"All This Time" is a song by Scottish singer

Michelle McManus Michelle McManus (born 8 May 1980) is a Scottish singer, columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2003. She currently presents the ''Afternoon'' radio show ...

(released under the name Michelle), taken as the lead single from her debut album, ''

The Meaning of Love "The Meaning of Love" is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode from their second studio album, ''A Broken Frame'' (1982). It was released on 26 April 1982 as the album's second single, and the band's fifth overall. Released in ...

'' (2004). Written by

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern Briti ...

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including " World ...

and

Ali Tennant Lorne Alistair Tennant, better known as Ali Tennant, is a British singer, songwriter and vocal producer/mentorAli Tenn ...

, the single was released in January 2004 by 19, a subsidiary of

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

. A commercial success for McManus, it debuted atop the national singles charts in both the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and her native

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and was the sixth-best-selling single of the year in the United Kingdom.

Background and recording

"All This Time" was written for the winner of the second and final series of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

'' in the United Kingdom, with last two acts in the show,

and

Mark Rhodes Mark Thomas Rhodes (born 11 September 1981) is an English singer and television presenter, best known as one half of Sam & Mark, the other being Sam Nixon. Career Born in Wolverhampton, England, Rhodes finished in second place in the second ...

, having both performed the song in the final. McManus went on to win and released "All This Time" as her debut single on 5 January 2004. Given the fact that the song was originally written for the winner of ''Pop Idol'' made it rare, as the winner of ''Pop Idol'' series 1,

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Ido ...

, was only permitted to release a cover version of the

Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...

song "

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

" for his winners single. The song was written by

and

Ali Tennant Lorne Alistair Tennant, better known as Ali Tennant, is a British singer, songwriter and vocal producer/mentorAli Tenn ...

who had achieved commercial success with songs written for popular acts at the time such as

Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten were an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose original lineup comprised Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon, and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey an ...

and

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

. Lyrically, "All This Time" focuses on an individuals dreams and achieving life goals, and is noted for having "a signature 00s pop key change". McManus was announced as the winner of ''Pop Idol'' series 2 on 20 December 2003, and was widely criticised by ''Pop Idol'' judge

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, and television personality. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman production and songwriting team, he co-wrote and co-produced many UK hit singles. An av ...

, who described the prospects of McManus becoming a pop star as a "joke". Waterman infamously walked off the judging panel during the broadcast of McManus being announced as the series winner on 20 December 2003.

Release and promotion

The single was released on 5 January 2004 via

19 Recordings 19 Recordings Inc. (registered in the United Kingdom as 19 Recordings Ltd.) is a New York–based record label owned by 19 Entertainment. Founded in London by British entrepreneur Simon Fuller in 1999 as the music division of 19 Entertainment, th ...

and

Bertelsmann Music Group Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music c ...

. McManus was involved in heavy promotion for the release of the single, performing the song on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

'', as well as appearing on the 2004 Christmas edition of ''Top of the Pops'' in December 2004. Additional promotional appearances included a live performance of the song on '' CD:UK''. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one on the UK Singles Charts, selling a total of 118,000 copies in its first week of release. It went onto spend a combined total of three weeks at number one in the United Kingdom. As of 2019, "All This Time" had sold an estimated 305,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone. The song kept "

Milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may ...

" by American singer

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

off the top spot for the fourth week running. The song spent a combined total of eleven weeks within the Top 100 of the UK Singles Charts. The song ended 2004 as the sixth best selling single of the year in the United Kingdom. In her native Scotland, "All This Time" also debuted at number one on the Scottish Singles Charts on 11 January 2004, knocking off "

Mad World "Mad World" is a 1982 song by British band Tears for Fears. Written by Roland Orzabal and sung by bassist Curt Smith, it was the band's third single release and first chart hit, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart in November 1982. ...

" by

Gary Jules Gary Jules Aguirre Jr. (born March 19, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, known primarily for his cover version of the Tears for Fears song " Mad World", which he recorded with his friend Michael Andrews for the film '' Donnie Darko''. ...

and Michael Andrews, and remained at the top spot in Scotland for three weeks before falling to number two in its fourth week behind "

Take Me to the Clouds Above "Take Me to the Clouds Above" is a song by British dance group LMC and Irish rock band U2. The song interpolates Whitney Houston's 1986 hit "How Will I Know" (using only the first four lines) and samples U2's 1987 hit "With or Without You" ...

" by LMC and U2. In the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, it debuted at number two on the Irish Singles Charts on 8 January 2004, spending a total of eight weeks within the singles charts in the Republic of Ireland. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, "All This Time" debuted at number three. "All This Time" was certified Silver by the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI) on 22 July 2013. It featured on the UK

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Now That's What I Call Music! 57'' released in April 2004.

Critical reception

BBC Music BBC Music is the arm of the BBC responsible for the music played across its services. The current director of music is Lorna Clarke. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio operational division; however, its remit also includes music used i ...

writer Ruth Mitchell described the song as "epic", with a "glorious array of lush harmonies". A '' Daily Record'' journalist called it "beautiful" and a "brilliant pop gem which is laced with a luxurious gospel feel". Ian Hyland in the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' unfavourably compared McManus to previous ''Pop Idol'' winner

but nevertheless rated the single 7/10. Conversely, Fiona Shepherd in ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' described the track as a "tuneless dirge", while an

Entertainment.ie ''Entertainment.ie'' is an Irish web company based in Dublin. The company provides news and reviews of programs and films for TV and the cinema. It also provides information on upcoming comedies, festivals, theater shows and music in Ireland, ...

critic labelled it "a triumph of hype over substance". ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' critic

Lynsey Hanley Lynsey Hanley (born 12 April 1976) is a British writer and academic. Biography Hanley was born in Solihull and grew up on a council estate in the suburb of Chelmsley Wood. She studied English at Queen Mary University of London. Hanley is ...

called the song "utterly forgettable" and "one of the lamest ''Pop Idol''-sponsored efforts" and argued that it achieved the UK number-one position "on the back of the series' success".

Music video

The music video for "All This Time" was recorded in December 2003 and was released to UK Music Channels that same month. The video shows Michelle singing the song in front of a pure black background whilst wearing a black dress. Throughout the music video, McManus appears in front of the background performing the song, whilst at other points in the video, it also shows broadcast clips from Michelle's time on the second series of ''

''.

Track listing

European CD single # "All This Time" # " On the Radio"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:All This Time (Michelle Mcmanus Song) 19 Recordings singles 2003 debut singles 2003 songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Michelle McManus songs Number-one singles in Scotland Song recordings produced by Steve Mac Songs written by Ali Tennant Songs written by Steve Mac Songs written by Wayne Hector UK singles chart number-one singles