Zayn’s going in One Direction. He’s leaving...
AS I stood in my kitchen, preparing dinner, on Wednesday evening, I was transported back 20 years. The news was that Zayn Malik had walked away from One Direction, the band that made him a household name.
Tears came to my eyes, not because I’m a weird, 36-year-old 1D fanatic, but because the emotion I had felt as a 16-year-old washed over me.
In July, 1995, Robbie Williams split from Take That. Just like Zayn, there had been rumours of drug use, misbehaviour with women and lack of commitment to the band. As a fan, when a band consumes your being you don’t foresee this.
When Robbie left Take That, my life was already in turmoil. The previous month, my mum had died suddenly. That pain was incomparable, but I could have done without another change. I had taken refuge in my Take That videos.
All the love as always. H
— Harry Styles. (@Harry_Styles) March 26, 2015
Back then, there was no Sky Plus and the internet was only beginning. Taping TV interviews of the boys took great skill. You had to be at home at the exact time of the show and I only recorded the parts where Take That were on screen.
Over the years, I had built quite the collection of recordings, and so I spent my school holidays watching the boys; watching something that would bring me even a miniscule of happiness. For me, at the time, Take That were a security blanket.
When the news broke that Robbie had left, my friends gathered in my kitchen. The worst thing that could ever have happened to me already had, so I could put Robbie’s leaving in perspective. But deep down I was devastated.
Take That had given me so many precious, happy moments. The band had always seemed to be so close and the best of friends, but this unity had been shattered. Allegiances were going to have to be formed. The Take That we knew was no more.
Robbie had been my favourite from the beginning. It was the typical teenage crush; he was the cheeky chappy of the group, always having a laugh, especially with little Mark, who was my second favourite.
In light of recent events I think this is important to say. For the past five years now I've been part of (cont) http://t.co/rkSsnCOc4W
— Liam (@LiamPayne) March 26, 2015
Every Take That fan, just like the 1D fans now, has a favourite; it’s the right of passage for the boyband fan. To me, Robbie was the ultimate bloke. I would listen to the Everything Changes album on my walkman as I fell asleep, imagining that Robbie was singing about me.
In my imagination, I had married him a hundred times over, in all different types of scenarios.
When I couldn’t get tickets for their second Dublin concert, and my friend did, I couldn’t even look her in the eye. That was until, in the porch of the local church during Sunday mass, I secured a ticket.
I would be sitting on my own at the concert, and all my friends would be too, but we didn’t care. I had fainted at the first concert, so I could handle anything!
Standing outside hotels, in the pouring rain, in the hope of catching a glimpse of Robbie and the rest of the band, was a regular ritual.
As I’m writing this, I realise how obsessive, and quite frankly sad, this must sound to those who have never followed a boyband or who have never been a teenage girl with a crush.
But it’s not a new phenomenon. Throughout the decades, teenage girls have created a mass hysteria of screaming and crying at a mere glance of their idols. Elvis, The Beatles, The Monkees, all had a devoted fan base of frenzied teenage girls.
Fans build a connection with the members of the group, a connection that in their minds becomes a type of friendship.
Your support has been incredible , truly incredible so thank you so much !
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) March 26, 2015
This is especially true these days, when they can connect with their favourite band through social media; they know exactly when and where the band are and what they’re doing. Everything is instant.
And so when this connection is broken and a band go their separate ways, for whatever reason, the fans feel a certain betrayal, because they have dedicated so much time to them and, in the end, have no control over the situation.
Robbie leaving Take That was the first of its kind, as dedicated helplines were set up for devestated fans.
Images of distraught girls, from throughout Europe and Asia, filled the newspages.
Today, there are rumours of the hashtag #CutForZaynMalik trending on twitter.
Unfortunately, this is a sign of our times and of how teenagers today react. Back 20 years ago, the camaraderie of social media wasn’t there and so fans had no way of uniting in their grief.
This is disgusting and must stop NOW > #cut4zayn
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 25, 2015
I do hope that 1D fans don’t take this action, because while it may feel like the worst thing in the world, at the moment, there will be plenty more One Direction moments to look forward to in the future.
If, like Robbie, Zayn pursues a solo career, who knows? But one thing is for sure, in ten years there will be the reunion tour, which, if Take That was anything to go by, will be worth the wait.
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