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”故事的真正开始要追溯到1996年11月。当时“西部生活”的三名创始成员参 与演出一部本地制作的音乐剧《油脂》。沙恩·菲兰、凯恩·伊根和马克·费希利都出生和成 长在斯莱戈小镇。它位于爱尔兰共和国首都都柏林以西，只有几小时的路程。每逢幕间 休息，三个男孩儿就站在一起，翻唱他们喜爱的歌曲，包括“BoyzⅡMen’s”的《我要和你相 爱》。观众对他们的演唱反应十分积极，他们因此决定学校的考试一完就组建乐队。他们 就这么做了，于1997年6月3日成立了“I.O.U”。 　　男孩儿们在当地举办演唱会，甚至还制作并出售自己的光碟。本地的成功使得他们 在电视里露了脸，结果大为成功。在观看三人组合在一家儿童医院表演的人群中，有一 位是“Boyzone”的经理路易斯·沃尔什。此后不久，当沙恩的妈妈找他商谈“I.O.U”的事宜 时，却发现他一直在想和男孩儿们联络。 1998年7月，路易斯·沃尔什决定进行面试来招收两名新成员。就是自那时起，这对好 友，两个都柏林男孩儿——尼基·伯恩和布赖恩·麦克法登开始演唱了。乐队很快更名，“西 边”诞生了。没错儿，“西边”。它将成为这支五人组合的称号，直到他们发现已另有乐队 使用同样的名字而需最终改叫“西部生活”为止。成功链上的最后一环是罗南·基廷——“Bo yzone”的主唱。他应路易斯·沃尔什之邀共同携手帮助和培养这群璞玉。他的经验被证明 是无价之宝。 　　下一步是获得唱片签约。乐队在都柏林组织了一场亮相演出，很快各大唱片公司的 代表都向这群懵懂的男孩儿发出了签约邀请。1998年10月，“西部生活”和RCA签约。这家 公司成功地推出了《拿去》和《五》两张专辑，取得了有目共睹的佳绩。 　　合约上的墨迹未干，他们就出发开始了作为“轰动表演”一部分的巡回演出。此举为 他们在1998年11月赢得了“最佳新人巡回演艺奖”(“Boyzone”本身在1994年也曾获此奖， 似乎是一个吉兆)。 　　肯尼·霍曾负责“辣妹”的造型。经他装扮，“西部生活”的首张单曲《再度发誓》于199 9年3月问世。在男孩儿们的家乡爱尔兰，它直升排行榜之冠，成为爱尔兰流行唱片榜上 有史以来销量最大的首张单曲。一月之后，《再度发誓》在英国又现辉煌，连续两周名列 排行榜第一，接替了“Boyzone”对英国流行音乐顶尖位置的占领。不久，在欧洲、亚洲、 澳大利亚和新西兰到处都取得了成功。 　　他们眼下看来肯定又在美国再度成功。全美巡演令《再度发誓》在排行榜上急速攀升 。在布赖恩·麦克法登最近患精神衰弱，不得不放弃一些演出，回爱尔兰和家人团聚疗养 之际，这无疑是男孩儿们需要的好消息。另外，由于时间问题，罗南·基廷的个人演唱会 计划也迫使他放弃和路易斯·沃尔什共同管理乐队。尽管如此，还有好消息，他们最近和 玛丽亚·凯丽一起灌制唱片，并将开始第二张专辑的录制。 1.grease[⊥ρι:σ]n.油脂，动物脂，润滑脂 2.audition[Χ:5διΦΕν]n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试唱) 3.recruit[ρι5κρυ:τ]vt.吸收(新成员)，招聘 4.quintet[κωιν]n.[音]五重唱小组，五重唱 5.nurture[5νΕ:τΦΕ]vt.培育，教养，培植 6.showcase [5ΦΕθκεΙσ] n.(主美)显示优点的东西 7.bewildered[βεωιλδερ]adj.困惑的，不知所措的 8.omen [5Ευμεν]n.预兆，征兆，预兆性 9.dominance [5δΡμΙνΕνσ]n.最高位置，优势 10.recuperate [ρι5κφυ:πΕρειτ]vi.恢复，休养，将息
7 西部生活 誓必成功(doc)