Boy Bands
Boy BandsBoy Band Bash
Remember New Edition? You know you do.. the "Mr. Telephone Man" song.. Bobby
Brown and those kooky guys known as Bell Biv and DeVoe.. I know you remember the late
80's..1988, 89. New Kids On The Block were like, the boy band du jour. But alas, the 90's rolled
around and heavier grunge music like Nirvana and Soundgarden, as well as a heavier, edgier
rap such as Ice Cube and Snoop Doggy Dog took over the music scene.. Thus ends our tale
of boy bands, right? WRONG!
Somewhere along the lines, while rap and R&B maintained their power, rock music lost
a bit of theirs, letting pop music creep back into the scene. I suppose that the Spice Girls can
carry some blame for that by being the first pop group to get out there, and while there are a
couple of Spice Girl clones, they aren't as prevalent as the boy bands that followed.
1998 had unleashed a torrent of boy bands on the US, many of whom spent time in
Europe to start a cult following. The following is a run down of the Boy Bands that have left
their impression in 1998.
Unless you've been living under a rock, the Orlando based group, Backstreet Boys
reigned supreme as the top Boy Band in 1998. With the top selling album in 1998 behind
Titanic, the Backstreet Boys have just released a new album and are planning a second world
tour. The band enjoyed 4 top 10 singles in 1998, including "As Long as You Love Me",
"Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", "I'll Never Break You Heart", and "Quit Playing Games (With
my Heart)". Their world tour pulled in $10 million.
The middle of 1998 brought a lawsuit between the band and Lou Pearlman. While the
details of the settlement has not been released, it resulted in the dismissal of their management
team, Donna & Johnny Wright, with Lou Pearlman being named a partner with the Backstreet
Boys for 1/6 of the action. Pearlman's Trans-Continental Records is still in legal entanglements
with the Backstreet Boys's label, Jive/Zomba. This may or may not be one of the reasons why
Trans-Continental began promoting 'N Sync, a replica of the Backstreet Boys, more aggressively
toward the end of 1998.
For better or for worse, the fans are happy that 'N Sync, another Orlando based
band, left their mark in 1998. With their self titled album the 22nd topselling album of the year
(with 4 million albums sold since it's release last March), and Top Ten Christmas album, the
group is also enjoying the success of three top ten singles, "Tearin' Up My Heart", "I Want You...
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