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This year has been a great one for music reuninons. With Take That, the Spice Girls and even old rockers Led Zepplin dusting off their tour buses and heading back on the road. Female First have a look back at The Year of The Reforms.......

We all know bands come and go. They enter the charts, reign supreme for two years, and are then never heard of again. That is unless they decide to reunite to take over the world once more.

Whether they've done it for money, extra publicity or just the enjoyment of performing, there's no denying that 2007 has been a year of reforms for some of our most loved nineties pop acts.

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Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were the biggest girl band of the nineties, best known for Girl Power, platform shoes and Union Jack dresses.


They were unique in that they all had their own individual looks and personalities at a time when the charts were dominated by boy bands and Britpop.

There was no stopping the Spice Girls as they became a world-wide phenomenon, propelled to popularity with their fun and outrageous attitude. They had a total of nine number one singles and two number one albums in the UK, making them one of the most successful girl groups ever,

The Break-Up

Trouble first started brewing for the Spice Girls in May 1998 when Geri failed to turn up to two concerts in Norway and a performance on the National Lottery. It was then announced at a press conference that she had decided to leave the band due to differences between them.

After forming in 1993 the group released their first single, Wannabe, in 1996. It was an instant success and they became the first all female band to top the charts with their debut single.

This was then followed by rumours of a split when Mel B and Victoria both announced they were pregnant.

Although the band went on to have three more number one hits things were never quite the same. With many of them releasing solo singles in 2001 they annouced they had decided to take a break from the Spice Girls to concentrate on their individual projects.

The Reunion

After much speculation and rumours in 2007, all five Spice Girls along with their manager Simon Fuller confirmed that they were reuniting for a tour, documentray and Greatest Hits release.

They also recorded the official Children in Need sinlge, Headlines (Friendship Never Ends).

This did not do as well as the singles of their heyday, only reaching number 11 in the UK singles charts. However the album peaked at number two.

Undoubtedly The Return of the Spice Girls tour is the most anticipated part of their reunion. Tickets for the London date at the o2 arena sold out in just 38 seconds, causing 16 more performances to be added.

This will be recorded and turned into a documentray called Spice Girls: Giving You Everything.

The tour is set to be an extravagant and show stopping event with the costumes being created by Victoria's favourite designer Roberto Cavalli.


Take That
In the early nineties Britpop was taking over the UK with bands such as Oasis, Pulp and Blur controlling the charts.

The British music scene was lacking the kind of commercially popular, cute teen-sensation boy band for girls to go crazy over.

In 1990 Take That formed as the answer to this gap in the market and were soon the poster pin-ups in adolescent bedrooms all over the country.

They signed to a major record label in 1992 and their first hit came when they reached number seven with a cover of Tavares 1970's song It Only Takes A Minute Girl.

They soon had a string of smash hits singles with energetic dance routines, trendy good looks and were adored by just about everyone.

The Break-Up

Similar to the Spice Girls split, the first signs of problems came when Robbie Williams announced he was quitting the band in July 1995. He wanted to promote a tougher, bad-boy image and started to party with Oasis. There were also rumoured to be arguments between Robbie and Gary Barlow.

The band's official split was announced in February 1996 which preceeded the release of their Greatest Hits album. Fans were devestated and teenage girls all over the country mourned the apparent end of one of the most popular boy bands Britain has ever seen.

The Reunion

Unlike the Spice Girls, Take That reformed still with only four members as Robbie Williams did not get involved.

The boys' return began with the release of a Greatest Hits album and a documentray about the band. These were then followed by a tour, the tickets for which sold out in one hour, with extra dates added to meet demand.

Where the Spice Girls failed to amaze with their musical offerings since reuniting, Take That have faired much better. Their come back single Patience, was a massive hit, reaching number one in the UK.

This was followed by the equally popular Shine.

Their album. Beautiful World, sold over 1 million copies in the UK and featured, for the first time, songs written by the entire band instead of just Gary Barlow. It has become the band's biggest selling album to date.

Jason Orange said of the band's new songs: "You can sell a tour on nostalgia, and we did. But you can't sell new material on nostalgia - it's got to be quality."


Boyzone
Compared to the lively, athletic dance routines and catchy up-tempo tunes of Take That, Irish sensation Boyzone were much more of a sit on some stools and sing soaring choruses type band.

This didn't mean they were any less popular and they enjoyed great chart success throughout the nineties.

They were formed in 1993 by Louis Walsh. Their big break in the UK came when Love Me For A Reason hit number two in the charts. This set them up for three albums, which all went to number one, and a whole host of top singles including No Matter What. This was in the Andrew LLoyd Webber musical Whistle Down The Wind.

The Break-Up

Boyzone's last musical release was their Greatest Hits album By Request in 1999. They performed together for the final time in January 2000 before Ronan Keating confirmed that he was leaving to persue a successful solo career. Although the band never officially announced a break up there was no new material recorded from this point and it was stated they were taking time off to focus on solo projects.

A farewell tour was planned in 2001, but this never happened.

The Reunion

Speculation of a Boyzone reunion first because to arise in 2003.

When Take That first re-conqueed the charts with their come back in 2006 the rumours increased and in February 2007 details of a reunion were announced.

Although there were concerns it would never happen due to a reported lack of financial interest, all five members first re-appeared of BBC 1's Children In Need show in November 2007, performing a medley of many of their hits.

The eagerly awited reunion tour is now all set to happen in May 2008, with Ronan Keating definately joining the group for the shows. Although nothing has been announced about any new songs or releases the news of a tour is likely to get millions of hearts racing and 20-somethings digging around in their record collections for a copy of Love Me For A Reason.