One Direction have achieved No1s in both the UK single and album charts. The single “Little Things” tops the chart this week, as does One Direction’s “Take Me Home” album, replacing Robbie Williams who achieved the double No1 feat last week.

The irony here is that One Direction replace the former Take That band member and are surely poised to become the biggest UK boy band since Take That in the 1990s. One Direction’s ascendancy has been staggering and they are without doubt the heirs apparent to the boy band throne, vacated by Take That in 1996, when the band members reached puberty!!

Since appearing on The X Factor in 2010, where they eventually came third, trailing to Rebecca Ferguson and the winner Matt Cardle, One Direction have taken off into the stratosphere!! After The X Factor, and the obligatory annual arena tour, One Direction went straight into the recording studio to record their debut album. One Direction’s first single, “What Makes You Beautiful”, came out in September 2011, breaking pre-order records for Sony.

From the recording studio they flew out to the USA, where they spent months on the TV and radio promotion circuit circus. Essentially they did the air miles and put in the graft that is required to break into the US market. Consequently when their album was released, it went straight to No1 on the Billboard charts, a feat no British boy band, from the Beatles to Take That, had achieved before them. One Direction’s second album, “Take Me Home”, released last week, in tandem with single “Live While We’re Young” will no doubt emulate the dual No1 status in the UK across “The Pond” very soon.

One Direction’s success in the UK and US is unquestionable but establishing what separates them from their boy band contemporaries and predecessors is not a straightforward task. Clearly they have the pre-requisite cheeky chappy persona, with a little bit of an edge, and much like Take That they have a broad church appeal – mums can relate to their cheeky exuberance, whilst their daughters can fantasise about them as potential boyfriends.

In the end, we can only conclude as with the Osmonds, Bay City Rollers, Boyzone and Take That before them, One Direction’s success is purely that they are in the right place at the right time.The teenage audience was ready for it and One Direction were there to fill the niche – Simon Cowell and his company Syco were astute enough to recognise this!! Admittedly One Direction are a far cry from the turgid anthemising of Westlife’s banal cover versions and although most like Take That, they are icons of “Mum’s era”; illustrated by Radio 1 refusing to playlist Robbie William’s new single.

Meanwhile One Direction’s nearest rivals JLS haven’t been able to connect on quite the same level or scale. Perhaps most critical to One Direction’s success is that in the USA a decade has elapsed since the era of the Backstreet Boys. The truth is that One Direction have filled a niche. Every generation needs a boy band, and One Direction are on hand to fulfil that demand.

Which are your One Direction songs? Let us know in the Reply Box below

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