Pop Goes The Boy Bands

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Sep 02, 2000 Source: Launch.com Submitted By: By Lesley Holdom These days, every time you turn around it's as if there's a new boy band cropping up. In fact, there's more of an influx of boy bands and the inevitable pop idolatry that comes with them than there has been in over 10 years. The Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, 'N Sync, Five, C-Note, Youngstown--you see 'em literally everywhere, serving up unadulterated pop entertainment for unadulterated pop fans. The winning formula seems to be four or five young lads belting out songs in near-perfect harmony, either with lyrics of the love variety that promise young (and not-so-young) girls everything they've ever wanted to hear, or upbeat non-ballads encouraging males and females alike to get up and shake their asses, which is exactly what these groups usually do during their polished, well-choreographed live performances. It's a phenomenon that has opened the door to anything and everything "teen." In the music world alone, there are now volumes of pinup-based Behind The Music specials on VH1 featuring current-day stars as well as '70s icons like Leif Garrett and David Cassidy and '80s celebs like Rick Springfield and Duran Duran (the latter having never stopped releasing records, touring, or instigating unabashed female frenzy in concert). Rolling Stone, meanwhile, recently fanned the flames with its "Teen Idol" issue, and People's younger sibling, Teen People, scored this past May when more than 5 million television watchers tuned in to the prime-time television special Teen People's 21 Hottest Stars Under 21 to get a peek at Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake and Lance Bass, among others. There's even a new Nickelodeon-sponsored tour catering pretty much exclusively to teen audiences. And when it comes to the almighty charts, consider this: When the Backstreet Boys released Millennium in May 1999, they sold 1.13 million copies in the first week, topping the mark for initial sales set by Garth Brooks--who just happens to be the second best-selling artist in history, behind only the Beatles. So one may ask, why are these boys, some of whom may not yet be old enough to drink, running the show--again? "This seems to be just a really good moment for pop, for melodic music, stuff that isn't too heavy," says Bill Flanagan, senior vice president/ editorial director at VH1. "I think it's to some degree a natural reaction after grunge, rap, and heavy metal." "It's really an exciting time....Music now is upbeat, it's young, and it's fun," adds Teen People senior entertainment editor Lori Majewski. "'Pop' in 1999 is no longer a dirty word." Such star worship has been in existence since the infancy of popular music. "What we now call 'boy bands' certainly goes back to all those groups that Bing Crosby came out of, and Frank Sinatra came out of," Flanagan observes. "They'd now be called boy bands....You know it was a big thing in the '30s, the five harmonizing 'rascals.' And frankly, that's what the Temptations were. Very often we forget, because of what bands grew up into, that when they started out they were very much a teenage phenomenon." And to go on from there: In the '50s, there was Frankie Avalon and Fabian; the '60s had the Beatles, Stones, and even the Monkees, if on a different level; and the youth mania of the '70s produced such teen dreams as Garrett, Donny Osmond, and two stars with the last name Cassidy. And with the launch of the image-conscious MTV in 1981, the cute factor and fashion sense of pop bands became a live-or-die situation. "Personally, I really look back to the '80s as a huge teen idol era," Majewski says, fondly. "I myself was a teenager in the late '80s and a preteen in the early '80s, so my life back then was all about Duran Duran, and to a lesser degree, artists like Paul Young and Wham!." Soon after that, in the late '80s, came a different form of boy pop that was as much a conglomerate as a musical group: New Kids On The Block. "The New Kids On The Block was the first act of its kind where you could purchase a New Kids towel, a New Kids can opener, a New Kids doll--the marketing was just incredible," Majewski says. "That kind of mass-marketing was unique to them at that time, and now we're seeing that kind of thing again." Meanwhile, along with the new boy bands comes the boy band alumni, like former Menudo member and current chart-topper Ricky Martin; like former New Kid members Jordan Knight and Joey McIntyre (both of whom released records this year); like Robbie Williams, late of the U.K. pop sensation Take That, whose solo CD The Ego Has Landed--designed to attract a American audience--came out earlier this year. "They're kind of following in the tradition of Michael Jackson and George Michael," says Flanagan. "And I don't think there's any stigma to coming from a teen-pop sensation either....There's as much chance of a future serious adult artist coming out of that as there is a future serious adult artist coming out of a garage-rock band. There have been certainly a fair number of former child pop idols, from Stevie Wonder to Steve Winwood to Michael Jackson, who have grown up to be really important musical figures." Ah yes, Michael Jackson. Remember the bubblegummy Motown-crafted boy band, the Jackson 5, resplendent in its animated Saturday morning cartoon show and merchandising? Ever meet anyone with a Jackson 5 lunchbox? Or did you perhaps own one yourself? Now look at his musical legacy. "I just think that you shouldn't discount it, because there've been many surprises coming out of that 'real pop' thing," says Flanagan. "Let's face it, most of the really great rock 'n' roll acts evolved from doing pop music for screaming young girls." But what about in the here and now, before these performers mature and possibly prove their mettle in later years? How can one or two--or even three--of these artists ultimately stand out in a very over-saturated field? "They need really great songs," Majewski says matter-of-factly. "You can't sell millions and millions of albums to just teenagers--that kind of success comes from a crossover artist. If you have well-crafted songs, you're going to stay around. It's not just about image, it's not about five cute boys getting up there and dancing well." "If someone's really good, it isn't that hard to make a musical transition to being accepted across the board," Flanagan adds. "It's down to a song, and if they have a truly great song, then they'll deserve to graduate. And if they never do get a song as good as, say, 'I Will Always Love You' or 'Every Breath You Take' or 'Yesterday,' then they probably didn't deserve it. They were probably just pinups to begin with." For now, and on into the foreseeable future, boy bands rule. "They're literally taking over the world...And I mean the entire world," states Majewski. "Everyone is waiting for it to die--pop music has never been a favorite of the critics. But the critics can't really kill pop music because the audience will speak, and will continue to love it. I believe it's just the beginning for this kind of music to resurface. Music is everything to you when you're a teenager, and the teenagers will be there for these bands because there was a time in these kids' lives when the bands were there for them. That's the cool part about being a teen idol. " And the little girls understand. Lesley Holdom Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: johnanz http://imrdsoacha.gov.co/silvitra-120mg-qrms Comment on this item. Next Item: Music falls into place Prev Item: From Pop Kings to Wedding Rings