Still Hangin' Tough

Fourteen years after their break up, one of the biggest boy bands in history are getting back together. The New Kids on the Block. The five guys from Boston, who were formed in 1984 as teenagers and shot to superstardom after their 1988 release of Hangin’ Tough, recently announced a new album and tour. It has been a long time but those screaming fans, known as “blockheads” back in the day, are still out there as proven on the New Kids’ recent appearance on the Today show.
I was one of those “blockheads” who became a fan around 9-years-old and was lucky enough to see them in concert when I was 10-years-old at the height of their popularity. (Even still have the ticket stub). Yes, I was the fan with the posters on the wall, collected magazines about them, got up every Saturday morning to watch their cartoon, had the t-shirts, earrings, even a board game, and of course had a favorite New Kid. The New Kids were to me what The Beatles were to my mom.

Then the backlash started to happen and critics thought they were overexposed. And then the Milli Vanilli scandal broke which escalated the backlash, not just for the New Kids but for every artist who did pop music at that time. If Milli Vanilli were fake well then critics assumed everyone else was fake. Their Arsenio Hall show appearance during the backlash proved the critics wrong.
When the New Kids came back with a new album called Face The Music (a completely underrated album), the music scene had changed. The fans looked to other performers while alternative music and gangster rap became popular at that time.

I do not think they deserved the backlash and the criticism. They were five talented guys who did not ask to be overexposed. All they wanted to do was perform for their fans. On top of that they were good role models as well who were clean cut and seemed like down to earth guys. Their lyrics were not inappropriate and they did not sing about bitches in their music which is what you would find in gangster rap. Unfortunately, music fans preferred that type of music over the New Kids at the time of their break up. I admit I own rap albums now that I am an adult, but if I have children I would never allow them to listen to that stuff; instead I would get out my New Kids and Michael Jackson albums. My point: that was the difference between the New Kids and other performers at the time and why they had so many fans who were young girls like myself. Parents trusted this group.
I am happy about this reunion. I think that anyone is glad when a once successful group reunites after so many years. It takes me back to my childhood and makes me remember all the good music they brought back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. You cannot help but have their hit songs “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” or “Hangin’ Tough” stuck in your head when you hear about this group. They paved the way for boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and N’sync when pop music exploded again in the late 90’s. It is funny because I never became a fan of N’sync or the Backstreet Boys. I always said they were not the New Kids on the Block. I also knew that the New Kids would be the only group who would ever have my heart.

So, get ready for a comeback. They may be pushing 40 but the New Kids on the Block are still hangin’ tough and the “blockheads” are out in full force once again, including me. :)