Article author:
Associated Press
Mark Kennedy
New York (AP) — How Rick Astley handles one of his songs, which is part of the largest internet meme in history mosquito. Obviously, he rolls on it.
"Listen and face it.'Give You Up'has become a sort of thing," he says. "The video and the song floated in the ether and something else. I'm so grateful so far."
The song turned 35 this year and is still very I am alive. Supported by Chapter 2 as a gentle joke, someone seduces you with a fascinating online link. This link points to a 1987 dance pop video. smash. It's called rickroll.
Thirty-five years later, Astley sings this summer on a 57-day "mixtape tour" tour with New Kids on the Block, Salton Pepper and Amborg. 2022. A remastered version of his 1987 debut album has also been released, featuring "Never Gonna Give You Up", of course.
"I'll never make a song this big and I knew it to some extent while it was happening." We'll never beat this. I thought. But I also wondered, "Well, how bad it is." song. After the explosion in the late 1980s, he frustrated show business with the release of a powerful album, "50" in 2016 and "Beautiful Life" in 2018.
"In many cases, Act 2 will be more fun. Alistair Norbury, President of BMGUK's repertoire and marketing with Astley, said:
Over time, and the fact that Astley is a very sweet man, has softened any sharpness. He sees how the past looks different with rosy glasses. Say you understand. Rockstar recently says he loves his voice.
"And I'm really. I thought I would have tied me up in the village square. "He says with a laugh. "They probably did that at the time, but over time I think it only changes your perspective."
Astry, 56, grew up near Manchester, England. I'm the youngest of four. His sister played a lot of progressive rock and worshiped David Bowie. The brothers are big fans of Queen and remember that Queen's "A Night at the Opera" album was played in a loop. Astley absorbed everything from Stevie Wonder to The Smiths.
He belonged to a school band. They once had police playing "So Lonely" with Astley on drums and songs, and wiped the floor with rivals in band battles. He went to the gig and dreamed of becoming a music star.
One day, he remembers being surprised when he found a Smith bassist walking in town. "This can happen." He remembers thinking. "You may be from the town where I bought the record, but last week I was in Top of the Pops."
Astry's debut album, "Anytime." I was in my early twenties while recording "Whenever I Needed". He is a trio of songwriting and record production known as Stock Aitken Waterman, who created the songs for Bananarama and Dead or Alive.
"I sold a lot of records. I had a lot of hits, but now it's like touch and go. What happens because I have to create another record? Is it? "
Burned out and frustrated, he left at the age of 27. I did not do it. I didn't want to do that, "he says.
He praises the longevity of pop stars like Madonna and Kylie Minogue. "I don't really know how they did it," he says.
Being a pop star ruins your head, and Astry says it happened to him too. "I think my days were counted anyway, but I think I managed to escape before they abandoned me." He didn't play for 15 years.
Unlike his other pop stars, he didn't invest his ego in his appearance or the perception of others. "I was never cool. It wasn't cool when I had a hit record," he says. Astry is nothing more than compassion for those who have been bitten by a monster of fame. "It must be incredibly painful."
Astley revived from self-exile in 2016 and was named "50". According to his age at the time, Adele was wearing a hat, from gospel to electro funky.
Norbury remembers being impressed by the first few demos on the album. He asked Astley's manager who wrote them. The answer was "Rick Astley". He asked who was the co-author. The answer was "everyone". Who produced it? "Rick." Then who played all the instruments? "He played all the instruments."
Norbury described Astry as "probably one of the most hard-working people in this business, always with humor, a spirit of collaboration and partnership." I'm doing that. "
Rickrolling started in 2007 — early on YouTube — and it first confused Astley. His "Never Gonna Give You Up" songs and videos were used as part of the Internet bait-and-switch, what did that mean?
"I was worried because I thought too much about it and wondered what it was, and our daughter told me — at that time she I was about 15 years old — she just said, "You are aware that it has nothing to do with you." .. "
" She was a little wrong because she's still kicking here and there, "Astley says. "But I think the emotions she was saying were really, really valuable. I accept my past, but I don't have to accept Rickroll as well. It has something to do with me. Because we accept the fact that there isn't. "
This song has won 1.2 billion streams on YouTube and is listened to by 559 million Spotify. Time Out magazine asked Rickroll why he was always a little confused and didn't want to hear the buoyant mega jam, saying "3.5 minutes of Canon's most vibrant time of the 80's."
Of course, Astley sees "Never Gonna Give You Up" differently than the people who use it to attempt confusion with his friends. He admits that this video is "incredibly cheesy in the late 80's", but "it's a good memory. It's like a good memory."
For Astry, it makes him Copenhagen. It was the song that led him, where he met his wife, Reine Bowser. Without that song, he wouldn't have had a daughter or traveled around the world. "I've been to some of the most amazing places in the world where most people are on the bucket list."
He respects established acts New art I look back on the days when I was at home. Today, he is a veteran professional with a wealth of songs, including moments to please the audience.
"At that time, I was envy, greenish, and completely anxious. Well, when I go out on stage and sing those songs, I think for a moment, "Yes, how lucky I am. That's not great."
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Mark Kennedyhttp://twitter.com/KennedyTwits