In May, to tie in with their third single 'You Said No (Crash & Burn)', the band set off on their first UK tour. Being a Busted tour it was always going to be a bit different, but the audiences (teenage, but with a respectable showing of adults attending of their own accord) found a pop show like nothing they'd ever seen. Partly because it came with none of the costume changes, backing dancers, special effects and seen-it-beforeness of your average pop spectacle. But mainly because it wasn't really a pop show at all: just the boys and their band, and a string of tunes taking on a whole new personality in the live arena. Matt's trousers defied gravity, James moonwalked and, on the penultimate night, Charlie smashed his guitar. During the course of the tour 'You Said No' gave Busted their first Number One - making them the first act in UK chart history to have their first three singles hit Number 3, then 2, then 1.
Last summer, the fourth and final track to be lifted from 'Busted' was 'Sleeping With The Lights On'. The end of the 'Busted' story takes us back to the beginning of the Busted story: it's the first song James and Mattie ever wrote together, round at James' house in Southend. "Girl's left you," James summarises. "Classic excuse for writing a song." Mattie adds that sleeping with the lights on is "useful if you come in pissed. Put the lights on, keep one hand touching the floor, and it stops the room spinning."
Now, with a best selling book, a sold out arena tour, a brand new album `A Present For Everyone' and yet another smash hit single in the shape of Crashed The Wedding' Busted are hotter than Mattie's pants. 'A Present for Everyone' once again, was written by the band themselves. A lot of work was done during the course of their tour, and the successor to 'Busted' is a clear progression in the lads' songwriting capabilities without jettisoning any of the cheek, style, humour or spunk that made them so unique.
In less than a year, Busted have smashed the mould of pop. They are one of the defining new acts of the past five years; treating pop audiences with the respect they deserve, selling their music without selling out their musical beliefs. Busted are the alternative.
(www.busted.com)
