Emblaze

Emblaze were a British pop/rock band that consisted of the members Daniel Darling, Paul Kitten-Smith and Michael Wilson who achieved six number one singles and three number one albums on the official Urapopstar charts between 2004 and 2007.

Sun, Sea & Girls
After being put together by the ill-fated Inner'sense Records during a long winded audition process the trio hastily released their first single, the critically panned "All My Life" a guitar led song about, well nothing in particular! Radio and TV were hesitant to pick up on the track so instead the boys relied on school and club gigs to push the track which reached #11 after being released on March 29, 2004. After just narrowly missing the top ten the boys were giving a reprieve by Inner'sense but faced with the dilemma they MUST get top ten with their next release or they're dropped.

The second single from the band was the double A side of "Crime To Solve" and "Skool Dayz/", the latter has become a cult hit for the band due to it's awful lyrics and general hilarity, the track however built up a huge following amongst school children which saw the band grow in popularity, commercial radio picked up on the single and The Box agreed to play list the video. MTV & Radio 1 still refused to support the lads but would eventually make a U-turn when the single debuted at #10 on the charts.

After two successful single releases the boys were rushed into the studio to record their debut album which they would launch with their third single "Holiday Romance" which was their first track to receive praise from critics and to be play listed by Radio 1 (B-List), as a result the single became their first top five hit storming the charts at #4 where it stayed for two weeks, the album "Sun, Sea & Girls" followed suit charting at #5, the album sold just over 290,000 copies in the UK narrowly missing being certified Platinum.

The final release from the album was "Girls In Uniform" a track which caught the imagination of record buyers due to it's quirky lyrics and fun video which saw the boys playing around in a big factory, the single was released in a very busy week and initially only charted at a disappointing number eight before rising to top five in it's second week on sale. The track would be the boys final release with Inner'sense after the label folded.

Second Base
After the release of their first album the boys were left without a recording contract after the collapse of Inner'sense Recordings, they embarked on their theatre tour with their careers in limbo, despite having four top twenty hits under their belts their album has failed to shift big numbers and record companies weren't keen to sign up the trio, eventually they signed a deal with ex.com which would later become Ensemble.

In a bid to help build their public profile the band's first release from their second album came just two months after they'd finished promoting their debut, ”Air Guitar” premièred on commercial radio in December with its released planned for the notoriously dead post Christmas and New Years week. After a huge promotional campaign which saw the boys spend all of December appearing on countless TV shows, radio shows, magazine covers and turning on hundreds of Christmas lights the gambled paid off when 'Air Guitar' debuted at number one on the singles countdown with huge sales, it's still to this day one of Emblaze's biggest and most iconic hits.

The threesome then disappeared from the spotlight to put the finishing touches to their second album which would eventually be titled ”Second Base” the album featured songs written by the band themselves plus Uraps talent including Claire Kitten, Russ Hooch and Aloud. The album was launched by the single ”Girlfriend Threat” which stalled at number four in April 2005, a disappointment after the huge success of ”Air Guitar” the album debuted at #2.

Luckily for Emblaze the album had a secret weapon the Aloud-penned '”Beer Goggles & Vodka Lenses” which was the third single from the album and returned the boys to the number one spot, during this time Paul was romantically linked with Claire Kitten who he would go on to marry numerous times during their respective careers, the press speculation and rumours helped the boys media presence grow and grow resulting in the album climbing to the top spot.

With the UK conquered Emblaze spent the Summer attempting to break Australia and Japan before they returned to finish the album off in style with a duet with none other than Uraps Queen and Paul's bit of stuff Claire Kitten, they teamed up for the ”Front Page Baby EP” which featured ”Front Page Baby” which Claire had written for the band's second album, ”No Escape” from Claire's album and ”What A Waste” a track penned by girlASKboy which would be included in Emblaze's third studio album of the same name. The track will be remembered for it's risqué video which featured Claire and Paul romping!! The single reached #1 in the charts, Emblaze were on a roll!

They finished the year by touring the album at arena's across the UK and Ireland, by this time the album was certified Diamond.

What A Waste
With fans' appetites already teased for the third album with the release of ”What A Waste” the band wasted no time on getting to work on what was arguably their best studio album by a country mile, contributes to the album included Claire Kitten, Russ Hooch, Jon Farley and Alesha plus of course the trio themselves, the album saw the band for the first time experiment with new sounds none more so on the albums' lead single ”Love Fool” which shocked fans with it's new dance edge, the single stormed to number one however as did the album when they were both released in March 2006.

The third release from the album was the mighty ”Easy Target” which broke records by becoming the first ever single to spend four weeks at the top of the charts, the track sold over 600,000 copies and was the biggest selling single of 2006, it's currently the fourth biggest selling Uraps single of all time and it's record of four weeks was only matched in 2008 by Jake's Partners In Crime. The track was written by Emblaze and Russ Hooch and backed by an all star video which included cameos from Izzy and Josie Matthews.

The fourth release from the album was a duet with Jon Farley on ”Top Up My Glass” a song which has proved to be one of the band's most remembered hits, however it was during the release of this single that tensions in the band first began to show, most cite this release as the beginning of the break-up of the band.

In January 2007 the band took part in the first ever Tango Challenge where they duetted with Buffi on the single ”War Of The Roses” which was written and produced by Buffi, Emblaze fans were shocked by the new rougher sound and even more so by the boys wild antics, celebrities including Russ Hooch were quick to speak out about the boys who some say were spiralling out of control, the single limped in at #4 and the boys admitted they were “exhausted” and took time out. The album was certified diamond.

Hits & S***s, Greatest Hits & Retirement
After stepping out of the spotlight for over nine months following the release of their Tango Challenge duet single with Buffi, Emblaze returned only to announce their retirement and the release of their final single Bit Of Rough taken from their Greatest Hits collection Hits & Shits: The Best & Worst of Emblaze which would feature all their hit singles including new songs penned by Delta Nu and Shell Ruin.

An impending split had been rumoured for the majority of 2007 but it was news of a press conference to be held in October 2007 that sent the press into a field day, the boys themselves did not appear instead a video was played informing the media that the single and Greatest Hits would be their final release as a band, they also announced a short Arena tour of the UK as a 'goodbye' present to fans with tickets going on sale immediately after the press release. Promotion for both releases was plagued with rumours of a rift between all three boys and countless articles rumouring at just why the golden boys of pop were calling it a day, in the week leading up to their final performance together as a band Paul-Kitten-Smith-Kitten sensationally walked out leaving Mike Wilson and Daniel Darling to promote the record as a two-piece with appearances at G-A-Y and on The X Factor. However Paul did join the pair at their final concert at the Manchester MEN Arena which was broadcast on Sky Box Office, Ensemble announced the concert would be released on DVD but this has since failed to materialise. Both the single and album topped the charts after their release. 

Albums
Sun, Sea, & Girls (#5) Second Base (#1) What A Waste (#1) Hits & Shits: The Best & Worst Of Emblaze (#1)

Singles
All My Life (#11) Crime To Solve/Skool Dayz (#10) Holiday Romance (#4) Girls In Uniform (#5) Air Guitar (#1) Girlfriend Threat (#4) Beer Goggles & Vodka Lenses (#1) Front Page Baby EP (with Claire Kitten) (#1) Love Fool (#1) Easy Target (#1) Top Up My Glass (with Jon Farley) (#1) War Of The Roses (with Buffi) (#4) Bit Of Rough (#1)