Bye, Bye, Bye

Kirk Baird

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

For millions of teenage girls, it was the hottest act on the planet.

For a majority of us old enough to see past the studio-crafted musical polish, boy-next-door looks and paint-by-numbers personalities, it was the worst thing to happen to music since K-Tel discovered the compilation album.

It was New Kids on the Block later renamed NKOTB in an ill-fated effort to toughen the quintet's image and at one point there were few bands bigger.

During the group's eight-year career, which began in 1986, it sold tens of millions of albums, appeared on the covers of almost every teen-oriented magazine in circulation, spawned a Saturday morning cartoon and comic-book series and had a recorded message hotline.

In fact, without fear of hyperbole, there can be little argument that New Kids "re-energized" the boy-band craze, which can be traced to the early days of the Beatles, the Monkees and later to the Jackson 5 and the Osmonds.

But as the axiom states, what goes up must come down. And down the New Kids came, in a pile of sinking record sales, management turnover, scandals involving sex romps and allegations that they didn't sing on all their hit songs.

For better or worse, however, the New Kids did show there was a new market for boy bands. And Lou Pearlman took notice.

As the owner of an Orlando, Fla., transportation provider, which had worked with the New Kids on a major tour, Pearlman saw firsthand the financial potential in the boy-band phenomenon.

In an effort to capitalize on that opportunity, Pearlman helped create the Backstreet Boys in 1993, followed by 'N Sync three years later.

With both, he struck gold.

Between Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, roughly 70 million records have been sold in the United States alone. Those stellar sales numbers created a shot in the arm for the previously ailing record industry. Gone was the hangover from the grunge music of the early '90s and its sagging record sales. Pop music was back with a vengeance.

Even as the Backstreet Boys take the stage tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (a rescheduled show for the band's canceled Aug. 17 date, due to group member A.J. McLean's stint in an alcohol rehabilitation clinic) there are signs -- depending on your perception -- that the glory days of Backstreet and 'N Sync may be fading.

Not fade away

Backstreet's latest CD, "Black & Blue," which was perfectly positioned as a sales monster last year with its holiday-season release, sold 1.6 million copies in its first week and 8 million overall.

After one week at No. 1, however, "Black & Blue" was replaced by the Beatles' latest compilation album, "1," which, incidentally, remained at the top spot for two months.

"Black & Blue" is also considered a disappointment in some critical estimations, because it failed to break 'N Sync's single-week sales record of 2.5 million for last year's "No Strings Attached."

It's a record, ironically, 'N Sync couldn't eclipse either. The band sold 1.9 million copies of its latest album, "Celebrity," during its first week of release in late July, and 5 million total to date.

The numbers may still work in the bands' favor. But considering 'N Sync is the "Biggest Band in the World," as Rolling Stone proclaimed in a recent cover story, and an earlier cover piece by the magazine gushed similar praise on Backstreet, are the sales figures high enough?

Any sign of slippage in sales, as there has been, is a sign in the jaded minds of many music critics that the boy-band craze is subsiding. And with the downward spiral of the New Kids' career still fresh in the minds of the pop-culturally obsessed, it's little wonder, then, there are those in the music industry performing last rites on the boy-band phenomenon.

Based on what he has seen, Rik McNeil, program director for KFMS 101.9-FM, said it might be a bit premature to write off boy bands completely.

"I would have to say that just as a pop phenomenon, absolutely (boy bands) has run its course," McNeil said. "Has it run its course, overall? I don't think so."

McNeil said KFMS has three boy-band singles in rotation: "We Fit Together," by O-Town, another Pearlman creation; "Drowning" by Backstreet; and "Gone" by 'N Sync.

McNeil said it's too early to tell if O-Town's single will make a significant impact on the record charts. However, both Backstreet and 'N Sync have a top-15 and top-10 single, respectively.

Last month, though, the station put a single by boy-band trio LFO into rotation that did not materialize into a hit, McNeil said. He also acknowledged that the dominant boy bands -- Backstreet and 'N Sync -- are only charting one song at a time, whereas last year, during what was perhaps the pinnacle of the boy-band phenomenon, both groups were able to land multiple hit singles simultaneously.

"I think we would not have had more boy bands" on rotation last year, McNeil said. "But more records by boy bands."

Stephanie Kirby doesn't see the craze slowing down at all.

As public relations coordinator for Boy Crazy!, a Norfolk, Va., company that specializes in trading cards featuring teenage boys (and which recently launched a magazine by the same name), Kirby is keenly aware of trends among teenage girls.

She said that boy bands are not dropping in popularity, it's just that teenage girls are also becoming more diversified in their musical tastes. Consequently, 'N Sync, Backstreet, O-Town and 98 Degrees, as well as the other major-label boy bands, are finding their sales dwindling in the face of increased competition.

"Girls are buying 'N Sync and Backstreet, but they are also buying Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit," Kirby said. "Maybe it says that boy bands don't have the market cornered for teen girls. But they're not going anywhere."

Part of that reason for survival is money. Record companies have already pumped millions of dollars into these bands, and continue to invest even more as they sign new boy bands. It seems there's a significant amount of money to still be made. And since when did a record label shy away from making money?

Kirby said teenage boys are also helping to keep the boy-band phenomenon alive.

"For every high school in the United States, there is probably a boy band," she said. "I just don't know how well they're going to do."

4-gone conclusion

4NOW, comprised of four male singers now in their early 20s (two of whom are from Las Vegas), was destined for greatness.

Or so thought Laura Herlovich, the group's former publicist and manager.

Herlovich, owner of P.R. Plus, a local public relations firm that specializes in entertainment, discovered the band in April 2000 after the members came to her for help with their publicity.

At first, she said, she was content to focus on public relations for the band, putting together a press kit that included biographies, pictures and anything else that might help the group get signed to a major-label deal.

Herlovich then signed on as the band's "temporary" manager while she began a search for a permanent personal manager -- someone to "help them find the right music, the right image and the right label -- to essentially create their careers for them."

After a few months in searching for her replacement, however, Herlovich began to realize the potential for the band to strike it big was dwindling along with the boy-band craze.

"I went to some people I know in the business, who I respect greatly and who've worked with Kiss, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. They thought the guys had talent and encouraged me to stay involved with them on whatever level I wanted to.

"But they told me they weren't really looking at picking up a boy band right then," she said. "That's when I realized maybe the boy-band thing wasn't as big as I perceived it to be."

Nevertheless, Herlovich persisted, and eventually secured 4NOW a deal with a small, independent record label that works with Sony. Unfortunately for her, the band recently moved to Los Angeles and decided to hire new management.

For her part, Herlovich wishes the band well, and is confidant that 4NOW will succeed.

After researching the history of boy bands while with 4NOW and observing the trends, she said the boy-band craze, while slowing down, will not go away entirely as it did post-New Kids.

"Music goes in cycles," Herlovich said. "And if you take the cycles for today's boy bands, it's lasted longer than New Kids on the Block."

In other words, 15 minutes -- and counting.

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