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My life with the Kittens This is a bit of a special, as it's a year since Whole Again went to number 1. It's also a bit of an anniversary for me too, as it's exactly a year since I lost my job that I loved. This is a two parter which I've been meaning to do for ages. Part One is about the first time I met the Kittens, which was pretty early in their career. Part Two is about the last time I saw them up close as part of my job, and about how I felt about losing my job on the same day. All that's left to say is that after I lost my job, The Kittens cheered me up on a daily basis and kept me going through a really bleak time in my life. It's probably not as good a piece of writing as I would like, but it's tough to write about things you are emotionally attached to. |
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MY LIFE WITH THE KITTENS
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2 February 2001, nearly a year later and the world is a very different place. The Kittens have lost Kerry and gained Jenny, and are making what seems like a desperate last stand with the release of Whole Again, as all around them the rumours are flying. But the midweek charts have it outselling U2 by 2 to 1, and the most bizarre comeback is about to be sealed and their destiny forever changed. Atomic Kitten won’t be just another girlband on the scrapheap of pop. I’m sitting in the conference room at Virgin records rigging up my computers for a webcast, and once again I get to play at being a Kitten as we soundcheck the mics. But things are very different now. 24 hours ago I lost my job, and thought I’d lost everything. I went out got drunk and had to be picked up in the middle of London by my best friend, he drove me home and I cried all night. I didn’t sleep a single minute. But I had made my moss promise me that I could have one last stand, one last Kitten moment before my time was up. So I’m sitting, tired and emotional, waiting for the girls to show. Jenny can’t make it because she’s been at the dentist all day, so it’s just Tash and Lil. Not the fresh faced, don’t-give a-damn girls that I first fell in love with, but slick, sophisticated pop stars. They’ve made it to the top and are brimming with the thrill of an imminent number 1 that will change their lives. I don’t remember much of what they said in the hour of the interview, I just remember standing there, staring blankly onto the set, with Whole Again running through my head. All I could think is how fitting, how wonderful that, in a year, so much had gone right and so much had gone wrong, but everything had come back to Atomic Kitten. As the interview ended I hit the stop keys and felt like the bottom had dropped out of my world. I ran out before anyone noticed and stood there with tears in my eyes, sipping on a Beck’s and smoking yet another cigarette. Every part of me felt tight and numb but eventually got myself together and went back in, where Tash was making everyone laugh, and Liz was larking around. I packed up my stuff, and as Liz wandered past I said “thanks for everything”. I guess she didn’t know how much I meant by everything. As they were leaving I told Tash about my little bet:
I’d put 100 pounds on Whole Again being number one. I said good luck,
and she said Ta. I promised her if they did it, I’d buy them all a drink
with the winnings. That promise still stands. Me and the crew then went
for a few more drinks, and then I stumbled off into the night, Whole Again
on my CD player and tears in my eyes...... |
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