Description
Robbie Williams hand signed this copy of the Take That CD “A Million Love Songs” to the front cover in blue ink.
“A Million Love Songs” is the penultimate single released by Take That from their debut album and was written by lead vocalist Gary Barlow. Written by Gary Barlow at the age of 15, it was released as the sixth single from their debut album, Take That and Party, peaking at number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. The two primary instruments are piano, played by Barlow, with a saxophone in the bridges originally scored, performed and recorded by Snake Davis. Take That’s long time saxophonist and music director, Mike Stevens went on to perform these sax parts live, many of them using the extended saxophone part written by Davis, at the end of the song. In January 1993, the song entered the Dutch chart and peaked at #50. The song was released for airplay in the United States in September 1993, but it failed to chart.
The song was performed in the final of The X Factor‘s third series in 2006 by eventual winner Leona Lewis, who was joined on stage halfway through the song by all four members of Take That. It was also performed in the second series of The X Factor by eventual winner Shayne Ward and by JLS on the fifth series of X Factor and in sixth series by Lloyd Daniels. Ward’s version was released as a B-side to his single “No Promises”. The song was also covered by Alexander O’Neal on his 2008 album, Alex Loves. On the ninth series of X Factor, the song was performed by eventual winner James Arthur at the bootcamp, playing an uptempo rendition on acoustic guitar.
The song has also been voted by critics and music fans as the greatest ballad of all time.