Worlds Apart – the British boy band who were more successful abroad!
Worlds Apart were an early put together boy band by Simon Cowell, better known at the time for getting Sinitta into the recording studio and the charts. The original five’some of Steve Hart, Marcus Patrick, Schelim Hannan, Aaron Paul and Dan Bowyer were auditioned and signed in 1992 and have since undergone numerous line up changes. They achieved four UK top 40 singles in just over a year, but found greater fame and success in France and Germany and continue to perform today as a trio, with one very well known 80’s front man.
Their debut single was a cover – as were all of their best known songs – of the Tavares 1976 smash hit, “Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel”, which they took to No.29 in the UK in early 1993. The was followed by an original number, “Wonderful World”, which didn’t do so well. It was another cover, this time “Everlasting Love“, that took them back to the UK chart and the top twenty. The line up now began to change as Patrick left in 1993 to be replaced by Cal Cooper while both Paul and Bowyer departed at the end of 1994, following the release and flop of their debut album, “Together”, a rather implausible title considering that was exactly what they were not doing!
Prior to Paul and Bowyer leaving, the group would achieve their highest charted hit in the UK with a cover of The Spinners 1972 classic “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love” (UK No.15), and it seemed the home audience preferred the remakes as their final song as a quintet, “Beggin’ To Be Written”, could do no better than No.29. The song was also to be their last to chart at all in the UK and the aforementioned line up changes occurred. Now continuing as a quartet, the new inbound member of the group was not an unknown, but someone who had already clocked up chart hits in the late 1980’s with another boy band, none other than Brother Beyond‘s Nathan Moore!
The first release of the new look Worlds Apart came in 1995. The single, “Baby Come Back”, charted top five in France and Switzerland, their first mainland European success. It was the first to come from their next album, to be released the following year and which would be preceded by the German top five hit “Love Message” and a French top ten hit with “Everybody”, the title track of the second album, which would top the chart there and sell over one and a half million copies! A cover of Jean-Jacques Goldman and Michael Jones’ 1985 single “Je te donne” gave the boys a top three hit in both France and Belgium and a re-released “Everlasting Love” would take them into the French top ten for a fourth time in the space of twelve months!
Flushed with this new success, Worlds Apart wasted no time at all in recording a follow up and in 1997, released a new single, “I’m Dreaming Of You”, which put them back in the French top three and a top ten hit in Belgium. The album, “Don’t Change”, gained Platinum certification in France as the boys achieved two more European chart hits with “Back To Where We Started” and the title track of the album, during 1997. French language releases were bound during this period and more hits came with “Je serai là” and “Sie Liebt Dich”, with a minor hit being achieved with “Close Your Eyes” in 1998, a stand alone track not featured on any album.
Schelim Hannan left in 1997, reducing Worlds Apart to a trio, as the remaining members recorded and released their fourth album, “Here And Now”, in 2000 along with the Belgium top five hit, “I Will”, although success in other countries had now diminished. Following this, Worlds Apart called it a day in 2002, having sold over ten million records worldwide at this stage! The split didn’t last long, as five years later, Hart, Cooper and Moore were back with a new album, “Platinum”, and a cover of Demis Roussos’ 1987 hit, “On écrit sur les murs” (We Write On The Walls). Although both remain, to date, their last commercial releases, the Worlds Apart trio continue to perform across mainland Europe, even though Nathan Moore is now in his mid-50’s and still looking much the heartthrob he always way. There just ain’t no competition(!)
Stay in touch with Worlds Apart through their WEBSITE and their FACEBOOK page
Take a look at all our other Where Are They Now posts and don’t forget to follow the playlist!
Talk About Pop Music 