Man, that song by Wahlberg is dope! "It's such a good vibration!" Oh....wait....that was the other brother.
As a kid, I didn't like New Kids On The Block. That was that group of kids that were causing a wave, and making the girls act funny. Give me a pass here. I was only nine years old. I didn't know what was going on. All I knew was that I wasn't a fan. However, as an adult collector of all things deliciously 80's music, I'm not about to have such a negligent hole in my collection by omitting the boy band.
Maurice Starr found great success exploiting...er....discovering teen sensation group, New Edition, that when that all fell apart on him, he and his partner, Mary Alford, sought out a whole new batch of gullible kids to syphon money off of. This time, they specifically wanted to focus on white kids.
Donny Wahlberg impressed the two with his rapping skills, and it would actually be him who spearheaded putting the members together. At first, he recruited his younger brother, Mark, who left early on, as well as school friends, Jamie Kelly, Jordan Knight and Danny Wood. Jordan's brother, Jonathan, would soon follow his brother, and join the group as well. However, Kelly would also leave early on, and be replaced by Joey McIntyre.
So many flashbacks of the movie Mallrat spring to mind..."How's your favorite New Kid? Call me Joey...Call me Donnie."
Though first called Nynuk (na-nook), Columbia Records demanded that the group be renamed, to which they settled on New Kids On The Block. Despite the heights which they would eventually reach, when the group released their debut album, things did not go well. Their first two singles failed to gain any momentum, and the boys were left performing wherever Starr could get them booked.
Well...
Here's the thing. New Kids On The Block offers nothing new that New Edition didn't deliver on in droves since 1983. Songs like Popsicle, tread ground so reminiscent to Candy Girl, and Popcorn Girl that it's no surprise people didn't want to hear it all again from the New Kids. It's corny, clownish, and childish, and it doesn't resonate at all with me as a middle aged man.
Ultimately, its same failures lie where my problems with the older New Edition stuff is. A bunch of twelve year old's singing about love and girls just doesn't work. I know times have changed, but the reality of it is that most kids that age in the 80's didn't think or talk like this, and as an adult, to reiterate, it's clownish.
New Kids On The Block are going to be a hard pass for me, and based on critic reviews at the time, apparently for a lot of people at the time.
Despite the group floundering, Starr was able to convince the label to move forward with a second album, 1988's Hangin' Tough. The first single, Please Don't Go Girl, once again paved the way for failure, and poised the label to sever ties. However, in a twist of fate, the song was picked up by a radio station who played it, only to receive multiple follow ups to keep playing the track. When Columbia caught wind of this, they began heavily promoting the Kids, reshooting the video, and releasing further singles. Each one picked up more momentum than the last, and soon the group was consistently reaching the top ten with each "new" song.
Hangin' Tough would ultimately go X8 platinum, and in the wake of its success boost sales of their debut album, while leaving fans hungry for more. So much so, that even their 1989 Christmas album was certified X2 platinum.
Though they entered the 90's on a high note with Step By Step. However, controversies of lip syncing, backlash from self promoting themselves, and frequently being dismissed by critics led to declining sales. This was not helped by the changing landscape of the new decades music scene, and New Kids On The Block would split from Starr.
While they shortened their name to NKOTB, and released their fourth studio album to somewhat success, the tour scene wasn't as friendly. Venues shrank, and the group which was once playing arenas was back to playing clubs and theaters. Panic attacks would set in for Jonathan Knight during this period, causing him to leave the band. Shortly thereafter, the remaining members decided to throw in the towel.
In 2008, the group reunited, releasing a new studio album, and setting off on a highly successful world tour. This was followed in 2013 by their next album, 10. The group continues to remain active, having appeared on Fuller House, and still touring.
Despite what I may personally think of the group's music, there's no denying the massive impact they've had in the industry, as well as the road they helped pave with former boy bands of the 70's and 80's for those who came after them.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS March 30, 1985 |
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