Early
years
In the early 1980s, Maurice Starr discovered R&B/Pop quintet (later sextet) New Edition and guided their early success. After breaking ties with them, Starr and his business partner, Mary Alford, sought to create a white counterpart act. Auditions were held around Boston, at which some five hundred teenaged boys auditioned. Among them was 15-year-old Donnie Wahlberg, who immediately impressed Starr and Alford with his dancing ability and showmanship, becoming the group's first member. Wahlberg assisted in helping to recruit other members. Among them were his younger brother Mark, and his best friend Danny Wood. He also coaxed one-time schoolmate Jordan Knight, who sang an exceptional falsetto, into auditioning as well. Upon Knight's passing the audition, his older brother Jonathan (also possessing a strong singing voice) was accepted into the group as well.
As the group began to take shape, Mark became disillusioned with its bubble gum direction, and opted to quit. Another one of Donnie's neighborhood friends, Jaime Kelley, took his place. Kelley, though, would eventually be dismissed for lack of concentration and discipline. Seeking a Donny Osmond-esque singer to sing the high solos, Starr replaced him with 12-year-old Joey McIntyre—whom the other guys initially resented for being the one to replace their friend. With the final line-up in place Starr rehearsed the boys diligently, after school and on weekends, and eventually secured the group (which was being called Nynuk) a recording contract at Columbia Records. The label, however, demanded Starr change the name of the group. Subsequently they settled on New Kids on the Block, after a rap song that Donnie had written and arranged for their first album.
New Kids On the Block in Popular Culture
The "New Kids On The Block" are used focal point on Bill Hicks satire on popular culture, specifically on the movement of mainstream music away from artistic integrity and towards mass market appeal.
Music
1986: New Kids on the Block (debut album)
In April
1986, Columbia
Records released
the group's
self-titled
debut album.
The album,
almost
exclusively
written and
produced by
Maurice Starr,
featured mid 80s
bubblegum pop
material. The
first single, "Be
My Girl"
received minor
airplay around
the group's
native Boston,
but failed to
capture
nationwide
attention. The
album's second
single, "Stop
It Girl,"
fared even
worse. The New
Kids went on
tour around the
New England
states, singing
wherever Starr
could book them:
in bars, school
dances, and
clubs.
Nevertheless,
Starr remained
diligent and
persuaded the
label to allow
the group to
record a second
album. The
album, however,
would later go
on to be
certified triple
platinum by the
RIAA,
largely on the
strength of the
popularity the
group attained
with their next
album.
1988-1989: Hangin' Tough
After the
failure of the
first album,
Starr had the
group back in
the studio for
most of 1987 and
1988
recording their
second album.
Dissatisfied
with the
excessively
bubblegum sound
of their first
album, the group
wanted to have
more input on
their look,
direction and
song material.
As a result,
Donnie, Danny
and Jordan
received
associate
producer
credit on the
final product.
The album's
first single was
"Please
Don't Go Girl,"
a ballad
released in the
spring of 1988.
Failure seemed
destined a
second time when
the song became
another that
went unnoticed
by the listening
public, and
Columbia Records
made plans to
drop the New
Kids from the
label. At the
eleventh hour,
however, a radio
station in
Florida
began playing
the song.
Scoring listener
approval, it
soon became the
most requested
song on their
play list. When
Columbia caught
wind of the
positive
response, they
decided to keep
the group on its
roster and put
more effort into
promoting the
single. National
attention soon
followed and it
eventually
climbed to #10
on Billboard's
Hot 100 Singles
Chart—becoming
the group's
first hit.
New Kids on the Block's second album, Hangin' Tough, was released to modest fanfare in September. In the meantime, the group began making national televised appearances on such music programs as Showtime at the Apollo, and Soul Train. They later landed a spot as an opening act for fellow teen-pop act Tiffany on the U.S. leg of her concert tour. Sales of Hangin' Tough steadily increased as the group's national attention slowly rose. At year's end, the album's second single "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" was released. The song was given a huge boost when MTV took notice of the group and began playing the video in regular rotation. By early 1989, it cracked the top five. The New Kids hit pay dirt with their next single, "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in June. The group had been scheduled to open for Tiffany once again on a second tour, but their sudden popularity caused a reversal, and she wound up opening for them (although the two acts were technically billed as "co-headliners.")
More top five
singles from
Hangin' Tough
followed into
the summer and
fall, including:
the title track
and "Cover
Girl."
Columbia Records
also released,
from the groups
previously
overlooked debut
album, "Didn't
I (Blow Your
Mind)." The
song went top
ten on the
strength of the
group's
popularity and
effectively
jump-started the
sales of that
album as well.
By the end of
1989, Hangin'
Tough had
climbed to
number one on
the Billboard
200 Albums Chart
and had gone
eight-times
platinum.
They,
subsequently,
became the first
'teen' act to
garner five top
ten hits from a
single album.
Meanwhile, a top ten charting holiday album, Merry, Merry Christmas, was released in the fall—spawning another top 10 hit, "This One's for the Children" and going double platinum in the US. The proceeds were donated to United Cerebral Palsy, the New Kids' favorite charitable cause. Hangin' Tough would go on to spend 132 weeks on the chart, and in January 1990 it won two American Music Awards for "Best Pop/Rock Album", and "Best Pop/Rock Group."
1990-1991: Step by Step
By early
1990, New Kids
on the Block had
become one of
the most popular
acts in the
world. The
following May,
they followed up
Hangin' Tough
with
Step by Step,
which featured
slightly
more
than half of the
songs co-written
and produced by
the members
themselves. The
first single,
the title track,
raced to number
one on the Hot
100 Singles
Chart and became
their biggest
selling single.
It was followed
up with the top
ten "Tonight,"
which extended
the consecutive
top ten singles
chart run to an
amazing nine
records. The
album was
eventually
certified triple
platinum,
selling close to
twenty million
copies
worldwide.
The group performed an estimated two hundred concerts a year, with an extravagant worldwide concert tour that summer, called The Magic Summer Tour, sponsored by Coke. Their pay-per-view special was the biggest in cable-TV history to that date. During this time, the group became heavily merchandised; more than one hundred and forty products that were licensed with NKOTB trademarks. These included lunch boxes, packing trunks, sleeping bags, pillow cases, T-shirts, comic books, dolls, and even a Saturday morning cartoon in their likeness. That series was on ABC from 1990-91 (with reruns the following year on Disney Channel). Though the group appeared in live action clips, the voices of the New Kids were done by other voice actors (two of them also did Captain Planet). A video game based on the group was set to be introduced for the NES, but was never released.
New Kids on the Block's official fan club had a membership of over one hundred thousand names, and received thirty-thousand letters a day. Approximately one hundred thousand calls per week were dialed to 1-900-909-5KIDS, the Official NKOTB Hotline, as well. The group topped Forbes list of highest paid entertainers of 1990, beating out the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna. Further capitalizing on the fame, at year's end, Columbia Records released No More Games/The Remix Album—a compilation of the group's biggest hits remixed, the album also brought along two more released songs in "Call It What You Want" and "Games" in which videos were released also.
The group released no new material in 1991, but went overseas and continued to tour throughout Europe and Asia. That summer, Wood and Wahlberg co-wrote and produced the debut album from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch—headed by Mark Wahlberg, Donnie's brother and former New Kid. Mark's album scored a number one hit with "Good Vibrations," and a platinum album.
1992: Allegations of lip syncing and waning popularity
In early 1992, the group released a new stand-alone single, "If You Go Away." The song peaked at number sixteen on the US charts. Meanwhile, as the music industry was still reeling from the Milli Vanilli lip-syncing scandal, the group found themselves accused by a former engineer of not having sung all of the 1988 hit album Hangin' Tough. They immediately struck back, going on a minor publicity blitz to refute the allegation, which culminated with an interview and a live performance on The Arsenio Hall Show. Although the allegation was later recanted by the accuser, it didn't stop the group from noticing that their popularity had waned.
1993-1994: Face the Music
In 1993,
after having
split from
Maurice Starr,
the group
shortened their
name to the
acronym
NKOTB. In
January 1994,
their fourth
studio album,
Face the Music,
was released.
Their first
studio album in
close to four
years, Face
the Music,
was a musical
departure from
the
group'sprevious
efforts. Nearly
all the songs
were written
and/or
co-produced by
the group. In
spite of some
positive
critical
reception, the
album failed to
live up to
commercial
expectation. The
album's final
single to chart
was "Dirty
Dawg" (which
featured a rap
cameo by
Nice & Smooth),
peaking at
number sixty-six
on the Billboard
Hot 100.[2]
The followup
single, "Never
Let You Go",
failed to chart.
NKOTB went on tour to support the album, playing smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums they were once accustomed to. Group member Jonathan Knight departed the tour early, after experiencing increased panic attacks and anxiety. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to cancel the rest of the tour, and the group disbanded altogether in June 1994.
1995-2007: Post-NKOTB/Reunion Attempts
After the group's split, most of the group members started families and began to venture into other avenues. Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood maintained low profiles, while the other three continued their careers individually.
In 1999, MTV attempted to reunite the group and get them to perform on that year's VMAs. All of the members were on board for the project, except Jonathan. Consequently, the performance didn't happen.[3]
In 2004, Aamer Haleem, host of VH1's Bands Reunited, also attempted to coerce each of the members of New Kids on the Block to reunite for a one-night performance for the show. This time Jonathan agreed. However, Joe , Donnie, and Danny all declined. While Wood and Wahlberg declined on-camera interviews, McIntyre cited that the only way he would perform with the band was if the group would make the decision to reunite permanently.[4]
2008 Reunion: The Block
On
April 3, 2008,
Donnie Wahlberg
told
CNN that the
band had
reunited, and
were recording
an album of new
material, and
was planning to
tour.[5]
In May 2008, the group released "Summertime", as a download single on various online digital music services. They also posted the tune on their MySpace page. The new album, according to Billboard magazine, was not expected until the fall.[6]
The group performed a medley of their hits and their new song "Summertime" live at the MuchMusic Video Awards on June 15, 2008.[7][8]
The group's reunion tour (New Kids on the Block Tour) is scheduled to begin at Toronto's Air Canada Centre on September 18, 2008. They will be touring in the US with Natasha Bedingfield. There are seven concerts scheduled for Canada and forty-one in the US.[9]
The group released "Single" on August 12, their second single from their latest album entitled The Block which was released on September 2, 2008 in two editions: a 13 track standard album, and a Special Edition which came with a fold-out poster and 4 bonus songs.
Band members
-
Jonathan
Knight
Left the entertainment business and began a new career in real estate.[1] -
Jordan
Knight
In 1999, Knight released a self-titled solo album, Jordan Knight on Interscope Records. The album was certified gold. He also scored a top 10 hit with "Give It to You", which went platinum.[10] That summer, Knight opened up for Nsync on their concert tour. He currently continues to record and tour. Knight appeared on VH1's The Surreal Life in 2004, he also appeared in the Five reality show Trust Me - I'm A Holiday Rep, along with British comedian Syd Little and glamour model Jodie Marsh.[11] His most recent solo album Love Songs was released September 2006.[12] -
Joey
McIntyre
In 1999, McIntyre released a solo album, Stay the Same, on Columbia Records, scoring a top 10 hit with the album's title track. He has also released further albums Meet Joe Mac, One Too Many — a live compilation album of his work — a pop album 8:09, and most recently, a standards album called Talk to Me.[13] McIntyre later became a regular on the FOX television show Boston Public[14] and has performed in Broadway musicals including Wicked.[15] In 2006, he was a contender on the reality show Dancing with the Stars and toured with the series in a 2006 live show.[16] He still continues to record music and tour. In 2007, he starred in an independent film titled On Broadway[17] and released his recent solo album, Talk to Me, was released December 20, 2006. -
Danny Wood
He started a Boston-based record label, and did some producing and performing, but for the most part he remained out of the spotlight. He was featured in MTV's follow up to Totally Scott-Lee called Totally Boyband, as a member of a new group with other former boyband members called Upper Street.[18] With D-Fuse, he released a 1999 album called Room Full of Smoke. In 2003, he released Second Face[19], followed by the 2007 album Coming Home.[20] -
Donnie
Wahlberg
Has followed in the footsteps of his brother Mark Wahlberg, forging a career in acting and appeared in movies such as Ransom (1996), Southie (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), the Saw film series, and the critically-acclaimed mini-series Band of Brothers. He has starred in two short-lived television series: Boomtown and Runaway. In 2007, he starred opposite John Leguizamo on the TV series The Kill Point.[21]
Discography
|
|
