About a year ago or so, I wrote an article about revisiting a former childhood pleasure. It was a throwback to the first original and once famous boy band New Kids on the Block (or NKOTB). That article was brought about by listening to Jordan Knight’s album on which he rerecorded some of the New Kids classics from the late ’80s and ‘90s. That album, of course, brought a lot of fun old memories back (including standing in massive lines at their concerts and screaming my lungs out) and made me remember how much I loved them. I ended that article by mentioning that someone asked me if, given the change to watch Jordan Knight again (one of the few, along with Joey, still performing at that time), would I want to; to which I answered with a resounding heck, yeah!
That was over a year ago, before the whispers of a reunion were even starting to hit the tabloids. At the time, seeing the New Kids on the Block again was just wishful thinking and given the virtual disappearance of both Danny Wood and Jonathon Knight, was practically impossible. Today though, I am extremely pleased to have been proven wrong. Who knew that almost 20 years later, my favorite childhood band would once again be performing in front of screaming fans who — like me — are thrilled to see their favorite five boys once again singing and dancing on stage.
Yup, true to all the rumors spreading around, NKOTB has staged their comeback. It officially began on CNN April 3 of this year, when Donnie Wahlberg confirmed that the band had reunited and were coming up with new material and planning a tour. Needless to say, I was extremely excited. I had exchanged a few e-mails with my Ceska and Niki, my fellow New Kids fans, regarding news and videos about the pending reunion performances. I even thought about when and where the tour was going to take place in the hopes that I could go (yes, I’m a fanatic). It was just nice because more than anything it reminded me of my childhood — a time when things were so much simpler, easier and just plain fun. I stayed tuned for any and all news about the New Kids’ return. (Should they still be called the New Kids, I wondered?)
While I was stoked, I must admit I was also initially nervous. It had, after all, been years and years since they performed together and some time since they performed at all. What if they were bad? What if they couldn’t sing or dance anymore? Or worse: what if they were balding and overweight? Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those things, but in my head NKOTB has, since they stopped performing, been immortalized as those young, good-looking guys in ripped jeans and leather jackets with (at the time) awesome dance moves and sparkling smiles and I didn’t want that illusion to be shattered. So I waited for their first performance with both excitement and trepidation.
Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed when they premiered their first single, Summertime, last May. I caught the performance on the Today show and was pleasantly surprised to see that they still looked good and that they had taken care of themselves over the years (or at least had gotten back in shape before debuting the song). Summertime was a fun, catchy song very reminiscent of their earlier bubblegum pop sound that people know and love. And they still had that connection with one another, that kind of charisma as a group that brought them all success when they were together. It’s a trait that’s rare in boy bands these days and is actually one of the reasons several of the newer ones fail. But these five boys from Boston still had “it,” and it showed.
Tes, NKOTB was definitely back and since May they have been promoting their new album which promises to be a melting pot of talent both old and new. They are touring the United States and Canada with Natasha Beddingfield starting Sept. 18 and are slated for 41 shows in the US (hmm… I may yet make it!). They have also released the video for the carrier single. What did I think? Well, while they are still definitely good and I would hop on a plane if I could this instant to catch their concert — I must admit I found the video a little off-putting. The song is great, but in the video I though it would be more appropriate (especially for their fans) if they acted more their age instead of trying to be like all the new young bands. They even had all-white outfits and were choreographed dancing on the beach in between shots of scantily clad teens in bikinis and sarongs hanging all over them. I just thought it was a disjoint, but hey, it doesn’t make me like them any less.
As for their new album entitled “The Block,” it was finally released on Sept. 2 to a very excited crowd (people in the US have been lining up around the block waiting for autographs and photos during their album promotion). I have yet to listen to the entire thing, but I like what I’ve heard so far. The album has 13 all-original new songs which include collaborations with current stars like Akon, New Edition, The Pussycat Dolls, and Ne-yo who collaborated on the second carrier single called Single. It is also available in a two-disc deluxe edition with an additional four songs. I am actually waiting for it to be released here, but from what I’ve heard on iTunes, it sounds new and exciting. A sort of NKOTB for the new millennium, if you will, and I’m sure regardless of what the music critics say, loyal fans from yesteryear will still continue to come in droves to see them perform. With any luck, I’ll be one of them!