‘There are
eight million stories in every boy band… so there are about 16million in
this one.’ Joey McIntyre flashes a pearly showbiz trouper smile,
despite the fact he’s been up since dawn for a TV shoot. Even at 39, he
has a sparkly youthfulness that hints at his past in US late-1980s/1990s
boy band New Kids On The Block – McIntyre was just 12 when he joined
the line-up.
On his left sits the similarly bright-eyed Howie Dorough, 38,
an original member of the Backstreet Boys. Now both men feature in the
nine-strong man band, NKOTBSB – with New Kids Jordan and Jon Knight,
Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood and Backstreet’s AJ McLean, Nick Carter
and Brian Littrell. It’s a pop mash-up sparking an age of hysteria. ‘The
first time this idea was mentioned, around 2008, New Kids were just
returning, so I wasn’t that interested,’ says McIntyre. ‘Perspectives
change so much in the music industry.’
Blockbuster pop is certainly not limited to teenyboppers any
more. The New Kids’ smash reunion tour came more than a decade after the
band’s exhausted implosion; it also echoed Take That’s romance with an
older fanbase. Backstreet, meanwhile, never really split, although
various members battled addictions (McLean, Carter) and one (Kevin
Richardson) quit. ‘Doing this brings out the good and bad in you,
depending on how cohesive you are as a team,’ says Dorough.
When NKOTBSB did get the collective go-ahead, it was
unveiled with a flourish: at a New Kids’ 2010 show at Radio City Music
Hall. ‘Backstreet were in New York too, so we thought it’d be an amazing
surprise to get them onstage,’ grins McIntyre. ‘We did an acoustic set,
beginning with (Backstreet’s 1999 hit) I Want It That Way – then the
curtain went up and these four guys were standing there. The place just
went mad – everyone knew how effing cool this was.’
It’s bizarre hearing this former teen fave using ‘salty’
language. What’s even more strange, though, is that both bands should
gel so easily as showmen, release a collaborative compilation album and
embark on a global tour. They might have shared commercial territory
(and a big-time manager, Johnny Wright) but pop fans, like football
supporters, are noted for their loyalty and partial to fierce rivalry.
‘Backstreet always credited New Kids as the first group of our
style,’ says Dorough, nodding at his pop comrade. ‘When they decided to
break, we took the torch and carried on. We were from two different
eras but both groups always had some fans that crossover. If we did a
show with N Sync, maybe that would clash.’
McIntyre adds: ‘Time Magazine called us the second biggest
comeback of 2011 – behind Gabby Giffords,’ referring to the US
politician who recovered from a near-fatal shooting. He’s clearly aware
of how surreal this seems but also quite pleased. McIntyre seems
confident about what makes NKOTBSB work. ‘From the get-go, we came
together and made this one performance, so it’s like a rollercoaster,’
he says. ‘Each fanbase gets their group but then we trade off, so the
energy never stops. At the end of the day, you gotta give a good show.’
The New Kids On The Block Hangin' Tough in the old days
New Kids’ members have used the ‘rollercoaster’ analogy
before. Back in 1993, a shattered Danny Wood told Smash Hits: ‘It was
going too fast. We were on a rollercoaster, we had to get off.’ In 2012,
though, NKOTBSB seem fairly well-adjusted, good-humoured and up for the
ride. As McIntyre points out: ‘What guy wouldn’t want to have a bunch
of screaming girls in the audience? Everyone’s older, the pitch is not
as piercing to the ears – there’s more of a husk to it. And being on
the road is different now. There’s wives, kids and…’‘Lovers!’
interjects Dorough, laughing.
Boy bands generally play to type, so have roles shifted within
NKOTBSB? ‘There’s similarity between different characters onstage,’
says McIntyre. ‘Donnie and AJ would play on being the ‘bad boys’; we’d
all bust each others’ balls. But in a weird way, this also gave me
permission to be my best. Before, you’d get so locked into your own
group, thinking: “I gotta be more cute than sexy.” The more we allow
each other space, the more we come back to the table.’
NKOTBSB’s combined multimillion-selling hit repertoire
includes 1989 chart-topper You Got It (The Right Stuff) and 1997’s
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), and McIntyre promises they won’t be
relaxing with ballads: ‘There’s a s***load of dancing in this show.’
Their aim, though, remains strictly mainstream. Dorough is
already mulling over ‘a Vegas, Celine Dion kinda thing’, while McIntyre
cites a classier tradition. ‘Boy bands come from that vocal revue
history: The Temptations, The Four Tops,’ he says. ‘We’re really
singing for our supper.’
Only now there’s a crucial difference. ‘When we were younger,
we were running around like headless chickens,’ says McIntyre. ‘This
time, it’s much more refined.’
The six-date British leg of NKOTBSB’s world tour starts tonight at the Liverpool Echo Arena.
www.nkotbsb.com
New Kids On The Block ruled the eighties, while Backstreet Boys picked up their mantle in the nineties. Now the two grown-up man bands are touring together
BOY BAND fever might be sweeping the globe but without these originals they wouldn’t exist.New Kids On The Block ruled the eighties, while Backstreet Boys picked up their mantle in the nineties. Now the two grown-up man bands are touring together.
Boyband
fever is taking over the world at the moment with British talent such
as The Wanted and One Direction topping the charts in the US. 26 years
earlier though it was New Kids On The Block that ruled the world before
handing their boyband crown over to Backstreet Boys in 1996. New Kids On
The Block called it a day in 1994 leaving it 14 years until they
reunited. Backstreet Boys on the other hand have been going since 1993
and have taken one hiatus in their careers in the early 00’s before
Kevin Richardson decided to leave the group. Carrying on as a foursome
the group has had limited success since.
Ellis Wayman of Quite Great
PR who have recently moved into he Elsie Whiteley Centre in Halifax.
They do PR for bands like Back Street Boys and New Kids on the Block
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