"Sure" is a single by English

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

, released as the lead single from their third studio album, ''

Nobody Else ''Nobody Else'' is the third studio album by English boy band Take That. It would become Take That's last studio album to be recorded before their initial disbandment in 1996. The album includes the singles " Sure", " Back for Good" and " Neve ...

'' (1995). It was written by Take That's lead singer

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

and fellow band members

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

and

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2024, the group have sold 14.4 million albums and 14 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he h ...

. Released on 3 October 1994 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

and BMG, the song became the band's fifth number one on the UK Singles Chart and has received a silver certification in the United Kingdom for selling over 200,000 copies. Its accompanying music video was directed by Greg Masuak, featuring the band babysitting a young girl. "Sure" was nominated in the category for Best Single at the 1995 ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' Awards. In 2003, ''

Q Magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

'' included the song in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".

Critical reception

Chuck Campbell from ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', also known as ''Knox News'', is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: '' ...

'' described the song as "slinky" and " hip-hoppish", adding that songs like 'Sure' "are serviceable as updates of British

blue-eyed soul Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly black Motown and St ...

".Campbell, Chuck (15 September 1995). "Take That Arrives Stateside With 'Back For Good'". ''

''. Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' commented, "International stardom is not enough. Concerns about the credibility factor are the latest craze in teenland. Yet through 'Sure's hip and raw

swingbeat New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry L ...

production even Take That enemies will have to give in." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave the song a top score of five out of five and named it Pick of the Week, adding that it is "far from their most distinctive track, but this slick piece of synthetic

soul ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

ry has all the ingredients necessary to keep the Take That bandwagon rolling." He concluded, "Clearly one to watch." Leesa Daniels from ''

'' also gave it a full score of five out of five and described it as "classy", writing, "It's a lot smoother than anything else they've done."

Release and chart performance

The single was released on 3 October 1994. Take That's previous single had stalled at number three on the UK Singles Chart after four consecutive number-one hits, but "Sure" debuted at number one becoming their fifth number-one single. It remained at the top for two weeks but dropped quickly thereafter. It was the 42nd best selling single of 1994 in the UK, the lowest-selling number-one single of the year.

Music video

The music video for "Sure" was directed by Greg Masuak, produced by Phil Barnes for Oil Factory and released in late September 1994. In the video, Take That babysits a young girl a la ''

Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the ...

''. It is seven minutes long and somewhat comical. It shows the band preparing for a party in their apartment whilst also babysitting a disruptive 5-year-old girl named Emily who is halting them from getting ready while her mother is out of town.

is writing a song,

Jason Orange Jason Thomas Orange (born 10 July 1970) is an English former singer. He is best known for being a member of the pop group Take That from the band's creation in 1990 until their split in 1996, and again from their reunion in 2005 until he retire ...

is dancing and

is preparing food and struggling to deal with Emily throwing her food on the table while answering phone calls about the party. When

returns from grocery shopping,

Howard Donald Howard Paul Donald (born 28 April 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer, DJ and record producer. He is a member of the pop group Take That. He was also judge on the German reality talent show ''Got to Dance'' from 20 ...

takes the calls in Owen's place. Once Owen is finally able to tuck Emily into bed, the song starts, and many guests arrive for the party. As several couples hook up at the party, the band are seen performing the song in vest nets against a blue backdrop. As the guests leave the party, one girl is left behind and falls asleep in the trashed apartment. The video ends with Emily waking up in the middle of the night to find the band asleep amidst the disarray from the party. A shorter edited version of the song exists in which music video channels play the video from where the song starts. It was A-listed on Germany's VIVA in November 1994.

Track listings

* UK and European CD1 # "Sure" # "Sure" (Thumpers club mix) # "Sure" (Full Pressure mix) # "Sure" (Strictly Barking dub) * UK and European CD2 # "Sure" – 3:40 # " No si aqui no hay amor" # "

Why Can't I Wake Up with You "Why Can't I Wake Up with You" is a song by English boy band Take That. Written by band member Gary Barlow, the song was released on 8 February 1993 by RCA and BMG as the lead single from their second album, '' Everything Changes'' (1993). The ...

" (club mix) # "You Are the One" (Tonic Mix) * UK 12-inch single :A1. "Sure" (Thumpers club mix) – 8:21 :B1. "Sure" (

Brothers in Rhythm Brothers in Rhythm are a British electronic music group comprising Dave Seaman, Steve Anderson and Alan Bremner. The group was originally a duo comprising Seaman and Anderson, with Bremner joining later in 1999. They have remixed and/or produc ...

mix) – 3:40 :B2. "Sure" (Full Pressure mix) – 5:37 * UK cassette single # "Sure" # "No si aqui no hay amor"

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sure (Take That Song) 1994 singles 1994 songs Music videos directed by Greg Masuak Number-one singles in Scotland Songs written by Gary Barlow Songs written by Mark Owen Songs written by Robbie Williams Take That songs UK singles chart number-one singles