In every era of pop music, boy bands have elicited uncontrollable screams from their adoring fans. In the 60s, it was The Beatles. In the 70s, the Jackson 5. More recently, the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, who then passed the baton to One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer.
In 1989, it was the New Kids on the Block's turn to rule the music as only boy bands can.
After Boston-based producer-songwriter Maurice Starr formed New Edition, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985 with “Cool It Now,” he followed with New Kids on the Block – brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre. , Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. While their self-titled first LP did not chart on the Billboard 200 upon its release, the follow-up Hangin' Tough filled the band's void in the late '80s, scoring five infectious Hot 100 top 10s, including the quintet's first No. 1 in June 1989, “I'll Be Loving You (Forever).” The ballad followed the No. 10 “Please Don't Go Girl” and the No. 3 hit “You Got It (The Right Stuff),” which generated even more buzz.
On September 9, 1989, the New Kids' rise peaked with the set and its title track topping the Billboard 200 and Hot 100, respectively. The set was slow and took 55 weeks to top the Billboard 200, completing one of the longest climbs to No. 1 in the chart's history.
By the end of the years, New kids on the block had finally charted on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 25, and spawned its own top 10, the group's No. 8 cover of Delfonics' “Didn't I (Blow Your Mind).” The band even collected a top 10 from a third album, the holiday set Merry Christmaswhen “This One's for the Children” reached No. 7. In between, Hangin' ToughHis fifth single “Cover Girl” peaked at No. 2.
(On their 1989 summer tour, New Kids on the Block – and ex Bulletin board editor Tommy Page, then in his teenage years as an idol [he passed in 2017] – are set to be the opening acts for Tiffany. By the end of the tour, Tiffany and the New Kids had switched places.)
The combination of street kids (i.e. Wahlberg's semi-rap on “Hangin' Tough”) and sweet (Jordan Knight and McIntyre were the voices of the band's biggest ballads) helped them become chart, touring, and merchandising powerhouses . continued into the 1990s Step by step. Like its predecessor, the album and its title track became Billboard 200 and Hot 100 No. 1, respectively. 1. Follow-up single “Tonight,” which playfully checks off many of the song's previous hits, climbed to No.7.
Ultimately, the team won his honor Bulletin boardtop artist of 1989 and 1990.
As musical trends shifted from pure pop to rap and grunge, New Kids on the Block released a chart-topping No.37 Face the music (billed as NKOTB) in 1994 before going on hiatus. With enough time passing for nostalgia to help restore their image (along with a return to pop music prominence), the band exploded in 2008 with the No. 2 hit album The Block (featuring a track with the then-new Lady Gaga), which yielded the quintet's first Top 40 Hot 100 hit since 1992, the No. 36-peaking “Summertime.” His 2013 album 10 hit No. 6. In between, the act embraced its place in the boy band family: In 2011, it released NKOTBSBa collaborative set with the Backstreet Boys, which peaked at No. 7. The actors' collaboration continued in the form of Nick & Knight, aka BSB's Nick Carter and New Kid Jordan, in 2014.
More recently, New Kids on the Block released the album Still Kidswhich peaked at No. 4 on the Top Albums Chart in June. Lead single “Kids” has hit both the Adult Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts, marking the group's first appearance on the latter chart on almost 35 years.
“There's a sense that we don't want to let each other down,” Wahlberg said when the team chatted with Bulletin board in New York in May. “There's an urgency that I think you can hear sometimes in the voices, wanting to get the best out of a performance. I think that's on this record, even in the writing.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/rewinding-the-charts-25-years-ago-new-kids-on-the-block-were/
