Music Throughout the Ages

Male recording artists have always been popular with women but collectively they give off a massive dose of energy maximizing their concert appeal. Although these ‘boys’ aren’t solo artists on stage, they are individually as equally important to their adoring fans. Females can choose their favorite male of the group and each member of the band can enjoy his own individual adoration which makes concerts both enjoyable for the boys in the bands as well as for their fans. Which boys makes the females swoon?

Men Who Command The Stage

New Edition

New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978, that was most popular during the 1980s. The group was formed by Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell in 1978, while living at the Orchard Park housing projects (or what the group and residents of the area calls them popularly as “The Bricks”).  Bell soon brought his best friend Ralph Tresvant in on the act, who quickly became their lead singer. They would soon meet a young local group manager/choreographer named Brooke Payne, who would give them the name, ‘New Edition.’ . After winning a talent show in 1980, Payne rounded out the line-up by bringing in his nephew, Ronnie DeVoe.

The group would perform all around Massachusetts and would eventually land a spot at a talent show which ran by Maurice Starr, where the first prize was $500.00 and a recording contract. New Edition came in 2nd place, but Starr decided to bring the group to his studio the following day and would record their debut album, Candy Girl. Recorded in late 1982 and released in 1983, on Starr’s Streetwise Records, the album featured the hits: “Is This The End,” “Popcorn Love,” “Jealous Girl” and the title track, which went to number one in both the American R&B singles chart and the UK singles chart.

Due to financial reasons, New Edition parted company with Starr in 1984. The group, meanwhile, went on to sign a major label deal with MCA Records, which released their self titled second album the same year. Eclipsing their debut album, New Edition spun off the top five hit “Cool It Now” and the top twenty “Mr. Telephone Man,” and went on to be certified double platinum in the United States. New Edition’s third album, All for Love, was released in the latter half of 1985. While not duplicating the success of its predecessor, the album was certified platinum, and spawned the hits: “Count Me Out,” “A Little Bit of Love (Is All It Takes),” and “With You All The Way.” The growing popularity of the group led to a guest appearance (as themselves) in the 1985 film Krush Groove, performing “My Secret.”

In December 1985, under pressure from MCA and their management, the group was forced to vote Bobby Brown out, due to behavioral problems. During this era of the group’s evolution, the group appeared in the episode of Knight Rider titled ‘Knight Song’, performing “Count Me Out.” As 1986 wound to a close, they recorded a cover of The Penguins 1954 hit, “Earth Angel” for the soundtrack to The Karate Kid, Part II. The song peaked at #21, and inspired the group to record Under the Blue Moon, an album of doo-wop covers.

New Edition’s future became uncertain when murmurings began to surface that lead singer Ralph Tresvant was eyeing a solo career as well. To pad his potential departure, singer Johnny Gill was voted into the group by Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell and Ron DeVoe in 1987, despite Tresvant’s ultimately deciding to remain in place. A native of Washington, DC, Johnny Gill is the only non-Boston native among the group’s six members.

New Edition’s fifth studio release, Heart Break—which also featured Gill as the co-lead vocalist—was released in the summer of 1988. Primarily produced by the production team of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the album was a departure from the group’s previous bubblegum sound, and instead took on a smoother, stronger, and more adult resonance. Spinning off five hit singles: “If It Isn’t Love,” “You’re Not My Kind of Girl,” “Can You Stand The Rain,” “Crucial” and “N.E. Heartbreak”; Heart Break became New Edition’s most commercially successful album up to that point, certified double platinum in the United States, with worldwide sales of close to four million. The success of Heart Break would launch the group on a very successful concert tour as well in the closing months of 1988.

After the run of Heart Break, New Edition went on hiatus to pursue side projects away from the group. At the suggestion of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis—Bell, Bivins and DeVoe formed a trio, Bell Biv DeVoe. Their 1990 debut album, Poison, went triple platinum. The same year, lead singers Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill (who had already recorded as a solo act prior to joining New Edition) also released self-titled solo albums, which too also achieved multi-platinum success. Later that year, the group (including Bobby Brown) had a semi-reunion of sorts when they performed at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.

However, after having promised fans that there would be a reunion—and still contractually owing MCA Records another New Edition album—the group (with Bobby Brown) reunited to record Home Again, their first new album in eight years. The album debuted at number one on both The Billboard 200 and R&B Albums chart, and became the most commercially successful album of the groups career; selling over four million copies worldwide. Home Again, meanwhile, produced several hits, including: the top ten pop hits: “Hit Me Off” and “I’m Still In Love With You.”

In the fall of 2004, New Edition’s seventh studio album and Bad Boy debut, One Love, was released. Though the album debuted at number twelve on The Billboard 200, it had a steady descent from the chart. The leadoff single, “Hot 2Nite,” underperformed—peaking at number thirty-five R&B and number eighty-seven Pop. The group soon had a falling out with Combs. Ultimately, the group asked to be released from their Bad Boy contract. Despite the messy divorce with Bad Boy, New Edition soldiered on, touring with other recently reunited groups like Guy, BLACKstreet and SWV throughout 2005.

In the fall of 2005, New Edition performed a medley of hits at BET’s 25th Anniversary Special. During their set, they brought Bobby Brown out onstage for an impromptu rendition of their 1985 hit “Mr. Telephone Man.” It was later announced on BET and Access Hollywood that Brown has reconciled with New Edition and rejoined the group and will be on the next New Edition album. By January 2006, New Edition announced that the group would launch a new album and tour in 2008.

New Edition became a pop phenomenon, and were big enough to have Madonna as an opening act during their early days. In the early 1980s, they sold more units in the United States than any other teen singing group. New Edition paved the way for upcoming boy bands New Kids on the Block, N Sync, 98 Degrees and Backstreet Boys.

Rebirth of Boy Bands

Boy bands became popular once again in the nineties during a rebirth. R&B Male Groups began to take center stage by setting clothing trends along with skyrocketing record sales for this genre of music. Groups like Jodeci, Dru Hill and Jagged Edge had great harmony and electric performances on stage leaving their female fans gasping for more. By using sensuality in their music and stage performances, these male groups had mass appeal and mega hit songs.

‘Pop’ Boy Bands also became teen favorites and a teen craze as these groups were in an unspoken competition of ‘who can make the most girls scream’. These male groups were usually comprised of about 4 or 5 handsome males of certain height or stature to attract females. Award-winning Grammy nominated boy bands N Sync, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees are known to be some of the best selling boy bands of all time with record sales collectively exceeding 100 million and sold out concerts.

New Kids Return

New Kids on the Block (also known as NKOTB) are an award-winning American pop group that enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr, the members consisted of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. The group went on to sell over 70 million albums worldwide and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in concert revenues.

In the early 1980s, Maurice Starr discovered R&B/Pop quintet (later sextet) New Edition and guided their early success. After breaking ties with them, Starr and his business partner, Mary Alford, sought to create a white counterpart act. Auditions were held around Boston, at which some five hundred teenaged boys auditioned. Among them was 15-year-old Donnie Wahlberg, who immediately impressed Starr and Alford with his dancing ability and showmanship, becoming the group’s first member. Wahlberg assisted in helping to recruit other members. Among them were his younger brother Mark, and his best friend Danny Wood. He also coaxed one-time schoolmate Jordan Knight, who sang an exceptional falsetto, into auditioning as well. Upon Knight’s passing the audition, his older brother Jonathan (also possessing a strong singing voice) was accepted into the group as well. Mark became disillusioned with its bubble gum direction, and opted to quit. Seeking a Donny Osmond-esque singer to sing the high solos, Starr replaced him with 12-year-old Joey McIntyre.

In April 1986, Columbia Records released the group’s self-titled debut album. The album, almost exclusively written and produced by Maurice Starr, featured mid 80s bubblegum pop material. The first single, “Be My Girl” received minor airplay around the group’s native Boston, but failed to capture nationwide attention. The album’s second single, “Stop It Girl,” fared even worse. The album, however, would later go on to be certified triple platinum by the RIAA, largely on the strength of the popularity the group attained with their next album.

Dissatisfied with the excessively bubblegum sound of their first album, the group wanted to have more input on their look, direction and song material. As a result, Donnie, Danny and Jordan received associate producer credit on the final product. The album’s first single was “Please Don’t Go Girl,” a ballad released in the spring of 1988. A radio station in Florida began playing the song. Scoring listener approval, it soon became the most requested song on their play list. When Columbia caught wind of the positive response, they decided to keep the group on its roster and put more effort into promoting the single. National attention soon followed and it eventually climbed to #10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart—becoming the group’s first hit.

New Kids on the Block’s second album, Hangin’ Tough, was released to modest fanfare in September. At year’s end, the album’s second single “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” was released. The song was given a huge boost when MTV took notice of the group and began playing the video in regular rotation. “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever),” reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in June.

More top five singles from Hangin’ Tough followed into the summer and fall, including: the title track and “Cover Girl.” Columbia Records also released, from the groups previously overlooked debut album, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind).” The song went top ten on the strength of the group’s popularity and effectively jump-started the sales of that album as well. By the end of 1989, Hangin’ Tough had climbed to number one on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and had gone eight-times platinum. They, subsequently, became the first ‘teen’ act to garner five top ten hits from a single album.

By early 1990, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in the world. The following May, they followed up Hangin’ Tough with Step by Step, which featured slightly more than half of the songs co-written and produced by the members themselves. The first single, the title track, raced to number one on the Hot 100 Singles Chart and became their biggest selling single. It was followed up with the top ten “Tonight,” which extended the consecutive top ten singles chart run to an amazing nine records. The album was eventually certified triple platinum, selling close to twenty million copies worldwide.

New Kids on the Block’s official fan club had a membership of over one hundred thousand names, and received thirty-thousand letters a day. Approximately one hundred thousand calls per week were dialed to 1-900-909-5KIDS, the Official NKOTB Hotline, as well. The group topped Forbes list of highest paid entertainers of 1990, beating out the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna.

In 1993, after having split from Maurice Starr, the group shortened their name to the acronym NKOTB. In January 1994, their fourth studio album, Face the Music, was released. NKOTB went on tour to support the album, playing smaller venues such as clubs and theaters, as opposed to the arenas and stadiums they were once accustomed to. Group member Jonathan Knight departed the tour early, after experiencing increased panic attacks and anxiety. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to cancel the rest of the tour, and the group disbanded altogether in June 1994.

NKOTB reunited and In May 2008, the group released “Summertime”, as a download single on various online digital music services. The group released “Single” on August 12, their second single from their latest album entitled The Block which was released on September 2, 2008 in two editions: a 13 track standard album, and a Special Edition which came with a fold-out poster and 4 bonus songs. The group’s reunion tour (New Kids on the Block Tour) is scheduled to begin at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on September 18, 2008. They will be touring in the US with Natasha Bedingfield. There are seven concerts scheduled for Canada and forty-one in the US.