Chapter One - Key to the Future

As the lads in Boyzone celebrated the beginning of 1995, they knew the coming months were critical for them. In their swift and amazing rise to stardom they had scaled heights that other pop groups with years more experience only ever dream of climbing in their entire careers. In less than a year, Boyzone had come from obscurity to have chart success and adulation from thousands of devoted fans. It had veen a crazy whirlwind for five lads who, such a short time before, had been part of the anonymous masses in Dublin's Northside. Unfortunately, their rapid ascent had not been welcomed by everyone. It had provoked heavy criticism from many sedtions of the music media who were dismissing them as wortless bubblegum pop, which would be chewed for a while, then spat out once the sweet flavour of novelty had vanished. As far as the critics were concerned, Boyzone were merely one-dimensional figuires only capable of looking good while singing other artists' songs. Sadly, 1 part of that was true. The group had made its name on the back of hits from previous decades, so more than half the work had already been done for them. But it still hurt Ronan, Mikey, Keith and Shane to hear so many voices against them after they had cone from nowhere and achieved so much. They wanted to silence those critics and earn their respect. So, as they focused on the New Year, the lads vowed to prove they were talented, as well as popular.

Boyzone had been irritated and insulted by the sniping about using cover versions to break into the business and felt they were ready to walk without the crutch of other musicians' work. Ronan, Steve and Mikey were emerging as the natural songwriters and had spent many hours writing original songs together for their debut album.

Somehow the group had to convince the record company to back their own songs now and not insist on releasing another cover. One of the best songs Ro, Steve, and Mikey had written together was a stirring ballad called "Key to My Life". Keith and Shane loved it too, and as far as BZ were concerned, this song was key to their future. They knew the ballad could be a big hit, and when the record company bosses heard it, they too were quickly convinced of its potential.

The words to "KTML" are based on crushes Ronan, Steve, and Mikey had experienced during their schooldays, particularly their teachers. The video was shot at the Old Church in the Sandymount district of Dublin that was converted into a classroom for the shoot, and the teacher was played by an attractive blond model, who wielded a can as the boys looked on adoringly from their desks.

The flashback to school life brought varying memory for the boys. Ronan, who was bullied badly, hated school & was suspended once for beating up a bully who had pushed him too far. He said, "I was never any good at school and was a real messer. Nobody really liked me and I was bullied all the time by a gang of boys. When I was 14, the leader of the bullies mucked me about too much one day and I snapped. I smacked him in the mouth, pushed him into a ditch and hit him a couple more times. The school was very strict about fighting and I was suspended for a week. After the week I had to write a letter apologising and asking to come back to school. The fight workded because the bully never gave me trouble again. He had a bit of respect for me and was really nice after that, but I still hated school and never did my homework. I couldn't wait to leave."

Steve said, "some bad memories came back to me when the teacher in our video held that cane. The teachers at my school had those just in case anyone got out of line. I used to dread going to school, especially when I didn't have homework done or we had tough exams. The first crush I ever had was on a school teacher. She was 22 and French. I took the class only because she was teaching it. i was about 13 at the time and ended up having to quite French because she drove me crazy. It wasn't difficult for me to play the part in the video because I could easily still be at school, but I have to admit that my last day at school was probably one of the happiest of my life. Being in a pop band is a lot more fun!

Shane looked back fondly on the teacher who captured his heart when he was seven. He said, "She was a lady called Miss Garland in primary school and I used to think she was the most beautiful person in the whole world. I can still picture her. She had a long brown bob haircut and was really pretty. I also had a crush on my history teacher at the Grange school in Dublin. She had blonde hair and was very feminine. She didn't have much time for men which was why I liked her. The only problem was, I hated history and ended up failing the exam."

As the April release date for Key to My life approached, the jittery nerves began. If it was a hit, then the record cmpany would push the button on the next thrilling stage for the group; the release of the debut album would be secured, and they would have a world promotional tour. If it flopped, everything would be put on hold.

All the fears were unfounded and "KTML" went to No. 1 in Ireland and No. 3 in the UK. The gamble paid off and had unlocked a dazzling future for BZ. Tehy celebrated and breathed a sigh of relief, but there was barely time to savour their success - there was too much work to do. soon, they were jetting to Enland to record an appearance for Top of the Pops at Elstree Studios, in Hertfordshire.

The reception at Elstree was typical of what was in store everywhere BZ travelled in an exhausting spring and summer of promotional work across the UK. They made a guest appearance at a fund raising event for children's charities in the Midlands and collected 3000 pounds in a couple of hours by charging 2 pounds per kiss. That's 300 kisses each!

While that may have been fun, there was another gig Boyzone ahd to perform for a far different section of their fan base - the gay community. While the manager, Louis Walsh, was happy for the band to sing for their gay fans, that's where it stopped; he turned down lucrative offers from gay magazines for the boys to strip and declared in the press, "We value our gay following, but these boys are sraight." So, there were no kisses for the fans after that show!

Despite the adulation from all quarters, none of the group were letting fame go to their heads. Mikey, in particular, remained level headed and remembered all too clearly his days as a car mechanic. That life wasn't so long ago and the deep stains on his hands from engine grease had only recently started to fade. He said, "Personally, I don't see myself as a pop star. ... We all know that publicity is a smoke screen... Boyzone won't last forever, but we will enjoy it while we can ..."

Although Mikey's cautious words were wise, BZ are a long way from ending - they were just getting warmed up. They had a continuous flow of public appearances lined up. Everywhere they appeared, they won the hearts of thousands and earnt cheers from all age groups.

Life on the road was exhausting, but, thankfully, they had reached a level of succes where they could enjoy some luxury along the way. In a visit to London the previous year, they didn't have the cash to stay in hotels, so the record co. rented them a small flat and they were given 100 pounds to buy food. By the end of their stay, the flat was a wreck and they were in urgent need of a wholesome meal.

They could now afford to stay in hotels and receive some star treatment, but the memories of that first trip were still fresh in Ro's mind. He said, "That was the first time most of us had been away from our parents. We bought far too many biscuits and cakes with our housekeeping money and by the end, there wasn't enough food to go round and we were fighting over who had the cornflakes in the morn...."

It was vital for the lads to stay fit and healthy. There was no way any daft behaviour could be tolerated with so much resting on the band. To protect his valuable merchandise, Louis Walsh introduced strict contracts which made them legally bound not to do anything likely to risk injury.

1 of the incidents which led to such serious discipline was a carr addicent Shane (driver) and Keith (passenger seat) had been involved in the previous year. Keith has never forgotten the terror of the crash. He says, "Once we dropped Ro off, Shane really put his foot on the floor. He is mad for speed and he really went for it that night - he was driving like a complete maniac. At one point we were doing 110 mph down a narrow street. There was a bend coming up, so shane slowed down to about 90 mph, but it was still too fast. The roads were wet and, as we turned, the back wheels slid away and Shane had lost control. I knew we weren't going to make it, so I braced myself, I thought we were going to die"

"The car lurched round and then 1 of the wheels hit the kerb and the car flipped into the air ... I was left dangling upside down from my safety belt. I knew I was OK, but I was to scared to open my eyes or speak coz I couldn't hear a word from Shane ..."

"...I heard Shane say, `You all right, man?` It was such a relief. I groaned, Yeah, and then, cool as you like, Shane said, `We might as well get out now` as if he had just parked the car normally, not rolled it over at 90 mph!

Shane laughs when he recalls the accident. He said, "I get an amazing rush of adrenalin when I go fast. I love the buzz the fear gives me, but I pushed it too far that night. Thankfully, I always drive with the seat well reclined. If i hadn't been in that position that night, my head would have been taken clean off."

"We sat by the side of the road and, when the police and fire brigade turned up, they couldn't believe we had escaped with such minor injuries ... For me crashing is good if no one gets hurt and you don't hit another car ... I know Louis wants me to slow down but speed is in my blood ... The only feeling that matches the buzz I get from going fast is when I go on stage in front of thousands of fans ..."

While the wild one was tamed, no one anticipated that 1 of the laid back members of the group, Mikey would get hurt. While filming a video for the album, he fell from a horse. It was not a high speed fall, but he narrowly escaped horrific injuries when he landed awkwardly on his neck, jarring several vertebrae. Mikey had a few days rest to get over the shock and pain before rejoining the lads on stage. He still had to wear a surgical collar to support his neck.

BZ had several months of promotional work across the UK, but their success on the road was suddenly interrupted wjem disturbing news reached them from Ireland. Rumors had spread that they preferred English girls to Irish since they were spending so much time in England. It emerged that the lies had been started by Take That fans in a vain attempt to create a split among bz fans. It was just childish backbiting from rivals, but they took it seriously enough to stop their work in England to return to Ireland for a month long tour visit to every county. The record co. bosses were not happy with the cedision to return to Ireland since they reckoned a month away from UK represented 1 M pounds in lost revenue. But Louis Walsh was adamant he had made the right move. He said, "No member of the group has ever said or thought that English fans are better than the Irish fans... We love our Irish fans and think they are the best of the lot ... we could have been making a lot more money out of the country, but our fans at home had to come first."