One Direction: A Fan Story

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BBC Radio 1 England

BBC Radio 1 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967.

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A Fan Story

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Music: Classic Pop & Rock

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Speech content commissioned primarily for BBC Sounds

How five boys and one fandom changed things forever.

They were more than a band, they were everything. This is how five boys and one fandom changed things forever.

A Fan Story: One Direction: 2. Everyone Else in the Room Can See It

2. Everyone Else in the Room Can See It

One Direction

BBC Sounds - A Fan Story, One Direction, 2. Everyone Else in the Room Can See It

The story of a perfect debut single and the start of a global fan movement

A year after their X Factor formation, One Direction were yet to release any music but their fandom was growing everyday. With teenage girls already staying out overnight in the hopes of meeting the boys, maybe they could have released any song as their debut. But they didn’t. What Makes You Beautiful was a near perfect pop song - it was an antidote to the beige ballads crowding the charts at the time, and a calling card to teenage girls all around the world. 

WMYB instantly defined One Direction’s career. In this chapter, hear the story of the woman whose hair flip and insecurities inspired it.

Featuring interviews with song writer and X Factor vocal coach, Savan Kotecha, Radio 1 presenter Matt Edmondson, music journalist Michael Cragg, Radio 1 presenter/Directioner Danni Diston and journalist/Directioner Haajrah Gilani.

Archive in this episode:
Scott Mills with One Direction, Radio 1, 10 August 2011.
Steve Wright with One Direction, Radio 2, 31 August 2011.

Presenter: Maddie Grace Jepson
Producer: Gráinne Morrison	
Written by Gráinne Morrison
Assistant Producer: Zayna Shaikh
Technical Producer: Ant Danbury
BBC Audio Editor: Andy Worrell
Commissioning producers: Jonathan O’Sullivan, Sarah Gosling
Commissioner for BBC Music: Will Wilkin

A Fan Story: One Direction

The best new music and entertainment across the UK

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music: Pop & Chart

They were more than a band. This is how five boys and one fandom changed things forever.

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