Boy Band Series: New Kids on the Block, Part 1

Did you and your best friend ever scheme to marry brother boy band stars so that you could be sisters?

Do you have the right stuff, baby?

If you ever had a pillowcase with Donny Wahlberg's face on it, then you might be a Xennial New Kids on the Block fan... and so are we.

Join us in Part 1 of our series on New Kids on the Block, a boy band from Boston that set off a worldwide sensation in the 1980's and continues to perform together today. 

Stay tuned for Part 2, and the rest of our Boy Band series. 

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Transcript

Cold Open And Vocal Warmup

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Oh oh oh. Oh oh oh. Oh oh oh.

Boy Band Series Kickoff

First Crushes And Favorite New Kid

SPEAKER_03 0:07

The right stuff. Alright. Well done. I love how you still did that like so pretty. Did I? Oh it was so cute. Okay. Well, it's an O. That's my favorite vowel thing. It is. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Generation in Between. My name is Danny. And my name is Katie. And she's going away all of a sudden. Um, welcome to Generation in Between, a Xennial podcast, where we remember, revisit, um, and sometimes relearn all kinds of things about being 80s kids and 90s teens. And if you haven't figured out by our wonderful melodic intro, today begins our series on boy bands. And Katie, who are we talking about today? New kids on the block. New kids on the block is number one. Um, we wouldn't be true zenials if we didn't have at least one boy band group that was responsible for our first crush andor sexual awakening. Wow. Well, well, am I wrong? No. Okay, so see. So the next few weeks, we're gonna dig into a few of our favorites. There were a lot during this time uh of the 80s and the 90s. So, of course, we had to begin with one that I personally was obsessed with in my prepubescent era. Um, and that is New Kids on the Block. So, Katie, were you a New Kids on the Block fan? I know you were two years younger than me, which can make a difference once we start talking, right? No, I was a huge New Kids on the Block fan. Yes, I was, and even like I've I remember making up choreography to hang in tough. You probably learned the choreography that they did. Probably. We all did. I was that video, which we will talk about later. Yeah, and in my with my friend, and it was like my best friend in second grade. Okay, so I feel like around then was my big thing, and around then I also got one of those new kids on the block. They were like Ken dolls. Oh, I brought one. Oh my god. Oh, don't worry, we'll get there. Don't tell me who. Don't tell me who. We'll get there. But I got Jordan and I loved Jordan. He was my favorite. Oh, I get what eyebrows. Okay. Okay. So Jordan was your favorite. Jordan was my favorite. Girl, same. I was obsessed with him. And I think it was probably common because he was the lead vocalist. Makes sense. So, you know. Well, all right. I was a huge New Kies on the Block fan. I was around like in fourth grade. So if you were in second grade, that's about right. Yeah. Um, but I actually got two people who were also obsessed with New Kids on the Block back in the day to send me voice memos. Oh my gosh. Of memories of us and New Kids on the Block. And I'm gonna play them for you. Katie has not heard these. Um, the first one is from my childhood best friend who lived down the street. Um, her name is Alicia. Hey girl, hey, hey. Um, and I'm gonna play you really quick, less than a minute, uh, her little clip about new kids on the block memories with yours truly. Here we go.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

Okay, let me see. Memories of new kids on the block with Danny. Of course it's gonna be with you. So I remember all of the pins on our denim jackets. I remember having the curtains, the blanket, the bed sheets, the pillowcases, all of it, the posters all over the walls. And I remember getting tickets to the concert. I think it was your dad who got tickets for us. And my mom would not let me go. And to this day, I still remind her that she did not let me go see New Kids on the Glock in New Orleans with you.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Oh my gosh. So that why wouldn't her mom let her go? I don't know, but it was so funny because I forgot that that happened. I just thought she was there with me because, like, we again, I'm gonna show you a picture. And don't worry, you if you're on the YouTube, you'll see this picture. I'm gonna show you a picture of us on New Year's Eve 1990, I think this was. Um, we made our own New Year's baby and we are wearing our new kids on the black shirts. That is, oh, I see it in me. She was obsessed with Jonathan. I was obsessed with Jordan. Got it. Oh, yeah, Jonathan. I forgot.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Um cute. That's me. That's Alicia, new kids on the black shirts.

Friend Memories And Concert Heartstrings

SPEAKER_03 4:39

And I remember we had this plan because they were brothers. So we're like, well, if we grow up and marry them, I'll be related. Honestly, that was probably a common thing. I think that sister or friends did. Yeah, she liked how Jonathan was like the quiet one and the older one. Anyway, so my sister's message. Now, y'all, if you've been with us since the beginning, you've been here. Uh, my sister, I made her be on an episode. She, her and I are complete opposites. She does not like attention, she does not like talking in front of people. And I said, but she did come on the podcast, she did great. I said, I need you to send me a voice memo for the podcast. And she said, Well, oh shit. She said, oops. She said, I don't know how to do that. Alicia is gonna tell me how to do that this week. She's gonna teach me. She figured it out by herself, guys. Wow. Now my sister is fully Gen X. She's fully Gen X. So, like, give her some grace here. But her message was not what I expected. So um, I'm gonna play it for y'all. And I she said she also had to record it a couple times because she didn't want to sound too country. So now I have to find it. Okay, hold on. Sorry. We're gonna fix this in a minute. La la la la la. My sister and I text a lot. Sorry, like finding where it is. All right, so this is a memory from my sister, Tara, about us and new kids.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Everybody, it's Tara, Danny's sister. She sent me a text asking me to send some memories about new kids on the block. So I just want to start this off by saying back in the day, I don't know if Danny remembers this or how to fight. So we're done. If you had her favorite, I had a fine minister. I think you were probably the most difficult popular among the fact that we've got the August 23rd, 1990. We still need to get on the black. We felt it like the dot that we thought and all the data. No matter how loud or how long ago, stay with you. All because of the love of a boy band called Kids on the Block. Magic summer was a night, but sisterhood is forever.

Quick Trivia About The Band

Minuto And New Edition Set The Stage

Maurice Starr And The Industry Machine

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Okay, so we're crying. I was when she sent me that, I was like, bitch, you weren't supposed to make me cry. I was just wanted the funny memories. But it's it's crazy because I wanted to share both of those things. Because I think part of the joy of reminiscing about boy bands is who you were obsessed with together. Right. Right? Like your friend group, my sister. And like she said, we were seven years apart. And what she didn't mention, probably because she would have cried, is our parents had just divorced at this point, and our dad died like a year, a couple years later. And so this was and part of it was I think he was trying to buy our affection. Fine. Sold, done. You you did it. My mom was pissed. I remember that. Oh, I bet. My mom was pissed about it because the tickets. All right, I'm gonna show you the ticket. Oh my god. My sister has it. I was gonna say, how did she know that dates? Okay, first of all, like my sister does not like to take pictures. She's not a huge memorabilia person, but she said, look what I found in my scrapbook. And I was like, You have a scrap book? Girl, she has a ticket. Wait till I tell you how much this ticket costs. Okay. Are you ready to die? I'm ready to die. Um, hold on. I gotta pull up the um the ticket was$20. Oh my god. The service charge was$2.50. So over a$10 10% service charge. That's crazy. Wow. 20 bucks. Now, like she said, we were general admission. I think we were probably in the last three rows of the Superdone. If you've ever been in an arena, like a sports, like those seeds suck. So when we went again as grown adults, I bought my sister tickets for a birthday present as a surprise because she was coming to see me. And I got us like fourth row. Like we were up close. I'll show you pictures later when we get to that, because we're like, fuck that. We're sitting up close, we got the money, like we're doing it. And that's what what was so smart about that tour and the tours that a lot of these boy bands continue to do. The people who grew up feeling like that have the money to spend to spend it, you know, the expensive amount of tickets and to take themselves because they remembered it as a kid, or they had crappy seats as a kid, or whatever. And I mean, I I think, and we'll get into this, but especially new kids on the block, they seem to still genuinely love oh yeah, performing together and they're fandom. Like, I'm not saying they're just doing it for money, but like it is smart because people are gonna come and spend money to see you. I will say this they do do it for the money, obviously, because who wouldn't? Of course. Um, but they and I'll talk about this when we get to the end of the research, which by the way, thanks, Tara, for giving me some. I was like, oh, thanks. You did some research for me. Okay, let's go. Um, but um they really do make sure they do extra stuff for their fans, like all the time. I mean, all the time. They love their fans, they always stop and take pictures with them. Donnie is always in the audience. They try to do things where they go up in the audience in different places, like even up the high up seats. So, anyway, that's awesome. Okay, so that's our little intro. Emotional, emotional, emotional, goodness. But I shared that because a lot of times people are like, ugh, boy bands. But I think it's the nostalgia of it of what was happening at that time. Absolutely. And so let's get going. Let's do it. So we're gonna start. I'm gonna ask you a few trivia questions. No peeking. Did y'all see how I busted her on that video? See? I am gonna look straight ahead. I'm gonna look at the camera. If y'all didn't know, I busted her on a video. She's like, I didn't look and I slow-mowed and she sure looked it. I cannot see. Well, two feet in front of me. Usually, I guess that's about two. That's not that much further. But anyway. Anyway, you ready? I'm ready. We're gonna do uh I and to be fair, I didn't know the answer to all these, but okay, here we go. What year was the band formed? Oh gosh, it's probably earlier than you think. Oh, okay. Because I was gonna say like 87, so maybe 1985? Close, 84. Oh, oh wow, that's earlier. Earlier than you think. How old was freaking Joey? 12. And we'll get there. Okay, yeah. Um, who was the first member? Oh. Also, probably not who you think. Really? Mm-hmm. I I guess maybe Donnie? Yes, I think I've heard that before. Okay, yes, it was Donnie. Okay. Um, who was the oldest member? Might have been Donnie, but now I think it was Danny. No, it was John. Oh, okay. John was the oldest. Okay, I get that. His birthday is November 29th, 1968. He was the youngest. Joey. Joey. His birthday um is December 31st, 1972. So there's not that many years in between them. You said 68 for the first one and 72. 72. Yeah. But you think about it, and when but at the time that the band formed, Joey was so young that he came of age right when they were getting popular. So it seemed like he was really young compared to everybody. Because think about it. We have middle schoolers right now, and especially with boys, especially, they look crazy different in within two years. Yeah. Like you can see seventh graders that look like they're nine, and seventh graders that look like they're 25. Yeah. It's totally it's it's all over the place. So that's why I think everybody thinks Joey was so much younger, but he wasn't really. It was just a few years. Yeah. I would have thought he was young much younger. Okay. Okay. How many albums do they have currently? Oh gosh. Um five? Eight. Eight. Yeah. Is there a Christmas album in there? There is. Okay. And you know they've come out with albums in recent years. I was trying to account for that, but okay, this manual probably knows somewhere. Where are they all from? Boston. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Good. All right. Nice done. Nice done. I know some of them are tricky. Some of them are tricky. Yeah. So here we go. We're going to jump right into this research. Now, a lot of people think New Kids on the Block were the first big boy band of the 1980s. That is not true. Okay. So we're going to go ahead and clear that up right now and give the proper information where it's due. Because I bet you can figure out why people give that the credit once I start talking. I think I know what you're going to say. What do you think I'm saying? And I didn't look. That it was Minuto? It was Minuto and New Edition. So, um, so Minuto uh had was a group comprised of five Latino male teens. They were formed eight years before New Kids on the Block. And New Edition, which is comprised of five um black male teens, were formed two years before New Kids on the Block. And that piece of information is pivotal when we talk about how new kids formed, okay? Um, which we're gonna get to in just a second. All right. So um, so new kids on the block were not the first kids on the block, guys. Okay. Just the new ones. They were the white ones. Yeah. And that is just, um, I feel like that's important to say from jump because that just shines a light on the Eurocentric, like, especially of the time. Of the time, yeah. Um kind of way that the entertainment industry was, and it was unfortunate because that's where the money went. That's where I think we're starting to see difference in that now. But y'all, it's 2020, so I know. Yeah, this was a long time ago. So, anyways, um, so Minuto, new edition, they were the ones in the 80s who got the boy band craze started. Okay. Okay, new kids came along after them, and then those three groups paved the way for the big band, the big band, the big boy band explosion of of the 90s and the 2000s. They all those three groups inspired the others. Um, so let's talk about how they were formed. Remember, I said new edition? Well, they had a manager producer by the name of Maurice Starr. Have you heard of him? I have. Um, he was New Edition's manager and producer. He actually was a prior RB singer, which I did not know. Please look up his album covers. They are hilarious. What do you mean? Just just they're they're so cheesy and funny. Okay. Like they're very cheesy in like 70s. Okay. I'm very excited about this. Um, but he sounds good. Like I looked at I listened to some audio and I'm like, he's a good singer. It's just he never he never really took off. So he gave up entertaining himself instead to um manage and produce groups. Okay. He's actually from Deland, Florida. Oh, and I think he lives there now. I think. Shout out to Deland. Yeah, shout out to Deland. Um, but in 1983, New Edition was pretty big. They had a successful US tour, their debut album, Candy Girl. Do you remember that song?

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Yes, Candy Girl.

Roles, Personas, And Personal Struggles

SPEAKER_03 18:52

I love that song. Um, so they were pretty successful, but the members of New Edition sued Maury Starr for breach of contract and fraud. Yes. The group members, you're gonna die when I say this, received checks in the mail of only a dollar and eighty-seven cents each. What? After their tour, uh, Maury Starr said the amount was because of quote unquote high tour expenses. I've heard this before. Like um with the chicks, that was something that happened to them too. They were expected to pay back all the like studio time and like and it was like costs that were like way higher than they should be, supposedly. Yeah, yeah. So the group demanded out of their contract with him, and as well as the the right to use their name on their own with another label. So they did win the lawsuit, they got out of their contract and they received a settlement. They went on to sign with MCA Records and then had continued success in financial um backing. Jeez. Yeah. So after that, some people say Maurice Starr formed New Kids on the Block as kind of a retaliation group. Um, he immediately started working on putting together a new act, and he said this, and this is why they think he did it out of retaliation. He said, I honestly believe if they were white, they would have been 20 times as big. Which now he is a black man. Um and so this is kind of an interesting situation because he knows how the industry works and he knows where the money comes, even though he's feeding into it and hurting his own um his own background and people group. Like he's like, Well, but I can make money off of it. So Yeah, this guy sounds terrible. I don't really know. The new kids really love him, they still have relationship with him later in life. Okay. So, question mark? Yeah, question mark, I guess. Uh, but they they also had controversy later too, which we'll talk about. Um so I don't know. I say all this because question mark of all the things. Okay. It's an it's an interesting situation because he, I mean, he saw how the industry was, um, but he took advantage of the first group he had, I think personally. It seems like he did. Yeah, I'm sure he made more than$1.89 off of that. But he didn't compensate these kids because they were kids. Right. Um so anyway, so in 1984, so that's just the beginning. In 1984, he launched a talent search across Boston. Okay. Why Boston? I don't know. We don't know, no clue, no idea. Looking for trainable, good looking, and young white men. Yikes. I know, I know, I know. I'm that's like a not a that's not a happy laugh. So he didn't set out to form a new boy group, he set out to form a white new edition, a boy group that. Was exclusively white young men. Well, I don't think he said that, like specifically, but yes. But that casting call did. Well, no, that wasn't the casting call. That he well, tra this is not a direct quote. Okay. Okay. But it good looking, yes, trainable, yes, and young, yes. We don't know if it said white. Right. I am assuming yes, because he said what he wanted was and he has been quoted as saying he wanted a white new edition. Right. Wow. Okay. So when I tell you more about their beginnings, you'll see that is totally what he was trying to do. Right. So, all right. So let's get on to the talent search begins. The first person that they find is Dorchester native Donnie Wahlberg. He was 15 at the time. He dazzled Maurice Starr with his rapping skills. All right. And I remembered, oh yeah, he rapped on like every album. Yeah. He had at least one song that was a Donnie rap. Um, his younger brother, Mark Wahlberg, joined next, but he left after a few months. He just wasn't into what they were putting out. He didn't like the boy band image. He wanted to focus more on a rap career. Plus, this was when he was kind of getting involved in like kind of some bad people groups. He was getting into some misdemeanor crimes and drugs, and he went to juvie around this time and he was just having a hard time. Donnie Donnie's been quoted as saying he was more interested in stealing cars and singing with me. And they've probably since like talked about it and had a little giggle. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Mark Wahlberg is pretty open about his like struggles and all that stuff. So once Donnie was in and Mark was out, Donnie recruited some school friends by the name of Jamie Kelly, Jordan Knight, and Danny Wood. And they were all the same age as around the same age as Donnie, 15, 16 years old. So Jordan's older brother Jonathan joined after Jamie Kelly left, which you were probably like, who's Jamie Kelly? Well, he wasn't there long either. Um, he was asked to leave due to quote unquote lack of dedication to the group. Okay. So I don't know, maybe he just wasn't taking it serious. Yeah. You know, I mean they're teenagers. Teenagers, whatever. And I mean, you have this man trying to say, Oh, yeah, you're gonna be a big deal, and it's like, eh, I don't want to do it. Are and are we gonna be a big deal? Are you sure? You know, yeah. Are we? So, anyways, so that's how we get everybody up to Joey. So Maurice Starr really wanted to have like a young Michael Jackson-esque uh era Jackson 5 singer who was young and could sing those little pretty high notes that we all know and love. Um, and they found him in Joey McIntyre. He was 12 when they found him. Wow, and it was so crazy to me. I looked up some old videos, and the one video they have of Please Don't Go Girl, yeah, he looks like my son Cooper. I he does, he does, and I'm like, oh Cooper's 13, and I'm like, that would be like him in a boy band right now. With like me, boys who were six, sixteen or seventeen, something whatever. Yeah. Puske. It'd be a huge, huge gap. That's crazy. Because again, that's not that many years apart in age, but think of all the things that happened to you in your body and your mind and your life in those few years. That's very different eras. Very different, very different. So little Joey joined on, and they began a very heavy like practice schedule every day after school, on the weekends, they were practicing, rehearsing, all the things. So Jordan was labeled the primary lead vocals. He had a crazy falsetto, which he still has to this day. Wow. Yes, wow. So props on you for maintaining your vocal ability because he's in his 60s now, yeah? That's yeah, yeah, that's still. He still has it. I've seen it in person, it sounds exactly the same. Wow. Exactly the same. Um, he was like the heart throb of the group, okay? He was adorable, so cute. Okay, Donnie was uh surprisingly, I found out the co-secondary lead vocals. What? Right. Uh, he was the rapper, he was like the street wise persona, kind of the bad boy. But he wasn't really a bad person. He really wasn't. It was just the you know, he was bad boy light. Something we'll find out in these boy band every episode we do. Everybody had a persona, of course, and girl groups were the same. I think it's I mean it's like that right now, too, with with some of these, like like even like the K-pop groups. Oh, yeah, yeah. That are really popular. Everyone's like their own kind of version of a type. Yeah, yeah. So, and then Joey was another co-secondary lead vocals, which that I knew. Yeah, I knew that too. Yeah, and then he was the little innocent baby, you know, little Michael Jackson of the group. So cute. Danny was terse what tell me what this word means. Tertiary vocals? What does that mean? Tertiary means like background. Background. Okay, which I think Danny uh and John both were tertiary vocals. Okay. Danny was like the brawn of the group, if you remember. Yeah. And he was a break dance, like hella good breakdancer. I think they all could break dance, but his I remember them really doing a lot. Also, he can still do it. He has a grandpa now, y'all. He can break dance, he is in amazing shape. Like, you should like he does bodybuilding and stuff. Well, like we'll get to, but that cartoon you had me watch. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

And he was a cartoon, and he was like, My perfect girl is into health and fitness.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

Yeah, that was like they made that be his thing. I was like, and then and it came flooding back. I was like, oh yeah, that was kind of his thing. But like also, it sounds like it's his thing. But I mean in real life, like it is it's important to him and he's he still does it. So and then we have John, Jonathan, he was the quiet, shy, older one, kind of just always in the background, which is cute, but then it's also kind of heartbreaking because later on, after New Kids Disbanded, we realized he said he had horrible anxiety. Oh um, he was closeted at the time. Oh man, it was really difficult for him. And um, plus, I think he's just an introvert and he would get really bad stage frights. Oh god. So I think a lot of his shyness was real, was just uh some struggles. So yeah. Talk about the worst possible job for a person with that personality. Yikes. But I think he really did enjoy performing. I think and I think you know, we have a lot of performer friends, and I I can think of several I know who have horrible stage rate. But once they get going, yeah, once but they don't want like when we do meet and greets, they're like, peace, I'm not doing this. Like, that's too much anxiety, you know. Yeah, like and I think he was that way too. Okay, that's fair. So, okay, here's a fun fact: all of the new kids, all five of them, were from ginormous blue-collar families in the Boston area. Joey and Donnie both had eight siblings. Oh my god. Uh-huh. Danny had five. Jeez. Uh, Jonathan and Jordan were part of a family with six biological children, and they typically had as many as six foster kids at any one time. That is interesting, right? That they all come from the I mean, uh of the time were families in Boston just big? Well, I think a lot of them are Catholic. There's a big I I know there's a big Irish Catholic. And a lot of them are Irish Catholic, so you know, not I'm not trying to like stereotype. Well, especially then, yeah, right? Because you figure their parents are having them in the late 60s, early 70s, right? And then the other siblings probably even earlier than that. Right. So so yeah, I could see that. So I just thought that was an interesting fun fact that you would appreciate because you have five kids. I you're not Irish. I can't believe it. One had eight, eight siblings. Two of them had eight siblings. Two of them had eight siblings. Stop. So there's additional brothers in addition to Donnie and Mark Wahlberg. Oh well, you know, and some of them, you know, they founded that hamburger place. Uh-huh. Wahlbergers. And I think some of the remember they had that reality show for a while. Yeah.

unknown 29:50

I do.

Nanook Name Change And Debut Album

SPEAKER_03 29:51

One of their, I think the oldest. I'm trying to remember. I should have looked into that. Well, I we're going to do a part two, guys, of this. Yeah. Because I have 10 pages of notes just on the group itself, like in their rise and fall. So next week we're recording part two, which is more about the individuals more. Yeah, I'm gonna go more into individual members next episode, and we're gonna do that for each thing. Because I think we need it, it's gonna, it's gonna be a lot, especially when we get into the Lou Pearlman groups. Oh boy. Yeah. Anyways, okay, so moving on. So also, their original name was not New Kids on the Block. Oh, it was Nanook. Now, what does that sound familiar? It sounds like is it the dog? The dog from Lost Boys. Yeah, that's not why. There's no actually no meaning to that name. There's no uh there was no purpose. That's just the name he decided. That's so weird. Nanook was I know was their first name. Um in life, and so but it changed because in late 1985, uh Maurice Starr nailed down a deal with Columbia Records. Um, their intention originally was to target and market them to black audiences because of their RB vibe. Okay, I know. Um, the label said, well, if you want to do that, you gotta change your name. Like Nanoka's. This ain't gonna work. Yeah. Nanook is not it. And so they eventually decided on New Kids on the Block, which was the title of one of Donnie's rap songs, and later became track number six on their debut album of the same name. Okay, okay, got it. So that's how they landed on that. So here's their ages when they recorded that album in 1985. Just to remind you, Jonathan was 17, Donnie and Danny were 16, Jordan was 15, and Joey was 13. Wow. 13. Dang. Right. So he was 14 by the time the album came out, but when they recorded and filmed those videos and all that stuff, he was a baby. Yeah, he was a baby. All right, so April 1986, Columbia released their debut LP titled Nuca's on the Block. The songs were typical bubblegum pop fodder, with like they tried to have like this light RB mix. Um, have you re-listened to it at all? The first one? Yeah, I don't think so. What song's pretty bad? Well, I'll tell you. Okay. Just a minute. Maurice Starr wrote six of the ten tracks and co-wrote three others. So his hand was heavily involved in this one. The only one not credited to him at all was the song Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time. Oh, wait. Something I have to say. Didn't I, parentheses, blow your mind this time? That was originally a hit by the group The Delphonics in 1969, which I did not know. Now, I had to go back and say the parentheses because what I noticed was a lot of new kids on the black songs have parentheses. Really? Oh my, wait till wait. Every album there's multiple. Okay. And I'm like, why? I just why can't we just if anybody knows why we put parentheses in songs titles, please let me know. Why can't you just say, didn't I blow your mind this time? That's a fucking lyric. Yeah. Yeah, that's a whole song. So uh isn't that um One More Time by Brittany? Isn't doesn't that one have parentheses? Also parentheses. Yeah. What? I don't know. I don't get it. So here's the songs on their debut album. You probably won't know a lot of them unless you are a blockhead, which is what new kids on the block fans are officially called, which I think is hilarious. Um, okay, here's the song's debut album. Stop it, girl. Didn't I parentheses? Glow you're mine this time. Popsicle, Angel, be my girl, new kids on the block, are you down? I want to be loved by you. Don't give up on me. Treat me right. Also, every single New Kids on the Block song is about a girl in some way, shape, or form. Yes. Everyone. Almost. Until later albums, they had a few that weren't, but pretty much almost every single one. I feel like that's normal for pop music. Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. It's yeah, because Cooper, I remember one time was so aggravated. We were listening to radio when he was younger, and he's like, every song's about a breakup or a um a romance. And I'm like, Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, it's like cushion music, it's about divorce. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, so we're gonna talk for a second about that falsetto of Jordan on Didn't Not Blow Your Mind This Time. Yes. Do we remember?

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Did not blow your mind this time. Did not like that.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Like that. I remember. Okay. It was so good. But also those lyrics last night, that is the last part of that phrase. And I'm like listening to it and I was like, oh. Aren't you 15, sir? Didn't I blow your mind last night? Excuse me. Yeah. But let me tell you, that falsa, I don't know what it was about that falsetto. I remember as a kid just being astounded. Yeah. And because I mean, but I didn't know it's astounding. I didn't know at nine how hard that is to do consistently for male singers or anyone. Hello? Me. Hooked me. That falsetto. That's really good. Got me. Well, what was the group we went and saw um the musical about? The guy who's known as Jersey Boys. Jersey Boys. Oh is it Frankie Valley? Frankie Valence. No. Yeah. Frankie Valence is the Lambo, right? No, that's Frankie Valley. We don't know. We don't know.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

That guy, the one.

SPEAKER_03 35:32

That guy. And that's like mainly why the four seasons or whatever were so popular. The false of him. Every time gets you. Anyway, that's what hooked me as a prepubescent uh little girl. Uh, but I didn't find this album, their OG album, till later. Till after their second album came out. Same. And we're gonna talk about why that is. Um, and that pretty much was uh this album was a flop kind of commercially. So it peaked at number 25 on the Billboard 200 chart. None of the singles charted nationally. Um, the first single, Be My Girl, saw some local airplay at various radio stations around the country, but that was about it. Okay, and the second single, Stop It Girl, Stop It Girl flopped everywhere. And this album is really not great. Like, didn't I blow your mind this time is Popsicle? But didn't I blow your mind this time is a song from before? But not it's right, that's what I mean. It's a cover, it's not their song, right? But popsicle is also a bop, though, and it's little Joey singing.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

Oh, you're my popsicle, I don't know the words, obviously.

Hangin’ Tough Breakthrough With MTV

SPEAKER_03 36:40

Um, except that. So when this album came out, Marie Starr had them performing pretty much anywhere that would take them in the New England area. So they were at bars, they were at clubs, they were even at school dances. Stop. They even performed at a prison that one of Donnie's brothers was in. Oh, stop. And he had the idea to throw packs of cigarettes in the crowd to get them to like them, and it worked. I mean, that's such a great marketing plan. But also, like, is there an advantage to people in prison liking you? I don't know. Like, I don't know. Are they telling their friends to listen to you? I don't understand. I don't know. Okay. Um, they also did gigs at like festivals that didn't really go well during an early gig at the Franklin Park Kite Festival stop. The group um faced a jeering crowd and they started throwing things at them. Danny's face was cut by a flying record. I don't know if they were giving out records and people were throwing it. Um, but Donnie like pushed for them to keep on going because he had a classmate. Well, they had classmates in the crowd and he didn't want them to see them give up. So they kept performing. They're like, we gotta save face. Don and I feel like Donnie's just putting them in very dangerous situations. He's like, let's go to a prison and hand out cigarettes. I feel like, especially watching back on the videos, like you know, some of the documentary stuff they did, Donnie's their hype man. Oh, definitely. He is their hype man. And if you ever see them live, he is the one that is in the crowd. He's the he's gets it going like every time. I feel that. So I could totally see him being like, hell yeah, let's go to the prison. My brother's there. Yeah, let's do it. It's a carton of Marble Lights. We got this. That's honestly. That's probably exactly how it went down. I know. And so, anyway, all right. So the first album was considered a flop, but Maurice Star somehow convinced the label to have them record a second one. Wow. All right, he somehow he did. That's when things took a turn because the album that was number two was hanging tough. Uh okay. But the the journey there was not an easy one. Um, Columbia Records basically said, listen, this is a make it or break it situation. If this one's as a flop, you're gone. Like this is your only chance. So this has to be good. Now, I don't know how I couldn't figure out, I couldn't find how Marie Starr convinced them. But I think they also had a lot of um expenses cut from their recording because they did most of their recording sessions um in a makeshift studio in Marie Star's under construction home. He was building a house. Oh, wow. And so they made a little makeshift studio. Um, the temporary studio had no separate vocal room. You know, when you're recording in a studio, nothing, it was all one room. Uh, they had plastic on the windows to try and drown out outside sounds, like it was kind of a mess. Jordan um was quoted as saying, if if you solo the tracks on Hangin' Tough, you can hear babies crying in the background, you can hear sirens. Like that's awesome, though. You know, so I was I'm assuming studio cost is probably part of the deal. Like, we'll figure it out. If if you make it on your own, we will distribute it. Yeah, but we're not providing resources to you. Yeah. So that sounds like uh my my publisher. They said I can do an audiobook if I do it all myself. But look, it worked for them. Hey, do they were like, you want to record it? We'll distribute it. We have the equipment, yeah. That's true. But audiobooks are a grind. They are. I've heard they're it's gonna be hard to do. You're gonna have to like schedule that for yourself. I am, it's gonna take a bit, but that's okay. But you can. I can. I mean, there's no reason why not. Okay, so in late of late 1988, the second album, Hangin' Tough, was released, and the sound was a little slicker than the bubblegum pop of their first one. Um, the group had a little bit more input on this one than the last one, but not as much as they wanted. So they wanted um, they wanted a little more, say, they got a tiny bit more, but not as much as they wanted that they got in later albums. Um, the first single from this album was Please Don't Go Girl.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

Please don't go girl.

SPEAKER_03 40:58

Love it. And it went widely unnoticed for a while until a pop radio station here in the home state of Florida for Mr. I'm wondering if it was Deland. I was saying, was it in Deland? It may have been. I don't know. Um, it began playing it a lot and it became the number one listener-requested song. Do we remember calling radio stations and being like, Oh, yeah, can you please play Hangin' Tough? Can you please play Please Will Go Girl? And depending on the station, the DJ would answer something. Oh, yeah. And it was like, like if a song was playing and they could and they'd put you on air sometimes. I was on so many, so many radio um. Me too. That was like my favorite thing to do. And what did you ever sit with the radio next to it and um like the cassette and you would record yourself? Uh-huh. Oh my god. Oh, yeah. Times. Times have changed. Um, so Columbia Records, once that happened, they were like, okay, let's reshoot the video for the single and let's send it to radio stations all around the country to show the group's visual appeal. Oh, yeah. Because they're good-looking young men, right? They are. So they're like, here, look at these kids. So they reshot the video uh for Please Don't Go Girl, which is was in the Hangin' Tough. I watched it. Yeah. Yeah. Um it's a pretty good video. It's except, and and I know he was older than he looks, but Joey is like looking at these women that look like they're like 30. And he's 13, and it was really throwing me up. And maybe they were younger too. It's just the aesthetic made them look older. But I was like, this is weird. Why is this little boy singing this to these grown women? Like it kind of kind of threw me. There's a lot of things that were kind of weird.

unknown 42:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:31

Yeah, agreed. So eventually that worked, and that song climbed to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and that was their first hit. Please don't go girl. Okay. So here's all the songs from the album Hangin' Tough. Feel free to sing along if you want. I will. There's a lot of parentheses. You got it, parentheses, the right stuff, which y'all heard. We've already done that one. Yeah. Cover girl. Remember that one? Uh-oh, she's my cover girl. Yes. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. With some featured singing by Donnie on that one. Okay, there you go. Tertiary. No, he's not tertiary. No, he's actually he did rapping. But okay. Um, I remember when I don't know that one. Hold on. Please don't go, girl, which I already sang. I love that one. Um, I need you. Whatcha gonna do? Parentheses about it. This was their like kind of rappy song. Okay. Whatcha gonna do about it? That's all I remember. I don't know the rest of the words. Um, I'll be loving you forever. Uh parentheses forever. I know. What?

SPEAKER_02 43:33

And this was another Jordan, I'll be loving you forever.

SPEAKER_03 43:39

And then you had somebody else come in in a lower voice, and they'd say, Well crap, what's the sign? As long as you want me to be, or something like that. Yeah, and it was always funny. Okay, hangin' tough, which was do you remember the vocals for that one?

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Oh hanging tough.

SPEAKER_03 43:59

Yeah. It's another O. I know. They liked O's. And then my favorite girl. You remember this one? My favorite girl. Yes. She's my favorite girl. I know. Listen, I re-listened to all their albums in prep for this. Or I like like and they came right back. Yeah. Obviously, not all the lyrics, but the chorus, everything. So that's all the songs on Hangin' Tough. This is when we our generation fell in love with them. Right. And then we rediscovered their first album. Um, so hold on. Fun fact we just sang Hangin' Tough. Oh. That was actually written with the Boston Celtics in mind. That's basketball, yeah? Yeah. Is it Celtics or Celtics? I don't know. Celtics. Look at look at me. I don't know. But but if you talk about Celtic women, it's Celtic. Right. But it is the Boston Celtics. Okay. Just making sure because I don't know sports and I don't know how to pronounce words. So Donnie said, We literally set out to do a song that could be a theme song for the Celtics. Oh. He said that was the idea. Blatantly trying to sound like Queen's, we will rock you. Yeah. Okay. I hear it. I don't think it sounds like Queen, but I could see that being like a basketball song. Yeah, yeah. You can you can kind of see the basketball players like coming out for the starting lineup to that. No, I don't know if they ever did.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

Yeah. I don't. I hope so.

unknown 45:23

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 45:24

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

Here come the Boston Celtics. I don't know. I think it works. But anyway, that's a little fun fact. Here's another one. Uh, in the 1989 video for I'll Be Loving You Forever, which I just beautifully did in my Falsetto. Yes. That was really good. That was really good. Um, Jordan has on a Batman t-shirt. Did you see that? I did see that. So it wasn't his as widely thought it was. He actually wore it simply because the stylist brought it and he said, I just gravitated toward that shirt. I like the colors, it was cool and young, so I wore it. But soon after the video came out, fans began sending him Batman t-shirts of various kinds.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 46:05

And so then he started wearing them because he was like, oh, cute, fun. Uh, but then this like fueled this whole myth that he was a huge Batman fan. And he and he said in an interview, honestly, when the Batman movie came out, I actually fell asleep in the theater because I didn't like it. I mean, I get it. It's like with my birthday. Like having a Star Wars birthday, and everyone thinks I love Star Wars and wants to get me Star Wars things for my birthday. But you didn't ever wear a Star Wars shirt at all. No, but I'm going to I'm going to one day. But but right, that is funny. Isn't that funny? I mean, I guess seeing a Batman shirt once is okay, but then if you see him in like two or three, yeah, then you maybe would start to think that. And one of the one of the whatever documentary things we w I pulled up, he had on several different Batman shirts. I saw that, yeah. So it just kind of fueled this idea. And you know, y'all, this was the this wasn't the time of social media where celebrities are like, hey, I don't really like Batman or whatever. Here's what I do like. Send me that instead. And it was still a time where you could mail things to celebrities and they would actually get them. I know. So, I mean, anyway, I just thought that was a funny story and also such a sign of the times of fandom. I love it. Um, another fun fact the Right Stuff video was secretly filmed. There's a piece of it that's like in a cemetery. That was secret, some of it was secretly filmed at the St. Louis Cemetery number one in New Orleans. And the reason it was secret is because the Catholic Archdiocese had forbidden filming there after the movie Easy Rider, which was a motorcycle movie, yeah, was filmed there in 1969 and there was tons of property damage. And that's considered a sacred space. Well, yeah. Yeah. Yikes. So they kind of like secretly filmed it. And this is like if you go on a Reddit thread about this video of all this stuff about it. Why did they need that cemetery? I don't it's cool. I don't know. Oh, okay. The cemetery, if you've never been in the cemeteries in New Orleans, they're really cool and beautiful. I don't know, but it's just funny that if it's one that forbids that, why go there? But there must, yeah, there must have been some connection or just something cool they wanted. And I can't believe you asked it damaged. That makes me mad. I don't think it was on purpose, but still, come on. I know. Ugh. I know. But you'd be asking me the hard questions. I know. Like, why everything? Why did they go there? Find out. Why did they just go to the one next door? There's cemeteries all over the place. I got 10 pages of notes, okay? There's only so much I can find out. We gotta keep going. Keep going. So during this time of Hangin' Tough, the new kids appeared. Uh they had appearances on Soul Train, Showtime at the Apollo, and also eventually became the opening act for Teen Pop Sensation, Tiffany, yep, on her national tour. I remember that. Um, so the second single from this album was You Got It Parentheses, the Right Stuff. Yes. Which we sang already. This song got a big ol' boost when MTV took notice of the group and began playing this video in heavy rotation, and they were featured on Club MTV. Yes. Now, this was the time of videos, music videos were huge. Y'all need to go listen to our MTV episode. We we mentioned it last time. So um they got notice on MTV. If you got notice on MTV, you're you're skyrocketing for a while. So by early 1989, the album hit the top five on the Billboard chart, and their next single, I'll be loving you, parentheses forever, reached number one. We already said that, didn't I? Um, I don't know. The parentheses are throwing me out. I know me too. I don't think you did. Okay, well, that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, even if I said that. Um, they were scheduled to go, so they're like exploding. They were scheduled to go on a second tour with Tiffany as her opening act, but their sudden boost in popularity made her open for them, and they were billed as the headliners. Ooh, that must have hurt Tiffany. Yeah. I mean, yes and no. On one hand, you're still like out there doing your thing and hopefully making money. Right, but you took the headline. Yeah. Yeah. Like they're like, oh, actually, this isn't your tour anymore. This is theirs, and you're just opening for them. Eek.

unknown 50:24

Yeah.

Step By Step Peak And Magic Summer Tour

SPEAKER_03 50:25

Eek out. I don't like that. But that's, I mean, the way of the industry it is. So more top five singles were released that summer and fall. Uh Hangin' Tough, Cover Girl, and also the song Didn't I Parentheses Blow Your Mind This Time from their overlooked first album they brought it, which is when we all I bet that's when, yeah. That's when we all found the first album. Okay. Okay. Um, so this caused sales on both albums to skyrocket at this time. So the first and the second. Yeah. Okay. So by the end of 89, Hangin' Tough had climbed to number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and had gone platinum eight times. Jeez. They were the first teen act to get five top ten hits from one album. That's crazy, right? That's wild. I know. So I had to remind myself what it meant when a record went platinum. Yeah. Uh, that means it sold a million copies. Okay, so eight over eight million. Yeah. Wow. Right. And like and I think that's just in our country, right? I don't know. I think it might be worldwide, but I don't know off the top of the top of the card. That I should have looked up. That's right. We've got plenty more boy bands coming up, so we will um look into them and find out. Lots give my bag of goodies. I have some goodies. I have so many things for this episode. Okay, so in the fall of 89, they also released a Christmas album called Merry Merry Christmas. Okay. Um, this was the year, everyone. I got my star stage, and that Christmas tape was in my stocking. Yes. Which I have a picture of me singing New Kids on the Block confirmed with my sister making fun of me in the background. We've seen this picture before. Oh, yeah. But now I know because on the back it says June 1990 is when we finally got the picture developed. So 89. So 89, Christmas, New Kids on the Black, and Danny on my star stage. Hold on, I gotta move on. It's so cute. And my grandma, my grandma's on the background being like, shut this kid up. I remember that. That's what I remember most. Is your grandma? Oh, wait, no, she's not in this one. No, she's not. It's the other picture. Anyways. So that's that. No, grandma's not there. That's the other picture. I know which one you're talking about. I know. It was the same morning. It was the same morning. Yeah, same PJs. Um, okay. So let me get myself resituated. This album, the Christmas album, went to number 10 on the charts, and they had another top 10 hit. Um, this one's for the children. Do you remember this song? Yes, this one's for the children. The children of the world. That was on their Christmas album. Yes. Okay. That was on their Christmas album. It went double platinum, that song, in the U.S., and the proceeds from that single went to a charity, um, United Cerebral Palsy. They've got Nuca's actually have done a lot with that charity. Um, I don't know if they have a personal tie to that. You knew I was just about to ask that. Did you see my face? I know, I don't fucking know. I can't research everything. I know. But they actually have had several like charity things with that particular charity. Um, so this is an interesting fact. With the success of the song, Didn't I Parentheses blow your mind this time, blow your mind, cover girl, and this one's for the children. The group pulled off a rare feat of having three singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, but each from a different album. Wow. I can't, yeah, because that that can't happen very often. No, I mean it's hard to do because usually at the most you'd have an album a year. Right. But people were listening to the older album for the first time. Well, because you throw a seasonal one. Well, they put a single out from that first album while hanging top, which was smart. That was smart. Then they hurried up and did a Christmas album, which you have I know you haven't listened to it. Not at all. I'm excited. I want to you're gonna love it. You're gonna love it. I know I am. Um, so yeah, they I mean that's pretty it's a pretty big deal. Okay. And this happened in a pretty short period of time. Yeah. So they when I say they were exploding, they were exploding. Um, Hang and Tough spent 132 weeks on the charts. Wow. And in January 1990, they won two American Music Awards for Best Pop Rock Album and Best Pop Rock Group. Okay. So, like, they were living the life. They were as young, young teens. Um, well, I guess not all of them were young teens. So Columbia Music Video also released a home video, which I was referencing Hangin' Tough, a documentary on the band that included their four hit music videos and a live concert recorded during their 1989 tour. Okay. So, excuse me. That's the one they were on with Tiffany. Yes. Um, it achieved massive sales. I had this. Did you have this? I don't think so. Okay. I bet you had the step-by-step one. I did. Yeah, okay. I did. Um, it earned a Grammy for best long form music video, and it was one of the biggest selling music home videos of all time. Wow. Yeah. I I remember that time though, like, because I don't think I had that one. I remember watching that at a friend's, and then that kind of became commonplace. Oh, yeah. I mean, I have one that's like a combo of Britney Spears and InSync. Oh my god. Like on this way, like, I literally have the VHS at my house. So fun. Um, do you have a VCR? Uh yes. Okay. It's not always hooked up, like it takes a whole thing to hook it up, but we've kept it because we do have like some VHS that we would play for the kids when they were little, and then home movies. I have I found I found a VCR tape of my dance recital, my last dance recital I did in high school. Oh, I love it. The one where I tried to walk off stage and my tap number have I ever told this story? No. So I went to a very small, it was like a performing art studio, but she focused mostly on dance, but we also did like singing and stuff too, sort of. Um also I sang memory on that. Oh, I know, and it was really good here. I mean, I can't do it now, but that was pre all my vocal problems. But uh yeah, so I had like three dance classes a week. I hated tap because tap is very hard. And um, I mean, all dance is hard, but that one for me was the hardest. And so I would skip my tap class like all the time. And I we get to like close to the recital, and she was like, Danny, you you have to be in the tap number. There's only like five of us, okay? Like five or six of us. I was like, Well, I don't know it. She was like, Too bad, you're gonna be in the number, and I was like, Okay. So and you can clearly see me go the wrong way in a turn, and then I was like, Well, fuck it. And I tried to walk off the stage, and she was standing right there. She had like one of those dance cane things, and she was standing there with it, and she just shook her head no at me, and I had to go back, and I figured it out, I figured it out, and but literally they put me in the back, which usually I wasn't because I was short, and I was just trying to follow, like you can almost see my eyes staring at the girl's feet in front of you, like and that is where Danny learned how to fake tap, which I had to undo completely the past two years. Yeah, yeah, because fake tap's a real thing, fake tap, fake tap, don't get you nowhere because if the technique sucks, you can't advance. So correct. Anyway, guys, I have that. I would love to come to your house and watch myself look like an idiot. That would be really fun. You would probably cry when you hear me sing memory because it's very different than how I sing memory. I bet it's kind of full. Well, it's it's kind of depressing. So I also sang, give my regards to Broadway. Oh, I love that one. And a little top hat. Stop. And a cane. Did you have your top shoes on for that one? Uh no, I think I just had character shoes on. Okay. Oh, wait, no lies. I did. But I just did like little shuffle, like little change. It's cute, though. Anyway, okay, neither here nor there. So I owned this VHS and I was shook when I watched it because I was like, Cooper Camere, you look like Joey McIntyre. And he was like, Oh my god, I kind of sound like him right now. I was like, Yeah, well, that too. Never, you ain't being it no boy bands. Get the fuck out of here. Don't and I also forgot Jordan um is a pianist. Yeah. Like, really good. Really good. I forgot. So, anyway, fun fact during this time, the then governor of Massachusetts, and a man by the name of Michael Dukakis. Oh, who ran for president, everyone, didn't he? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Uh, he declared April 24th, 1989, to be New Kids on the Block Day. And they still celebrate. And that's Amelia's birthday. It is. Well, not 89, but April 24th. Yeah. There you go. So now we're moving on to step by step. Okay. This week that by step. Sorry, sorry. Go for it. Ready?

SPEAKER_02 59:12

Step by step. U baby. Gonna get to you good. Step by step. All right.

SPEAKER_03 59:20

Step one. We can have lots of fun.

SPEAKER_02 59:23

Step two. There's so much we can do. Step three.

SPEAKER_03 59:28

This isn't Jordan.

SPEAKER_02 59:29

It's just you and me.

SPEAKER_03 59:31

Step four.

SPEAKER_02 59:33

I can give you more. Step five. Don't you know that the time has arrived? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_03 59:42

That's a violin. Is it? Obviously. Oh my god. That was the best. That was good. That was really good. You're welcome, everyone. You're welcome. So, summer of 1990, their third album, Step by Step, came out. And even though over half the songs were co-written and produced by the members themselves, they still didn't have as much input in the process as they wanted. Um, Star Maurice Starr did most of the creative work, and Donnie said he considers considers it a better album than Hanging Tough, but he said it needed a little more grit. They wanted it to be a little more, they wanted to incorporate some of the rappers they really liked. They wanted to kind of make it a little more edgy. They didn't, but you know, didn't happen. No, but they did do that in later albums. When they left Maureen Star and they were older, they did have they did have more of that. So they eventually got to do that. So step by step soared to number one on the Billboard 200. The first single was Step by Step, as you so beautifully heard us do. Um, and it was their biggest selling single ever. Okay. They did not ever top because they were at the top of their game, and that song was fire, it was good. They each had a little moment. Let's see. Can we remember who sang each number? Okay. All right. Step one, we can have lots of fun. Was that Danny? Danny. Yeah, that's step two. There's so much we can do. Um was that John? Joey. Or is it John? Oh, I think it is John. I think it's John. Step three was Jordan. Yes. Step four was Joey. I can give step five. Must have been Donnie. Donnie. Yeah. I think that's right. White man.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:19

He's like Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:21

Anyway, yeah. And the video, they were on the stairs. Remember? And they go up and down the stairs. Okay. They were very literal with this song. Yes. I love that though. We do. Uh, three songs on this album cracked the hot 100 top 10 step by step was number one. Tonight. Remember that one?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:37

La la la la la la tonight. Yep. La la la la la la tonight. See the girls with the curls and the hair. Yeah. The buckets and the pins and the wild fan fair. Not buckets, buttons. That's like buckets. Where are they at?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:53

It's buttons. Buttons. All right. Uh, number seven. It was number seven. And then let's try it again was number eight. That was like their slow ballad. Yes. Um, this album was eventually certified triple platinum and sold close to 20 million copies worldwide. So I think the platinum is just in the in the US. And then because I gotcha. Yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. So songs from Step by Step. Oh, sorry. Target's texting her tell me to come shopping. Uh Step by Step Tonight, Baby I Believe in You. You remember that one? Baby, I believe in you. All right. Call it What You Want. I don't remember that one. That was their rap. That was their wrap, I think. Uh Let's Try It Again. That was her ballad. Happy birthday. I don't remember that. Oh my god, please look it up. It's so good. Uh games. Remember that one? They would they that one name went OEO. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:42

Oh. I do remember that one. Games, games, games, games, games, games.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:48

That was the weirdest, guys. OEO and games. I was listening to it and Cooper goes, That's from Wizard of Oz. And I was like, oh, it is though. Anyway, funny. Uh, time is on our side. Uh, where do I go from here? Stay with me, baby. Funny feeling. Never gonna fall in love again. I don't remember the last three. Me either. Um, where do I go from here? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:14

Do I still I still love you?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:18

I know. Listen. I don't remember that one. Had my heart. But that sounded really was that Jordan singing that? I think it was Joey. Oh, okay. And where do I go? All right, sorry, I'll stop. Uh, so step by step, Coca-Cola sponsored a 100-date tour called The Magic Summer Tour. There it is. And that's where Danny had her first concert. You already heard about it from my sister. Um, I showed y'all the ticket. Well, I didn't show you, I showed Katie, but 20 bucks. I cannot believe it. That was the only time they were ever in the supernome. They only performed there. So one time. Um, they also had their overseas debut with this tour. Um, the tour grossed 74 million. Jeez. I know. Making them the top grossing touring act in the country at the time and one of the highest grossing concert tours of the entire decade. Wow. Now I will say you're saying the word gross. And just because of everything that's been going on with like James Vanderbeek and all of that, I'm not saying the new kids haven't made a ton of money because they probably have, but gross is like before all those expenses come out. So we're saying that, but that's not what they made. Right. Just that'll be true for all the boy bands we talk about. Thank you, disclaimer Katie. Just just saying that sounds like a shit ton of money, but they didn't spend most of that. Yeah, that's not into their pocket. No, right, correct. Um, so where was I at? Oh, it said overall attendance, uh, 3.2 million people saw them on that tour. Dang. That's so many. Holy smokes. Now, I mean, they were packing arena. I mean, it's like Taylor Swift. Think about it, you know? Right. She's probably seen at least that many of them. Yeah. So at the same time of this tour, this is when a line of merch came out. So good. Uh, it had lunchboxes, bedding set, which y'all heard I owned. I definitely had the comforter. Oh, yeah. I think it was a full set. It must have been a full set, but yeah. It came as a full set, and then I also bought the curtains. Okay. Actually, maybe Alicia had the curtains. Are you saying curtains? I know. It's like I say frito. I don't know, guys. She had the curtains. I am from the south. Okay, we do not talk right. It's just the way we the dolls, which I oh, and you have Jordan. I would like everyone to see. It looks just like him, though. Oh, the the rat tail. Can you stop? Can you can you can I hold him? But there's something on his butt. I don't know what that's about. Oh, but it's old, guys. It's from 80. It was just a pussy. It's from 1990. So here's the one. This is not, I will say, this is not the one I owned. My sister bought this for me from eBay in 2011 when we went to the concert, and he rode on the dashboard. Dashboard the whole way as we drove to the concert. This isn't the one I had either. It's not mm mm. I had a one that was a little different than this. He had different outfit, huh? Yeah, he was in like red and black. Okay. Yeah. Okay. I just remember that. So that so I also have some more of their merch, everyone. Okay. Okay. I have trading cards, which we had on the show before. We opened them together. We have trading cards. And I got a Jordan that I took home with me. Um, we also what else do I have in here? I have a 1990 calendar pack. What? My sister bought all this for me way back in the day, guys. Um, yeah, hold on. Uh oh, it's so fun. So it was like a calendar, and then you open it that has a record in it. Hold on. This is so funny. Now I don't know. It's hanging tough. Okay. Okay. Record in it. I don't know if it has, I think it's just the single. Yeah, it's just a single. Uh then you open it up. Oh Jesus, let's not break history. History. Can we please? I'm gonna have you're gonna have to do it because I can't get out of my seat now. I have to reach shit on my lap. Let's do it. So the calendar is literally just a poster. The dates are at the bottom. Who can even read those? It does say 1990. I love that. But I would like for you to hold it up so you can see their individual picture and you see their personas. Katie, no ma'am. The camera. Oh, yes. I meant the group picture. That's right. You're right. You're right. And now the group shot. Yeah. Hello. Now hold it up just a little. Keep going. There we go. Okay, we got it. We got it. Oh, it has didn't I blow your mind on it too? Oh, it does. Two songs. Okay. So you could get their little single record with a little calendar pack. Let's go. Uh, what else do I have in here? It's fun. Um, trading cards. The trading cards were really fun when we opened those. The other thing is from the BSB. Oh, I do. I was trying to find pictures of my bedding. I couldn't find it. Um, but I did find one picture. Now, this was me. I went to a family reunion that same summer. It was like the next month in August uh that same year, and I wore my t-shirt from the tour, and I'm walking with my great aunt Ruth down my grandma's driveway, and you can see the back of my shirt. That's the only picture I have, but I was like, I'll bring it. So here we go. Uh can I do this? Yeah, yeah, I can see it. Is that blurry? Oh, is that your great aunt or your grandma? That's my great aunt Ruth. Aww. Yeah, there we go. Uh yeah, it's it's relatively focused. Okay. It's good. Oh, that's so cute. That's all I have of me in my like actual merch, except for that picture I showed y'all of me and Alicia. Um I definitely had some part of the betting, if not all of it. The Jordan doll, and I had at least one t-shirt. I never went to a concert, but I think at some point they must have sold them at like Kmart or somewhere, or JCPenney, maybe. I don't know. Because I definitely got one for Christmas one year. We are going to change this because Katie and I are going to start at GoFund Us to send us to Vegas to see them in their residency. We are. We also might have some events that you can buy tickets to come to, which were gonna be fun anyway. Sin, Danny, and we're gonna be totally up front with y'all and say we are gonna be. This money is going to Las Vegas, but also come hang out with us and give us$20. We're going to do a live episode recording, and you might get to be on the podcast if you're there. Yes, that's gonna be so fun. So stay tuned for that. Yeah. All right, anyway. That's later this summer. That's our own magic summer. Look at us. Look at us. Um, all right, so they also had the buttons, which I I have some, but they're on a backpack, and I forgot to bring the backpack. So sorry. Uh, this brought in the merch alone, brought in an estimated 400 million by 1995. Oh, I'm sure. Y'all know we love merch, okay? We do. Um, at this time, ABC launched an animated series by Deke Entertainment. They did all the cartoons of that time. Okay. Do you remember their logo?

unknown 1:10:06

D.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:07

You didn't watch as much. No, it's D I C. No. Deke. I know we want to say Dick. It's not Dick. I think it's Deke. No. If if you watch a lot of cartoons at the time, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The Deke logo came on at the end of the cartoons, and it was this little kid voice going, Deke. Anyway, maybe it was just so we didn't pronounce it dick. So I know it's like here's how you actually say it like this. So, of course, I watched this cartoon. Uh, the cartoon featured the band members just like they did when they had a Jackson 5 cartoon in the 70s. The members did not voice the characters, and it's very obvious. Yes, I noticed that the voices sound nothing like them in real life, but they did have the real band members do like little live action clips in the intro and outro of the episodes, which was really fun. Those were cute, and it kind of like every episode focused on a different member and they talked about it. So I sent Katie one. Yeah. So tell us about the cartoon, Katie. So you had never seen it, right? I had never seen it. Okay. So the one I watched was like this reporter, and she she was a young woman or teenager maybe, and she was interviewing Danny about like his who his perfect girlfriend would be or whatever. So it started like that, but then it kind of spiraled, and she was like obsessed with him and like trying trying to get closer to him, but then they did like a concert in the middle, and it was it was. Did you watch the whole thing? Yeah. Oh my god, I did. I didn't. I watched it. It's like a train wreck. You can't turn away. Yeah. And she started to get like agitated because like all these girls were around him, but it was a cartoon. I don't know. It was funny. I mean, it's very of the time, it's very it's very 1990 or 1991, whenever that came out. Uh please go look it up. You can't find a bunch of them. Oh, yeah, on YouTube. Yeah. What happened was I was watching it and then I like, you know, went to like answer an email or something. I looked back and I was like, oh, I thought it was like almost done. It had autoplayed into another one. And I like, look, I'm like, eight, you know, 11 minutes left. And then I was like, oh, it autoplayed to another one. So you can just like hit a little playlist and watch them all. Probably. I love that you did that. That's so cool. I was like, what happened? Where's the reporter? Um, okay, at the same time, there was a pay-per-view special. Now, guys, this was a big deal back then. They still do it with like wrestling and stuff like that. Um and it was called No More Games that had behind the scenes uh fan interviews and special performances. They had, did you watch any of it? Okay. Yeah. So my favorite behind the scenes was they showed Danny with their stylist getting his rat tail braided. Yes. And he was like, It's real, everybody see. Everybody says my rat tail's fake. It's my real hair. And I was like, was that a thing? Why would people think it was fake? Also, Troy had a rat tail at this time, and I asked him, and he dyed it black, and I said, Was it for the new kids on the block? And he was like, No, other people had rat tails. They didn't have a trademark on the rat tails.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:06

Come on.

Lip Sync Allegations And Arsenio Response

SPEAKER_03 1:13:06

I mean, which y'all don't understand, that was a big thing at the time. That was just so funny. Um, anyway, they also had two other pay-per-pay-per-view specials. They had a lot of them, but it was kind of like if you couldn't go to a concert, you know, it was kind of like your way of feeling like you were at. But my favorite thing was the unhinged teenage girl interviews. Oh, I know. Unhinged. Those were hilarious. They were like panicking, obsessed, almost to the point of scary, like crying, oh my god, and totally inappropriate. And what's crazy is when you think about like the old videos of like the Beatles and stuff, it's the same. So it's interesting you say the Beatles, because during this time, when my sister and I were obsessed with them, my mom actually was like totally supportive of it because she was a teenager and was obsessed with the Beatles. Yep. So she got it. She understood, and it reminded her a lot of like her time. And she loved the Beatles, like she never stopped loving them. So, um, so also this one was really fun to watch. I watched bits of each person. Did you watch the Disney special? No that I sent you. Okay, so New Kids on the Block at Disney MGM Studios. Oh my god. All right, I am gonna watch it because that sounds so fun. Because Disney MGM Studios well, it's Hollywood Studios now when it first came out, and that's around the time it opened, a few years after it opened, they uh it was called New Kids on the Block at Disney MGM Studios Wildest Dreams. So, what this special did, it was a 1991 concert special filmed at MGM Studios, and it features New Kids on the Block as they explore their dream quote unquote dreams. So Joey, so John dreams about being a movie star, which I don't think was his real life dream. I can't imagine. Um, so they so they each have a little segment that shows them doing their thing. Joey dreams about doing song and dance like Fred Astaire, and oh my god, he's such a good dancer. Really? He's been on Broadway, so like that's not a surprise. Um you his was was really fun to watch. They dance down the street, and like he's in the old Hollywood glam. Um, Jordan dreams about playing one-on-one basketball with NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Okay, also entertaining to watch. Also good. Uh Danny dreams about being strong and healthy, like he's doing a weightlifting competition on the beach. What beach? I don't know. I have no idea. Y'all have to watch. There's no beaches in Orlando. I don't unless you're I don't know. I I maybe it was at a resort. Probably. So, and then Donnie dreams about being a stunt man and he's doing like the Indiana Jones stuff. Okay. It was it's hilarious. Some of that really checks. Yeah, you gotta just check it out. So, so anyway, they have all this happening at once. They also launched their official fan club, like I told y'all, they're called Blockheads to this day. Um, they had a membership over 200,000 people, and it was one of the largest in the U.S. Now, this was back in the time where you could like mail in and get like an official card. I'm sure I did this. I'm sure I did. They had an official NKOTB hotline. Oh, that's fine. And the number was 1-900-909-5Kids. I sent you the commercial for it. Okay. Um, you can go back, y'all look it up. It's hilarious. Um, and it received approximately 100,000 calls per week. And what you would do was call this 900 number and it cost money. That's what I was gonna say. For those that don't know, yeah, 800 was always toll-free, but 900 is a call you're making that you're gonna have to pay for for some reason. Yes. And it used to just be like adult lines, correct, phone sex operators, correct, and then they had psychics, and then then they started getting in like uh pop groups and stuff would have like fan fan lines, and it would have um pre-recorded messages that they would do different ones every week, and the commercial said it said you could be one of the lucky winners to talk to them live when you called. Now, how often that happened, I don't know if it ever did. Yeah, because it's not like they're sitting there answering the hotline, right? But of course, you're hoping it's that's your dream. Oh my god, so you're so you can imagine, I'm sure, how many teenagers racked up their parents' phone bill. Some yeah, some hope. Hoping by chance they'd be a lucky winner. And look, that is not something you did without permission. Let me tell you, you would get in trouble so fast over either long distance calls or any kind of call you gotta pay for, and that phone bill comes in, and like my parents would look at it every single time. And if you called somebody, like I think of it even when like my friends went to first went to college that were older than me. Oh, yeah. It was a whole thing. Like, if I if I called them at their dorm or whatever, like, are you paying for that long distance call? Because we're not paying for that long distance call. Like, I know, yeah, isn't that funny? Because now we all have cell phones. I don't look, I don't look over my thing. Well, because everything's included, everything is included. I don't even look at mine. You used to have to pay to call anywhere outside of your city limits, yeah. So, um, and it cost more depending on how far away it was. How far, yeah. So, and and one nine hundred numbers were by the minute. By the minute, y'all. They're expensive, like six bucks a minute. Yeah, that's crazy. That's nuts. Um, so anyway, in January '91, like my sister said, they performed in the Super Bowl halftime show. They were the first pop back to do it. Um, and this show uh changed the way they did halftime at Super Bowl forever. It never went back. It used to just be big marching bands. And they really, yeah, and they still had, if you look up the halftime show, they still incorporated a marching band, like a big like marching bands in this ginormous halftime show. Wow. It did not air live in most places because there was a breaking news report about the Gulf War, but they did air it after the Super Bowl. Okay. And so that's when everybody saw it. They sang it, oh, it was sponsored by Disney, by the way. Okay. They sang step by step. This one's for the children, and it's a small world, because it was Disney sponsored. Obviously. There were these humongo, like ginormous Disney characters on the field. Like, I don't know if they were balloons, but they look like giant statues. Okay. And there were 2,000 kids on the field. Yes. Oh. This was also the year that Whitney Houston sang the national anthem. Jeez. Yeah. Lots of groundbreaking moments that year. That's amazing. I have no idea who played. I did not care. You're like, also, football might have happened, but I'm not here for that. Who really knows? So definitely look up that show. I remember watching it after the game, being so excited. So ridiculous. Okay. So, because of all this, Nuke is on the block were the highest paid entertainers in 1991, according to Forbes, outranking Madonna and Michael Jackson. All right. So just to put that into perspective. Damn. Uh, they performed at the American Music Awards that year. They performed games, which y'all heard me do. Jennifer Lopez was a backup dancer. Oh my god. Crazy. Fun fact also during this time, Donnie and Danny co-wrote and co-produced the album Music for the People, uh, which was a debut album for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Nice. So they were working on that. Now we got into some controversy here. Do you remember their controversy? Okay. I think. Before I start. Something about a hotel and a fire? Absolutely not. Am I really wrong? I mean, there may I had to not come across anything about fires or I'm gonna look that up after and see who I'm thinking of. Okay, so that nope. Well, if I'm wrong, I'm really wrong. I'm trying to think of a segue to turn that. I don't know how to do that. So we're just leaving. Let's just figure out something else to talk about. So we're gonna we're gonna not talk about hotel room fires. But in 92, they released a standalone single, not associated with an album called If You Go Away. Um If You Go Away, girl. That's all I know. It reached number 16 in the US, number eight in the UK, and around this time, a guy named Gregory McPherson, who produced the step-by-step album, got it, accused more accused Maury Starr of singing vocals off stage while the group lip-synced to him and pre-recorded vocals during their live performances. So just for this song or for everything? For everything. Live performances. Okay. Are you okay? I'm looking up the fire while you're talking. Oh my god. I have to know if I'm wrong. I mean, can you look it up later? I'm about to tell you what's happening. Tell me.

unknown 1:21:51

Tell me.

Face The Music Shift And The Breakup

SPEAKER_03 1:21:52

I could not wait. I was like, I can do it later. She was like, okay. So yes. What McPherson was accusing them of lip syncing during live performances, and Maurice Starr was was like, so they basically, he was saying they had pre-recorded vocals, and Maurice Starr was also singing with the pre-recorded vocals. But he was saying the pre-recorded vocals was them, just with Maurice. No, no, he was saying it was someone else. Actually, good fuck. Why are you asking me about this? Because there's a difference between lip syncing to yourself. Right. Or lip syncing to totally. Now, this I do not know. It just said pre-recorded vocals. So maybe. Okay. Okay. Um, so this was kind of a big accusation because this was right around the time of the Millie Vanilli stuff. Yeah. And so the group immediately responded, and they actually interrupted their Australian leg of their tour to fly back and go on the Arsenio Hall show. Okay. To talk about it. Yeah, I did watch that. And do an interview and sing. Yeah. All right. Live. Which was entertaining, and we'll talk about that in a second. Um, so they performed like a medley of their previous hits and their new single. And the group plus Maury Star, which I didn't see the part of the I didn't watch all of it. I didn't see it where they interviewed him, but Arsenio Hall interviewed them. And they admitted to singing with a backing track during live performances, which is pretty common, guys. They do it on Broadway. Yeah, they call they call them sweeteners. That's what they call them. Um, it's pretty normal. And they also admitted that Maurice Starr did sing harmony on some background vocals when recording. Now that's an interesting piece because I don't know if they ever credited him with that. Right. And it's like, did they have other backup singers? Probably not. I don't know. I mean, I again, I don't think it really. I guess it's like, does it really take away from what they've actually created? Not really. Right. Well, and what I thought was interesting was Donnie was so funny in that interview. He just has really he has a lot of personality. He's such a good, like he's very charismatic. Charismatic. Now that I'll agree with you. Thank you. And he said, listen, we never said we were like awesome big vocalists. Like, we never said that. Like, we're a pop group, right? Like, like Jordan. Well, I don't think he said that, but Arsenio later said, like, you've got a mean falsetto. Like, like I would say Jordan and Joey probably are the best vocalists. The rest of them can sing, but that's not their main pull. That's not what's getting people to listen to them. Well, let's be real. That's not pop music. It's not, not usually. And that's not the pull of it. Yeah, and and also for live things, they're dancing their butts off and running around. So, like, hello. I think that the point is I'm glad they address it because you should never lie about it. Sure. Right? I mean, if you're gonna have background vocals, say it. It's just like Broadway shows. If you're having sweeteners, I would like to know. Yeah. I do feel like it kind of takes away sometimes. But whatever, that's my business. I would rather it not sound so polished and be all live. Yeah. Than the sweeteners, or in the case of like pop music. But I know at least in pop music, it's very common. I know. But anyway, so that's that. So uh anyway, February of 92, they actually filed a defamation lawsuit against McPherson against his allegations, and then in April he dropped it and released a statement recanting his previous allegations. So they must have gave him some money, I think. Probably. But anyway, somebody paid him something. Um, all right, so we're getting to the end, we're getting into mid-90s now, and um, in late '93, the group split from Mori Star because they, again, they wanted more mature sound, they wanted more creative control. They're all older now. Yeah. And they shortened their name to just be in KOTB. I love. Because they wanted to sound older, guys. So in 94, they released their fourth album, Face the Music. Now, did you look up the video I sent you, Dirty Dog? Yes. Okay, we're gonna talk about it. Uh so it had it actually had positive, like critical reception, but did not live up to the commercial expectation that they've had they had previously because it was so different, right? Also, their audiences were getting older. This is when grunge was coming in. Sure. And it was just things were shifting a little for pop music. Um, the final single from the album to chart was Dirty Dog. It had a rap cameo. They've they finally got some rap cameos uh by the artist nice and smooth. Okay, and it peaked at number 66 on the top 100, which isn't terrible, but it's not great if you're NK O T B. The video I wanted Katie to see, it was a big departure. It had um scantily clad gyrating women, they were giving lap dances, they were smoking cigars, like there was some uh, you know, gyrating all over the place. I don't know. It was very I mean, it was enjoyable, but it was different. It was enjoyable. The gyrating was enjoyable, but it was there, just so you know. Do you know what I mean? Like they were, you could definitely tell they were like, We're doing the most to change our image. Right. Say we are grown now, we're allowed to be like smacking this girl's ass. I mean, Sabrina Carpenter's a great example of that now, like Disney kid to like true, look, I'm gonna mimic sex acts in some of my some of my live performances now because I'm a grown-ass woman. Yeah, and I could do that. Yeah. So they went on tour to support that album. They played smaller venues, you know, clubs and stuff. But then not too long after that, uh, Jonathan left the band. He was having more and more panic attacks and anxiety. And so right after he left, they were like, let's just let's just disband. So they broke up, and anxiety wasn't the only reason Jonathan left. I mean, uh, he has said that hiding his sexuality became really tiring. Was he asked to hide it, or was it just he didn't say okay? All he said was, I was so run down, I had just been. Been in a couple relationships with guys and nobody knew. And I knew I didn't want to be confined anymore. And he said, I think I was dealing with inner demons. Sure. So I'm sure they probably wouldn't have encouraged him if he wanted to come out. I don't know who knew. I don't know if he was okay with people now. So that could have been it too. And it was kind of unfortunate because Jonathan had an ex-boyfriend sell photos to the National Inquire of them while they were in a relationship. I think in 2009 or something like that. And he never addressed it. He never said anything about it. But he's a national inquiry, so it's not like heavy-hitting journalism. But then in 2011, Tiffany was on Watch What Happens Live and inadvertently outed him. Oh, come on, Tiffany. And she said something about like she was discussing them dating in the 80s, and she said he, oh, he became gay later. Tiffany. Yeah. But I don't think she meant to. Oh, yeah. And then it was a thing. So pretty soon after that interview, he publicly acknowledged. I mean, especially by 2011, that's a different story than like the mid-90s, like being a teen heartthrob. But still, everyone's story and timing, and like, look, you never have to come out publicly if you don't want to. Right. So So I think he finally that was when he finally publicly addressed it. Okay. I mean publicly. I hope that that was a moment of like relief for him and and um like that it was a ended up being a good moment for him. You just hope.

unknown 1:29:30

No.

Reunion Attempts And 2008 Comeback

SPEAKER_03 1:29:30

Right? Like that it's okay, this thing that I've been worried about is finally just like done and there. So maybe he could get some peace after that. Yeah. So that's that. Um, so after the split, uh, most of the group members, you know, started families, they started to do other things in entertainment. Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood kind of just maintained low profiles away from entertainment. The other three uh continued their careers individually. Again, we're gonna talk more about them as individuals on part two. Awesome. Uh Donnie followed his younger brother Mark into acting. Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight recorded solo albums in '99. I made Cooper listen to the Jordan song that I loved. Do you remember? Baby, you know, I can give it to you. That was like a dance video, too. Oh, yeah, they're at the carnival. It's very grease vibes. Yep. Um, in 99, MTV tried to reunite the group and get them to perform at the VMAs. Oh. And all of them were on board except Jonathan. Yeah. So it didn't happen. It didn't happen. 2004, uh, they had a show on VH1 called Bands Reunited, where the host would go and talk to individual members of bands to try and get them back together. Uh, they also tried to convince them, and this time Jonathan agreed, but Joey, Donnie, and Danny said no. Okay. So they were like, all right, well, this probably maybe not ever happened. Um, Danny and Donnie even declined an on-camera interview. So I don't know what was going on during that time, but Joey said the only way they'd perform with the band was if the group, the only way he would perform with them is if they made the decision to reunite permanently. Which they did in August of 2008. Meaning like literally getting the band back together. Not just like a one-time like one show. Like, if we're gonna do it, we I want to do it like do it right, right. So they got back together in 2008. They released a single summertime, uh, which is a bop. So look at that. It's a good one. They relinked in their name again, good, to New Kids on the Block, and that August they came out with another single, which is called Single. It's also good. It talks about I can I think it's uh talking about a single on the dance floor. Anyway, it's good.

SPEAKER_04 1:31:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:32

Uh that had uh Neo on there. Okay, it's a good little bop. And they had that was their first studio album in 14 years.

unknown 1:31:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:39

So it actually debuted at number one uh on the Billboard Top Pop albums chart. Their reunion tour, uh, Nuke is on the block live began in September 2008. Natasha Bettingfield and Lady Gaga were supporting acts. Oh my god. Hello. Yes. They did 48 total concerts in Canada, the US, nine in the UK, one in Ireland, one in France, one in Amsterdam, Netherlands, two in Germany. So they came back big with a bang. Yeah. Um, this is also when they did their first NKOTB sponsored theme cruise.

unknown 1:32:09

Oh.

Cruises, Mixtape Tours, And Vegas Residency

SPEAKER_03 1:32:10

Yeah, for their fans. It departed from Miami, traveled to the Bahamas, and these kept on going annually because they were a hit. And I almost went on one. And they are they are literally on the cruise with you. They perform, they mingle, they do all the things. Imagine you have to have like an extra security check or a background check or something. Something to be even like allowed to purchase the tickets to do this thing. Literally, literally. Um, so they kept happening annually until the past couple years because um they started focusing on their Vegas residency at the NTM Grand. Oh my god. Which I no girl, this started in June of 2025. This is not new. I thought it was new, and it is not new. Oh, they're already singing? No, they this is their extension. They've had a residency there since last summer. I think I did know that. I did not know this. Yeah. So it began in June of 2025, was supposed to end this month, but they extended it for certain dates in June, July, and October. Okay. So we're aiming for we don't know. Any of those. October, probably. Probably give us more time to raise money. It does. Um, so the group also announced their full service tour um in 2009, featuring Jesse McCartney and the Jabbawockies. Oh my god, I love the Jabbawockies. I went to that as well. Um I went on a Vegas trip with two sorority sisters. Um, let me see. I have pictures. Hold. Do you have a student in 20 minutes? Uh, what time is it? 11:40? No. Okay. 12:30, I do. Okay. Hold on. Let me find the picture. I told y'all this shit was gonna be long. I can't find the picture. Oh, yes, here. Here it is at the palms. I'm not, it's a shitty picture, so I'm not gonna show you, but here it is. That was the palms. Oh, and this we were far away, so it wasn't very good. But this is them. Oh yes. Now wait till I'll show you my sister's pictures. Anyway, so I saw them that summer on that tour, but then in July of 2010, new kids performed with Backstreet Boys at a surprise collaboration performance at Radio Radio City Music Hall, and they announced that that fall they were doing a combined tour that summer with Jordan Sparks, Ashlyn Huff, and later Matthew Morrison, which is who we saw. Okay, Mr. Shu from Glee, guys. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's who my sister and I sang. And he sang? He was one of their opening acts. Yeah. What did he sing? He was fucking great. I don't even remember. He did some covers. No, because this was before Glee, right? I don't know. He did some covers and then he had some original music. That wouldn't have been before Glee. Yeah, it wasn't. I don't know. Okay. You're right. I don't know. I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know. So this is my sister and I saw them on this tour. Amazing. We were on the floor, and I'm gonna show you how good our seats were. And don't worry, I will get up for this one because you can see. Uh well, this was us dressed with Jordan. Okay. Oh my god, you guys are so cute. That was us ready to go. I love it. Um this this was Donnie right behind us. I know. Die right now. That's Donnie right there. Can't see. He ripped his shirt off not too long after that. Dude is ripped, ripped, by the way. And this is how close we were. Thank you very much. That those are amazing tickets. Thank you. Thank you. So good. It was worth every penny. Every penny. Also, there they are right behind us. I know. We were our inner children. If you can see, they were right behind us. Oh my god. Yeah. Um, were rejoiceful. Yes. It was that is so exciting. The best. So okay, I'm almost to the end. I only have three more things. Um so that tour started in May 2011 and ended in June 2012. 2013, they recorded the album 10. I don't remember this at all. Me either. Uh, it reached number six on the Billboard Top 200. And then that summer they toured as the opening act for 98 Degrees and Boys to Men. Ugh, would have loved that. Um, they got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. 2014, the group went on a European tour. I'm just the reason I'm telling you all this is to see that these fuckers are busy. They are they are like out there. They do know doing it. Yeah. 2014, they went on a European European tour and then had a limited Vegas engagement. Okay. 2015, they were participated in the main event tour alongside Nellie and TLC. Nice. 2016, they went on tour with Paula Abdul and Boys to Men called the Total Packing. Oh, I love that. And this shows you they know their audience. Right. They know who wants to see them. The people who are gonna go see Paula Abdul and Boys to Men will want to see the new kids on the box. Yeah. And that was her first tour in 20 years. I was gonna say, I and I think the last. So yeah, probably. But in 2017 in May, they released a holiday EP. Um, an EP is an extended release. Not it's more than a single, but not a full album. Okay. Okay, so an LP is a full album. I don't know what that means. What does LP mean? I should have looked that fucking shit up. No idea. Anyway, uh it was released. Uh it was like they had a deal with Target, and so it was called Thankful Parentheses Unwrapped. Get out of there. The parentheses left for a while, they back. I feel like they're just like, you know what? That's our thing. It is their thing. Let's do it. And it had a Target edition only track with DMX called We Were Here. So this is like a holiday album-ish. Okay. Unwrapped, because it came around around Christmas time, and the DMX song is good. Okay. So anyway, look that up. 2018, they went on the mixtape tour with Tiffany, Salt and Peppa, Debbie Gibson, and Naughty by Nature. So I guess John wasn't too upset with Tiffany. Yeah. I mean, honestly, probably not. Um, now, did you look up this video I sent you? In 2019, they had a new music video called Boys in the Band, Parentheses, Boy Band Anthem. You did? Yeah. And it had all the cameos. Yes. Oh god, it was so entertaining. It had cameos from listen to all these people Lance Bass, Debbie Gibson, Naughty by Nature, Ricky Bell, Michael Bibbins, and Ronnie DeVoe of New Edition, who eventually became Bell Bib DeVoe when Bobby Brown left. That's right. Um, it also had shout outs and Easter eggs to several other boy bands through the years: the Osmonds, Jackson 5, New Edition, Boys to Men, Bell Bib Devo, Baxter Boys, B2K, 98 Degrees, LFO, Minuto, JLS, O Town, BTS, InSync, One Direction. I'm not done. Take that and West Life. Okay. They I think they found every boy band that was ever around. Honestly, yes. Yeah. And it's still around because BTS Right. Yeah. So anyway, it was it's so funny. Please look it up. They were so funny in it. Um, they also that year performed at the uh Dick Clark's New Year's Rock and Eve. I remember that too. I remember that one. Because I was so excited to see them. And during the pandemic in 2020, this I actually watched it, it made me cry because it made me remember um how horrible we all felt during 2020. Uh, they released a single that they recorded with a bunch of different people in their own homes, and the video is of them singing and dancing. Uh, it was called House Party, and um it peaked at number five on the Billboard's digital songs chart. The song featured Naughty by Nature, Boys to Men, Big Frida, and Jordan Sparks. And then it had a bunch of celebrities in there too that were like dancing, and it was just, and then like at the end, Donnie, hype man, holds up a sign that says, I miss people, I miss everyone, I miss blockheads, like stay home, be oh god, it made me cry. It's an upbeat, happy song, right? But and then it shows them like dancing with their kids, like in their kitchen, because we were all at home and they were trying to like bring some joy to this dark time. So look that up. I like I can't couldn't leave any of this out. No, I think it's great. Like so I love it. Um, and then in 2022, they uploaded a music video, Bring Back the Time. Again, nostalgia, it had salt and pepper, Rick Ashley, oh my god, girl, in vogue. Um, it was directed by John Asher and the whole thing parodies 1980s music videos. That was fun, very good time. And then this is the thing I didn't know, and it's really good. I was listening to it, and Cooper was like, Who's this? I was like, This is the new kids. He was like, What? He's like, This is actually not bad. 2024, they came out with the album Still Kids. Okay. Um, it was their first full album in 11 years. Okay. All right. They also went on tour that summer, another magic summer tour, they called it.

SPEAKER_04 1:40:45

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:45

And it had DJ, Jazzy, Jeff, and Paula Abdul. So I guess she did go on tour. They should have done magic summer tour parentheses. I know parentheses. 2.0. And right now, currently, their cruise is on hold. They're doing their extended Vegas residency, and they continue to do like tons of fan-focused events. They they've just always been very loving and appreciative of their fans. They will always take selfies. I saw this meet and greet they did recently where Danny, I saw it on his Insta. Like he was just in a room hanging out with them, and they were like, How's it feel being a grandpa? And like, I know it's just I really love that they're still doing it. Right. Like you said, like I do like it when celebrities are really great to their fandom, no matter what. Like we've talked about that, like with the Dawson's Creek reunion and how those people will go to like conference at com, you know, 90s cons and stuff like that. But I feel like the new kids are unique in that, yes, they do that, but they're like working still, they're creating new things, and they still dancing, and they dancing. I love that, and they still do some of the classic choreo. Good, like the little leg. Like if we if we go to Vegas, they better. Yeah, we've got to go. Yeah, put your life on. Figure it out. We need a reel of us doing the hangin' tough choreo. Do we though? Yeah. Okay. Maybe not today. Not today. I gotta practice. We gotta learn it. We gotta learn it first. I don't know. I gotta dust it off. I know I knew it back in the day. Yeah but look, that was 11 pages of notes. That's awesome though. Couldn't stop because once I kept finding, I was like, I didn't realize how busy they've been in recent years. Yeah. I missed it. It's crazy all that they're doing and all that they did do. And I think something, especially when you're a kid, I feel like every like when you say a year or two years, you're kind of like, whoa, that's a really long time. But you recapping like how quickly they kind of exploded is mind-boggling. Well, to me. And you think about it, they exploded quickly and then went away quickly. Right. Like their popularity was only around for a brief time, but it seemed like a long time. It did, but it really wasn't. It it wasn't. I mean, they were hot and everywhere, and then they were not. Right. And now they're still out there, and now they're back, and they're back, they were back, and then they were back again, and they're back again, and they just keep on. They kind of and I would say like they're reinventing themselves, but also not. So I think that's cool too. Yeah. Because they're not just singing stuff from you know 1990 at their residency, but maybe they're probably seeing some of their new stuff. They're they're showing this other sides to themselves, who they are now. Yeah. And I think that's cool. Well, their new album, well, it's two years old, but but still, it's good. And also, um you can tell the thing that's fun for me is to listen to it now. And they're, you know, older guys now, and they're but their voices are so much richer than they were when they were at the peak of their popularity. Yep. And that is really cool to see because that doesn't always happen. Sometimes it goes the other way. Sure. Most of the time. Most of the time. It goes the other way. But I think they actually vocally got better. And we'll talk more about like all their individual things, what they've been doing, you know, on their own. Um, at that during those in-between times. Sure. When when we do part two. I mean, and we'll talk about this then, but like Donnie Wahlberg, he's he was on blue bloods literally and he has his own spin-off now. Right. I forget what it's called. And I gotta say, these guys be taking care of themselves. That too. They still look really good. None of them have done plastic surgery. That's amazing. Uh and okay, I do have to throw shade to somebody on the Instagrams who threw shade to Jordan. I don't know if you saw this real because it got pretty viral. But um, do you remember? I can't remember which song it was, which which slow love ballad he sang, but the the thing was in the video was like wind blowing on him and he had his shirt open. I do remember. And he did this whole little like shimmy body rub thing. Well, he still does it in the concert. And this guy or this girl and her gay friend, her gay male friend, did a video of them reacting. They're like, Oh, when you go to the concert and you still see this, and it shows him doing that now, and they're like doing this face, and I'm like, Y'all know he looks good, right? Yeah, like he's not 18, but he still has like it doesn't matter what he looks like. Well, no, but I'm saying they're acting like yeah, come on. And I'm like, that is rude. First of all, we don't do body shaming around. That's what I'm saying. It doesn't matter what he looks like. No, but I'm saying, like, you expect this man, did you go in there and expect this man to look exactly the same, which he doesn't look too far off? Really not, no. Did you think he was gonna look exactly as he did at 18 when he did that? Come on. Right. But he looks great, yeah. Of course. I wouldn't be doing that. I'm well, I wouldn't be doing that for lots of reasons. No one would ask us to do that. Well, people might ask us to do that. We've been asked some interesting things on the socials, but that we we don't need to hijack this episode with that. No, but yes, I think um, yeah, that's just kind of that's just kind of gross. I didn't like that. I was not at the end of the day. Anytime you're like commenting it about anything. Anybody's body is gross. Uh it's like the the people of Walmart website or have you seen it. Me too. Listen, I'm probably on some of those. I probably have to do it. Me too. Went up in the store with no shoes. I did. I went into CVS with no shoes. I I was like, I'm not wearing shoes. I would not have done that to be honest. I'm too germophobe. I mean, I that's what I'm saying. And I'm probably on some site somewhere. I don't really care. But like, it's just like let people live. Let people live. And also, there's so many important things we could focus on. And when okay, well, we don't need to go there because our podcasts. But I mean, but we're not on, like, I don't know. Just just the over over focus on appearance and aging and all of that. Like, I get really uh annoyed. Like, yes, there's a lot of stuff on socials, you know, that are bothersome. But the thing that bothers me the most and makes me want to quit social media forever are all the predatory ads I get. Oh, I know. For like for aging, for cellulite, for losing weight, oh losing weight. GLP ones, like all that stuff. And it's like, look, if I want to do those things, I I will research them and I will do them. But it's just it it gets very overwhelming to me. And I will like block service It doesn't matter, they find you they'll a different one pops up because there's just so many. And they know our age is frustrating. They know our age, yeah. And they know we're female, and we don't even have to look at that kind of stuff. No, and I'm like, I don't I don't want to be like looking at my like friends' children or grandchildren, some of them are dogs, and have to constantly be like, here's why you need this supplement to not have belly fat anymore. And I'm like, I uh I don't care, I really don't care. Leave me alone. I am not your target. I mean, I am your target audience, but also I'm not. It's bad, but also like I just felt it was very ageous. Like, he can he can have his shirt flying around all he wants because he looks good, and even if he didn't, I'd still be watching. Me too. I'd be like, oh, here it comes. What's gonna happen? And I would I'd be cheering. But we're gonna have some stuff to talk about him because I remember. Do you remember that VH1 reality show, The Surreal Life that he was on? Yeah, and he was with that chick from Top Model. No, she was with Peter, um Peter Brady. Yeah, she's with Peter Brady, yeah. But I feel like Jordan did something. I guess we'll find out. I feel like, wait, am I getting that all backwards? Was it a hotel fire? I'm telling you, as soon as we hit the. Are you thinking of Motley Crue? No, I don't think I am. But maybe we're gonna figure it out. We'll come back. We got a part two. We got a part two. We'll loop back, guys. Who kids on the block is the best from the 80s? The actual best. My I mean, they're not the best thing from the 80s. We are obviously. Yes. Duh. But it was fun to get to look back and it just made me really appreciate them more. I like them. I mean, I liked them before this episode, but I like them so much more now after hearing all this. And listen, if y'all have never listened to them, if because we do have some younger people out there, if you've never listened to New Kids on the Block, don't start with their first album. You need to listen to it the way we were introduced. So hangin' tough, then their first album, then step by step. And the Christmas albums? And then Christmas. Well, no, Step by Step came out for or wait. No, Christmas was before. Christmas, then Step by Step. Yeah. Yeah, I forgot about Christmas. And then any of the new ones in and then go in order. Whatever. Because the one that came out when I went to see them in Vegas was really fun. They had a lot of fun dance music. Nice. I love that. And um musics.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:46

Musics, whatever.

Listening Order, Part Two Tease, Goodbye

SPEAKER_03 1:49:47

The music. And then their most recent ones, a lot of fun. And go look up all their videos and stuff. And I know you didn't get to see all of them, but they're good. They're fun. They were really fun to watch. They're really fun. I enjoyed them. So that's it for part one. Alright. Next week is part two. Part two. And then after that, more boy bands to come. We should end it with a song. Oh, what have we not sang yet? I think we sang CoverGirl, yeah? Yeah, you did. Crap. Well, let's end it the way we started. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:15

Uh oh. Uh-oh. Oh. Uh oh. Parentheses. The right stuff. See, I learned something during this episode. You got the right stuff. Baby.

unknown 1:50:30

All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:50:31

All right. Well, thank you guys. We'll see you next time.