Chart entered : 16 September 1989
Chart peak :52 ( 1 on reissue in 1990 )
Number of hits : 12
This lot really ushered in the tide of boy bands that has yet to recede unfortunately.
New Kids on the Block were germinated in 1984 when Svengali Maurice Starr and his colleague Mary Alford severed their ties with New Edition and decided that a white version would do even better. Their first recruit was Donnie Wahlberg , a 15 year old white rapper from Boston. He was allowed a say in who the other members were an unsurprisingly selected his younger brother Mark. and his best mate Danny Wood, a Herman Munster lookalike who wouldn't have got in under any other circumstance. He also persuaded a former school mate Jordan Knight to audition. He passed and he too was allowed to bring his little brother ( Jonathan ) into the band. Mark Wahlberg wasn't really ready for it and dropped out before recording started. 12 year old Joey McIntyre who wasn't previously known to the others was drafted in to replace him. After intensive rehearsals Starr got them a deal with Columbia Records.
They released their eponymous debut album largely written by Starr ( with some input from Donnie ) in April 1986. Its bubblegum R & B style failed to attract much attention and the singles "Be My Girl " and "Stop It Girl" with its knowing references back to The Osmonds' One Bad Apple failed to make the chart. Columbia later released their version of the Delfonics' "Didn't I ( Blow Your Mind )" as a single to reactivate the album and the ploy worked with the album reaching 25 in the US and 6 in the UK in 1990.
Starr persuaded Columbia to give them another shot and a new single "Please Don't Go Girl" was released in June 1988. It's a ballad led by Joey 's Donny Osmond impression and set to what sounds like the backing track to Sexual Healing . It got off to a slow start and Columbia were on the point of cutting them loose but then it started breaking in Florida and the rest of the nation started picking up on it. Columbia let them shoot a new video and the single duly reached number 10 in the charts. It was their first release here but didn't attract any attention.
They then released their second album "Hangin' Tough" but sales initially were modest. Starr put together a backing band for them and sent them out on the road as support act to Tiffany. Slowly the album started picking up and the second single "You Got It ( The Right Stuff ) a tinny attempt at new jack swing got on MTV rotation and reached number 3 in the US at the beginning of 1989. It did nothing over here until the end of the year when their appearance on the televised Smash Hits Party sent it to number one.
Their next single "I'll Be Loving You ( Forever )" , a tooth-rotting ballad led by Jordan's admittedly impressive falsetto recalling The Stylistics went all the way to number one in the US. It reached number 5 on reissue here in 1990.
"Hanging Tough" came next. Here's Popular
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