Dun dun DUUUUUUUN!
Sooooo since 11 people said they wanted a McFly primer, so here it is! If you're not interested, scroll past, although I'd love for you to read, maybe, after all, you'll like them and want them to be in your life!
This primer is about MCFLY, the most fail-worthy, stupid but adorable band in UK history. It shall be divided into parts, will be filled with pictures and videos. I am TWENTYONECENTURY, you guys, technology, yadda yadda. Also, I shall let you know, very honestly, this primer will be BIASED. Deal with it.
Also, this post took me hours, so if you read it, I'll be very grateful and thankful.
Let me start with a pretty picture, to entice you maybe:
Okay, on to the story.
PART I: When it all begins with...Busted.
Yes, you read right. The history of McFly doesn't actually start with McFly. It starts with Busted. Busted is, in a way, the band that fathered McFly. Mind you, it's not a very good band, but at the time (2002), it was a very popular one. Busted played a mix of punkpop that resulted in Year 3000, for example (no, the Jonas Brothers didn't write that song).
This is Year 3000. The only good thing about this band was Charlie Simpson (what the hell was he thinking?!), and he's the one that broke the band up anyway. He is also the reason why McFly started at all.
Yes, Charlie Simpson has a lot of powers (he also has the power to liquefy me by walking into a room, but that's another story), but mostly, here it is: Tom Fletcher auditioned for Busted, but his eyebrows weren't big enough, so they took Charlie in instead, but the label (Island Records) kept Tom anyway, because he can write songs. So he wrote songs with Busted, and helped out at auditions and shit.
And one day, one day he was filming the audition for a shit boy band called V, that lasted about 3 seconds, and met the love of his life, let's be honest. Who is that, you ask?
Danny Jones. Danny, at the time 16 (Tom was only 17 himself), was also blond, had a really strong Northern accent, and completely misunderstood the band he was auditioning for, as he came in with his guitar, and sang Paul Weller. Or The Verve, it's not very clear any more. Either way, it was completely wrong for V. So they didn't take him, obviously, but since Tom fell in love, he kept him, moved him to London, and had him live with his family for a while.
They looked like this at the time:
(let's see if you recognise which ones they are on that top picture. Lawl.)
Then when finally the label decided to allow them to make an album, they closed themselves away in a hotel room, on the third floor, and wrote an album, in between shags (yeah, they totally experimented together).
Once they had an album, they needed a drummer and a bass player. So they held auditions, and put an ad in NME, which is hilarious because nowadays NME basically hates them. Enter Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd, respectively bass and drums. They started chatting while waiting to audition because Dougie was wearing a The Starting Line shirt, and Harry liked the band, so he talked to Dougie. Dougie, most probably, only nodded, giggled, and looked nervous. He was very nervous. He threw up in a bin before his audition.
Still, he got in. And Harry, well. See, he wasn't the best drummer. But he was very, very pretty. So they chose him. he got better since then. In prettiness AND drumminess.
And this, is how McFly is formed.
PART II: In which they share a house.
So. We have McFly. Tom, guitar and vocals, main songwriter. Danny, guitar and vocals, also songwriter but less (he writes songs about being a Catholic even though he shags Tom). Dougie, bass, backing vocals, later on writing songs, too (but they're weird and they always contain weird metaphors, and often aliens). Harry, drums, and nothing else (but being pretty).
This is how they looked at the time (March 2004):
(please don't press the back button just yet, they get better. And naked.)
This is around when they moved into a house together. Yes. Four boys, between 15 and 18, living in a house together. WITHOUT SUPERVISION. We're still waiting on many a story about this era. One day, there shall be a book. What we know is: Tom and Danny left Dougie and Harry together at the very beginning, so they could "bond" as the rhythm section. They themselves went on holiday (to shag). Dougie was only very young at the time, so it's probable he and Harry didn't shag (then. Wait, that will happen later). We also know that they used to play paintball INSIDE THE HOUSE. We also know that, at the time, they lived off pizza, and also, they had crushes on Avril Lavigne and, for Dougie anyway, Frankie from then S Club Juniors, now The Saturdays, but I'll come back to this later.
(This is them, in their house. Dougie's HAIR omg)
They record an album, and call it Room on The Third Floor, to remember forever this fantastic time Danny and Tom had. Actually, only Danny and Tom record that album, because Harry and Dougie are not allowed to play on it. They just do backing vocals.
The first single is called 5 Colours In Her Hair.
(note: at the beginning of this video, you see Danny driving a car. He couldn't, at the time. Tom was the only one with a driving licence. Little factoid for you.)
See, this isn't a very good video. Harry is wearing a ponytail, Tom is wearing, as he calls it, a 'salmon coloured' shit. Dougie is just awkward. And Danny, well. He doesn't change that much, wait until you see Star Girl. Stupid trolls. But, even though it's not very good, it's very fun and all McFly fans love this song very much. It's very good live.
They went to get their first number 1 single with this song (applause, applause). The rise to fame began!
Straight after that, they released Obviously. Which is not as unanimously loved as 5 Colours, but the video is fun. See for yourselves:
(sorry, shit quality. Another little factoid for you: that's when Dougie started being hot.)
That went to be number 1 as well. Look at that. They released the album afterwards, and that went to be number 1 too, can you believe it? They also entered the bloody Guinness Book of Records because of Dougie! He made their average age be so little they got the record of the youngest band to have a number 1 album in the UK, which was held by none other than the Beatles beforehand.
Then, they released That Girl, which didn't go to number 1, despite being one of the best songs on that album. It went to number 3.
The video is quite awesome as well.
(Factoid for that one: the garage in which this video was filmed is actually quite close to my flat! GASP!)
And finally, off that album, they released the title track, Room On The Third Floor, which is amazing (especially live), but the video is very weird.
(No factoid for that one. They were painted blue for it, though.)
(This is the live version, from their arena tour of 2008. It's absolutely breathtaking and it made me cry when I saw it live.)
Off they went on tour, supporting Busted, along with V. Yes, all three back together! Woo woo!
Part III: Where they go in Africa and Wonderland.
In 2005, they release a new album, called Wonderland, where they use a full orchestra and Tom writes an actual piece for them. There's an instrumental on the album, and it's glorious and it sounds like a Disney song (oh, yeah, Tom is very very big Disney fan, but I'll come back to this later).
In March they release a single for Comic Relief, you might have heard of it - it was called All About You.
(Factoid: the video's full of UK celebs!)
It's a double A side and the other song is a cover of Carole King's You've Got A Friend. To film the video, and some other bits, they go to Uganda, and spend some time with kids there, living in terrible poverty.
(Factoid: if you don't watch this, you miss out. If you watch this and don't fall in love with them, at least a little, you have no heart.)
All About You went to number 1, and is, to date, their biggest selling single. Madness.
All the while, they still lived together, and Tom was starting to get annoyed. See, Tom is the oldest, and presumably the most responsible of the lot of them. He went with Dougie to open his first bank account, and he keeps Danny from killing himself, and random things, on a daily basis. He started getting really tired of how he couldn't leave Dougie and Danny in a room together without fearing something exploding. Also they basically didn't clean for a year and it was filthy.
Soooooooooo they moved out. But not to worry! They only moved into two flats, Harry and Danny in one, Tom and Dougie in one, and just a hallway separating them. Yes, they moved out, and moved in the same building.
That is approximately when Danny and Harry started understanding each other (and shagging). See, Harry, being this posh, educated little prick, could not understand Danny, the loud, stupid Northerner. Danny didn't get Harry's jokes. Harry couldn't do anything else than mock Danny. But then they moved in together and started shagging and became much better friends.
Dougie and Tom, however, did not shag (not yet). They watched Star Wars and Disney movies and played with light sabers (no, not their cocks). It was good times.
They released Wonderland, and released a single, too, called I'll Be Ok.
(factoid: these boys can not act. See at 2:27)
Followed I Wanna Hold You - another one of my favourites.
Wonderland is also synonym of, for McFly, emo. Yes, they decided they wanted to be taken seriously, so Dougie dyed his hair purple (as you do), got a lip piercing. Harry got a mullet (as you do). Danny started wearing lesbian scarves. Tom dyed his hair black. Yes, I know, his hair is still blonde in that video. But it doesn't last.
There you go. That is McFly at their most emo, which is saying a lot, aka they fail at being emo.
They went on releasing another single off Wonderland, The Ballad Of Paul K, which deals with middle age crisis, mostly because of Danny's dad, who left his mother for another woman, and Dougie's dad, who was never really around. Also Tom's dad had a breakdown at that time. The video is simply different, and I love it big amounts. There, they were at their most emo.
They went on an arena tour, made a DVD out of it which is just pure brilliance. This concludes part III.
Part IV: Where they shag Lindsay Lohan
(No, no, it is not a joke you guys)
Let's backtrack a little here. McFly recorded Wonderland in New Orleans early 2005, and it is also when they did this. This huge, terrible mistake that may or may not have cost them many a fan in the US. They played themselves in a movie. They played themselves in a very, very bad movie, called Just My Luck - with a very cute Chris Pine (you know, CAPTAIN KIRK), at the time unknown. In the movie they are this band trying to make it in the US (which is fair enough) and Pine is their manager and there's a whole thing about kissing Lindsay Lohan, being lucky/unlucky and it's all terribly tedious and I won't go deeper into it. All you need to know, folks, is that this movie is absolutely awful and McFly did themselves more harm than good with it. They came back to the UK not having made it as they'd hoped.
Now, I know, I know, the only part you're really interested in is the shagging thing! You little minxes, you. Let's just say, Harry admitted to having spent one night in Lindsay. She denied it. He just went on saying it was true. She denied it again. It was really funny.
As a last strike, the first single of their third album, Please Please, is basically dedicated to her. Do watch (they get naked in the video):
(factoid: this was the first ever McFly video I saw. Instant love.)
Part V: In which they start taking their clothes off.
Ahhhhh, the good old Motion In The Ocean times. Their third album, Motion In The Ocean, is when they decided that emo was not for them, and was basically Dougie's idea. It's the one album that is about surfing and playing in the sand and aliens and random stuff like that. It's a happy album. It's also the first album that didn't reach number 1, and that depressed Dougie a little, he went to Australia for a while with his mate George to make out and smoke weed. Also, amazing day of all days: Danny stops straightening his hair. THIS IS GLORIOUS. Tom bleaches his hair even blonder and keeps his glasses on. AMAZING. Suddenly all 4 of them are incredibly hot.
The second single is Star Girl, which is about an alien. Apart that, it's a pretty fucking amazing song, and if you're in the UK, every Friday morning, Chris Moyles plays it in his radio show (BBC Radio 1).
The video is pretty epic, too.
This is the official version.
This is the not official version. It's hilarious.
By that time, they had already moved again, this time in completely different houses, but all in the same road. Tom gets this huge house, Danny and Dougie get flats in one building, with a recording studio in the flat in between (Dougie ground floor, studio first floor, Danny second floor), and Harry gets a flat at the end of the road. They're always hanging out at Tom's, though, because there's food there, and it's big.
Later on, they release another double A side single from MITO.
That's Sorry's Not Good Enough. Tom gets kicked in the balls at the end. It's funny.
This is Friday Night. It was released as the credits song for Night At The Museum (for the UK, anyway). The video is epic. Factoid, they did get terribly drunk and it is Dougie puking in the shower, yes. They're too bad actors to be faking this.
They go on tour again, a beach themed extravaganza with a moving drumkit and giant beach balls, and Brian May coming on stage with them at Wembley. BRIAN MAY YOU GUYS. FROM QUEEN. Also Matt Willis from Busted, but nobody really cares about that when Brian May was just mentioned, right?
Then, there was Tranny. Transylvania is their last single off MITO, a song written by Dougie, a weird little piece of complete epicness that is absolutely amazing. In the video, they dress as women. They dance together. It's all weird and wonderful, the happy little world of McFly.
Of course, I am not going to leave you hanging. You're all waiting for the nakedness I talk about in the title, aren't you?
Yes, yes. On stage, ladies and gentlemen. On. Stage.
Part VI: When it all went boom.
At the end of 2007, Island Records released a McFly Greatest Hits. Against McFly's will. And McFly made it very clear that they didn't think they had enough material to release a Greatest Hits, that they've not been together long enough, and all that. All in all, they were not happy with it, at all.
Most of their fans agreed. Yet, one of my favourite songs ever was used as the single to promote this album, and for this reason alone, I cannot be totally against it.
Unfortunately, I can only find the official video from island so I can't embed. But watch it here, it's really good and the boys are wet in it.
This is an acoustic version. (Factoid: nowadays when they sing it live, they change the lyrics to 'McFly are forever', and it makes the whole crowd cry.)
Why did it all went boom, I hear you ask? Simple reason really. They hated the fact that Island made them release and promote this Greatest Hits, so they decided to part ways with Island. Also, at the time, going independent was the thing to do, so that's what they did. They kept their management, though, because to be quite honest they would get nothing done without them.
And that's how we get to the next part.
Part VII: Where they get naked in Australia.
To record their next album, they went to Australia. Disappeared for ages and ages, all of us fans were quite concerned! And bored. So they went to Australia, worked out on the beach, learned how to surf, played table tennis, and recorded an album, too. A very good album, at that, that first came for free (for free!!!) with a terrible newspaper, and then was released with more songs and a dvd full of goodies (and nakedness).
They released One For The Radio, first single from Radio:ACTIVE (yes, it's the name of the album).
The video is not very good but the boys, here, looked at their absolute, total BEST.)
They didn't get to number 1, but were close. The album didn't fare so well, though, if only because they gave it for free, the silly silly boys. They didn't do that much promo, either, not having the connections of the label any more. So all in all they didn't do bad really.
Then, they decided to make a short movie out of their next video. It's an absolutely ridiculous concept and story but it's flail-worthy at the same time and I adore it. Plus they look adorable, and the song is stupidly catchy. Do enjoy Lies.
They went on tour again. A big arena tour that ended up being mostly sold out. I went to two dates and it was glorious glorious. They had a B-stage, that flew over the crowd. I'm not kidding. Danny sang Black Or White, from MJ.
Glorious I tell you.
During the tour, they flew back via helicopter to London to play Do Ya, their third single, for Children In Need. Then they went back, and played their gig. Hardcore.
This is the video for Do Ya. It's got zombies, but it's hilarious. Just. Their faces.
This single didn't work at all, their worst release to date. But they were still looking very, very very good.
Later on (we are in 2009), they went to Europe for the first time, and South America (where they have a huge following), and then toured small venues in the UK. Another crazy tour that one was.
After that tour, though, the drought happened.
Part VIII: The drought.
It lasted two years. Two years without anything McFly related, mostly. Random things here and there, Twitter appearing in their lives (and thus ours), but mostly, nothing. No news about a new album for ages and ages. It was worrying and scary for all and any fans.
Later on, we discovered that they recorded an album, then scraped it completely. Went back to Island, under conditions (50%/50% deal), got themselves a renowned producer, and recorded another album. They also worked on a website, an extensive fan club with lots of goodies. But at the time we didn't know any of this, it all started leaking and happening end of 2009 and exploded in 2010.
Part IX: Where they go Above The Noise.
It's almost finished now! Well, the history part anyway. Last year, they released their most recent album, called Above The Noise. It caused quite an uproar, because of how different it is to R:A. Best example of this is the first single for the album, called Party Girl (in which Harry is naked).
They went on, appearing naked in a gay mag called Attitude, doing tons and tons of promo, and releasing a dvd which features a 40 minutes 'movie' around the whole Party Girl plot thing.
Lots and lots of promo happened. And two other singles. And a small promo tour. Good times.
This is Shine A Light, which features Taio Cruz and is amazing live.
And newest single to date, That's The Truth. Heavy on Dougie time, which is always good.
And now they're on the promo trail, they're 7 years older than when 5 Colours came out, still as stupid, still as passionate, and still as lovely. I love them to death and I can't wait for their next arena tour, in March. Go see them if you can, they're absolutely incredible live.
Now, let me tell you a little bit more about each of the boys.
Tom Fletcher is 25 (to be 26). As said earlier he's the idea behind the band. He likes Disney movies, Star Wars, and it a complete and utter geek. He's also a girl, confessing easily that he enjoys Dawson's Creek and Sex and the City. Also, he's a crazy cat lady, he owns 3 cats and collects strays all the time. He lives with his girlfriend of 7/8 years, Giovanna.
He's got a temper. He's a really lovely, lovely man, but if you get him on one of his moods, then don't expect a smile. He's quite extreme. he's also got a few issues about his weight and his appearance, as he used to be chubby, and since then has shed all the weight, but still thinks of himself as fat/bad looking - which he never was, but nevermind.
Danny Jones is 24 (to be 25). He is the lovable idiot, the guy that doesn't understand life but is adored by everybody because he's just so easy going. He talks to dogs (and owns 2). He's footie-obsessed, a big fan of the Bolton Wanderers, his home team. He always said if he didn't become a musician he would have wanted to be a footballer. He played for charities and stuff, crossed to Alan Shearer for a goal and will not shut up about it even now.
He's got a lot of freckles and he hates them. He likes tattoos. Over the years he's grown a little more awkward than he used to be, possibly because of the constant teasing of his best mates. He's actually quite shy around fans, which I find endearing, and also a little scary ^^. Factoid: he is my favourite. He's in a couple with an ex-Miss England, called Georgia. Pretty tall thing.
Harry Judd is 25 (to be 26). He's the posh bastard, that wasn't really liked all that much at the very beginning because he was such a smart arse all the time, teasing everyone, sometimes a little cruelly (after all, it's pretty known that he's the one that led Tom to his issues with weight, by calling him Fat Tom always). He got better with years, mellowing out thanks to the love of his bandmates, or mostly his love for them. They are his biggest passion, he would be absolutely nothing without them. He's also a sport addict, loving cricket and football (he's an Arsenal fan).
He's a working out buff. He does charity work, playing in cricket and football games. He participated in Strictly Come Dancing for Children in Need this year, and won, dancing the Paso Doble (I was at the recording, it was the best thing in the world). Nowadays when you meet him he's the loveliest person ever, chatty, interested, smiley, and smelling so good. He is in a relationship with a girl called Izzy, which is part of the band Scala.
Dougie Poynter is 23 (to be 24). He's the awkward, shy one that always says the wrong things in interviews and was not allowed to speak on tv for the first few years of the band. He talked about gay sex, his obsession about porn, his own shit and numerous other very interesting things in random mediums. He got better with age, and the cutest thing in the world, the girl he had a crush on when he was a teenager? He started dating her. Win on the Poynter! They since then broke up, though, and now she's dating a footballer.
So yeah, Dougie's really quite weird, and he likes Star Wars and hates sport and he's got a tattoo on his chest like his favourite idol ever, Tom DeLonge. He's a big Blink 182 fan. He's quite the geek, too. He skateboards and had a half-pipe built in his garden.
he's scared of fans, which makes meeting him quite funny. But recently he's got more relaxed, too, chatting and laughing and joking and being adorable, and every time we meet him I want to put him in my pocket and I'm reminded how much I love him.
I'd go on talking about pairings, but I think the simplest thing would be for you to read fics. All pairings work in a way - my favourite is Junes (Danny/Harry) and forever will be, but all pairings have different things working. Go to mcflyslash or mcslashawards so you can read fics about all of them. If you really want me to talk about it, then you'll have to ask and I'll make another post (shorter don't worry). I'm just thoroughly exhausted right now!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope it enticed you to go further and learn them better. There are millions of videos, interviews, silly things on the internet that you can watch (hours of it, seriously).
And if you went all the way here, and if you comment, omg, I love you.
This primer is about MCFLY, the most fail-worthy, stupid but adorable band in UK history. It shall be divided into parts, will be filled with pictures and videos. I am TWENTYONECENTURY, you guys, technology, yadda yadda. Also, I shall let you know, very honestly, this primer will be BIASED. Deal with it.
Also, this post took me hours, so if you read it, I'll be very grateful and thankful.
Let me start with a pretty picture, to entice you maybe:
Okay, on to the story.
PART I: When it all begins with...Busted.
Yes, you read right. The history of McFly doesn't actually start with McFly. It starts with Busted. Busted is, in a way, the band that fathered McFly. Mind you, it's not a very good band, but at the time (2002), it was a very popular one. Busted played a mix of punkpop that resulted in Year 3000, for example (no, the Jonas Brothers didn't write that song).
Click to viewThis is Year 3000. The only good thing about this band was Charlie Simpson (what the hell was he thinking?!), and he's the one that broke the band up anyway. He is also the reason why McFly started at all.
Yes, Charlie Simpson has a lot of powers (he also has the power to liquefy me by walking into a room, but that's another story), but mostly, here it is: Tom Fletcher auditioned for Busted, but his eyebrows weren't big enough, so they took Charlie in instead, but the label (Island Records) kept Tom anyway, because he can write songs. So he wrote songs with Busted, and helped out at auditions and shit.
And one day, one day he was filming the audition for a shit boy band called V, that lasted about 3 seconds, and met the love of his life, let's be honest. Who is that, you ask?
Danny Jones. Danny, at the time 16 (Tom was only 17 himself), was also blond, had a really strong Northern accent, and completely misunderstood the band he was auditioning for, as he came in with his guitar, and sang Paul Weller. Or The Verve, it's not very clear any more. Either way, it was completely wrong for V. So they didn't take him, obviously, but since Tom fell in love, he kept him, moved him to London, and had him live with his family for a while.
They looked like this at the time:
(let's see if you recognise which ones they are on that top picture. Lawl.)
Then when finally the label decided to allow them to make an album, they closed themselves away in a hotel room, on the third floor, and wrote an album, in between shags (yeah, they totally experimented together).
Once they had an album, they needed a drummer and a bass player. So they held auditions, and put an ad in NME, which is hilarious because nowadays NME basically hates them. Enter Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd, respectively bass and drums. They started chatting while waiting to audition because Dougie was wearing a The Starting Line shirt, and Harry liked the band, so he talked to Dougie. Dougie, most probably, only nodded, giggled, and looked nervous. He was very nervous. He threw up in a bin before his audition.
Still, he got in. And Harry, well. See, he wasn't the best drummer. But he was very, very pretty. So they chose him. he got better since then. In prettiness AND drumminess.
And this, is how McFly is formed.
PART II: In which they share a house.
So. We have McFly. Tom, guitar and vocals, main songwriter. Danny, guitar and vocals, also songwriter but less (he writes songs about being a Catholic even though he shags Tom). Dougie, bass, backing vocals, later on writing songs, too (but they're weird and they always contain weird metaphors, and often aliens). Harry, drums, and nothing else (but being pretty).
This is how they looked at the time (March 2004):
(please don't press the back button just yet, they get better. And naked.)
This is around when they moved into a house together. Yes. Four boys, between 15 and 18, living in a house together. WITHOUT SUPERVISION. We're still waiting on many a story about this era. One day, there shall be a book. What we know is: Tom and Danny left Dougie and Harry together at the very beginning, so they could "bond" as the rhythm section. They themselves went on holiday (to shag). Dougie was only very young at the time, so it's probable he and Harry didn't shag (then. Wait, that will happen later). We also know that they used to play paintball INSIDE THE HOUSE. We also know that, at the time, they lived off pizza, and also, they had crushes on Avril Lavigne and, for Dougie anyway, Frankie from then S Club Juniors, now The Saturdays, but I'll come back to this later.
(This is them, in their house. Dougie's HAIR omg)
They record an album, and call it Room on The Third Floor, to remember forever this fantastic time Danny and Tom had. Actually, only Danny and Tom record that album, because Harry and Dougie are not allowed to play on it. They just do backing vocals.
The first single is called 5 Colours In Her Hair.
(note: at the beginning of this video, you see Danny driving a car. He couldn't, at the time. Tom was the only one with a driving licence. Little factoid for you.)
See, this isn't a very good video. Harry is wearing a ponytail, Tom is wearing, as he calls it, a 'salmon coloured' shit. Dougie is just awkward. And Danny, well. He doesn't change that much, wait until you see Star Girl. Stupid trolls. But, even though it's not very good, it's very fun and all McFly fans love this song very much. It's very good live.
They went to get their first number 1 single with this song (applause, applause). The rise to fame began!
Straight after that, they released Obviously. Which is not as unanimously loved as 5 Colours, but the video is fun. See for yourselves:
(sorry, shit quality. Another little factoid for you: that's when Dougie started being hot.)
That went to be number 1 as well. Look at that. They released the album afterwards, and that went to be number 1 too, can you believe it? They also entered the bloody Guinness Book of Records because of Dougie! He made their average age be so little they got the record of the youngest band to have a number 1 album in the UK, which was held by none other than the Beatles beforehand.
Then, they released That Girl, which didn't go to number 1, despite being one of the best songs on that album. It went to number 3.
The video is quite awesome as well.
(Factoid for that one: the garage in which this video was filmed is actually quite close to my flat! GASP!)
And finally, off that album, they released the title track, Room On The Third Floor, which is amazing (especially live), but the video is very weird.
(No factoid for that one. They were painted blue for it, though.)
(This is the live version, from their arena tour of 2008. It's absolutely breathtaking and it made me cry when I saw it live.)
Off they went on tour, supporting Busted, along with V. Yes, all three back together! Woo woo!
Part III: Where they go in Africa and Wonderland.
In 2005, they release a new album, called Wonderland, where they use a full orchestra and Tom writes an actual piece for them. There's an instrumental on the album, and it's glorious and it sounds like a Disney song (oh, yeah, Tom is very very big Disney fan, but I'll come back to this later).
In March they release a single for Comic Relief, you might have heard of it - it was called All About You.
(Factoid: the video's full of UK celebs!)
It's a double A side and the other song is a cover of Carole King's You've Got A Friend. To film the video, and some other bits, they go to Uganda, and spend some time with kids there, living in terrible poverty.
(Factoid: if you don't watch this, you miss out. If you watch this and don't fall in love with them, at least a little, you have no heart.)
All About You went to number 1, and is, to date, their biggest selling single. Madness.
All the while, they still lived together, and Tom was starting to get annoyed. See, Tom is the oldest, and presumably the most responsible of the lot of them. He went with Dougie to open his first bank account, and he keeps Danny from killing himself, and random things, on a daily basis. He started getting really tired of how he couldn't leave Dougie and Danny in a room together without fearing something exploding. Also they basically didn't clean for a year and it was filthy.
Soooooooooo they moved out. But not to worry! They only moved into two flats, Harry and Danny in one, Tom and Dougie in one, and just a hallway separating them. Yes, they moved out, and moved in the same building.
That is approximately when Danny and Harry started understanding each other (and shagging). See, Harry, being this posh, educated little prick, could not understand Danny, the loud, stupid Northerner. Danny didn't get Harry's jokes. Harry couldn't do anything else than mock Danny. But then they moved in together and started shagging and became much better friends.
Dougie and Tom, however, did not shag (not yet). They watched Star Wars and Disney movies and played with light sabers (no, not their cocks). It was good times.
They released Wonderland, and released a single, too, called I'll Be Ok.
(factoid: these boys can not act. See at 2:27)
Followed I Wanna Hold You - another one of my favourites.
Wonderland is also synonym of, for McFly, emo. Yes, they decided they wanted to be taken seriously, so Dougie dyed his hair purple (as you do), got a lip piercing. Harry got a mullet (as you do). Danny started wearing lesbian scarves. Tom dyed his hair black. Yes, I know, his hair is still blonde in that video. But it doesn't last.
There you go. That is McFly at their most emo, which is saying a lot, aka they fail at being emo.
They went on releasing another single off Wonderland, The Ballad Of Paul K, which deals with middle age crisis, mostly because of Danny's dad, who left his mother for another woman, and Dougie's dad, who was never really around. Also Tom's dad had a breakdown at that time. The video is simply different, and I love it big amounts. There, they were at their most emo.
They went on an arena tour, made a DVD out of it which is just pure brilliance. This concludes part III.
Part IV: Where they shag Lindsay Lohan
(No, no, it is not a joke you guys)
Let's backtrack a little here. McFly recorded Wonderland in New Orleans early 2005, and it is also when they did this. This huge, terrible mistake that may or may not have cost them many a fan in the US. They played themselves in a movie. They played themselves in a very, very bad movie, called Just My Luck - with a very cute Chris Pine (you know, CAPTAIN KIRK), at the time unknown. In the movie they are this band trying to make it in the US (which is fair enough) and Pine is their manager and there's a whole thing about kissing Lindsay Lohan, being lucky/unlucky and it's all terribly tedious and I won't go deeper into it. All you need to know, folks, is that this movie is absolutely awful and McFly did themselves more harm than good with it. They came back to the UK not having made it as they'd hoped.
Now, I know, I know, the only part you're really interested in is the shagging thing! You little minxes, you. Let's just say, Harry admitted to having spent one night in Lindsay. She denied it. He just went on saying it was true. She denied it again. It was really funny.
As a last strike, the first single of their third album, Please Please, is basically dedicated to her. Do watch (they get naked in the video):
(factoid: this was the first ever McFly video I saw. Instant love.)
Part V: In which they start taking their clothes off.
Ahhhhh, the good old Motion In The Ocean times. Their third album, Motion In The Ocean, is when they decided that emo was not for them, and was basically Dougie's idea. It's the one album that is about surfing and playing in the sand and aliens and random stuff like that. It's a happy album. It's also the first album that didn't reach number 1, and that depressed Dougie a little, he went to Australia for a while with his mate George to make out and smoke weed. Also, amazing day of all days: Danny stops straightening his hair. THIS IS GLORIOUS. Tom bleaches his hair even blonder and keeps his glasses on. AMAZING. Suddenly all 4 of them are incredibly hot.
The second single is Star Girl, which is about an alien. Apart that, it's a pretty fucking amazing song, and if you're in the UK, every Friday morning, Chris Moyles plays it in his radio show (BBC Radio 1).
The video is pretty epic, too.
This is the official version.
This is the not official version. It's hilarious.
By that time, they had already moved again, this time in completely different houses, but all in the same road. Tom gets this huge house, Danny and Dougie get flats in one building, with a recording studio in the flat in between (Dougie ground floor, studio first floor, Danny second floor), and Harry gets a flat at the end of the road. They're always hanging out at Tom's, though, because there's food there, and it's big.
Later on, they release another double A side single from MITO.
That's Sorry's Not Good Enough. Tom gets kicked in the balls at the end. It's funny.
This is Friday Night. It was released as the credits song for Night At The Museum (for the UK, anyway). The video is epic. Factoid, they did get terribly drunk and it is Dougie puking in the shower, yes. They're too bad actors to be faking this.
They go on tour again, a beach themed extravaganza with a moving drumkit and giant beach balls, and Brian May coming on stage with them at Wembley. BRIAN MAY YOU GUYS. FROM QUEEN. Also Matt Willis from Busted, but nobody really cares about that when Brian May was just mentioned, right?
Then, there was Tranny. Transylvania is their last single off MITO, a song written by Dougie, a weird little piece of complete epicness that is absolutely amazing. In the video, they dress as women. They dance together. It's all weird and wonderful, the happy little world of McFly.
Of course, I am not going to leave you hanging. You're all waiting for the nakedness I talk about in the title, aren't you?
Yes, yes. On stage, ladies and gentlemen. On. Stage.
Part VI: When it all went boom.
At the end of 2007, Island Records released a McFly Greatest Hits. Against McFly's will. And McFly made it very clear that they didn't think they had enough material to release a Greatest Hits, that they've not been together long enough, and all that. All in all, they were not happy with it, at all.
Most of their fans agreed. Yet, one of my favourite songs ever was used as the single to promote this album, and for this reason alone, I cannot be totally against it.
Unfortunately, I can only find the official video from island so I can't embed. But watch it here, it's really good and the boys are wet in it.
This is an acoustic version. (Factoid: nowadays when they sing it live, they change the lyrics to 'McFly are forever', and it makes the whole crowd cry.)
Why did it all went boom, I hear you ask? Simple reason really. They hated the fact that Island made them release and promote this Greatest Hits, so they decided to part ways with Island. Also, at the time, going independent was the thing to do, so that's what they did. They kept their management, though, because to be quite honest they would get nothing done without them.
And that's how we get to the next part.
Part VII: Where they get naked in Australia.
To record their next album, they went to Australia. Disappeared for ages and ages, all of us fans were quite concerned! And bored. So they went to Australia, worked out on the beach, learned how to surf, played table tennis, and recorded an album, too. A very good album, at that, that first came for free (for free!!!) with a terrible newspaper, and then was released with more songs and a dvd full of goodies (and nakedness).
They released One For The Radio, first single from Radio:ACTIVE (yes, it's the name of the album).
The video is not very good but the boys, here, looked at their absolute, total BEST.)
They didn't get to number 1, but were close. The album didn't fare so well, though, if only because they gave it for free, the silly silly boys. They didn't do that much promo, either, not having the connections of the label any more. So all in all they didn't do bad really.
Then, they decided to make a short movie out of their next video. It's an absolutely ridiculous concept and story but it's flail-worthy at the same time and I adore it. Plus they look adorable, and the song is stupidly catchy. Do enjoy Lies.
They went on tour again. A big arena tour that ended up being mostly sold out. I went to two dates and it was glorious glorious. They had a B-stage, that flew over the crowd. I'm not kidding. Danny sang Black Or White, from MJ.
Glorious I tell you.
During the tour, they flew back via helicopter to London to play Do Ya, their third single, for Children In Need. Then they went back, and played their gig. Hardcore.
This is the video for Do Ya. It's got zombies, but it's hilarious. Just. Their faces.
This single didn't work at all, their worst release to date. But they were still looking very, very very good.
Later on (we are in 2009), they went to Europe for the first time, and South America (where they have a huge following), and then toured small venues in the UK. Another crazy tour that one was.
After that tour, though, the drought happened.
Part VIII: The drought.
It lasted two years. Two years without anything McFly related, mostly. Random things here and there, Twitter appearing in their lives (and thus ours), but mostly, nothing. No news about a new album for ages and ages. It was worrying and scary for all and any fans.
Later on, we discovered that they recorded an album, then scraped it completely. Went back to Island, under conditions (50%/50% deal), got themselves a renowned producer, and recorded another album. They also worked on a website, an extensive fan club with lots of goodies. But at the time we didn't know any of this, it all started leaking and happening end of 2009 and exploded in 2010.
Part IX: Where they go Above The Noise.
It's almost finished now! Well, the history part anyway. Last year, they released their most recent album, called Above The Noise. It caused quite an uproar, because of how different it is to R:A. Best example of this is the first single for the album, called Party Girl (in which Harry is naked).
They went on, appearing naked in a gay mag called Attitude, doing tons and tons of promo, and releasing a dvd which features a 40 minutes 'movie' around the whole Party Girl plot thing.
Lots and lots of promo happened. And two other singles. And a small promo tour. Good times.
This is Shine A Light, which features Taio Cruz and is amazing live.
And newest single to date, That's The Truth. Heavy on Dougie time, which is always good.
And now they're on the promo trail, they're 7 years older than when 5 Colours came out, still as stupid, still as passionate, and still as lovely. I love them to death and I can't wait for their next arena tour, in March. Go see them if you can, they're absolutely incredible live.
Now, let me tell you a little bit more about each of the boys.
Tom Fletcher is 25 (to be 26). As said earlier he's the idea behind the band. He likes Disney movies, Star Wars, and it a complete and utter geek. He's also a girl, confessing easily that he enjoys Dawson's Creek and Sex and the City. Also, he's a crazy cat lady, he owns 3 cats and collects strays all the time. He lives with his girlfriend of 7/8 years, Giovanna.
He's got a temper. He's a really lovely, lovely man, but if you get him on one of his moods, then don't expect a smile. He's quite extreme. he's also got a few issues about his weight and his appearance, as he used to be chubby, and since then has shed all the weight, but still thinks of himself as fat/bad looking - which he never was, but nevermind.
Danny Jones is 24 (to be 25). He is the lovable idiot, the guy that doesn't understand life but is adored by everybody because he's just so easy going. He talks to dogs (and owns 2). He's footie-obsessed, a big fan of the Bolton Wanderers, his home team. He always said if he didn't become a musician he would have wanted to be a footballer. He played for charities and stuff, crossed to Alan Shearer for a goal and will not shut up about it even now.
He's got a lot of freckles and he hates them. He likes tattoos. Over the years he's grown a little more awkward than he used to be, possibly because of the constant teasing of his best mates. He's actually quite shy around fans, which I find endearing, and also a little scary ^^. Factoid: he is my favourite. He's in a couple with an ex-Miss England, called Georgia. Pretty tall thing.
Harry Judd is 25 (to be 26). He's the posh bastard, that wasn't really liked all that much at the very beginning because he was such a smart arse all the time, teasing everyone, sometimes a little cruelly (after all, it's pretty known that he's the one that led Tom to his issues with weight, by calling him Fat Tom always). He got better with years, mellowing out thanks to the love of his bandmates, or mostly his love for them. They are his biggest passion, he would be absolutely nothing without them. He's also a sport addict, loving cricket and football (he's an Arsenal fan).
He's a working out buff. He does charity work, playing in cricket and football games. He participated in Strictly Come Dancing for Children in Need this year, and won, dancing the Paso Doble (I was at the recording, it was the best thing in the world). Nowadays when you meet him he's the loveliest person ever, chatty, interested, smiley, and smelling so good. He is in a relationship with a girl called Izzy, which is part of the band Scala.
Dougie Poynter is 23 (to be 24). He's the awkward, shy one that always says the wrong things in interviews and was not allowed to speak on tv for the first few years of the band. He talked about gay sex, his obsession about porn, his own shit and numerous other very interesting things in random mediums. He got better with age, and the cutest thing in the world, the girl he had a crush on when he was a teenager? He started dating her. Win on the Poynter! They since then broke up, though, and now she's dating a footballer.
So yeah, Dougie's really quite weird, and he likes Star Wars and hates sport and he's got a tattoo on his chest like his favourite idol ever, Tom DeLonge. He's a big Blink 182 fan. He's quite the geek, too. He skateboards and had a half-pipe built in his garden.
he's scared of fans, which makes meeting him quite funny. But recently he's got more relaxed, too, chatting and laughing and joking and being adorable, and every time we meet him I want to put him in my pocket and I'm reminded how much I love him.
I'd go on talking about pairings, but I think the simplest thing would be for you to read fics. All pairings work in a way - my favourite is Junes (Danny/Harry) and forever will be, but all pairings have different things working. Go to mcflyslash or mcslashawards so you can read fics about all of them. If you really want me to talk about it, then you'll have to ask and I'll make another post (shorter don't worry). I'm just thoroughly exhausted right now!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope it enticed you to go further and learn them better. There are millions of videos, interviews, silly things on the internet that you can watch (hours of it, seriously).
And if you went all the way here, and if you comment, omg, I love you.