Reminiscing the New Kids on the Block
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Remember this poster? Hello, it's the one you hung up by your bedside for two years circa 1990/1991....
"Remember when we said Girl Please Don't Go
And how I'll Be Loving You Forever
Taught ya about Hangin' Tough
As long as you got The Right Stuff
Didn't we girl.....
Oo Ooooo
Didn't we girls..
Aa Aaaaa....."
Let's go back in time. Imagine it's sometime in the middle of the year 1990. What were you doing? Well I was 10-year-old bespectacled geeky kid who was just appointed as school prefect. It's the first Visit Malaysia Year and the Tourism Minister was some dude named Sabaruddin Chik. MC Hammer was cool and so were those embarassing baggy pants he wore. And yes, it was hip to sport a flat-top hairdo if you were a guy (think Kid'n Play or Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and girls could get away with corkscrew-ish frizzy hardos (think of the young Mariah Carey or Whitney during "I'm Your Baby Tonight").
The hottest band in the world was New Kids on the Block.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Who, did you say? I haven't heard that name in a gazillion years.
And what's their significance to me, you may ask? Well plenty, dahhhlings.
In school, I was Joey McIntyre, the youngest New Kid. Four other classmates and I designated ourselves as the NKOTB of our school.
But seriously.
I still remember the other four dudes. Our class monitor and my close buddy Rostam was Jordan Knight (Damn, I wish I was Jordan coz he's so talented and still has albums out).
Derek Tan, who was by nature a very macho character was of course Donnie Wahlberg (The older brother of Mark Wahlberg, Donnie was the rebelious-looking one of NKOTB. He too is a great actor, having starred in The Sixth Sense and Band of Brothers)
Another close buddy of mine, Mamat became Jonathan Knight, Jordan's brother. We assigned him as Jon because he seldom talked about music, which was very much like Jon Knight's character, a very quiet New Kid.
Something you must know about Mamat. Being typically naughty schoolboys, we would always assign Mamat to the African American characters in movies or music bands. This was, to a pre-pubescent boy, the only logical thing to do since he was dark-skinned. Jahatkan kita orang?
Ok, the fifth New Kid was the class genius, Lim Ah Chun who became Danny Wood. No particular reason for this other than Lim was part of the gang and he had to be assigned something, right?
Now, what would a famous band be without music. NKOTB will remain historical for just a handful of songs, which unfortunately did not stand the test of time.
This is evident from the lack of NKOTB songs being played on retro radio channels. Mix FM would probably play the New Kid anthem "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" once in a blue moon. If not, listeners would hear their signature ballad "I'll Be Loving You Forever" once every few months. The latter song showcases Jordan's hight-pitched vocals which is reminiscent of Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb. But Jordan has an equally good low-register voice which you can hear
toward the end of the song.
Don't bother about lyrics when it comes to NKOTB songs. Most of the songs are about finding girls and falling in love, and then begging them to stay. The most sappy of the "begging her to stay songs" was "Please Don't Go Girl", which featured a 12-year-old Joey McIntyre on lead vocals. Perlu ke? I mean, how can "Please don't go girl/You'll be ruining my whole world" survive the test of time?
But there is hope for NKOTB longevity. Try some of their more obscure tracks.
"Didn't I blow Your Mind" is remake of a 70s R&B tune, and therefore good lah, kan?
Dig into their Step By Step album and you'll find great songswith Jordan on lead vocal: "Baby I Believe in You", "Call It What You Want".
"Tonight", which was Step By Step's second single encapsulates the boyband-ness of NKOTB, but in a musically tasteful way. The song remains one of my favourite tracks from the group.
But musical snobbery aside, who can resist dancing to "Hangin' Tough" or even, cringe, "Step by Step...ohh baby, gonna get to you girrrr-r-r-r-rl.....".
Come on, I'm sure some of you have sung a New Kid song, albeit secretly in your bedrooms and going like 'Ohh Ohh. Ohh Wohohh... (Hangin' Tough)'.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Remember this poster? Hello, it's the one you hung up by your bedside for two years circa 1990/1991...."Remember when we said Girl Please Don't Go
And how I'll Be Loving You Forever
Taught ya about Hangin' Tough
As long as you got The Right Stuff
Didn't we girl.....
Oo Ooooo
Didn't we girls..
Aa Aaaaa....."
Let's go back in time. Imagine it's sometime in the middle of the year 1990. What were you doing? Well I was 10-year-old bespectacled geeky kid who was just appointed as school prefect. It's the first Visit Malaysia Year and the Tourism Minister was some dude named Sabaruddin Chik. MC Hammer was cool and so were those embarassing baggy pants he wore. And yes, it was hip to sport a flat-top hairdo if you were a guy (think Kid'n Play or Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and girls could get away with corkscrew-ish frizzy hardos (think of the young Mariah Carey or Whitney during "I'm Your Baby Tonight").
The hottest band in the world was New Kids on the Block.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Who, did you say? I haven't heard that name in a gazillion years.
And what's their significance to me, you may ask? Well plenty, dahhhlings.
In school, I was Joey McIntyre, the youngest New Kid. Four other classmates and I designated ourselves as the NKOTB of our school.
But seriously.
I still remember the other four dudes. Our class monitor and my close buddy Rostam was Jordan Knight (Damn, I wish I was Jordan coz he's so talented and still has albums out).
Derek Tan, who was by nature a very macho character was of course Donnie Wahlberg (The older brother of Mark Wahlberg, Donnie was the rebelious-looking one of NKOTB. He too is a great actor, having starred in The Sixth Sense and Band of Brothers)
Another close buddy of mine, Mamat became Jonathan Knight, Jordan's brother. We assigned him as Jon because he seldom talked about music, which was very much like Jon Knight's character, a very quiet New Kid.
Something you must know about Mamat. Being typically naughty schoolboys, we would always assign Mamat to the African American characters in movies or music bands. This was, to a pre-pubescent boy, the only logical thing to do since he was dark-skinned. Jahatkan kita orang?
Ok, the fifth New Kid was the class genius, Lim Ah Chun who became Danny Wood. No particular reason for this other than Lim was part of the gang and he had to be assigned something, right?
Now, what would a famous band be without music. NKOTB will remain historical for just a handful of songs, which unfortunately did not stand the test of time.
This is evident from the lack of NKOTB songs being played on retro radio channels. Mix FM would probably play the New Kid anthem "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" once in a blue moon. If not, listeners would hear their signature ballad "I'll Be Loving You Forever" once every few months. The latter song showcases Jordan's hight-pitched vocals which is reminiscent of Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb. But Jordan has an equally good low-register voice which you can hear
toward the end of the song.
Don't bother about lyrics when it comes to NKOTB songs. Most of the songs are about finding girls and falling in love, and then begging them to stay. The most sappy of the "begging her to stay songs" was "Please Don't Go Girl", which featured a 12-year-old Joey McIntyre on lead vocals. Perlu ke? I mean, how can "Please don't go girl/You'll be ruining my whole world" survive the test of time?
But there is hope for NKOTB longevity. Try some of their more obscure tracks.
"Didn't I blow Your Mind" is remake of a 70s R&B tune, and therefore good lah, kan?
Dig into their Step By Step album and you'll find great songswith Jordan on lead vocal: "Baby I Believe in You", "Call It What You Want".
"Tonight", which was Step By Step's second single encapsulates the boyband-ness of NKOTB, but in a musically tasteful way. The song remains one of my favourite tracks from the group.
But musical snobbery aside, who can resist dancing to "Hangin' Tough" or even, cringe, "Step by Step...ohh baby, gonna get to you girrrr-r-r-r-rl.....".
Come on, I'm sure some of you have sung a New Kid song, albeit secretly in your bedrooms and going like 'Ohh Ohh. Ohh Wohohh... (Hangin' Tough)'.
Comments
Suddenly u're sooo nostalgic.....
NKOTB huh? Why don't you write about the ES..... CPP..... ESP..... ESPX......! Progression....
Mind you... defaming Fahmi and the like.... wait till he reads this... he'll be pissed at worst or just laugh it off....LOL :D
From Her Most Holy and Pristine,
The Most Reverend Mother Superior
The Superior General of the United Kigdom, Ireland and France,
On Behalf of the Convent of The Protectors of The Blessed Souls.