Why I’ll Always Love Boy Bands
From one fangirl to the next.
On a chilly night in Los Angeles, back in November of 2000, my best friend and I were attending our first Nsync concert. I was a sophmore in high school and relatively late to the boy band train, as it wasn’t cool in junior high to like pop music. I was more than ready to let my hair down and scream at the top of my lungs. As the show started and Nsync emerged onto the stage, the adrenaline was pumping through me and the screams from fellow fans became deafening. I had never, ever experienced pure insanity in the form of a boy band concert, but I was hooked. We sang, we danced, we giggled and we were convinced that Justin looked at us. After the show ended and my friend’s parents picked us up, I ran into my house, upstairs to my dad and told him, “I had the best night of my life.”
Nsync was riding high at the peak of their career. Earlier that year in March they had released No Strings Attached, which sold 2.4 million copies in one week. The album STILL holds the record for most albums sold in a week to this date. The group was everywhere. From a HBO special, to late night appearances, MTV, award show performances, Rosie O’Donnell and beyond. I recorded every TV show appearance, won front row tickets to their stadium tour, had my mom drive me at midnight to Tower Records to buy Celebrity, and secretly bought Teen Bop magazines to rip out the photos. I have still yet to meet a girl my age who did not attend at least one Nsync concert during this era.
Nsync was my gateway drug. I soon became a pop afficiando and boy band expert with TRL as my bible. While I knew that 85% of it was pure cheese, I couldn’t get enough of synchornized dancing and harmonized vocals. I then dove deeper into the boyband world and started listening to Backstreet Boys, BBMak, 98 Degrees, O-Town, LFO, 2gether…shall I go on? However, I also began to research boy bands of the past.
With my big sister just five years older, I have a faint memory of New Kids On The Block. I was six years old when NKOTB were on top of the world, so I just missed the boat on the craze that laid the blueprint for the boy bands of today. While we can go back even further to The Beatles, Jackson 5, The Monkees, and many other groups that truly incited hysteria in our mothers and grandmothers, it was with New Edition and New Kids On The Block that ushered in a new era of boy bands.
Maurice Starr discovered New Edition in 1982 and soon found success producing their debut album, Candy Girl. Due to financial issues, New Edition broke away from Starr, which prompted the producer to retaliate by creating another group…New Kids On The Block. While New Edition went on to continued and break out success, NKOTB showed the possibilities of how far a boy band could go. The New Kids released their first album in 1986, but it wasn’t until their follow up album, Hangin’ Tough, that put them on the charts. (To date, the album has sold 17 million copies.) Between opening for pop star Tiffany and touring the world on their own, the group had topped Forbes’ list as one of the highest paid entertainers in 1991. It was through the marketing machine behind NKOTB that put the group on every chachki, pillow case and poster along with creating the concept of labeling each boy in the group. The trouble maker (Donnie), the shy one (Jon), the one with the muscles (Danny), the tall dark and handsome one (Jordan), and the cute young one (Joey). Boy bands of the 2000's would adopt this formula years later.
As with all boy bands, with the highs comes the lows and by 1994, NKOTB had burned out. In my research looking back, I was always bummed that I never got to experience the phenomenon. However, the boy band gods were looking out for me. In 2008, just after I started to work in the music industry, New Kids On The Block decided to reunite and planned a worldwide tour. I really could not believe the news. It was nearly impossible to think that they would ever get back together. It was a dream come true! Of course I bought tickets to the reunion tour for my friend and sister and we got to relive the joys of the early 90s. Though I was older, when the group stepped out on stage, I might as well have been 12 years old. The excitement and fun we had singing along and dancing is what will always keep me coming back. The group has since maintained a presence among their fans through tours, cruises and special appearances. Most recently receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
Many people do not understand, but there really isn’t an explanation, it’s a feeling. It’s the joy, happiness, and unfiltered fun to be able to feel like a teen without a care in the world. Just a harmless crush on your favorite boy band member singing to you in concert.
When I first started dating my boyfriend, I made sure to fill him in on my boy band tendencies, as not to scare him off. I explained that I will always go to boy band shows and probably be the crazy mom taking my daughter to concerts for whichever boy band is popular in another 10 years. Therefore, when One Direction emerged in 2012, I joked with him that if I was fifteen, they would totally be my favorite. Well being the amazing boyfriend that he is, he surprised me with tickets to a One Direction show in 2012 at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City. He really did not know what he got himself into and I, myself, was curious to see what this new group had to offer. I looked around at the audience and it was exactly the same as it was 10 years earlier, just different signs with different names. Instead of dancing and singing, I was grinning and observing the young girls who were having the time of their lives. 1D had a familiar buzz around them and the stage presence of a group about to break. After the show, I took to my Instagram to detail what I had observed. I had a strong feeling they would be touring stadiums in the near future.
September 12, 2014 myself, two friends, and eleven year old cousin ventured to Pasadena to witness the hysteria of One Direction at the Rose Bowl. Thirteen years earlier, I was at the Rose Bowl front row for Nsync. It was a true full circle moment. And let me tell you what a blast we had dancing and singing. I looked at my younger cousin as she was experiencing this all for the first time and was so happy to see her having the time of her life.
I have stopped trying to explain it to people who look at me crazy and wonder how I can love hip hop just as much as boy bands. I have stopped trying to explain why I still attend New Kids On The Block shows. I stopped explaining why I got rather emotional for the Nsync reunion at the VMAs. Because what I do know, is that it’s too much fun. It’s a rite of passage for many girls (and boys) and those memories last a lifetime. So from one fangirl to the next, keep hangin tough.
