Confessions of a 90s pop groupie: Super fan reveals how he rubbed shoulders with the Spice Girls and Kylie and was serenaded by a pre-fame Beyoncé
- Malcolm Mclean, 36, reveals how he met and tracked down stars in the late 90s
- He would meet them at their houses, airports and wait for them at TV studios
- Met stars such as the Spice Girls and Pink and was even sung at by Beyoncé
- The pop fanatic has written about his experiences in his book Freak like Me
A 90s pop fanatic has revealed, in his new book, how he met some of the biggest stars at the time, including the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and pop diva Kylie Minogue.
Malcolm McLean, 36, from London, reveals how he spent countless hours waiting for stars at TV studios, airports and even their homes, in his book Freak Like Me.
The book details how his obsession started at just 14, when he had an encounter with his favourite girl band at the time, Eternal. Soon he was spending all his spare time tracking ’90s pop stars every move around London.
It led him to blagging his way into the BRITS numerous time, even nicking an award from Craig David, appearing on BBC show Top of the Pops with numerous stars and even being serenaded to by an unknown Beyoncé.
The author spoke exclusively to Femail about being a pop fanatic and why his obsession inspired him to write a memoir of his time following some of the decades biggest stars and one hit wonders.
Malcolm McLean, 36, from London, reveals how he spent countless hours waiting for stars at TV studios, airports and even their homes, in his book Freak Like Me. Pictured – with Emma Bunton and Mel B outside their recording studio in London
Meeting pint sized pop star Kylie Minogue in 2002 at a TV recording studio – and claims she was really down to earth
The pop fan says that he first became obsessed with music and pop stars when his sister bought him an Eternal album for Christmas.
‘I wrote a letter to my favourite member, Kelle Bryan (now an actress in Hollyoaks) to tell her how much I adored their music, and she randomly phoned my house a few weeks later.
‘I couldn’t believe it. It was because of Eternal that I ended up going to my first concert, my first Top of the Pops recording, and, before long, spending every waking moment of my teens trying to meet anyone who’d been in that week’s Top 40 chart.’
The author reveals at 14, he became bored of suburban life in Surrey, while also needed a way to escape the bullies at his school – who teased him about his sexuality – despite the fact he had yet to come out.
Meeting American pop star Pink as she smoked outside of a TV station in London in 2002
Trying to look like one of the band as he met American pop band NSYNC – before Justin Timberlake was famous in his own right
One of his first ventures into the pop star world was a trip to then popular music show Top of The Pops, which he admits he ended up going to over 70 times.
‘In the late nineties, my teenage friends and I were absolutely bonkers. We didn’t just love the music – we were possessed by pop,’ he recalled.
‘We were bored with life at school and college, all misfits in our drab suburban towns on the edges of London, and when we met each other for the first time, outside Top of the Pops in 1998, we knew we were kindred spirits and became full-on groupies.
A rare picture of Posh Spice smiling – Malcolm managed to track her down at the airport, while David (Left behind) packed the suitcases in the car
Hear’Say, including Coronation Street star Kym Marsh and TV presenter Myleene Klass after they were put together on TV show PopsStars
‘We all loved the glitz and the glamour of chasing pop stars around London, getting to rub shoulders with the biggest acts in nineties music, and meet bands off-duty at all kinds of places.
‘It was with my outgoing groupie mates that I gate-crashed the BRIT Awards and aftershow parties with, using homemade fake Access All Area passes – first in 1999, when I was still 15.
‘We did it for a few years running, until the novelty wore off and, after four years of mad adventures on the edges of the pop world, we all started to mature and move on.’
Malcolm’s book called Freak Like Me is out early next month
In Malcolm’s funny account of life as a pop star follower he reveals his many random brushes with pop royalty: ‘I walked through an airport terminal with Britney Spears, who was really sweet, but I witnessed first-hand a glimpse into how little say she had in some aspects of her day-to-day life.’
‘Madonna stormed on stage early one night at Top of the Pops, when no one seemed to be ready, and she performed a feisty impromptu stand up routine for us all in the shocked crowd,’ he added.
But it was a little-known American girl band at time, called Destiny’s Child, that made his night while he was at the front of their Top of the Pops performance, when the lead singer, Beyoncé, spoke to him between takes.
‘She told me she loved the colour of my £3 shirt and I went bright red. She went on to perform the song, and the band were singing directly at me – almost serenading me – watching it back on TV the next day was hilarious.’
Other mad encounters include entertaining Mel B’s baby daughter, Phoenix, at Heathrow airport while her and Baby Spice were checking in for a flight to Victoria and David’s wedding.
Victoria Beckham performing at G-A-Y in London as she launched her solo career in 2000 – Malcolm was front row for her performance
Catching a great picture of Robbie William as he escaped his screaming fans at an awards show in London
Malcolm meeting Melanie C as he had embarked on her solo career after the Spice Girls fame
While ex-Hear’Say and now Coronation street star star Kym Marsh invited him and his friends in for afternoon tea, in the house she shared with EastEnders’ heartthrob Jack Ryder.
But without social media and the internet to track down where stars were he said that his second occupation was harder than it would be today.
‘Social media has totally changed the celebrity/fan dynamic. Today, fans see their favourite stars posting about their ‘real’ lives on Instagram and Twitter on a daily basis, which gives the false impression of closeness, or knowing your favourite musician.
In Malcolm’s funny account of life as a pop star follower he reveals his many random brushes with pop royalty. Pictured – meeting pop star Louise
The pop fan met a fresh faced Atomic Kitten back at the beginning of their career, including Kerry Katona (left)
Meeting and talking to pop legend Cher outside BBC Saturday show Live and Kicking in 1999
‘Back when I was an obsessive pop fan, we saw them when we wanted, not always when they wanted. We saw them warts and all- without a filter. But without seeing a star’s live location it definitely made the chance of bumping into them so much harder.
‘What didn’t make it into the book was the hours and hours of fruitlessly sitting in an airport, or waiting at the back of a venue, only to discover we’d missed them, or they’d gone a different way.
Malcolm said he wrote the book as his friends would always be amazed when he recounted seeing or meeting people like Britney or Madonna.
‘I met (in one way or another) so many absolute pop legends. And so many awful, long-forgotten One Hit Wonder flops and cult favourites. But at the time I didn’t fully appreciate how lucky we were.
‘So often, we would set out to meet a pop star, and end up bumping into someone else. We were waiting for Geri outside her hotel, once, and Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth walked out.
One of his first ventures into the pop star world was a trip to then popular music show Top of The Pops, which he admits he ended up going to over 70 times. Pictured: Some of the tickets that he kept
Malcolm managed to blag his way into the BRITS with his homemade passes – which he definitely wouldn’t be able to get away with today
Some of the photos of him and pop stars, as well as signed pictures and album covers
‘Another time I was hanging out by the back gate to the Top of the Pops studios, when June Brown aka Dot Cotton from EastEnders came out, and after a lengthy chat asked me if I wanted to go to Tesco with her.’
Malcolm’s hopes his book, which is now available to preorder via Amazon will appeal to those wanting a little nostalgia, plus a new generation of music fans: ‘I think it will appeal to those people who, like me, spent their Saturdays in Our Price and Woolworths, or memorising song lyrics in Smash Hits magazine.
‘But now that nineties music is so popular again, thanks in part to the Spice Girls’ tour and TV series like The Big Reunion, there’s a whole new generation of lovers of that music, who were too young to see the people I was fortunate enough to meet during their years at the top.’
‘I really hope some of those younger fans get a taste of how different the world was back then – in terms of music and the Internet – but also in terms of being a struggling gay teenager in less accepting times.
The book, for Malcolm, is also a personal journey for him around his sexuality and how he was bullied because of it – he admits: ‘Writing the book made me realise the extent to which pop music was escapism. I was bullied at school because of my sexuality, and, because of the Section 28 law that existed then, the school did very little to try and stop it.
Malcolm reveals he walked through an airport terminal with Britney Spears, and witnessed first-hand a glimpse into how little a say she had in some aspects of her day-to-day life
When he met Shakira, in 2002, he admits that the American pop star was heavily guarded
‘The world of pop music was totally different to my real life at home in suburbia. Everyone was either gay themselves, or too absorbed in what would be this week’s Number 1, to give a damn about my sexuality.
‘Pop music also took me out of my suburban, heterosexual world and made me venture into gay clubs in Soho to see people like Geri perform. Writing about being bullied was probably the hardest bit for me. The process of writing about it has made me think about those people for the first time in years.
‘I can look back now and see that many of them were saying hurtful things about me not because they were bad people, but because they had their own struggles and issues, and because the attitudes and laws of that era were so different.’
Malcolm manged to blag his way into one of the biggest music events The Brits with passes he made on his dads compuetr
The second line up – pictured with the Sugar Babes, who sung Push the Button, back in 2002
The book also raises issues on privacy, as Malcolm and his friends would track pop stars down at their houses and hotels. ‘I hate the idea that some of the stars might have felt hounded by us, or that we were overstepping the line, turning up at their houses uninvited.
‘I think there is an element of having to take the rough with the smooth though. We were the ones who were there cheering on these pop stars when the papers were running them into the ground, or their record sales were flopping, and going to their gigs when everyone else had moved on to new bands.
‘Our age played a part as well. As a teenager, I don’t think I had the maturity to think about how I would feel if the shoe was on the other foot. But I also think there is much greater awareness about privacy and mental health these days, which is a good thing.’
Malcolm McLean (pictured in 1999) spoke exclusively to Femail about being a pop fanatic and why his obsession inspired him to write a memoir of his time following some of the decades biggest stars and one hit wonders
Malcolm was a big fan of Geri Halliwell and the book details how he met her various times at her house and at the airport
Malcolm, with his friend, as he presented pop star Louise, with a cake to celebrate her single getting to no.3 in the UK charts
However as he got older the novelty of meeting so many famous people wore off. ‘I spent my life meeting pop acts for five ridiculous years full of pretty unbelievable adventures, but as time went on I wanted to get on with my own life and stop living it through famous pop stars’ adventures and successes.
‘I really don’t regret much, out of everything we did. But in all honesty, I guess I do regret the times we overstepped the line a bit and infringed on our favourite pop stars’ down time – at their homes or early in the morning at the airport, when they probably needed and wanted time away from fans and the media.
In his memoir he writes extensively about the highs and lows of some of the pop bands careers, as well as what meeting them meant to him – and he says he would love them to read the book.
‘Hopefully, it might bring back some fond memories of the past. I’ve tried, with a bit of hindsight, to see how many of the biggest pop stars were treated badly by the music industry, often when they were still teenagers.
‘Writing the book has made me realise how exploited so many of them were – worked to the bone and little emotional support – and what a dangerous thing fame can be.’
Freak Like Me is out on October 3rd and available to pre-order now from Amazon or www.freaklike.me
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