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"Kidz"
Single by Take That
from the album Progress
B-side	"Rocket Ship"
Released	20 February 2011
Recorded	Sarm West Studios (London, United Kingdom) Electric Lady Studios (New York City, United States) Abbey Road Studios (London, United Kingdom)
Genre	Electropop
Length	4:44 (album version) 3:36 (UK radio edit)
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Gary Barlow Howard Donald Jason Orange Mark Owen Robbie Williams
Producer(s)	Stuart Price
Take That singles chronology
"The Flood" (2010) "Kidz" (2011) "Happy Now" (2011)
Music video
"Kidz" on YouTube

"Kidz" is a song by English pop group Take That from their sixth studio album, Progress. It was released as the second single from the album on 20 February 2011. The song features Mark Owen and Gary Barlow performing lead vocals.

Background

The song was first announced as the album's second single when the group announced they were to perform the song live on The X Factor final on 12 December 2010; however they instead performed "The Flood" after Simon Cowell felt the song would reflect the recent riots and protests over the rising student tuition fees, due to the song lyrics and their backing dancers being dressed as riot police. "Kidz" was officially announced as the second single from Progress on 12 January 2011. The single artwork was posted onto Take That's official website on 7 February 2011. The single was initially going to be released on 28 February 2011, but the date was moved forward to 21 February 2011. The single's B-side is "Rocket Ship", also sung by Gary Barlow and Mark Owen, who uses falsetto. The digital download single was packaged with a remix entitled "Revenge of the Kidz", which was mixed by Howard Donald.

Critical reception

"Kidz" has been referred to by Q Magazine as the highlight of Progress where the "reintroduction of Robbie Williams into the Take That ranks them a shot in the arm", concluding that "Kidz" is one of the "brilliantly mad future-disco titans". Entertainment.ie agreed with this view and described the single as a "stand out track" on the album with "a massive production kicking off with pounding drums, resonating piano and grimy synths." Reality Shout music reviews also praised the song, stating that "armed with the song-writing capabilities of Gary Barlow, the producing prowess of Stuart Price, Mark Owen's wheezy vocals, and Robbie Williams' gutsy, candid lyricism and confident delivery, 'Kidz' is a riotous cacophony of attitude, synth, relentless hooks and a monolithic chorus. It starts with the sound of stomping boots closing in, and ends with the sound of police sirens and screams; every tiny detail is crafted perfectly, right down to each individual beat." Nick Levine of Digital Spy also praised the song, awarding it 5 stars and calling it a "rabble-rousing glam-disco-pop stomper with ambiguously apocalyptic lyrics and – not inappropriately – one hell of a chorus", comparing Mark Owen's vocal to Liam Gallagher and referring to the song as one of Take That's most thrilling releases.

Music video

The official music video for "Kidz" was directed by Mat Whitecross and Eran Creevy, and filmed in Bulgaria in February 2011. In the video, it begins with a kid watching the 1956 propaganda cartoon Destination Earth, later fading out with Take That appear as conquering heroes from different ages of war. The music video premiered through the official Take That iTunes App at 8 am on 27 February 2011. The video begins with images of television and warfare before switching to Jason Orange viewing the events on Earth from inside a spaceship which is named 'Progress'. Mark Owen begins to sing which is beamed live across the world whilst armed forces mass waiting for their arrival as Gary Barlow begins the descent into Earth's atmosphere as the captain of the ship. The spaceship is revealed to be shaped as the TT logo as it lands, sending a container down to the ground which opens to reveal Take That inside it. The members then walk towards the military forces in front of them as a child breaks through the line and takes a photograph of them to which they pose. They then return to the spaceship and leave Earth as the world dances behind them. There are two edits of the video, one of them begins with like seems to be some breaking news of Russian television before it switches to the beginning of the video, showing the band while a tag saying "1 hour 37 minutes earlier" appears. Then the video is the same, except from the end in which some voices can be heard. The other version starts with a kid watching television and then the band appears, without the tag and in the end there are no voices.

Chart performance

The song debuted at number thirty-one on the UK Singles Chart a week before its official release, climbing a total of 168 places from #199 the previous week. The song then climbed to #28 the week after. It fell two spots on its fifth week to #30 The song spent 8 weeks in the UK Singles Chart. The song entered the Danish singles chart at number 15 before peaking at #12 where it stayed for 4 weeks. The song entered the German charts one release of the album and peaked at #20 becoming their 17th single to enter the German top 40 where it stayed for 6 weeks. Following the performance of the single on the Echo Awards the single also charted in the South Korean chart as well as peaking at #58 in Austria and #27 in Belgium. The song also peaked at #8 in Hungary where it remained in the top 40 for 12 weeks.

Promotion

On 15 February 2011 Take That performed the song live at the opening of the 2011 BRIT Awards. The song was placed on the Radio 1 A List on 16 February 2011 where it remained for six weeks. The band performed the song live on the Dutch talk show Life4You on 20 March 2011, and in Germany at the ECHO Awards on 24 March. Take That also performed the song along with "The Flood" on the Danish edition of The X Factor on 25 March 2012.

Personnel

• Gary Barlow – co-lead vocals, backing vocals
• Mark Owen – co-lead vocals, backing vocals
• Howard Donald – backing vocals
• Jason Orange – backing vocals
• Robbie Williams – backing vocals

Track listing

• Digital download

1. "Kidz" – 4:36
2. "Rocket Ship" – 4:56
3. "Kidz (Revenge of the Kidz)" – 6:12

• UK CD single

1. "Kidz" – 4:44
2. "Rocket Ship" – 4:56

• iTunes exclusive

1. "Kidz" (live from The O2 Arena) – 4:25

• 2011 Brit Awards

1. "Kidz" (live from the BRITs) - 4:24

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

1. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s103/the-x-factor/news/a292878/cowell-bans-take-that-riot-cop-dancers.html Cowell bans TT riot cop, Digital Spy
2. "Next single from Progress". Takethat.com. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
3. ^ "Kidz single artwork". Takethat.com. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
4. http://www.robbiewilliams.com/news-blogs/take-thats-second-single-is%E2%80%A6-kidz?page=0%2C1 Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine Q Magazine/RWilliams Official 12-01-11
5. http://entertainment.ie/album-review/Take-That-Progress/7323.htm Entertainment.ie Jenny Mulligan
6. Article title Unreality shout review of Kidz
7. Levine, Nick (7 February 2011). "Music – Singles Review – Take That: 'Kidz' – Digital Spy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
8. "Rushes Soho Shorts Festival: The Music Video Award". Shooting People. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
9. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
10. Official Charts Company Chart Stats Kidz history.
11. http://musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/Take+That/24880/?type=single German Archive single chart.
12. Danish Charts Hung Meiden single archive.
13. http://www.mahasz.hu/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum Hungarian Archive, Take That
14. Moodie, Clemmie (16 February 2011). "Take That's riotous performance opens the Brits". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
15. "Radio 1 Playlist 16-02-11 Radio 1 Playlist BBC Feb-March". BBC Radio 1.
16. "Kidz – Single by Take That – Download Kidz – Single on iTunes". iTunes Store. January 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
17. ^ "Kidz: Take That: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
18. "Download the BRITS version of Kidz over on iTunes - Take That Official Site". Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011. iTunes Take That exclusive
19. "Take That – Kidz" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
20. "Take That – Kidz" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
21. "Take That – Kidz". Tracklisten.
22. "Take That – Kidz" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
23. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
24. "Chart Track: Week 08, 2011". Irish Singles Chart.
25. "Take That – Kidz". Top Digital Download.
26. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
27. "Romanian Top 100 22.05.2011 – 29.05.2011". 2 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
28. http://www.gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/search/list.gaon?Search_str=take+that&x=52&y=18 South Korean GOAN chart.
29. Official Charts
30. "MAHASZ".
31. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
32. "British single certifications – Take That – Kidz". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
33. "Kidz – out on Monday". Takethat.com. 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.

• 2011 singles
• Protest songs
• Take That songs
• Song recordings produced by Stuart Price
• Music videos directed by Mat Whitecross