web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Tag: New Edition

  • Boy Bands of the 1980s…

    Boy Bands of the 1980s…

    My recent obsession with Menudo has me thinking about boy bands from the 80s this week…

    When I was a teenager, I wasn’t into boy bands. I liked what was then called classic rock, music that is way older than I am. Back in my day, we had our share of boy bands. The New Kids On The Block were a big hit, as were New Edition. I preferred New Edition to New Kids, but I know a lot of my friends were fans of the slick dancing moves and silky harmonies both boy bands offered.


    New Kids On The Block’s big hit, “Please Don’t Go Girl”.

    Watching that video makes me suddenly feel ancient. It doesn’t seem like high school was that long ago, but it really was. The woman in the video looks a little too mature for the boys in New Kids On The Block, anyway. After “Please Don’t Go Girl” became a hit, New Kids On The Block became very popular. For awhile, they could do nothing wrong. But then they started to grow up and so did their audience. By the 1990s, they had become decidedly uncool. They changed their name to NKOTB, probably because New Men On The Block didn’t seem very catchy.


    New Kids gets edgy with “Hangin’ Tough.


    “Candy Girl” came out in 1983. I think I might have liked New Edition more because I was a lot younger when they made it big.


    A live performance of “Mr. Telephone Man”.

    Menudo was another boy band that was big in the 80s. I was first introduced to their very Latin sound when I was taking Spanish in school. My teacher was from Cuba and loved their music, so she shared it with the class.


    Here’s a video that features a very young Ricky Martin. I watch him wagging his ass and want to say, “Get it, boy!”


    Ricky Martin when he was brand new to Menudo… He was about 13 here.

    I didn’t like Menudo’s music that much back then, but I must admit I’ve been watching their old videos over the past few days. I can see why they were such a popular boy band back in the day. And Menudo avoided the problems associated aging bands. In most cases, members of Menudo were forced into retirement when they turned 16 or, in Ray Reyes’ case, when they grew too tall for the band.


    Menudo sings at a pool party in 1987. Check out the biker shorts!

    I suppose I could add other bands to this post. The Jacksons and The Osmonds could probably be considered boy bands, except they came from large singing families. And by the 80s, they were men, not boys. Watching these videos, I can’t help but wonder how these guys feel when they see themselves decked out in matching outfits, dancing and singing in front of a bunch of screaming girls. I think about the hours of rehearsals they must have endured to perfect those dance steps. And now, thirty years later, I wonder if the experience of being in a boy band was worth it to them. Money, fame, boyish good looks, and slick dance moves… who wouldn’t want to have those things going for them?

    I can’t help but remember South Park’s hit song…


    Watching boy bands makes me feel like a good finger bang…

  • Friday Throwback – Word To The Mutha

    New Edition took a hiatus from recording as a group after the Heart Break album (though Bob was already gone) and decided to all go their own way musically. Bobby had already done it with great success, but now it was Johnny and Ralph’s turn. The three remaining cats (Micheal Bivins, Ronnie Devoe, and Ricky Bell) formed Bell Biv Devoe, or just BBD. All were successes in their own right, but BBD hit with that hip hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop feel appeal to it. They had a song on their Poison album that shouted out their NE family. The NE family got back together to record the remix to Word To The Mutha.

    • It took BBD to get the band back together
    • Those are some wacky outfits – come on Ron, long sleeve button up with a tie, some shorts and a hat?
    • What’s up with Biv making out with baby girl and then wiping it on his sleeve? Was that Free?
    • Poor Johnny G – he sings the intro and then you only see him smiling the rest of the way
    • “Oh no she’s a candy girl, living in a half crazy world, that’s the way I’m livin’ girl, and every little step I take is another NE Heartbreak, my, my, my”
    • Ralph T and Bob can rap and they can do it better than Biv and Devoe.
    • Why is Bob so angry and throwing stuff?

    New Edition would eventually come back together for Home Again and tear it up until they had to kick Bob out of the group again. They came back a couple years ago on Diddy’s Bad Boy label with One Love but Diddy didn’t really do anything with it. Maybe they’ll bounce back yet again? Who knows, but just like two brothers, it’s word to the mutha.

  • Friday Throwback – Rub You The Right Way

    I was thinking about what to use for this week and it hit me like a ton of bricks. A friend had sent me Ralph Tresvant’s video for Sensitivity and I figured that if Ralph looked silly, I remember Johnny Gill looking even more silly. He’s workin’ it in this video.

    – A shirtless Johnny wasn’t too impressive. Dude could’ve got in the gym a bit and hit the bench press.

    – Was he shiny suit man before Diddy was?

    – Check out JG’s moves. He’s got some frenetic moves.

    – Whenever I see his haircut, I think it looks like someone was building stairs.

    – His dance moves are like a wannabe Janet in the Rhythm Nation era, with MJ’s pelvic thrusts.

    – This might be one of the greatest lines in pop history – “Whenever I need to rub, I run her happiness.”

    – Why is he saluting and then crotch chopping all at the same time?

    – Is he wearing a leather tank top with that leather jacket and leather pants?

    – That’s an angry running man.

    Johnny’s Wikipedia page says that he, Ralph T, and Bobby B created a group called Heads Of State. Huh? Can’t they just get back with the rest of the New Edition fellas?