A. The Happy Early Days
Listening to boybands is a guilty pleasure. Some might say it is a pleasure, others might find it guilty, and the rest would say it is both. But whether we like it or not, the boyband has become a part of the music growth. While literally the term means some boys who are committed in a band, nowadays it refers to a clean-cut vocal group of boys singing pop or R&B and targeted mostly to younger audience. It is in fact not a band for they do not really play instruments.
The form has actually existed quite some time ago; if you remember Bee Gees or Jackson Five. New Kids on the Block which was found in 1984 nevertheless was the first major group which really belonged to this category. In fact, although the term itself was made popular far after this group split, the latter boybands adapted the form from them with their typical easy listening songs and choreography which can make the audience ever so often ignorant about the quality of their live singing.
I am certain we all know about the fact I have just mentioned. However, let us see this matter from different point of view. In any case, New Kids was absolutely harmless compared to the successors, such as Backstreet Boys, *NSync, or Blue. Unlike those which fairly seem to expose more sexuality, New Kids were more consistent about their choice in targeting adolescents. Their songs, which were written by themselves, were mostly quite clean. You could hardly find even a kiss on their videos. In worse case, no other boyband could top the Forbes magazine's richest entertainers list. These kids from Boston did take the place from comedian Bill Cosby back in 1991.
Following the success, in early nineties, a counterpart was born in the UK. And that was when boybands changed their appearance in the name of Take That. These boys, including major song writer Gary Barlow and the infamous Robbie Williams, pictured boyband in a more mature way, whether it was in the musical sense or their performance. They still had the classic boyish look, but they covered it with more sensual choreographies. Gary Barlow did write several brilliant tracks though, including "Pray" and "Back for Good". I don't know if they were known in the US, but they surely were in Europe and Asia.
And so, the boyband era was begun. They emerged not only from the US and UK, but all over the world; from big names such as Boyzone, Backstreet Boys, *NSync, 98 Degrees, Blue and Westlife to Human Nature, Caught In The Act, 5ive, Worlds Apart, O-Town, Plus One. To put it into addition, there has been F4 fever all across Asia within the last two year.
Article comments
1 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
great stuff, Ayu, i too feel these ensembles are deserving of a bit of attention, if only on account of how unavoidable they are.
And let the duke be the first to admit, Take That were amazing a lot of the time. Back For Good? That shit was phenomenal.
2 - Ayu
Thanks Aaron. So you're from Ireland? I was a little bit worried that no one here knew whom I was talking about..you know, stuff like Boyzone, Westlife, Blue and Take That. Back then, Gary Barlow is a very talented musician...not quite the best dancer, but his song writing skill is brilliant. I think he can match Sir Elton John one day.
3 - Marty Dodge
Gary Barlow is still writing music for lots of different people. While he is not in the public eye as much as fellow Take That mate Williams, he is still in the business and doing rather well for himself. It could be argued he had the best voice in TT too.
4 - Ayu
That is what I tried to explain on the last part of my post, Marty. And I agree with you, Gary Barlow was the soul of Take That, as well as perhaps Jordan Knight in NKOTB or Ronan Keating in Boyzone. But hey, boyband is a collective project. One can't succeed without the support from the others. I still hope Gary will start singing again one day though.
5 - Marty Dodge
It will be interesting to see what the next stage of the boy-band thing is...what with Busted! ending and Charlie's new project bombing.
Freefaller seem to be the next in the can play instruments/write own music style of manufactured young male groups.
6 - Ayu
Apart from the rumors I heard about the return of Backstreet Boys and *NSync (Ummm...aren't they too old for a BOYband?), I think groups like Busted! or Freefaller are more acceptable nowadays. Perhaps I am now too old to go crazy over them, but the single Do This, Do That is quite catchy.
7 - Marty Dodge
Yes it is Ayu and they have got other stuff which is as good. My attitude is that if its any good who cares if its done by a bunch of pretty boys some record company is pushing? I don't look at em' just listen to em'.
8 - Ayu
Too bad I haven't gotten their album yet. I see you have posted a review on it...I hope it doesn't sound too "Blink 182" though.
9 - Marty Dodge
Yes, the album won't be out for a while. A few more singles, then an album.
10 - kaneshiro
i love british boy bands more than those american ones. i feel there's more soul in the songs done by british groups, i means they're better to listen to and has depth. i surely miss the time when there were still code red, worlds apart, and bed & breakfast
11 - Janet Summers
I appreciate your info in this article. I have 3 sons, 12 y/o twins and 14 who have been in a rock band in the Louisville area for the last 2 years. They played out with a 4th younger person (started ages 10 and 11, with 8 y/o singer)at popular spots all over Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. They took a performance sabbatical for 7 mos after leaving the 4th band member last fall, to become an all-brothers band and take their musicianship to the next level. They are now THE SUMMERS and are a strong teen band playing current rock, and a post-punk flavor of some alternative. Also play some classic rock depending on the venue. These guys have strong moral values and are entertaining, good looking, talented and fun! They have been told they have the "it" factor and are being looked at by some strong influences in the industry, looking to break out when the timing is right. No sex or drugs, these brothers communicate effectively with one another and are a great inspiration to other teens.
12 - el toro bumingo
I love the songs of Code Red, Plus One, Boyzone, Westlife, BSB, N*SYNC, 98 Degrees, 911, A1, 5ive, Caught In The Act, Take 5, Human Nature and all those boybands from the 90s. I'm a huge boybands fan :)