I recieved this in
mail from SONY BMG company
about NKOTB´s re-release of
Christmas cd
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK’s
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS
CD
RINGS IN THE HOLIDAY SEASON
FOLLOWS AUGUST RELEASE OF
GREATEST HITS ON
COLUMBIA/LEGAC
Maurice Starr’s original
yuletide songs include Top
10 RIAA gold hit of 1989,
“This One's For the
Children”
Available at both physical
and digital retail outlets
starting October 14, 2008,
through Columbia/Legacy
1989 was a
juggernaut year at Columbia
Records for New Kids On
The Block – Jon Knight
(age 20 at the time), his
brother Jordan (19), Donnie
Wahlberg (20), Danny Wood
(20), and Joey McIntyre
(16). Every new single and
album release brought
literally millions of fans
into retail stores for weeks
and months on end – but
never as quickly or as
demographically widespread
across age boundaries as
when they released their
first holiday album,
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS,
a record that both parents
and kids could listen to and
share long after December 25th
had passed.
Two decades
later, arenas are sold-out
for reunion concert events
around the world, a new
studio album is coming, and
the hearts of twenty- and
thirty-somethings have been
stirred awake by thoughts of
their five beloved New Kids
back On The
Block in 2008 and 2009. A
perennial catalog staple,
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS
– newly remastered for the
first time since its release
in 1989 – will be available
once again at all physical
and digital retail outlets
starting October 14th
through Columbia/Legacy, a
division of SONY BMG MUSIC
ENTERTAINMENT.
The arrival of
MERRY, MERRY
CHRISTMAS
follows up the August 12th
release of Greatest
Hits on
Columbia/Legacy. The brand
new 18-song collection
commemorates their reunion
this year – with the
heftiest batch of New Kids
tracks (including group and
solo works) ever assembled
on one CD.
The original
release of MERRY,
MERRY CHRISTMAS
on September 19, 1989, came
right in the middle of a
phenomenal 132-week chart
run by the New Kids’ second
album, the 8-times platinum
Hangin’ Tough.
By the time of its August
1988 release, the album
already had its first single
heading inside the Top 10,
“Please Don’t Go Girl.”
With the release
of “You Got It (The Right
Stuff)” in November 1988,
the second single from
Hangin’ Tough,
the New Kids earthquake was
underway. The single spent
a solid half-year (26 weeks)
on the Hot 100 chart, rose
to #3, and was eventually
joined in March 1989, by
“I’ll Be Loving You
(Forever).” The signature
ballad charted for another
21 weeks, including a week
at #1 in June, the same
month that the album title
tune, “Hangin’ Tough,” went
to radio, on its way to #1.
The music
industry took note when the
Hangin’ Tough
album and “Hangin’ Tough”
single simultaneously took
over #1 in the Billboard
of Saturday, September 9,
1989. The New Kids had
become the first ‘teen’
group in history to notch
four Top 10 hits from one
album. One week later (in
the September 16th
issue), this incredible
chart run, spanning more
than 15 months, went over
the top with the Hot 100
entry of the album’s fifth
hit single, “Cover Girl.”
Neither the Osmonds nor the
Jackson 5 (both of whom the
New Kids compared themselves
to in interviews) had ever
achieved such chart success
from one LP.
The following
Tuesday, September 19th,
MERRY, MERRY
CHRISTMAS
arrived in stores. In
addition to six new songs
written (or co-written) by
New Kids manager and
mastermind producer Maurice
Starr, the album also gave
props to such familiar tunes
as “The Little Drummer Boy,”
Irving Berlin’s “White
Christmas,” and Mel Tormé’s
“The Christmas Song
(Chestnuts Roasting On An
Open Fire).” The first
single pick was “This One's
For the Children” (written
by Starr) b/w “Funky, Funky
Xmas” (written by Starr and
Donnie Wahlberg).
On October 23rd,
Columbia announced that
profits from the sales of
the single, along with
artist royalties to the New
Kids, would be contributed
to United Cerebral Palsy.
That same week, New Kids
took a break from rehearsals
to complete the filming for
the worldwide promotional
video of “This One's For the
Children,” which included
footage already shot by
director Doug Nichols in
Paris, Moscow, Greece,
Thailand and New York.
Adhering to the
old RIAA rule of waiting 60
days for certification
(which has since been
discarded), MERRY,
MERRY CHRISTMAS
was certified gold on
November 17th,
platinum on November 28th,
and double-platinum on
December 13th.
“This One's For the
Children,” which hit the Top
10, was certified gold a few
weeks later, on January 9,
1990. The album reached #9
during its 18-week chart
stay, and successfully
re-entered the chart in
November 1990, for another
10 weeks of sales.
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS
by NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
(Columbia/Legacy
88697 38185 1,
originally issued
September 19, 1989, as
Columbia 45280)
Selections: 1.
This One's for the Children
• 2. Last Night I Saw
Santa Claus • 3. I'll
Be Missin You Come Christmas
(A Letter to Santa) • 4.
I Still Believe In Santa
Claus • 5. Merry,
Merry Christmas • 6.
The Christmas Song • 7.
Funky, Funky Xmas • 8.
White Christmas • 9.
The Little Drummer Boy •
10. This One's for the
Children (Reprise).
