By the time June 1989 rolled around, New Kids on the Block had already become a phenomenon. The quintet of dreamy dudes from Boston had made a habit out of making teen girls swoon from coast to coast, but their first two huge hits singles from their second album Hangin' Tough — "Please Don't Go Girl" and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" — fell short of the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (though they both broke into the top 10). On this day in '89, the group scored their first chart-topper: "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)," the falsetto-heavy piano ballad that became an instant staple at middle school dances.
In an interesting development, the charts of the 1980s were completely the opposite of the charts today. Back then, an album could stay at the top of the Billboard 200 for months at a time, but a multi-week reign at the front of the singles chart was just about impossible. Today, there's a different album at the head of the line every week and the singles chart tends to be ruled by one song for weeks at a time. Thus, "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" spent only a week on top, knocking off Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" but falling to Richard Marx's "Satisfied" one week later. New Kids on the Block actually had two chart-toppers in '89, as "Hangin' Tough" broke onto the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in September (displacing Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" but later bowing to the power of Gloria Estefan's "Don't Want to Lose You" a week later).
All told, Hangin' Tough went on to sell 16 million copies worldwide. Though never particularly known for their visual sense (their videos were mostly of the five New Kids performing and goofing around, which is all anybody ever wanted anyway), the clip for "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" is a tasteful flashback to a (slightly) simpler time.
http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/06/17/new-kids-on-the-block-number-one/
In an interesting development, the charts of the 1980s were completely the opposite of the charts today. Back then, an album could stay at the top of the Billboard 200 for months at a time, but a multi-week reign at the front of the singles chart was just about impossible. Today, there's a different album at the head of the line every week and the singles chart tends to be ruled by one song for weeks at a time. Thus, "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" spent only a week on top, knocking off Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" but falling to Richard Marx's "Satisfied" one week later. New Kids on the Block actually had two chart-toppers in '89, as "Hangin' Tough" broke onto the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in September (displacing Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted" but later bowing to the power of Gloria Estefan's "Don't Want to Lose You" a week later).
All told, Hangin' Tough went on to sell 16 million copies worldwide. Though never particularly known for their visual sense (their videos were mostly of the five New Kids performing and goofing around, which is all anybody ever wanted anyway), the clip for "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" is a tasteful flashback to a (slightly) simpler time.
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