THEIR smooth R&B and heartthrob good looks made them superstars of the late 90s British pop scene and paved the way for the likes of Blue.
But Another Level imploded at a pivotal moment that robbed them of the chance of global stardom.
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Dane Bowers has revealed his biggest regret about Another Level’s split in 1999 Credit: Getty
The group looked set for global stardom before imploding Credit: Alamy
While Dane Bowers, 46, has long since made peace with the original line-up’s split, he admits the timing of it is the one big regret he has from that chapter in his life — and exclusively tells us why the original line-up won’t get back together again.
“I still kind of am gutted that we broke up when we did,” says Dane.
“We had literally just signed with Clive Davis, who unfortunately just recently passed, in America, and we had a really good chance of breaking America at that point.
“You’ve got to remember, this was back in the day when R&B actually wasn’t very big in the chart as it is now. As a UK group, we were a massive breakthrough really, and we were just on the top of the trend.
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Dane lives in Dubai with his girlfriend Nicole Credit: Instagram
Dane had a big hit with Victoria Beckham and True Steppers Credit: Getty
“Then we split, obviously, and paved the way and opened the doors for your likes of Blue, who did amazingly well straight after. I felt that was a shame. I think we could have gone a lot further with Another Level.”
Late music mogul Davis had an unrivalled roster of legends over his 60-year career including Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and Billy Joel.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, who held A-list pre-Grammy galas each year, was perfectly placed to make the original four-piece — Dane, Wayne Williams, Mark Baron, and Bobak Kianoush — into megastars.
On these shores, the group is best known for the steamy track Freak Me, with its famous “Let me lick you up and down” line.
He appears in a new four-part Sky drama about the life of ex Katie Price Credit: Rex
Another Level are best known for their cover of Freak Me Credit: Alamy
Another of their tracks, Be Alone No More, even featured a guest appearance from rap icon Jay-Z and reached number six in the UK chart.
A clash of egos drove a wedge between members and Williams quit the group, before being joined by Kianoush.
Though the remaining two members initially pushed on, Dane’s success with True Steppers and Victoria Beckham on the track Out of Your Mind signalled the end as he pursued a solo career.
Fourteen years after the group fell apart, Another Level were given the opportunity to reunite as part of ITV2 reality show The Big Reunion, which Dane was keen to pursue.
Williams ruled himself out, while Baron was unable to take time away from his lucrative commercial property job with Lord Alan Sugar, who is now his father-in-law.
Instead Dane formed a new supergroup with fellow boyband stars Gareth Gates, Blazin’ Squad’s Kenzie, Kavana, and Adam Rickitt.
“Well, we had to talk for The Big Reunion, and then those talks broke down, and I ended up doing it myself anyway,” says Dane, speaking on behalf of Zingo Bingo, a new, online bingo brand with several music-themed bingo rooms.
“I’m together with a different group, but for that, we actually all, for the first time, the four of us, did have a talk.
“Like I said, it just couldn’t be done. Personalities, nothing else. It was just a pain in the ass.”
Despite the difficulties, the group did reunite as a trio in 2021 for the Kisstory Festival, but Dane says the relationship broke down once again.
These days, Another Level continues to perform live with a new look line-up of Dane, Baron and their friends Shaun Hoyte and Greg Costa.
“We’re just at the point now where if we don’t get on, and if I don’t want to talk to someone, I don’t want to work with someone else, I won’t,” admits Dane.
“I’ve not got the time for it. So Mark and myself, I don’t know, Bobak and I just did our own thing. We’ve got two great friends involved, and the show worked really well.
“And it’s a really good new line-up, really.”
The clamour for 90s and noughties pop music has never been so strong.
Boyzone recently headlined two nights at Arsenal‘s Emirates stadium, while Mis-Teeq are playing an anniversary gig at Wembley Arena this month.
Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden, aka Boyzlife, and Atomic Kitten‘s Natasha Hamilton have also put out new music that has made Radio 2’s playlists.
But Another Level don’t currently plan on putting out new material.
Dane says: “I think it’s definitely a never say never thing.
“We can’t really spend the time doing it. I guess it’s just not really something we’re looking at at the minute.”
Dane will appear on TV screens next month when ex-girlfriend Katie Price‘s new docuseries is released on Sky.
He told us his girlfriend Nicole gave him her blessing to appear and open up about his past, allowing him to reclaim the narrative along the way amid two decades of headlines.
“She’s like, ‘look, everyone’s got a past, why not talk about it?’” he tells us.
As for their relationship, Dane couldn’t be happier.
“We love living there [Dubai]. We’ve been together for nearly two years now. We’ve known each other for quite a while.
“And yeah, life’s just great. Life’s nice and it’s easy. We’re just at a stage where we get on and we’re having a great time, really.
“And I’m lucky that she gets me. She knows that I go and do my shows and stuff and doesn’t give me any aggro whatsoever. We’ve just got a lot of respect for each other, which I think is probably one of the main things.”
