Before boy bands were cool, there were five guys from Boston called New Kids On The Block. I was the right age when they were new to be slightly annoyed by them because I was supposed to be. Still, I could appreciate their harmonies and their sound.
This under-appreciated song was one of their last singles, and it had a slightly different sound than most of their earlier work. Whereas their early songs were mostly straight-ahead pop music, complete with the poppy love songs and poppy ballads, this was a full-on five-part harmony reminiscent of The Beatles and The Four Seasons.
Yes, I compared NKOTB to The Beatles. And I meant it. This song is their "Glass Onion".
As an added bonus, here are NKOTB, as part of their tour with Backstreet Boys, performing this song in Edmonton. This should make my Canadian friends happy.
Dude, you hated the Liz Phair pop song but posted New Kids...Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI did, and I stand by it. NKOTB never pretended to be indie and cool. Liz Phair set the bar so high with her first two - even three - albums, so I found "Why Can't I" to be a disappointment. This, on the other hand, had surprisingly good harmonies.
DeleteBut that's the great thing about this blog. We're getting two different slants on the subject matter.
I'm just having fun as always...I love the your line to start this post: "Before boy bands were cool."
ReplyDelete