Bros

Bros were an English band formed in 1986 in Camberley, Surrey. The band consisted of twin brothers Matt and Luke Goss, and Craig Logan, who attended Collingwood School in Camberley. The band was managed by former Pet Shop Boys manager Tom Watkins. They achieved chart success and a large teenage fanbase in 1988 with songs such as “When Will I Be Famous” and “I Owe You Nothing“. Early the following year, Logan quit the band and the Goss twins continued as a duo. After two more albums the band split up in 1992. They reformed for a UK tour in 2017.

Bros’s first single, “I Owe You Nothing“, was released in 1987 and peaked at number 88 in the UK Singles Chart.

Their second single, “When Will I Be Famous?“, became a breakthrough single for Bros, reaching the number 2 position in the UK chart, selling over 200,000 copies in the UK, and number 1 in Ireland’s IRMA chart. The song also went top ten in over 19 countries including Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Australia, South Africa and the US, entering the charts at number 10 in the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Bros followed up with their third single, “Drop the Boy“, which also peaked in the UK chart at number 2, selling over 200,000 copies in the UK, and reached number 1 in Ireland’s IRMA chart. The single went top 10 in over 19 countries. Following the success of the previous two hit singles, Bros released a reissue of “I Owe You Nothing“, which reached number 1 in the UK singles chart, amassing sales of over 350,000 copies in the UK and entering at number 2 in the IRMA chart. It also entered the top ten in over 19 countries and entered the US dance charts at number 10 in the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.

Bros then released two more tracks from their Push album: “I Quit”, which entered the UK charts at number 4 with sales over 100,000 and “Cat Among the Pigeons”, which entered the UK charts at number 2 with sales of 150,000. Both songs charted well across Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Bros released their debut album, Push, on 28 March 1988 selling just under 400,000 copies in the first week of its release in the UK. Push went 4× platinum in the UK, 5× platinum in Ireland and entered the top 10 in over 19 countries including:

  • Australia (ARIA): 2× Platinum, 140,000
  • France (SNEP): 2× Gold, 200,000
  • Germany (BVMI): Gold, 250,000
  • Ireland (IRMA): 5× Platinum, 75,000
  • New Zealand (RMNZ): Platinum, 15,000
  • Spain (PROMUSICAE): Gold, 50,000
  • Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland): Gold, 25,000
  • United Kingdom (BPI): 4× Platinum, 1,200,000

To date the album has sold over 10 million copies, making Bros one of the few bands to achieve this with a debut album release. Push was reissued in 2013 by Cherry Pop records to mark 25 years since the original release.

Bros then announced their first UK tour, known as Bros Push Live. Within an hour of the tickets going on sale Bros had sold out 14 shows. Due to the phenomenal demand, extra dates were added.

Logan left the band in late 1989, due to several bouts of illness, including ME,and the fact he could no longer walk and was being assisted on and off stage due to the recurring bouts of illness. Logan was admitted to hospital for 6 weeks, once released from hospital he spent a further 6 months of rehabilitation to learn to walk again.

Logan decided that the pressure of stardom was no longer for him and told Matt and Luke he was thinking of leaving the band. He appeared with the brothers at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, where Bros received the award for best newcomer and best single 1989; this would be his final appearance as a member of Bros.

Logan appeared on the BBC1 television programme Wogan discussing why he had left the band. During the interview Logan talked about the legal action he took against the management of Bros over unpaid royalties, but confirmed he left the band due to illness.

Bros continued as a duo, with Matt Goss and Luke Goss continuing with the sold-out Push Global Tour, where the band played to over 3 million fans in Australia, Denmark, Germany, France, Japan, Norway and the UK.

Bros released two videos. The first, Push Live Tour, was released mid-1988 on VHS, and LaserDisc in Japan; it was recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo. Their second video release, Push Over, was a collection of music videos for singles taken from their Push album.

During this period Bros had become global stars and wherever Bros went so did their fans. On one occasion Bros were doing an album signing at HMV Oxford Street, London, when over 130,000 fans turned up. The Metropolitan Police had to close off Oxford Street for up to six hours due to the number of fans who had turned up to see their idols. This was described as Brosmania.

Bros were causing hysteria wherever they went, such scenes had not been seen since the Beatles. Bros had over 6 million fans worldwide join the band’s fan club, known as the Bros Front. With such demand for merchandise and fans wanting to talk to their idols, a phone line was set up, with 70,000 fans using the service within the first month. Bros were the only band to appear in every issue of Smash Hits from 1988 to 1991.

After a short break recovering from their Global Push Tour, Bros went back to the recording studio and released their second album, The Time. It was released on 16 October 1989 and reached number 4 in the UK Albums Chart, with over 150,000 copies being sold within the first week in the UK. Bros released several tracks from the album as singles, including “Too Much“, “Chocolate Box”, “Madly in Love”, and “Sister”.

Bros did a one-off concert, “Bros in 2 Summer”, which was seen by over 77,000 fans at Wembley Stadium and was one of the first concerts to be shown on Sky pay-per-view.

In 1991 Bros released their third and final album, Changing Faces, before the band split up in 1992. They released two tracks from the album: “Are You Mine?”, reaching number 12 in the UK and “Try”, which got to number 27. The album was not highly publicised and entered the chart at number 18. Neither Matt nor Luke ever officially said Bros was over but they stopped recording in 1992.

Bros achieved eleven top 40 singles and three top 20 albums in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Matt Goss began a solo career during the 1990s, enjoying chart success with various single’s “The Key” and “If You Were Here Tonight”, and had his own Vegas Residency at The Palms, Caesars Palace and The Mirage.

Luke Goss moved to the US and became a film actor, appearing in blockbuster hits such as Blade II and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. He starred in the UK film Interview with a Hitman in 2012 and released his directorial debut Your Move in 2018.

Craig Logan went into music management and songwriting.

80s Studio albums

Push (1988)

The Time (1989)

80s Singles

1987-

  • I Owe You Nothing (UK #88)
  • When Will I Be Famous (#2)

1988

  • Drop The Boy (#2)
  • I Owe You Nothing (Re-Issue)(#1)
  • I Quit (#4)
  • Cat Amongst The Pigeon/ Silent Night (#2)

1989

  • Too Much (#2)
  • Chocolate Box (#9)
  • Sister (#10)

 

 

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