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becomingkateMight as well embrace the obsession, right?
This is for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
babyhomecakes, who I was chatting with and she said she didn't know much about nkotb. I joked that she could friend me and I'd give her a nkotb 101 course. I was kidding, but she friended me, so here we are.
So this is my rendition of the history of nkotb. It could be fuzzy, in some places wrong, because I stopped liking them a little bit before they broke up and I'm still not entirely sure what happened with that and it's like, nkotb lore you're afraid to ask about and look like a total noob. So here goes what *I* know and appreciate about nkotb's history.
In the mid 80's producer Maurice Starr wanted to recreate his success with New Edition (a group of African American males who were sort of pop-R&B). Except this time he mixed it up by taking a bunch of white boys from Boston. Jon and Jordan who are brothers, Danny and Donnie--all were from Dorchester. The last member they found was Joey, who unlike the others was from Jamaica Plain.
Their first album in 1986 was mediocre. Originally NKOTB was called Nynuk until the label demanded that they rename themselves. They became New Kids on the Block, which was the name of a song off that first album. This first, self-titled album was very bubble-gum pop, kind of reminiscent of The Jackson Five but not as good.
Their second album, Hangin' Tough, in 1989, caught on. Hits such as Hangin' Tough, The Right Stuff and Please Don't Go Girl were inescapable.
In 1991 they released Step By Step. This was also a success and they definitely had international appeal at this time. Merchandise in every form was created-sheets, towels, pins, shirts, hats, posters, books (authorized and not) etc.
After Step by Step their popularity declined. Accusations of lip synching popped up and despite the guys proving that they did not lip synch, it still hurt their image.
In 1994 Face the Music was released. They were trying to keep up with the times by changing their image to more grunge style and using...less innocent lyrics. It did not do well. They played smaller theaters and clubs. Jon began having increased anxiety issues and left the band. Shortly after, the group disbanded
Between then and 2007 most of them went on to do solo music or acting. Jon went into home renovation and didn't do anything musically. There were a couple attempts to reunite but at least one of them always declined until 2008.
Since 2008, they put out an album (in fact today is the anniversary), a DVD chronicling their reunion, did some of their own solo projects, and have done 4 cruises to date filled with performances, nightly parties and other events. They did a joint tour with the Backstreet Boys. They're currently working on new music as a group and recently were part of a big music festival in Hershey, PA. Fans are waiting for next year's cruise to be announced.
Soo that's basically it in a very large nutshell :P
This is for
babyhomecakes, who I was chatting with and she said she didn't know much about nkotb. I joked that she could friend me and I'd give her a nkotb 101 course. I was kidding, but she friended me, so here we are.So this is my rendition of the history of nkotb. It could be fuzzy, in some places wrong, because I stopped liking them a little bit before they broke up and I'm still not entirely sure what happened with that and it's like, nkotb lore you're afraid to ask about and look like a total noob. So here goes what *I* know and appreciate about nkotb's history.
In the mid 80's producer Maurice Starr wanted to recreate his success with New Edition (a group of African American males who were sort of pop-R&B). Except this time he mixed it up by taking a bunch of white boys from Boston. Jon and Jordan who are brothers, Danny and Donnie--all were from Dorchester. The last member they found was Joey, who unlike the others was from Jamaica Plain.
Their first album in 1986 was mediocre. Originally NKOTB was called Nynuk until the label demanded that they rename themselves. They became New Kids on the Block, which was the name of a song off that first album. This first, self-titled album was very bubble-gum pop, kind of reminiscent of The Jackson Five but not as good.
Their second album, Hangin' Tough, in 1989, caught on. Hits such as Hangin' Tough, The Right Stuff and Please Don't Go Girl were inescapable.
In 1991 they released Step By Step. This was also a success and they definitely had international appeal at this time. Merchandise in every form was created-sheets, towels, pins, shirts, hats, posters, books (authorized and not) etc.
After Step by Step their popularity declined. Accusations of lip synching popped up and despite the guys proving that they did not lip synch, it still hurt their image.
In 1994 Face the Music was released. They were trying to keep up with the times by changing their image to more grunge style and using...less innocent lyrics. It did not do well. They played smaller theaters and clubs. Jon began having increased anxiety issues and left the band. Shortly after, the group disbanded
Between then and 2007 most of them went on to do solo music or acting. Jon went into home renovation and didn't do anything musically. There were a couple attempts to reunite but at least one of them always declined until 2008.
Since 2008, they put out an album (in fact today is the anniversary), a DVD chronicling their reunion, did some of their own solo projects, and have done 4 cruises to date filled with performances, nightly parties and other events. They did a joint tour with the Backstreet Boys. They're currently working on new music as a group and recently were part of a big music festival in Hershey, PA. Fans are waiting for next year's cruise to be announced.
Soo that's basically it in a very large nutshell :P
