Music manager Nigel Martin-Smith formed Take That as Britain's answer to the American boy band New Kids on the Block. Before joining the group, Gary Barlow was singing in clubs, Mark Owen a bank worker, Jason Orange and Howard Donald were in a break-dancing group called StreetBeat, and 16-year-old Robbie Williams had a job selling double-glazing. Martin-Smith decided to build the boy band around the musical abilities of Gary Barlow.
At 15, Gary Barlow appeared on the BBC's daytime show Pebble Mill at One in a Christmas song competition. He came second.
They originally called themselves Kick It. The quintet became Take That and Party from a newspaper headline before shortening it to just Take That.
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