--=[ New Kids On The Block ]=--
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| New Kids on the Block is an American pop group that enjoyed success in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a boy band which went on to sell 80 million albums worldwide. Assembled in Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr, the members consist of brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. 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 New Kids went on tour around the New England states, singing wherever Starr could book them: in bars, school dances, and clubs. Nevertheless, Starr remained diligent and persuaded the label to allow the group to record a second album. 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. After the failure of the first album, Starr had the group back in the studio for most of 1987 and 1988 recording their second 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. Failure seemed destined a second time when the song became another that went unnoticed by the listening public, and Columbia Records made plans to drop the New Kids from the label. At the eleventh hour, however, 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. In the meantime, the group began making national televised appearances on such music programs as Showtime at the Apollo, and Soul Train. They later landed a spot as an opening act for fellow teen-pop act Tiffany on the U.S. leg of her concert tour. Sales of Hangin' Tough steadily increased as the group's national attention slowly rose. 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, including an appearance on Club MTV. By early 1989, it cracked the top five. The New Kids hit pay dirt with their next single, "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart in June. The group had been scheduled to open for Tiffany once again on a second tour, but their sudden popularity caused a reversal, and she wound up opening for them (although the two acts were technically billed as "co-headliners.") More top five singles from Hangin' Tough followed into the summer and fall, including: the title track and "Cover Girl." Columbia Records also released the single "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", from the group's previously overlooked debut album. The song went #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles 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. | |
| Meanwhile, a top ten charting holiday album, Merry, Merry Christmas, was released in the fall - spawning another top 10 hit, "This One's for the Children" and going double platinum in the U.S. The proceeds were donated to United Cerebral Palsy, the New Kids' favorite charitable cause. Hangin' Tough would go on to spend 132 weeks on the chart, and in January 1990, the album won two American Music Awards for "Best Pop/Rock Album", and "Best Pop/Rock Group." With the success of "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)," "Cover Girl," and "This One's For the Children," the group pulled off a rare feat of having three singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, but each from a different album. By early 1990, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in America. 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 nine records. "Let's Try It Again" hit #8 on the UK Singles Chart, whilst "Baby I Believe In You" went *1 on the Japanese Chart, further signifying the international appeal of the group. The album was eventually certified triple platinum, selling close to twenty million copies worldwide. The group performed an estimated two hundred concerts a year, with an extravagant worldwide concert tour that summer, called The Magic Summer Tour, sponsored by Coke. Their 1990 pay-per-view special broke cable-TV history at the time. During this time, the group became heavily merchandised. NKOTB licensed merchandise included lunch boxes, buttons, T-shirts, comic books, dolls, trading cards and even a Saturday morning cartoon in their likeness. In 1991, sales for the group's merchandise were estimated at US$ 400 million. | |
| 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. Their first studio album in close to four years, Face the Music, was a musical departure from the group's previous efforts. Nearly all the songs were written and/or co-produced by the group. In spite of some positive critical reception, the album failed to live up to commercial expectation. The album's final single to chart was "Dirty Dawg" (which featured a rap cameo by Nice & Smooth), peaking at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. The followup single, "Never Let You Go", failed to chart in the U.S., but did reach #42 in the UK Singles Chart and #18 in the Canadian charts. 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. After experiencing increased panic attacks and anxiety, Jonathan Knight left the band. Shortly thereafter, the remaining four decided to officially disband the group. In April 2008, after months of speculation, Donnie Wahlberg confirmed to CNN that the group had reunited with plans to record new material and to stage a tour. The following month, the group released their first single, "Summertime". The cover of the single featured the name "New Kids on the Block", re-lengthened from the initials NKOTB. On August 12, 2008, they released their second single, "Single", featuring R&B singer/songwriter Ne-Yo, followed by the release of the group's first studio album in fourteen years, The Block. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart and #2 on the Billboard 200 in September 2008. It was certified Gold in October 2008, in Canada. | |
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