 1 spot was held by an act from an ITV talent show. 

Of course, this situation would carry on, in some way, for most of the decade, but, as it developed, it was less a case of "any old dross will do it" ...usually the series winner would get one guaranteed Number 1 but then fall away, whereas over the course of the era, Syco success was concentrated on a handful of major acts - usually, it turned out, groups (Girls Aloud, 1D, JLS, Little Mix).

Without wishing to be critical, Gareth Gates was lucky to have his success when he did. He ended up playing shows in places like St Mary's Church, Ashford, and there's nothing wrong with it.

Following Anyone of Us at Number 1 that summer was another Pop Idol alumnus, Darius (Campbell-Danesh) with Colourblind. Darius's death last year really did make me feel terribly sad. To me, he was the greatest figure of the Syco era. Not just the greatest figure, but the catalyst, the gold dust that set the whole thing in motion.

I didn't watch the first episode or two of Popstars in early 2001 but when I caught up with it down the line, with my flatmates, the first guy we saw was Darius, in his ponytail, goatee and leather jacket era. The point about Darius was that one moment you'd go "what a dweeb", then "but he seems nice" then "he's really a great singer" then "he's actually very handsome" then "why the hell is he doing that". He was genuinely nuanced - they constructed all their future narratives for other people that would serve the shows for a decade out of what simply came naturally from him in an hour or so of TV..

It was a genuinely beautiful thing when he came back a couple of years later on the first series of Pop Idol looking like a matinee idol. That first series, with Will, Gareth, Darius completing the podium, looks so innocent and outdated now. Just three charming young fellas. They each had a narrative that worked, It was good TV, and it was actually, still, at that point, endearing TV.

I think I thought Darius would do even better than he did, he really had such a fine voice, but he did pretty well for himself. After a few hits, he moved to musical theatre. I saw him the musical of Gone With the Wind, as my cousin was also in it. He was good, I thought. Unfortunately the musical wasn't.

A strange era of pop music all told with, no doubt, some real unpleasant stories in the background. In 2002, Girls Aloud and Will Young were just about to break the mould by releasing truly excellent singles on the back of talent show success. Gareth Gates never quite managed to do that.