Know what's on my mind, there's only one thing you will find. I got one design and that's to bump you 'til you drop.

Dear Robbie,

I've been a 'backseat' fan of yours for a while now. I can't say that I cared much for the Take That stuff, but when you broke away from the band and tried to find your own direction, I became more interested in you.
My interest grew when I found out that you were becoming a chronic alcoholic and drug abuser and your life was falling apart around your ears. That probably sounds very strange and possibly against a more natural reaction from your army of fans, who would have been more likely to have written you off at this point.
Not I.

I'm afraid I'm not the type of fan of yours that thinks everything you do is fantastic. Far from it. "Lazy days" was pants and "Radio" was a huge pile of steaming doo-doo. I can only hope you take such criticism with a pinch of salt, although deep down you may be nodding quietly? But stonkers like "Let love be your energy" came right out of nowhere and redeemed my love for you.
Your interviews have been few and far between, so it's been difficult to sift through the utter bollocks that the tabloids would like your fans to believe. The books that have been published appear to be the same one recycled, edited and reprinted, so it's been difficult to understand more about you and your life, especially when you sometimes make it so obvious how unhappy with your life you are. And that's what fascinates me.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not some kind of weird obsessive stalker or anything. I'm just really interested in somebody who's so successful and yet so unhappy.
A few years ago, you announced to the world that you were 'clean'. How could that be anything but brilliant news because the last thing your fans wanted was to wake up to headlines of "Robbie found dead!"
Can I be frank here? I just think you've got more control over yourself now. I wonder if you're as 'clean' as you say you are.

Anyway, let's move on to the purpose of this.
"Rudebox"
So different.
So simple.
So brutal.
So absolutely removed from anything you've done before and I love it!
This may win you a few more fans, but I also wonder how many of your followers will listen to it, jaw dropped and wonder just what the fuck you've done.
It's a brave move and I can do nothing but take my hat off to you Sir.

Driven by a drum pattern taken straight from some old skool 70's funk and complimented by a bassline that's reminiscent of some 80's breakdance beat. Stir that in with some rough 'toasting', the occasional spikey keyboard and mix your vocal through a vocoder and you have created something that sounds like it's an outtake from Prince's "Black Album".
Sheer genius!

Already the radio play is splitting people between loving and hating it, with very few sitting on the fence. This is what we want. This is what I wanted to hear you do. Something brave, experimental and so un-Robbie that it makes me sit up and listen.
Congratulations to you on being confident enough to say "fuck you" to your Record Company Executives when they heard the mixes, with a shocked look on their faces and a feeling that one of their biggest money spinners may be about to throw his career away. And an even bigger pat on the back for wanting to be different enough, in the hope that listeners will shut the fuck up and appreciate an artist who might just possibly have moved onto another level.

I would like to place my bollocks on the line and declare that for me, this is without doubt the best thing you've ever done.

By the way, you look 'wasted' in the video.
My compliments to you, once again.

Best regards,
bedshaped x


If you haven't heard it yet, it's here.