Trivia / Westlife

• Author Appeal: The band ended up doing "Allow Us to be Frank" because Nicky was super excited about the concept. He had fond memories of performing Rat Pack songs in pubs with his father and wanted to recreate that experience with his bandmates.
• Creator Backlash: Bryan swings back and forth between being proud of his time in the group and considering it just a job. He also despises being asked if he'll ever rejoin the group since they've had a longer run without him than with him and he doesn't know any of the songs they released after his departure.
• Executive Meddling: In the group’s early years, they were very much Simon Cowell’s personal project. He would dictate the direction of each album, single, and music video. The group appreciated it as this seemed to work out for the best, though, as Westlife entered the Guiness Book of World Records for most consecutive number ones.
  • The Executive Meddling lead to some odd choices, though, like their Rat Pack inspired ‘Allow Us to be Frank’ album.
  • In fact, it was the lack of meddling that led to Westlife and Cowell parting ways. Cowell’s increased focus on his television ventures and other acts made the band feel like they were an afterthought to him and this lead to them moving to new labels.
• Old Shame:
  • Mark has gone on record saying that he regards ‘Allow Us to be Frank’ as a cynical cash grab on the part of Westlife’s production team in the wake of Robbie Williams’ success with ‘Swing While You’re Winning’. The group rarely performed any songs off of that album once the related tour (actually marketed as a second greatest hits tour) wrapped. In fact, it's their only album in their discography not to have any Top 40 hits.
  • In 2021, Brian said he felt such intense shame at being forced to cover "Mandy" by Barry Manilow that he became apathetic to the group and led to his departure.
• The Pete Best: Westlife began as a sextet called IOYou (spelled "IOU" in some publications), which consisted of Shane, Mark, and Kian along with Derrick Lacey, Graham Keighron, and Michael Garret. Louis Walsh cut the latter three and held auditions through which Brian and Nicky joined and the group was retooled to become Westlife.
• Troubled Production: The making of ‘Allow Us to be Frank’ was not the most enjoyable experience for the group, as they weren’t comfortable with the concept and the material. Nicky took it especially hard because he was the only member who appreciated the music^note he'd gotten his start as a pub act singing Rat Pack songs with his father, but he believed that his vocals were being unfairly cut and had many loud arguments with the producer. It got to the point where he was ready to walk out on the recording sessions and fly back to Ireland before his parts were reinstated.
  • Although the group knew that Brian was increasingly unhappy with being part of Westlife because of the workload and because of marital problems, his decision to leave just weeks before they were to go on tour to promote ‘Turnaround’ threw his bandmates for a loop. Although they respected his decision, the other members and the production team had to scramble to reassign his vocals and modify the routines to better fit the new four-man lineup.
• What Could Have Been: The group was offered a lot of money to include Brian in the 2018 reunion, but they declined and opted to remain a quartet.