and my lifelong fascination with the genre
As creepy as that headline sounds, please allow me to clarify and expand on the notion that boy bands are now and have always been cool. A boy band (or boyband) is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their early twenties at the time of formation, singing love songs marketed towards young women. They often also incorporate choreographed dance routines to perform along with their songs. I’m certainly not saying that I have boyband music on my Spotify playlist… Okay, if I’m being completely honest there may be a few Backstreet or New Kids songs there, but this music/entertainment phenomenon has shown lasting endurance and I unabashedly admit, it is a genre that has held my attention for almost 50 years.
My boyband admiration, adoration and aspirations probably started with The Osmond Brothers and Jackson 5. As an elementary and junior high school student, with no real academic proclivity, I remember watching American Bandstand and Soul Train, not to mention a host of evening variety shows (Sonny & Cher, Flip Wilson, Tony Orlando & Dawn, etc.), and thinking it would be so cool to be singing and dancing my way through life.
As a member of a boyband, I would travel the world applying my craft, while making huge amounts of money and attracting the “lose your mind” attention of the 14 – 18 year old female demographic. Sweet! I begged my parents to birth or adopt four more boys just so I could create my own family boyband in the carport of our suburban home. Two Car Garage Boys was just a working name. Their irritation with my fixation undoubtedly reached a boiling point when their talentless son sang and danced his way through little league baseball games, the school spelling bee and Cub Scouts. It sounds worse than it was, but darn it, I had a dream.
While Motown legends such as the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers and The Spinners might have been on the older side of official boyband status, they did provide the harmonies and dance moves to make a compelling argument that they could be included in the boyband conversation. Don’t let me forget Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, who while they did originally play instruments, this New York based quartet could get down with the best of them. Most of the guys in these 60s and 70s groups grew up together and honed their vocal stylings around a street lamp or in church. These pioneering groups proved to have the right assemblage of talent, looks, sweet dance moves and a swooning female fan base to inspire a rebirth in the genre and the formation of later boybands.
Today’s biggest music sensation is BTS, also known as “Bandtan Boys,” a seven- member boyband from South Korea. They recently appeared on Saturday Night Live and Lorne Michaels was quoted as saying this was the most popular music act SNL has had in the last 20 years. When you think of boybands, you instinctively go right away to *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, One Direction, 98 Degrees, New Edition (which spawned Bel Biv Devoe), Boys II Men and Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush. Every member of every group has probably made millions of dollars and yet many still perform and tour even though most of the members are now men in their 40s.
Needless to say, I use the term “boyband” very loosely. The only time a boyband ever breaks up is when a member becomes so popular they don’t need to split up the pot anymore…. Justin Timberlake. Some get hot for a while—Bobby Brown and Nick Lachey—but they always come back when that popularity fades. Others, like One Direction, who it should be pointed out never took up the choreographed dance moves, are currently on a long hiatus without actually saying they broke up. I give it another 12-18 months before their reunion tour. On the other hand, *NSYNC will probably never get back together given the global musical/acting and SNL hosting appeal of the previously mentioned JT, Justin Timberlake.
An Orlando, Florida based (PT Barnum type) promotor named Lou Perlman was the opportunistic mastermind behind the meteoritic boyband popularity of The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, and O-Town. Perlman, who it was later determined made his money operating a long running investment Ponzi scheme that would later send him to prison, was fascinated by the success of New Kids on the Block. Around 1993, with little more than a $3 million initial investment, Perlman ran an open audition/talent show to recruit five teenagers who ultimately became the Backstreet Boys who went on to sell over 130 million albums.
Several years later, Perlman struck gold again with the formation of *NSYNC who sold over 70 million records. Perlman even co-wrote a bestselling book Bands, Brands and Billions before his legal troubles began. Among an assortment of misdeeds, Perlman was sued by virtually every band he discovered and managed for misappropriation of funds and other related offenses. Would you believe, contractually, he was a sixth member of both BSB and *NSYNC collecting royalties in addition to management and agent commissions? Sadly, or not, he died in prison at the age of 62.
With all due respect to the guys, there have been a fair share of pretty terrific girl bands over the years too including Destiny’s Child (featuring the young Queen B), TLC, En Vogue, The Spice Girls, The Pussycat Dolls and Fifth Harmony, to name just a few. Even before those groups came into popularity there was The Pointer Sisters, Sister Sledge and Wilson Phillips. I give it up to these fiercely talented women, but other than that one confusing year in high school, I never dreamed of being in a girl band. Historical recognition should also be made to the girl groups of the 60s including The Supremes, The Shirelles, the Shangri-Las, The Marvelettes and The Ronettes. I guess you could also include The Lennon Sisters who found fame on The Lawrence Welk Show. Just to answer the question, no, I did now watch LW, but my Dad liked the show.
Despite giving up a lot of their childhoods in exchange for fame and fortune, you don’t hear of too many former boyband members going off the deep end and ruining their lives through drugs, crime or college admission cheating scandals. Oh sure, Joey Fatone of *NSYNC was dressed as a rabbit on the reality show, The Masked Singer, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Drew Lachey from 98 Degrees won season two of Dancing with the Stars while his brother, Nick, hosted several music related reality shows. BSB, Kevin Richardson (Chicago), *NSYNCer Joey Fatone (Little Shop of Horrors and Rent) and NKOTB member Joey McIntyre (The Fantasticks) have all appeared in Broadway Musicals. As far as the silver screen, Michael Jackson appeared as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, a 1978 musical adaption of The Wizard of Oz. More recently, Justin Timberlake of *NSYNC had shown his acting chops in numerous flicks including Alpha Dog, Trouble with the Curve and The Social Network. Ralph Tresvant of New Edition played Sam Cooke in the biopic Get on Up. Donnie Wahlberg of NKOTB appeared in The Sixth Sense and is a regular cast member in the CBS series Blue Bloods. Just last year, Harry Styles of One Direction was in the World War II epic, Dunkirk. Kudos to the casting directors who saw the ability to capitalize on the popularity of these multi-talented heartthrobs. Acting was not even a consideration in my boyband pursuits. Perhaps it should have been.
There seems to be a resurgence in popularity in the 80s boybands and many of these acts will be touring this summer. Both New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys have both had extended residencies at major venues in Las Vegas.
While my dreams of achieving boyband status were never recognized, I always appreciated the talent, hard work and dedication that went into these groups long running successes. I wish these men continued health, happiness and prosperity even if it does come across a little creepy. Don’t judge me.
You can’t tell the players without a program.
BTS – V, J-hope, RM, Jin, Jimin, Jungkook and Suga
New Kids On The Block – Donnie, Joey, Danny, Jordan and Jonathan
Backstreet Boys – Nick, AJ, Kevin, Brian and Howie
NSYNC – Justin, JT, Lance, Joey and Chris
New Edition – Bobby, Ricky, Ralph, Ronnie and Michael
Bel Biv Devoe – Ricky, Michael and Ronnie
O-Town – Erik-Michael, Trevor, Jacob and Dan
Boys to Men – Nathan, Shawn, Wanya and Michael
98 Degrees – Nick, Drew, Justin and Jeff
One Direction – Harry, Louie, Zayn, Liam and Niall
Big Tim Rush – Kendall, James, Logan and Carlos
Osmond Brothers – Donnie, Alan,
Wayne, Merrill and Jay
Jackson 5 – Michael, Jackie, Jermaine, Tito and Marlon
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