Stars of the 90s – New Kids On The Block

New Kids On The Block -

How the first real boy band in pop history conquered the 90s

What was commonplace in the music scene at the end of the 1990s had yet to be invented at the beginning of the decade. They hail from America and are the first band to truly deserve the name boy band . New Kids On The Block is the name of five guys from Boston, Massachusetts, who set out to conquer the world in the late 1980s.

New Kids On The Block , or NKOTB for short, consists of lead singer Joe McIntyre (December 31, 1972), keyboardists Jordan Knight (May 17, 1970) and Danny Wood (May 14, 1969), drummer Donnie Wahlberg (August 17, 1969), and saxophonist Jonathan Knight (November 29, 1968, Jordan's brother). They have been friends since early childhood. They have been making music together since 1985. Their second album , " Hangin' Tough " (1989), sold six million copies in the US alone and went triple platinum.

Jonathan Knight joined New Kids On The Block at the age of 16, after his younger brother Jordan was invited to join the group by band member Donnie Wahlberg . Wahlberg had been discovered by talent agent Mary Alford, who had been asked by producer Maurice Starr to help form a major boy band after her success with groups such as New Edition. Wahlberg and the two Knight brothers, along with Wahlberg's younger brother Mark and friends Jamie Kelly and Danny Wood, were the original members of the group. However, after a few months, both Mark and Jamie decided to leave, and Joey McIntyre , then only 12, took his place.

Led by Starr, the band rehearsed after school and on weekends. They were originally called Nynuk until Columbia Records signed them and ordered them to change their name to New Kids On The Block (NKOTB). They released their first self-titled album in 1986, which, despite Starr's efforts, failed to achieve widespread success. The band members then began to develop the direction and sound of their second album, hoping to move away from Starr's bubblegum pop sound. They released the single " Please Don't Go, Girl " in 1988, which eventually peaked at number 10 on theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song's success contributed to the success of their second album , " Hangin' Tough , " which steadily gained popularity as the group began touring and MTV gave some of the album's singles more airplay.

And now BRAVO is getting its act together: Of the 52 issues in 1990, NKOTB appeared on the cover 42 times, either as a group or individually. Countless posters, stories, autograph cards, childhood photos, star albums, etc., are delivered to readers' homes every week for DM 1.90. Joe McIntyre wins the inevitable vote for Favorite Kid. Bravo 's marketing machine is running at full speed. There are bed linens and dolls to be won. At the beginning of May, Bravo brings the 'Fab Five' to Germany. Unfortunately, only the four of them are coming, as Danny breaks his left ankle at a concert in Ireland and has to cut the tour short (he tripped over a teddy bear a fan had thrown to him on stage!). The three concerts in Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Essen sold out in no time, despite the DM 36.00 admission (an estimated 98.5% female fans), but the disappointment prevailed: too short (75 minutes), a somewhat lackluster performance, and no encore. Starting with issue 25, a 45-part star-studded featurette was published. On December 27, BRAVO announced them as the OTTO winners among rock/pop bands (23.01% of readers voted for them), and with seven hit singles, they also commanded the top spot in the BRAVO charts as the most successful artists of 1990. Their 1992 hit " If You Go Away " is the most successful song in the 58-year history of the BRAVO readers' chart !

In 1994, the band split up because the individual members wanted to pursue their own projects. Jonathan became a real estate agent, Donnie dedicated himself to acting, Jordan went solo, Danny produced other artists, and Joey appeared in musicals on Broadway. However, they reunited in 2008, and since then, the five original members have toured more or less regularly and—in addition to collaborating with numerous other artists—released two studio albums.