Well, they were on Access Hollywood after all, but there is a new video on the Access Hollywood website. Update: Video has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Video from Access Hollywood
Well, they were on Access Hollywood after all, but there is a new video on the Access Hollywood website. New Kids featured on cnn.com
Here is an article from CNN.com. It is very similar to the one I posted a few days ago, but this version has some additional quotes. Thanks to Sarah and Amanda for the tip.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Donnie Wahlberg might look and act tough, but he's a softie underneath.
Donnie Wahlberg takes the lead as New Kids on the Block perform live.
The resident bad boy of New Kids on the Block said he has cried tears of joy while performing for thousands of screaming fans on the reunited band's arena tour, which began in Canada last week.
"We've had old banners being held up, new banners being held up, people singing the old songs, partying with the new songs, bras thrown onstage with women flashing us," Wahlberg said by phone from Toronto. "Husbands holding their wives and singing along to the songs with their wives in their arms ... I don't like to overblow the significance of anything, we're a pop group after all, but there's something really magical that's happening every night. I've been moved onstage on more than one occasion."
That admission coming from Wahlberg -- known for his macho posturing and hip-hop swagger -- might surprise the New Kids' hardcore devotees, who wouldn't expect him to weep and then talk openly about it. But Wahlberg said he's matured over the years. Right now, he feels validated by the resurgent fandemonium -- after all, it's been a lifetime since the band last performed to crowds like this.
"I'm not some guy that is desperate, you know?" said Wahlberg, an actor whose film credits include "Righteous Kill," "The Sixth Sense" and the gory "Saw" flicks. "I didn't, like, need to go and do this to make money and stuff like that. I got a good career. I got plenty of things going on in my life. It's not like I needed this to bail me out of any mess or anything. It's just right. It just felt right. We did it for the right reasons and the reward is to share this with the fans and to see that they're so dialed in."
Fourteen years after disbanding amid dwindling popularity and burnout, the New Kids -- Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight -- are reclaiming some of the magic from their heyday in the late 1980s and early '90s, when they made teenage girls swoon on a regular basis.
One of the most successful boy bands ever, the New Kids were the prototype for hysteria-inducing groups like the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and the Jonas Brothers. Millions of young girls obsessed over the New Kids, persuading their parents to buy them concert tickets, pillowcases, notebooks, lunch boxes, dolls and on and on.
Some of those girls, now in their twenties and thirties, have held on to that merchandise -- and still harbor fond memories of brash Donnie, pretty boy Joey, chiseled Danny and the hair-gelled Knight siblings.
But they're no longer kids. In the years between '94 and '08, the men -- now in their 30s -- have experienced marriages, divorces, children, and hit-or-miss solo careers. Wahlberg has had a well-received detour into acting. McIntyre had high-profile stints on Broadway in "Wicked" on Broadway and on TV in "Dancing With the Stars." Jonathan Knight, who has suffered from crippling panic disorder, chucked showbiz to work in the real estate business. Jordan has pursued a solo career.
The reunion began a year ago after Wahlberg heard music for the song "Click Click Click" and sent it around to the other guys. That song became the first of 13 tracks on "The Block."
"It just so happened that the timing was good for all the guys and there were different things going on in our lives that made it work," said Wahlberg, who recently split from wife Kim. "I mean, I'm going through a breakup of my marriage. I lost my dad. I had a lot to talk about. A lot of emotional stuff that I was going through that really fueled me to want to keep working late hours into the night."
The band retains a retro vibe on the album with pop songs like "Summertime" and "2 In The Morning," but gains an updated sound. Among the album's collaborators are Ne-Yo, Akon and the Pussycat Dolls. Since its September 2 release, "The Block" has sold about 139,000 copies. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 top albums chart before sliding down the chart.
On their nationwide tour, the group's setlist is a mix of material from "The Block" and past hits including "Please Don't Go Girl," "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)." While the tour is likely to be a cash cow for the group, Wahlberg said they didn't do it for the money.
"We've been asked to do this many times and, quite frankly, I didn't have any interest in doing it any other time because it was never for the right reasons," he said. "It was always, 'Hey, how about you go out with the guys and you scoop up all this money and, you know, we'll do a TV special and a tour and you guys can go and rack up all this money.' ... Anybody who's gonna make that pitch to me? They don't know me, they don't understand me and what makes me tick. I don't live for money."
Wood admitted that reclaiming the spotlight has been one of the major benefits of the reunion.
"I went to this restaurant that I always go to, and they comped me dinner," said Wood, who lives in Miami. "The manager's like, 'Thank you for coming. We're glad you came in here.' And I'm like, 'Dude, I come in here all the time.' ... I know some of the waiters and waitresses, but they just didn't realize until we got back together that I was in the group. So it's kinda cool. .. I'll take it, you know."
That goes for McIntyre, too, who half-jokingly remarked he was abusing the services of their assistant Zach.
"I checked myself like a couple weeks ago," he said. "I'm having him do all these little things. Like, back in the day we joked about how we wouldn't even turn the light switch on our own. There was someone to do everything for you."
The tight bond between McIntyre and company was clear earlier this month during an interview at The Associated Press headquarters in Manhattan. The group (sans Wahlberg, who spoke to the AP later) talked about maturing from boys to men -- which involved diaper duty for four out of five guys -- and cracked themselves up in the process.
When asked about advice for the young Jonas Brothers -- who are beating the New Kids on the charts -- they yelled jokingly, "Get off our block!"
People.com article on Fight For the Cure
People.com has a small article on the NKOTB/Pink Ribbon tank tops and why Danny feels it is an important cause.
The New Kids on the Block are doing their part to fight for a cure during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And it’s an issue that hits close to home for the band. After singer Danny Wood’s mother Elizabeth “Betty” Wood passed away after a battle with the disease, Danny and the other New Kids knew they wanted to do something to honor her memory and also benefit their fans. “A lot of the women coming to the shows need to be aware of early detection. They’re in that age from 25-35 where they need to get their first exams,” Danny tells PEOPLE. “That was the problem for my mother. By the time she found out, it was too late — and I don’t want that to happen to anyone else when it could be prevented.” To help support the cause and keep the memory of Elizabeth Wood alive, the band is selling limited-edition NKOTB tanks featuring the Breast Cancer pink ribbon, $35, with all proceeds supporting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Danny, who chose the charity says, “They’re the best foundation I’ve worked with. I’ve done their races in the past and I know it’s something my mom would have wanted.” Click here to purchase one of the tanks and help in the fight for a cure.
Monday, September 29, 2008
VH1's New Kids Behind the Music Special
Update: the original videos have been deleted, but here is part of the show:
Interview in Ok Magazine - UK
Interview in Ok magazine - UK
New Kids on the Block talk growing up and sexy fans…
Your comeback has caused mayhem in London. Were you expecting that?
Danny: We didn’t know what to expect – it’s been crazy. They had to close the HMV store we were at because there was a stampede and everyone was screaming!
Aren’t you a bit old to be a ‘boy band’?
Joey: That’s just a label. We’re five personalities, not a boy band.
Jordan: There’s no age limit if you’re still making good music. Is 40 too old? We could be 70, you know, what’s the difference?
So the New Kids grew up and got married?
Jordan: Yeah, me and Joey are the right honourable lads of the group.
What’s it like now your teenage fans have become women?
Joey: They’re sexier, and we can talk to them instead of them trying to grab our watches or something!
Jordan: Back then it was like: ‘New Kids…whatever.’ But when you have older fans it makes you feel credible. We’re cooler now.
British girls or American chicks?
Danny: The British have a great sense of humour, it’s similar to that of the girls we used to hang out with in Boston. But here, they’re very independent and have careers.
Who’s the biggest flirt?
Joey: Donnie is really touchy feely.
Danny: Yeah, he’d kiss everyone to the point where we’re like: ‘You’re gonna catch something, man!’
He’s not here to defend himself!
Jon: Sorry, no. He’s off schmoozing with Al Pacino and Robert De Nero at the premiere of their new film.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever been sent by a fan?
Jon: Cakes from The Cupcake Twins. They’re so good – the cakes, not the twins!
Which British actress would you serenade?
Jon: Kiera Knightly. I loved her in Atonement.
Danny: Same here. We could have a Kiera sandwich!
Joey: I think Rachel Weisz is hot, and what an actress.
Who spends the most time getting ready?
Danny: Joey. He’ll be like: ‘I’ll wear a T-shirt, maybe this jacket, add some cufflinks, then this hat…’ The list goes on.
Which one of you is the most devoted family man?
Jordan: I am. Family has played a big part in helping me to grow.
With crowds of girls screaming after you, do you ever wish you were still single?
Joey: No! You might think, I’d really like to bang that broad right there – but obviously you don’t because you’re happily married! Wait. Can I just say I’m the luckiest man to be married to my girl.
Who is the rudest celebrity you’ve ever met?
Joey: Meat Loaf. I was on this TV show with him, and during the break I tried to talk to him about one of this songs that my cousin and his wife performed at their wedding. He just went: ‘Who cares!’ It was wrong on so many levels.
Jordan, you did a reality series with Jodie Marsh. What’s she really like?
Jordan: She’s a go-getter and a flirt, but not skanky. She’s smart as she knows that she’s sexy and does what she has to do.
Do you like a girl in her party best, or laid back and casual?
Jordan: I’ve always told my wife she looks best first thing in the morning. Then I’m like: ‘Damn, will ya get out of bed and make breakfast!’
Joey: I don’t think any guy would ever say make-up is best.
Do your wives get jealous of all the female attention?
Joey: They try not to let us know how much they care, but we do.
Jordan: The thing is, some of us may be taken, but when we’re on stage we’re all single!
Jon, you toured with Tiffany in the ‘90s. Tell us about your love affair…
Jon: Oh, you know, we were seeing each other for a little while.
Danny: What are you talking about? Come on, you were banging her good and proper for two years. We’re allowed to say that… right?!
Are you nostalgic about the ‘80s?
Danny: There’s no nostalgia attached to those haircuts! But it’s a good feeling being on a stage doing the old stuff.
Jordan: I loved being a teen in the ‘80s – finding out who you were and discovering girls for the first time.
You recently recorded a track with the Pussycat Dolls. What was that like?
Danny: Nicole is the only one on the record. But if we do a video, it will be the five of us and the six of them, that’d be awesome – they’re hot!
Jordan: They’re a burlesque act, but more refined than you would think. We’re going to work them into our live show.
Jon: They’ve got it going on!
Transcription from Clare on nkotbfans.com
New Kids on the Block talk growing up and sexy fans…
Your comeback has caused mayhem in London. Were you expecting that?
Danny: We didn’t know what to expect – it’s been crazy. They had to close the HMV store we were at because there was a stampede and everyone was screaming!
Aren’t you a bit old to be a ‘boy band’?
Joey: That’s just a label. We’re five personalities, not a boy band.
Jordan: There’s no age limit if you’re still making good music. Is 40 too old? We could be 70, you know, what’s the difference?
So the New Kids grew up and got married?
Jordan: Yeah, me and Joey are the right honourable lads of the group.
What’s it like now your teenage fans have become women?
Joey: They’re sexier, and we can talk to them instead of them trying to grab our watches or something!
Jordan: Back then it was like: ‘New Kids…whatever.’ But when you have older fans it makes you feel credible. We’re cooler now.
British girls or American chicks?
Danny: The British have a great sense of humour, it’s similar to that of the girls we used to hang out with in Boston. But here, they’re very independent and have careers.
Who’s the biggest flirt?
Joey: Donnie is really touchy feely.
Danny: Yeah, he’d kiss everyone to the point where we’re like: ‘You’re gonna catch something, man!’
He’s not here to defend himself!
Jon: Sorry, no. He’s off schmoozing with Al Pacino and Robert De Nero at the premiere of their new film.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever been sent by a fan?
Jon: Cakes from The Cupcake Twins. They’re so good – the cakes, not the twins!
Which British actress would you serenade?
Jon: Kiera Knightly. I loved her in Atonement.
Danny: Same here. We could have a Kiera sandwich!
Joey: I think Rachel Weisz is hot, and what an actress.
Who spends the most time getting ready?
Danny: Joey. He’ll be like: ‘I’ll wear a T-shirt, maybe this jacket, add some cufflinks, then this hat…’ The list goes on.
Which one of you is the most devoted family man?
Jordan: I am. Family has played a big part in helping me to grow.
With crowds of girls screaming after you, do you ever wish you were still single?
Joey: No! You might think, I’d really like to bang that broad right there – but obviously you don’t because you’re happily married! Wait. Can I just say I’m the luckiest man to be married to my girl.
Who is the rudest celebrity you’ve ever met?
Joey: Meat Loaf. I was on this TV show with him, and during the break I tried to talk to him about one of this songs that my cousin and his wife performed at their wedding. He just went: ‘Who cares!’ It was wrong on so many levels.
Jordan, you did a reality series with Jodie Marsh. What’s she really like?
Jordan: She’s a go-getter and a flirt, but not skanky. She’s smart as she knows that she’s sexy and does what she has to do.
Do you like a girl in her party best, or laid back and casual?
Jordan: I’ve always told my wife she looks best first thing in the morning. Then I’m like: ‘Damn, will ya get out of bed and make breakfast!’
Joey: I don’t think any guy would ever say make-up is best.
Do your wives get jealous of all the female attention?
Joey: They try not to let us know how much they care, but we do.
Jordan: The thing is, some of us may be taken, but when we’re on stage we’re all single!
Jon, you toured with Tiffany in the ‘90s. Tell us about your love affair…
Jon: Oh, you know, we were seeing each other for a little while.
Danny: What are you talking about? Come on, you were banging her good and proper for two years. We’re allowed to say that… right?!
Are you nostalgic about the ‘80s?
Danny: There’s no nostalgia attached to those haircuts! But it’s a good feeling being on a stage doing the old stuff.
Jordan: I loved being a teen in the ‘80s – finding out who you were and discovering girls for the first time.
You recently recorded a track with the Pussycat Dolls. What was that like?
Danny: Nicole is the only one on the record. But if we do a video, it will be the five of us and the six of them, that’d be awesome – they’re hot!
Jordan: They’re a burlesque act, but more refined than you would think. We’re going to work them into our live show.
Jon: They’ve got it going on!
Transcription from Clare on nkotbfans.com
Reviews for the Boston show
These were from last Friday's show:
Boston Herald:
New Kids create frenzy in BostonDon’t call it a comeback. This was a resurrection of biblical proportions.Last night the New Kids on the Block returned to Boston after a decade and a half away with the first of two sold-out TD Banknorth Garden shows - the second is tomorrow. It was a wicked homecoming that raced with the beating hearts and raging hormones of thousands of teenage girls. Only this wasn’t “The Hills” crowd, but 20- and 30-somethings weened on “90210.”Boston’s fab five had the bravado to begin their show with a Hollywood-style preview. It was like Jerry Bruckheimer presents NKOTB: “15 years ago they walked away,” flashed across the screen. “Tonight the Block is back. Are you ready?”It was a rhetorical question.With lights flashing, and camera phones clicking, the New Kids rose up to shrieks of pleasure and launched into their new single, “Single.” And for two hours the insanity didn’t stop.Joey McIntyre took a solo, they screamed. Danny Wood break danced, they cheered. Jordan Knight smiled, they squealed. Donnie Wahlberg rapped (sort of), 13,000 women had acute psychotic episodes. Even Jordan, who managed to remain almost anonymous under a score of spotlights, got them giddy.The new songs had them grooving - often because tunes like “Twisted” and “Click Click Click” actually have better grooves than the old stuff. But it was the classics (note, this term is being used very loosely) that tore the place up.“(You Got It) The Right Stuff,” which is probably the Kids’ best tune (again, best is being used loosely), was better than Doc Brown’s flux capacitor at bringing the army of woman 20 years back in time. “My Favorite Girl” took them back to their bedrooms with their NKOTB lunch boxes, sheets and buttons (well, actually they brought the buttons with them). And “Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” was another rhetorical question.And the encore? “Step By Step” and “Hangin’ Tough” (in Celtics [team stats] jerseys with Paul Pierce [stats] and the NBA championship trophy) were like the second coming of, um, the New Kids - sure the groups vocals were totally off, but did you see that footwork? Like, totally awesome.There were flaws. Joey missed a couple big notes, Danny can’t much sing at all and, oh, their whole catalog is a tsunami of Cheez Whiz! And things have changed, mostly for the better. The band now has three frontmen in Donnie, Jordan and Joey (who all did solo songs). Their dancing has improved. And everyone, fans and New Kids, are better looking with those awkward years behind them. Now let’s just put away those dinner-plate-sized pins for a while, shall we?
Boston Globe
Still Kids, just more polished
The New Kids on the Block may be old enough to have fathered the Jonas Brothers, but members of the recently-reunited Boston boy band, who played to a sold-out crowd of 13,360 at the TD Banknorth Garden last night, proved that they can sing in harmony and kick their legs from side-to-side with as much energy and charm as they did 15 years ago.Taking themselves just seriously enough, the now 35- to 39-year-old Kids, who sold more than 70 million albums before they called it quits in 1994, energetically danced and sang through two hours of new material and now 20-year-old classics like "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)." There were costume changes, unbuttoned shirts, frequent nods to the Celtics, and talk of the years spent rehearsing in Jordan and Jonathan Knight's basement.Ringleader Donnie Wahlberg, who sported a cap with a sparkling "B" for much of the night, fought tears as he told the crowd he was at a loss for words for the "appropriate thing to say to this beautiful city."The Garden was more than ready for Wahlberg's love-in. Many of the fans, who were mostly women between the ages of 28 and 40, came to the show in 20-year-old T-shirts and buttons, and held signs that said things like "Before there was Justin there was Jordan," and "Donnie and Jordan in '08."The crowd took well to tracks from the new album "The Block," specifically "Single," "Click Click Click," and "Summertime," but they got out of their seats, arms in the air, for the classics."You Got It (The Right Stuff)" produced prolonged high-pitched screams, and Joey McIntyre's ballad "Please Don't Go Girl" had a few female fans re-pledging their love, screaming, "I'll marry you Joey," despite the fact that they were wearing wedding rings.But the show was more than just nostalgia. As it turns out, the Kids are surprisingly polished. At 38, Jordan Knight still has a crisp falsetto, and Joey Mac's voice is sexier 20 years past puberty.Unlike other reunion tours (the Police included), NKOTB performed like a group that re-entered the scene for more than just a padding for retirement. The men giggled and grinned. They did the Roger Rabbit. They showered the crowd with countless "thank you"s.Usually during a Garden encore, at least some of the concert crowd makes an early run for the exits, but almost no one left during "Hangin' Tough," which had the men doing the New Kids dance in Celtics jerseys. The song ended with Wahlberg welcoming Paul Pierce to the stage to show off the C's shiny, gold championship trophy.Opening the show with a short set was R&B singer Colby O'Donis, followed by happy popster Natasha Bedingfield, who performed radio singles such as "Pocketful of Sunshine" and "Unwritten."Bedingfield looked very Debbie Harry with tight pants and a new-wave hairdo, but she didn't have the vocal chops or the stage presence to fill the Garden. The British singer did tell the crowd that Boston is one of the best cities in the United States and that it certainly has the best basketball team in the world.It seems the New Kids have taught her something.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Article from the Telegraph
Here is an article from the Telegraph. Thanks to Len for the news tip.
New Kids on the Block: Boys to men
Fourteen years since they split up New Kids on the Block are back with a new album and tour. Bryony Gordon meets them in Los Angeles
So this is how childhood dreams are shattered. You fly all the way to Los Angeles to meet the band who provided the soundtrack to your adolescence, the people who performed in the first concert you attended, the men who gave you knots in your tummy and first made you aware of the concept of romance – and you end up talking to them about the credit crunch.
Jon Knight, one fifth of former teen-pop sensations New Kids on the Block, wants to know about house prices in London. In Boston, where he has worked as a real estate agent since the group disbanded 14 years ago – leaving a trail of broken hearts – they are still astronomical, despite the economic downturn. A two-bed flat, even in the rough end of town, will cost half a million dollars. But he is worried that things are changing. He recently made a loss on a property. He sighs. I sigh.
That's the problem with reunions. Often, nothing is ever quite as good as you remember, and then, with hindsight, you wonder whether they were ever that good in the first place. It is now 20 years since five clean-cut Boston teenagers burst on to the scene with a catchy R&B-pop crossover song called The Right Stuff.
Taken on by producer Maurice Starr, who also created New Edition, they went on to sell 70 million albums and tour for 200 nights of each year. There was New Kids on the Block bed linen, lunch boxes and dolls – all of which I think I owned. There was a Saturday morning cartoon in their likeness, and Nintendo even made a computer game of them.
Take That were created as a British version of the band. Without the New Kids, there would be no Backstreet Boys or *NSync, and thus very possibly no Justin Timberlake. While you may not thank them for that legacy, a trillion girls would, and even now, when I mention that I am going to interview them, friends of both genders who should know better burst into versions of Hangin' Tough and Step By Step, two of their biggest singles.
And here they are, on a blisteringly hot California morning, worrying about the credit crunch but mostly, it must be said, rehearsing for a new tour of the States which sold out within moments of going on sale. I present them, in slightly stalkerish fashion, with a programme from a past tour and Jon Knight, his brother Jordan, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood fall around in a mixture of giggles and embarrassment.
They wonder why they are wearing eyeshadow, and perms, and trousers above their waists, but Donnie, in one picture wearing a pair of boxers on his head, says their costumes "were about as out of control as it got. There were some alcoholic beverages, some wild parties with girls, but that's all good, healthy stuff, isn't it?"
"I don't think, when these pictures were taken," says Jordan, "that any of us were mentally able to grab hold of anything. It was nuts. With that kind of success comes a lot of intensity. It was a blast because we were, what?, 15, 16, 17. But at the age you do need a few moments to yourself."
"And also," says Joey, "it was always kind of frustrating because the fans were usually about 12 and I couldn't do anything. Now they are legal – they have rooms in the hotel that they have paid for with their credit cards whereas before they were all waiting outside – but I'm attached with a baby and I still can't do anything about it. "
Indeed, a lot has changed since the high-waisted trousers and the perms. They have aged well but it is impossible not to cringe at the New Kids moniker. Donnie and Danny have children of the age they were when they started in the group – Donnie's 16-year-old son plays guitar in a death-metal band and "refuses to play with me because he doesn't do pop". On tour, they won't be sitting on stools but nor will they be breakdancing on their heads – they tried their new moves the day before this interview and are feeling it when we meet.
The music industry, too, is a different beast. I bought their first album on vinyl but now it is rare to meet someone who buys CDs. "The lifespan of an artist is about as fast as it takes to log on to the internet," says Danny. They are aware that if they were starting out now, they would probably have to take part in a television talent show to make it, "and that's quite difficult," says Donnie, who admits to a bizarre passion for "that Paul Potts dude [who won last year's Britain's Got Talent]. But maybe we would actually have been more popular now, because the music business is predominantly made up of what we were always accused of being – manufactured."
That is perhaps the reason for their reunion. It has absolutely nothing to do with the success of Take That, obviously. "Ha! No," says Jordan. "I handed over the flame to them back in the Nineties at the Smash Hits awards, when I presented them with the best band statue or something. We're in cahoots with them. We call them up and say, 'You're touring this year? OK, we'll do the next one.'"
Another possible motivation for getting back together is that none of them have exactly set the charts alight since they parted ways – amicably – in 1994. Jordan and Joey released albums that hit the American top 10 but quickly disappeared; Joey went on to feature in the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, while Jordan appeared in a series of reality shows including Five's Trust Me, I'm a Holiday Rep, alongside Jodie Marsh and Syd Little ("Syd was my favourite; I'd like it if he came to see us when the tour reaches England").
Danny was part of Upper Street, MTV UK's much mocked attempt at relaunching former boy-band members as one new group – he tells me that we drink too much in Britain. The only two who have had any real professional success are Jon, with his real estate company, and Donnie, who has attempted to follow in the acting footsteps of his brother Mark Wahlberg with roles in The Sixth Sense and Band of Brothers.
Their new material, mostly penned by Wahlberg, and featuring collaborations with Ne-Yo and their old producer Teddy Riley, is catchy enough, perfectly attuned to the current Timberlake style of R&B-inflected pop, which, in a funny way, they created. It will do well because they have a loyal fan-base hungry for nostalgia; a fan-base who were, frankly, never that musically discerning in the first place – as long as there were hip thrusts and a vague tune, we were happy.
But they are clearly passionate about what they have created, and it is endearing. "We wanted to invite our fans back to the table and if anyone else wants to join us they can," says Donnie. "But we're not here to have a party with people who don't like us. It wouldn't make sense for me to walk past you to get to two people who were never into us." And with that, all talk of the credit crunch is almost forgiven.
Interview with Danny from MTV UK
Here is an interview with Danny from MTV UK. Thanks to Len for the update.
We spoke to Danny about the boys’ unlikely comeback, their new single and British women…
New Kids On The Block were the original boyband from 1986 till their split in 1994 way before Take That, N Sync or Backstreet Boys were on the music scene.
Members Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntrye and Danny Wood have since had separate careers. Jordan had a successful solo career, Donnie went off to Hollywood and Danny starred in our show Totally Boyband.
Now the five-some have unexpectedly reformed and recorded an entire new album- which features collaborations with some of the hottest artists around. We spoke to Danny to get all the gossip…
MTV: Hi Danny, how did the reunion come about?
It started when Tony gave me a call because he had written (song) Click Click Click and I loved the song and we started from there. We recorded six or seven songs before anyone knew
There was no plan we just thought we would see what happens. Things started happening naturally so we knew it was real- It’s all about the music!
What would you say to detractors who say you’re doing it for the money?
People are gonna say what ever they want. My bank account looked very nice before all of this so I didn’t have anything to worry about. We all have lives and I have a jet company so I don’t need the money.
Is this the first time you’ve talked about reforming since you split in 1994?
There was talk from other people- TV shows or producers- but not us. This was the first time we had got together and discussed doing anything.
What has changed?
The over all maturity level has changed and we are all better business men. Four of us have got kids, It’s different but when we get in the room and it’s just the 5 of us we are the same as always. When we perform together not much has changed.
What’s it like hanging out? Do you have laddish banter?
It’s very funny because people from Boston are like the British. They love to mess with each other and with us it’s all day long! If it wasn’t like that we wouldn’t be doing it.
What do you remember most about being in the UK for the MTV show Totally Boyband?
The partying. You guys can drink! I probably put on 10 pounds- I got home (to America) and didn’t drink. Making the show was so much fun and non-stop laughs. I feel very lucky that I got the chance to do it.
There were lots of beautiful women around when I was over there too. They are pretty incredible. I can’t wait to come back.
Do you keep in touch will anyone from Totally Boyband?
I talk to Jimmy still because he’s the most responsible and I’m gonna see him when I come over. I can’t find Brad and Dane has changed his number like 6 or 7 times. Put the word out for them to get in touch!
Who has worked on the new album?
We did a lot with Red One and we worked with Teddy Riley, Pollow Da Don, Akon, New Edition and Lady Gaga as well.
It’s a contemporary sound. We just set out to make a good record and see what happens.
What are your favorite tracks?
The next single is a duet with Ne-Yo. I like Click Click Click because it was the first song we recorded when we got back together.
Tell us about the single Summertime?
At the time we first released it we were still finding more songs for the record. Donnie wrote it with this young kid Nas’ree. It’s a tribute to our fans inviting them back to the party. The second single (after Summertime) is gonna kick off the party!
NKOTB’s comeback album The Block is out this week. The band tour the UK in January 2009.
Video from Channel 7 News in Boston
Channel 7 News in Boston did a story on the Boston show and the mayor making September 26 New Kids on the Block day.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Jonathan and Danny interview with Channel 4
Video from Fox 25
Video courtesy of Nykki72
Friday, September 26, 2008
New Kids on the Block concert set list
Here is a review of the East Rutherford Show. It also includes the concert set list.
New Kids on the Block Return to U.S. Stage For First Time in 15 YearsNew Kids on the Block returned to the stage for their first U.S. Show in 15 years at East Rutherford, New Jersey’s IZOD Center. A sold-out crowd of legal drinking-age women, many sporting t-shirts with “MILF” written across the back) greeted them with the same sort of fervor the New Kids enjoyed during their heyday. Though the boys stepped out to massive applause, that wasn’t good enough for Donnie Wahlberg. “15 years and that’s the best you can do?” Wahlberg joked, provoking the audience into hysterics.Later in the night, Joey McIntyre told Rock Daily, “Canada was a warm-up — a good place to get the kinks out. Our hometown is here, in the Northeast. These are the fans who help take the show to another level.”The group covered the expected hits, including “Right Stuff,” “Cover Girl” and “I’ll be Lovin’ You” along with tracks off their recently-released comeback album The Block. McIntyre provided a fluid solo performance of “Stay the Same,” while Jordan Knight screeched through a falsetto version of “Give it to You.”In one of the more sentimental moments of the show, a montage of musicians and stars who have passed away since the group’s last show accompanied “If You Go Away,” with images of Kurt Cobain, Frank Sinatra, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Aaliyah, Heath Ledger and Wahlberg’s father and Wood’s mother.With multiple outfit changes throughout the evening, the guys ended the show wearing Boston Celtics jerseys emblazoned with their last names, while performing “Hangin’ Tough.” Fluorescent strips of confetti fell to the ground to the delight of every screaming fan still living in 1990.Set List:“Single”“My Favorite Girl”“(You Got It) The Right Stuff”“Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)”“Valentine Girl”“Please Don’t Go Girl”“Grown Man” (With Nicole Scherzinger)“Games”“If You Go Away”“2 In the Morning”“Dirty Dancing”“Tonight”“Twisted”“Baby I Believe in You”“Give It To You” (Jordan solo)“Stay the Same” (Joey solo)“Cover Girl”“I’ll Be Lovin’ You (Forever)”“Click, Click, Click”“Summertime”Encore“Step By Step”“Hangin’ Tough”
Donnie Interview with Live Daily
LiveDaily Interview: Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block
After New Kids on the Block's 14-year hiatus, Donnie Wahlberg said he was surprised by the chemistry that remained between the group and its fans.
"It's pretty intense between us and the fans," the soft-spoken Wahlberg said during an interview with LiveDaily. "That's the part that's sort of shocking everyone. The emotional kicker is the bond between us and the fans."
He's also flattered that fans will spend their hard-earned cash and free time with New Kids on the Block, which recently released the album "The Block." In turn, the act--which also includes Joey McIntyre, Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight and Danny Wood-- has "set out to give them everything they could hope for with this show--the old, the new, the balance of both.
"It's not dull," Wahlberg added. "It's not overly self-indulgent. It's a very unselfish show, to be honest with you. That was our goal: To give people their money's worth. I think that's what you can expect--to get just that and more. We could say, 'Hey, we're going to give you value. We're going to give you two hours. We're going to kick ass. We're going to do every song we can imagine. We're going to do every dance step that you remember and tons of new dance steps. We're going to work our asses off. And we're going to give you the money's worth.' The thing you could never plan for was this unity that's happening in the building."
Wahlberg took the time to talk to LiveDaily about his group's return to the stage, why "Summertime" was the perfect first single and why creativity is a mystery.
LiveDaily: How's the tour going?
Donnie Wahlberg: It's coming along.
Is it better than you thought it would be?
I think the reaction from the crowds and from the fans is more than I could have imagined it could be. In terms of the work itself, I would hope it would be the best set we could do and nothing less. There's always two ways to answer these questions. I think the fan reaction has been mind boggling at times, how amazing it's been and consistent and intense. As far as the work itself, it's a whole 'nother thing. The creative process is what it is. People say, like, 'How does it feel to be doing it again?' I'm part of a creative process. Being part of a creative process is always fun and exciting. It's always exciting and very satisfying. It's not like, 'How does it feel to be sleeping with your ex-wife?' or a girlfriend from high school again after 20 years. It's not like that. It's like, 'How does it feel to be creative again?' It feels the same way it always feels when you're creative--it feels incredible.
It must also feel good to be back out on the stage after taking such a long break.
It's just a creative process. The fans and their reaction is the part that you can't expect. That can only surprise you. Does it feel great to be on stage again? I always feel like I'm on stage. Even if I'm acting, I'm somewhat on a stage. But it's so much about where you are. It's about what you're doing. When I'm on stage, I'm being creative and performing, and if I'm on a movie set, I'm doing the same thing. That feeling is always a very satisfying and rewarding feeling.
Was it hard to put your movie career on hold for New Kids on the Block?
Um, was it difficult? No. It wasn't difficult because the goals were to make music, to make new music, to make an album. I was feeling very passionate about writing songs and being creative in a different way than acting for a little while. I think certain changes taking place in my life certainly probably lit that fire. If it was just a reunion of doing old songs and the same old stuff, yeah, I would not have put my career on hold for that. I don't go backward in life. I go forward. In order to work with the New Kids, it had to be in a way that was going to create forward momentum for me. Or be a new challenge as opposed to an old challenge, or trying to reignite an old flame. The central part of it was putting the album together. The fact that we were making new music, it really drove me to really want to take part in it and not only take part in it, but be in the forefront of it.
Why is now the right time for a New Kids on the Block reunion?
I can't answer that question. I can't answer that. I could try. You make a choice and you put your energy out there and people react or not. For the five guys, why was it time? I think you'd have to ask each guy individually. For me, had it not worked, I'm sure a lot of people would have said, 'What the hell were you thinking Donnie?' But I believed it would work. I believed we could put a great album together and put a great tour together. I think we had the maturity to not worry about the things we can't control. You can spend 11 months, 12 months saying, 'What if no one comes? What if no one comes? What if the fans don't react?' If we make a great album, and they don't react well, then we made a great album and we can feel good about that. That's kind of the approach that I take as an actor. I just do my best work. I can't control what happens with the movie once it's done. It's the same thing with this. I focused on the things I could control and didn't worry. I did all the work, the research, and different things I could do to ensure the greatest success. I didn't sit around with my fingers crossed. I definitely took initiative and did things to sort of fire up the buzz about the group and stuff. At the same time, I didn't lose sleep over the things that were out of the New Kids' control. I lost sleep making music.
What was the songwriting process like for "The Block"?
It depended on the situation. What happened mostly was that [producer] Nazri, the young kid who wrote "Click Click Click," which was the first song that really kind of lit the spark in me, him and I became really close and we started writing a lot together. As different producers were coming around wanting to work with the group, I would screen them out to see if they had the right energy for the project and then, usually, I would invite Nazri and he and I would write together with the producers. At times different guys in the group would come along. Other times, there was just me. I think the difference in the songwriting process this time for me more than any time in the past was that, in the past, I was always very isolated. I was in Boston, in my studio, in my workspace with my team. I would control songs from the ground up. This time, I was much more of a collaborator. I would meet with a producer who I really liked. They would start building a track with me. We would start throwing ideas around and just write a song that way. It was much more open for me. I think probably, again, my acting career has really helped me so much [with] doing [New Kids] over again. My work ethic is much greater because of my acting career, and applying my work ethic now to the energy and creativity that I already had--it's almost like I'm a kid in a candy store in the music business. You put me with talented producers [and], with my work ethic, we're going to get great s--- done. I won't sleep until it's right. That's how I am as an actor. It's the same with the tour: I'll never sleep until my creative juices are completely drained. I got the answer to the mystery I'm trying to figure out--which, every day in the creative world, there's always a new mystery. I think, as an actor, I've had to be much more collaborative with writers, screenwriters, directors and stuff like that. I've sort of applied a lot of that into my songwriting this time. It made me a better songwriter, for sure.
Had you been writing songs during the break?
No, not at all. There hadn't been much to write about.
How did you choose "Summertime" as the first single?
It was a matter of time, circumstance and other factors. The song really spoke to the New Kids' sensibilities. There was a lot of trying something, a real departure from what the New Kids did. Like, something really different, 'Let's shock the world.' At the same time, when you take those chances, you run the risk of alienating your core fans. I think the most important thing for us to establish was our desire to bring back our core fans. We don't want to alienate the people who made us who we were in the first place. We want to give them the option of coming back to the table. The song was sort of about them. It was springtime, summertime was coming along. Thematically and time-wise, it just made a lot of sense.
How do you feel "The Block" fits in with your catalog?
I think it's the perfect next chapter. I think our last album, "Face the Music," was a little too much of a departure at times from the traditional New Kids' sound. I think we did a better job this time of balancing the different musical sensibilities in the group with the tried and true New Kids sound. There's a lot of great melodies and harmonies and simple pop melodies. But I think we brought in the other elements--hip-hop and R&B--much better without bogging it down. It's a much more unselfish album. Music really comes from an unselfish place. There's songs that some people think are very sexual. But they're really celebrations of women, in a lot of cases. Even the song "Sexify My Love," it's not really as just sex-based as it sounds. It's about taking on a relationship that's been building to the next step. It's not like, 'Hey, let's have sex on the first date.' It's saying, 'Hey we've been seeing each other for awhile and we really love each other, maybe it's time to go to that next step.' That's kind of rare these days, for anyone to wait until the second or third date. It's almost unheard of. This song is about doing it after already falling in love with someone.
What's next? Have you started thinking about another album?
We're five dates into a 50-stop tour and I can tell you the only thing on my mind is stop No. 6. I'll be honest with you: I do plan things long range, but, right now, getting the tour up and running has been such a priority and the focal point in my life, I haven't really begun to explore the options yet. Probably by show No. 7, I'll be ready to start exploring what the future holds.
After New Kids on the Block's 14-year hiatus, Donnie Wahlberg said he was surprised by the chemistry that remained between the group and its fans.
"It's pretty intense between us and the fans," the soft-spoken Wahlberg said during an interview with LiveDaily. "That's the part that's sort of shocking everyone. The emotional kicker is the bond between us and the fans."
He's also flattered that fans will spend their hard-earned cash and free time with New Kids on the Block, which recently released the album "The Block." In turn, the act--which also includes Joey McIntyre, Jonathan Knight, Jordan Knight and Danny Wood-- has "set out to give them everything they could hope for with this show--the old, the new, the balance of both.
"It's not dull," Wahlberg added. "It's not overly self-indulgent. It's a very unselfish show, to be honest with you. That was our goal: To give people their money's worth. I think that's what you can expect--to get just that and more. We could say, 'Hey, we're going to give you value. We're going to give you two hours. We're going to kick ass. We're going to do every song we can imagine. We're going to do every dance step that you remember and tons of new dance steps. We're going to work our asses off. And we're going to give you the money's worth.' The thing you could never plan for was this unity that's happening in the building."
Wahlberg took the time to talk to LiveDaily about his group's return to the stage, why "Summertime" was the perfect first single and why creativity is a mystery.
LiveDaily: How's the tour going?
Donnie Wahlberg: It's coming along.
Is it better than you thought it would be?
I think the reaction from the crowds and from the fans is more than I could have imagined it could be. In terms of the work itself, I would hope it would be the best set we could do and nothing less. There's always two ways to answer these questions. I think the fan reaction has been mind boggling at times, how amazing it's been and consistent and intense. As far as the work itself, it's a whole 'nother thing. The creative process is what it is. People say, like, 'How does it feel to be doing it again?' I'm part of a creative process. Being part of a creative process is always fun and exciting. It's always exciting and very satisfying. It's not like, 'How does it feel to be sleeping with your ex-wife?' or a girlfriend from high school again after 20 years. It's not like that. It's like, 'How does it feel to be creative again?' It feels the same way it always feels when you're creative--it feels incredible.
It must also feel good to be back out on the stage after taking such a long break.
It's just a creative process. The fans and their reaction is the part that you can't expect. That can only surprise you. Does it feel great to be on stage again? I always feel like I'm on stage. Even if I'm acting, I'm somewhat on a stage. But it's so much about where you are. It's about what you're doing. When I'm on stage, I'm being creative and performing, and if I'm on a movie set, I'm doing the same thing. That feeling is always a very satisfying and rewarding feeling.
Was it hard to put your movie career on hold for New Kids on the Block?
Um, was it difficult? No. It wasn't difficult because the goals were to make music, to make new music, to make an album. I was feeling very passionate about writing songs and being creative in a different way than acting for a little while. I think certain changes taking place in my life certainly probably lit that fire. If it was just a reunion of doing old songs and the same old stuff, yeah, I would not have put my career on hold for that. I don't go backward in life. I go forward. In order to work with the New Kids, it had to be in a way that was going to create forward momentum for me. Or be a new challenge as opposed to an old challenge, or trying to reignite an old flame. The central part of it was putting the album together. The fact that we were making new music, it really drove me to really want to take part in it and not only take part in it, but be in the forefront of it.
Why is now the right time for a New Kids on the Block reunion?
I can't answer that question. I can't answer that. I could try. You make a choice and you put your energy out there and people react or not. For the five guys, why was it time? I think you'd have to ask each guy individually. For me, had it not worked, I'm sure a lot of people would have said, 'What the hell were you thinking Donnie?' But I believed it would work. I believed we could put a great album together and put a great tour together. I think we had the maturity to not worry about the things we can't control. You can spend 11 months, 12 months saying, 'What if no one comes? What if no one comes? What if the fans don't react?' If we make a great album, and they don't react well, then we made a great album and we can feel good about that. That's kind of the approach that I take as an actor. I just do my best work. I can't control what happens with the movie once it's done. It's the same thing with this. I focused on the things I could control and didn't worry. I did all the work, the research, and different things I could do to ensure the greatest success. I didn't sit around with my fingers crossed. I definitely took initiative and did things to sort of fire up the buzz about the group and stuff. At the same time, I didn't lose sleep over the things that were out of the New Kids' control. I lost sleep making music.
What was the songwriting process like for "The Block"?
It depended on the situation. What happened mostly was that [producer] Nazri, the young kid who wrote "Click Click Click," which was the first song that really kind of lit the spark in me, him and I became really close and we started writing a lot together. As different producers were coming around wanting to work with the group, I would screen them out to see if they had the right energy for the project and then, usually, I would invite Nazri and he and I would write together with the producers. At times different guys in the group would come along. Other times, there was just me. I think the difference in the songwriting process this time for me more than any time in the past was that, in the past, I was always very isolated. I was in Boston, in my studio, in my workspace with my team. I would control songs from the ground up. This time, I was much more of a collaborator. I would meet with a producer who I really liked. They would start building a track with me. We would start throwing ideas around and just write a song that way. It was much more open for me. I think probably, again, my acting career has really helped me so much [with] doing [New Kids] over again. My work ethic is much greater because of my acting career, and applying my work ethic now to the energy and creativity that I already had--it's almost like I'm a kid in a candy store in the music business. You put me with talented producers [and], with my work ethic, we're going to get great s--- done. I won't sleep until it's right. That's how I am as an actor. It's the same with the tour: I'll never sleep until my creative juices are completely drained. I got the answer to the mystery I'm trying to figure out--which, every day in the creative world, there's always a new mystery. I think, as an actor, I've had to be much more collaborative with writers, screenwriters, directors and stuff like that. I've sort of applied a lot of that into my songwriting this time. It made me a better songwriter, for sure.
Had you been writing songs during the break?
No, not at all. There hadn't been much to write about.
How did you choose "Summertime" as the first single?
It was a matter of time, circumstance and other factors. The song really spoke to the New Kids' sensibilities. There was a lot of trying something, a real departure from what the New Kids did. Like, something really different, 'Let's shock the world.' At the same time, when you take those chances, you run the risk of alienating your core fans. I think the most important thing for us to establish was our desire to bring back our core fans. We don't want to alienate the people who made us who we were in the first place. We want to give them the option of coming back to the table. The song was sort of about them. It was springtime, summertime was coming along. Thematically and time-wise, it just made a lot of sense.
How do you feel "The Block" fits in with your catalog?
I think it's the perfect next chapter. I think our last album, "Face the Music," was a little too much of a departure at times from the traditional New Kids' sound. I think we did a better job this time of balancing the different musical sensibilities in the group with the tried and true New Kids sound. There's a lot of great melodies and harmonies and simple pop melodies. But I think we brought in the other elements--hip-hop and R&B--much better without bogging it down. It's a much more unselfish album. Music really comes from an unselfish place. There's songs that some people think are very sexual. But they're really celebrations of women, in a lot of cases. Even the song "Sexify My Love," it's not really as just sex-based as it sounds. It's about taking on a relationship that's been building to the next step. It's not like, 'Hey, let's have sex on the first date.' It's saying, 'Hey we've been seeing each other for awhile and we really love each other, maybe it's time to go to that next step.' That's kind of rare these days, for anyone to wait until the second or third date. It's almost unheard of. This song is about doing it after already falling in love with someone.
What's next? Have you started thinking about another album?
We're five dates into a 50-stop tour and I can tell you the only thing on my mind is stop No. 6. I'll be honest with you: I do plan things long range, but, right now, getting the tour up and running has been such a priority and the focal point in my life, I haven't really begun to explore the options yet. Probably by show No. 7, I'll be ready to start exploring what the future holds.
Donnie on Kiss 108 (Sept 26)
Donnie was on the Matty Show on Kiss 108 this morning. They also interviewed Nathasha Beddingfield, and they talked about the New Kids tour. You can find the interview on the same page as the Donnie interview.
Update: Interview has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?
Donnie in TNT TV Series
TNT puts two cop shows under surveillance By Kimberly Nordyke and Nellie Andreeva
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As part of its recently announced strategy to increase its original programing, TNT has set its sights on two cop-themed procedural dramas, one from Jerry Bruckheimer and Danny Cannon and the other from Jon Avnet and Donnie Wahlberg.
The cable network is in final negotiations to give a pilot pickup to the untitled Bruckheimer project, written by Doug Jung ("Big Love") from an original idea by Cannon ("CSI"). The project is a character-based police drama that will follow a squad of young undercover LAPD officers as they walk the line between doing their job and being seduced into the easy money and corruption of the crime world.
TNT also has given a pilot order to "Bunker Hill" (formerly known as "Morse Code"), which is set in the section of Boston known by the same name and will explore the area's crime, corruption and deceit. Wahlberg stars as Mike Moriarty, who left his home in Boston for a covert job overseas and never expected to be back home as a cop protecting the streets where he grew up.
As TNT focuses on expanding its original-programing slate, next up for the network are two series premieres: the Timothy Hutton-starring "Leverage" in December and "Trust Me" (formerly "Truth in Advertising"), starring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh, in January. The network set records with its premiere of "Raising the Bar" on September 1, but the legal drama's viewership dipped significantly this week without its "Closer" lead-in and against the kickoff of the broadcast networks' new seasons.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - As part of its recently announced strategy to increase its original programing, TNT has set its sights on two cop-themed procedural dramas, one from Jerry Bruckheimer and Danny Cannon and the other from Jon Avnet and Donnie Wahlberg.
The cable network is in final negotiations to give a pilot pickup to the untitled Bruckheimer project, written by Doug Jung ("Big Love") from an original idea by Cannon ("CSI"). The project is a character-based police drama that will follow a squad of young undercover LAPD officers as they walk the line between doing their job and being seduced into the easy money and corruption of the crime world.
TNT also has given a pilot order to "Bunker Hill" (formerly known as "Morse Code"), which is set in the section of Boston known by the same name and will explore the area's crime, corruption and deceit. Wahlberg stars as Mike Moriarty, who left his home in Boston for a covert job overseas and never expected to be back home as a cop protecting the streets where he grew up.
As TNT focuses on expanding its original-programing slate, next up for the network are two series premieres: the Timothy Hutton-starring "Leverage" in December and "Trust Me" (formerly "Truth in Advertising"), starring Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh, in January. The network set records with its premiere of "Raising the Bar" on September 1, but the legal drama's viewership dipped significantly this week without its "Closer" lead-in and against the kickoff of the broadcast networks' new seasons.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Donnie at a Golf Tournament Yesterday
Lucky Donnie Wahlberg
By Inside Track Friday, September 26, 2008 http://www.bostonherald.com
New Kid on the Block Donnie Wahlberg got up close and personal with Lucky, the Celtics mascot and the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the Celts first USI Shamrock Classic golf tournament yesterday at Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton.
Celtics Glen Davis, Eddie House, Leon Powe, rookies Patrick O’Bryant and Bill Walker, Coach Doc Rivers, owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca teed off with legends M.L. Carr, Bob Cousy, Jo Jo White and John Havlicek to raise some dough for the team’s kids charities.
New Kids enjoying reunion tour
Here is an article from The Barrie Examiner
New Kids enjoying reunion tour
(AP)-- Donnie Wahlberg might look and act tough, but he's a softie underneath.
The resident bad boy of New Kids on the Block said he has cried tears of joy while performing for thousands of screaming fans on the reunited band's arena tour, which began in Toronto last week.
"We've had old banners being held up, new banners being held up, people singing the old songs, partying with the new songs, bras thrown onstage with women flashing us," Wahlberg said. "Husbands holding their wives and singing along to the songs with their wives in their arms ... I don't like to overblow the significance of anything, we're a pop group after all, but there's something really magical that's happening every night. I've been moved onstage on more than one occasion."
That admission coming from Wahlberg -- known for his macho posturing and hip-hop swagger -- might surprise the New Kids' hardcore devotees, who wouldn't expect him to weep and then talk openly about it. But Wahlberg said he's matured over the years.
Right now, he feels validated by the resurgent fandemonium -- after all, it's been a lifetime since the band last performed to crowds like this.
"I'm not some guy that is desperate, you know?" said Wahlberg, an actor whose film credits include Righteous Kill, The Sixth Sense and the gory Saw flicks. "I didn't, like, need to go and do this to make money and stuff like that. I got a good career. I got plenty of things going on in my life. It's not like I needed this to bail me out of any mess or anything. It's just right. It just felt right. We did it for the right reasons and the reward is to share this with the fans and to see that they're so dialled in."
Fourteen years after disbanding amid dwindling popularity and burnout, the New Kids -- Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight -- are reclaiming some of the magic from their heyday in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when they made teenage girls swoon on a regular basis.
One of the most successful boy bands ever, the New Kids were the prototype for hysteria-inducing groups like the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and the Jonas Brothers. Millions of young girls obsessed over the New Kids, persuading their parents to buy them concert tickets, pillowcases, notebooks, lunch boxes, dolls and on and on.
Some of those girls, now in their 20s and 30s, have held on to that merch -- and still harbour fond memories of brash Donnie, pretty boy Joey, chiselled Danny and the hair-gelled Knight siblings.
But they're no longer kids. In the years between 1994 and 2008, the men -- now in their 30s -- have experienced marriages, divorces, children, and hit-or-miss solo careers. Wahlberg has had a well-received detour into acting. McIntyre had high-profile stints on Broadway in Wicked and on TV in Dancing With the Stars. Jonathan Knight, who has suffered from crippling panic disorder, chucked showbiz to work in the real estate business. Jordan has pursued a solo career.
The reunion began a year ago after Wahlberg heard music for the song Click Click Click and sent it around to the other guys. That song became the first of 13 tracks on The Block.
Donnie on WEEI
Donnie did an interview on WEEI yesterday.
Update: Interview has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?
Joey Mac grooves like it’s 1989 again
Here is an article from the Boston Herald:
Joey Mac grooves like it’s 1989 again
By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa / Inside Track | Friday, September 26, 2008
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi
Tonight is the New Kids on the Block’s first show in Boston in more than 14 years and Joey McIntyre is feeling a little bit like Manny Ramirez.
“I haven’t pushed anyone yet,” joked Joey, who has been fielding a steady stream of ticket requests from family and friends. “But I have been yelling at my tour manager a lot!”
Ticket demands, a sold-out Garden, the screaming fans - the ex-boybanders’ homecoming is like deja vu all over again for Joey, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan and Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood, who were one of the most popular acts in the world in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
But a lot has changed since McIntyre joined the band as a Donny Osmond-like 12-year-old. For one thing, the baby of the group has a baby! And when Joey rang in from his Boston hotel room yesterday, he said he had to keep his voice down because his 10-month-old son, Griffin, was sleeping in the next room.
But despite the fact that they now have nine kids between them, the New Kids aren’t having any trouble getting back into the pop-star groove and making one of the biggest and most improbable comebacks in pop-music history.
“The camaraderie and the dynamic of the group hasn’t changed,” Joey Mac told the Track. “We all have sort of same personal energy. We all bounce off each other the same way. It’s kind of funny after all these years but we’re still the same.”
And so, apparently, are their fans, who are scooping up tickets to the New Kids shows and screaming their lungs out for Joey, Donnie, Jordan and Jonathan and Danny like it’s 1989.
“It’s just much cooler, though,” McIntyre said. “Much more mature - although from the way they are at the shows you’d never know it. But they all look great. They’ve all come into their own.”
So do the girls still try to sneak in your hotel room, Joe???
“They get their own hotel rooms! They’re right down the hall,” he laughed. “No, it’s fun to watch, though. I get to have it all. I have a beautiful family, a new baby, an amazing wife and I get to be a rock star every night. It’s awesome.”
McIntyre said the reunion, new record and the kickoff of the tour have all seemed like a prelude to tonight’s and Sunday night’s shows in Boston.
“It’s gonna be crazy,” Joey said. “But we’re gonna try to take it in stride and try not to get too excited.”
McIntyre said band members feel really good about where they are at musically with the new record and with their stage performance.
“You know, timing is everything,” he said. “This is the right time and it wouldn’t have been right any earlier. I think we are all at the age now where we can appreciate the past and now we may be able to turn our legacy on its head a little.”
McIntyre said the group was able to reunite because they walked away “as friends” in 1994, and set the bar “very high” for getting back together again.
“We weren’t going to just throw out another record just to keep it going,” he said. “It had to be something fresh, something that captured the group.”
As it turned out it was the song “Click Click Click” off their new album that convinced all five New Kids that they could have a second act.
“We just found a song that felt right to all of us,” he said. “And we went into the studio with no deadline, no contract, no pressure and just took it one song at a time. We just enjoyed the process and it was the perfect way to get the vibe going again.”
As for some of the rumors surrounding the New Kids, Joey said Donnie, who has been linked to Danity Kane singer Aubrey O’Day is “definitely single.”
“He’s not really a ladies man, although he is a big flirt,” he said. “We saw you guys had him with Aubrey and we were laughing about it in the dressing room. I don’t know how serious that is. I know they are friends though.”
And Jonathan, who retired from the group in 1994 after suffering debilitating panic attacks, is “doing great,” Joey said.
“He’s fantastic,” he added. “He’s worked through a lot of stuff in the past six months but he’s having a ball. It’s great.”
File Under: Block Party.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1121579
Joey Mac grooves like it’s 1989 again
By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa / Inside Track | Friday, September 26, 2008
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi
Tonight is the New Kids on the Block’s first show in Boston in more than 14 years and Joey McIntyre is feeling a little bit like Manny Ramirez.
“I haven’t pushed anyone yet,” joked Joey, who has been fielding a steady stream of ticket requests from family and friends. “But I have been yelling at my tour manager a lot!”
Ticket demands, a sold-out Garden, the screaming fans - the ex-boybanders’ homecoming is like deja vu all over again for Joey, Donnie Wahlberg, Jordan and Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood, who were one of the most popular acts in the world in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
But a lot has changed since McIntyre joined the band as a Donny Osmond-like 12-year-old. For one thing, the baby of the group has a baby! And when Joey rang in from his Boston hotel room yesterday, he said he had to keep his voice down because his 10-month-old son, Griffin, was sleeping in the next room.
But despite the fact that they now have nine kids between them, the New Kids aren’t having any trouble getting back into the pop-star groove and making one of the biggest and most improbable comebacks in pop-music history.
“The camaraderie and the dynamic of the group hasn’t changed,” Joey Mac told the Track. “We all have sort of same personal energy. We all bounce off each other the same way. It’s kind of funny after all these years but we’re still the same.”
And so, apparently, are their fans, who are scooping up tickets to the New Kids shows and screaming their lungs out for Joey, Donnie, Jordan and Jonathan and Danny like it’s 1989.
“It’s just much cooler, though,” McIntyre said. “Much more mature - although from the way they are at the shows you’d never know it. But they all look great. They’ve all come into their own.”
So do the girls still try to sneak in your hotel room, Joe???
“They get their own hotel rooms! They’re right down the hall,” he laughed. “No, it’s fun to watch, though. I get to have it all. I have a beautiful family, a new baby, an amazing wife and I get to be a rock star every night. It’s awesome.”
McIntyre said the reunion, new record and the kickoff of the tour have all seemed like a prelude to tonight’s and Sunday night’s shows in Boston.
“It’s gonna be crazy,” Joey said. “But we’re gonna try to take it in stride and try not to get too excited.”
McIntyre said band members feel really good about where they are at musically with the new record and with their stage performance.
“You know, timing is everything,” he said. “This is the right time and it wouldn’t have been right any earlier. I think we are all at the age now where we can appreciate the past and now we may be able to turn our legacy on its head a little.”
McIntyre said the group was able to reunite because they walked away “as friends” in 1994, and set the bar “very high” for getting back together again.
“We weren’t going to just throw out another record just to keep it going,” he said. “It had to be something fresh, something that captured the group.”
As it turned out it was the song “Click Click Click” off their new album that convinced all five New Kids that they could have a second act.
“We just found a song that felt right to all of us,” he said. “And we went into the studio with no deadline, no contract, no pressure and just took it one song at a time. We just enjoyed the process and it was the perfect way to get the vibe going again.”
As for some of the rumors surrounding the New Kids, Joey said Donnie, who has been linked to Danity Kane singer Aubrey O’Day is “definitely single.”
“He’s not really a ladies man, although he is a big flirt,” he said. “We saw you guys had him with Aubrey and we were laughing about it in the dressing room. I don’t know how serious that is. I know they are friends though.”
And Jonathan, who retired from the group in 1994 after suffering debilitating panic attacks, is “doing great,” Joey said.
“He’s fantastic,” he added. “He’s worked through a lot of stuff in the past six months but he’s having a ball. It’s great.”
File Under: Block Party.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1121579
DC After Party
I don't know for sure if Donnie will be making an appearance at this (especially since they have a concert over 6 hours away in Cleveland the next day) but it's being advertised on the message boards...
DC AFTER PARTY
EYE BAR
1716 I St NW # 1
Washington, DC 20006
10PM
hosted by the Funk B's
guest appearance by
Donnie Wahlberg
Listen to new track's from the Funk B's new CD.
DC AFTER PARTY
EYE BAR
1716 I St NW # 1
Washington, DC 20006
10PM
hosted by the Funk B's
guest appearance by
Donnie Wahlberg
Listen to new track's from the Funk B's new CD.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Going through video blog withdrawls
It's been a while since we got some new videos on NKTV. But, I saw this video that a fan posted and I thought it was great and the closest thing to an "official" video blog for now:
Youtube video courtesy of schri410
Youtube video courtesy of schri410
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
NKOTB Shirt for the Cure
Here is what the shirt in honor of the Betty Wood's memory and breast cancer research looks like.
Update: Link to purchase no longer active.
Article from the Associated Press
Here is an article from the Associated Press
New Kids on the Block soak up love on reunion tour
By ERIN CARLSON – 3 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Donnie Wahlberg might look and act tough, but he's a softie underneath.
The resident bad boy of New Kids on the Block said he has cried tears of joy while performing for thousands of screaming fans on the reunited band's arena tour, which began in Canada last week.
"We've had old banners being held up, new banners being held up, people singing the old songs, partying with the new songs, bras thrown onstage with women flashing us," Wahlberg said by phone from Toronto. "Husbands holding their wives and singing along to the songs with their wives in their arms ... I don't like to overblow the significance of anything, we're a pop group after all, but there's something really magical that's happening every night. I've been moved onstage on more than one occasion."
That admission coming from Wahlberg — known for his macho posturing and hip-hop swagger — might surprise the New Kids' hardcore devotees, who wouldn't expect him to weep and then talk openly about it. But Wahlberg said he's matured over the years. Right now, he feels validated by the resurgent fandemonium — after all, it's been a lifetime since the band last performed to crowds like this.
"I'm not some guy that is desperate, you know?" said Wahlberg, an actor whose film credits include "Righteous Kill," "The Sixth Sense" and the gory "Saw" flicks. "I didn't, like, need to go and do this to make money and stuff like that. I got a good career. I got plenty of things going on in my life. It's not like I needed this to bail me out of any mess or anything. It's just right. It just felt right. We did it for the right reasons and the reward is to share this with the fans and to see that they're so dialed in."
Fourteen years after disbanding amid dwindling popularity and burnout, the New Kids — Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Joey McIntyre and brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight — are reclaiming some of the magic from their heyday in the late 1980s and early '90s, when they made teenage girls swoon on a regular basis.
One of the most successful boy bands ever, the New Kids were the prototype for hysteria-inducing groups like the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and the Jonas Brothers. Millions of young girls obsessed over the New Kids, persuading their parents to buy them concert tickets, pillowcases, notebooks, lunch boxes, dolls and on and on.
Some of those girls, now in their twenties and thirties, have held on to that merch — and still harbor fond memories of brash Donnie, pretty boy Joey, chiseled Danny and the hair-gelled Knight siblings.
But they're no longer kids. In the years between '94 and '08, the men — now in their 30s — have experienced marriages, divorces, children, and hit-or-miss solo careers. Wahlberg has had a well-received detour into acting. McIntyre had high-profile stints on Broadway in "Wicked" on Broadway and on TV in "Dancing With the Stars." Jonathan Knight, who has suffered from crippling panic disorder, chucked showbiz to work in the real estate business. Jordan has pursued a solo career.
The reunion began a year ago after Wahlberg heard music for the song "Click Click Click" and sent it around to the other guys. That song became the first of 13 tracks on "The Block."
"It just so happened that the timing was good for all the guys and there were different things going on in our lives that made it work," said Wahlberg, who recently split from wife Kim. "I mean, I'm going through a breakup of my marriage. I lost my dad. I had a lot to talk about. A lot of emotional stuff that I was going through that really fueled me to want to keep working late hours into the night."
The band retains a retro vibe on the album with pop songs like "Summertime" and "2 In The Morning," but gains an updated sound. Among the album's collaborators are Ne-Yo, Akon and the Pussycat Dolls. Since its Sept. 2 release, "The Block" has sold about 139,000 copies. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 top albums chart before sliding down the chart.
On their nationwide tour, the group's setlist is a mix of material from "The Block" and past hits including "Please Don't Go Girl," "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" and "You Got It (The Right Stuff)." While the tour is likely to be a cash cow for the group, Wahlberg said they didn't do it for the money.
"We've been asked to do this many times and, quite frankly, I didn't have any interest in doing it any other time because it was never for the right reasons," he said. "It was always, `Hey, how about you go out with the guys and you scoop up all this money and, you know, we'll do a TV special and a tour and you guys can go and rack up all this money.' ... Anybody who's gonna make that pitch to me? They don't know me, they don't understand me and what makes me tick. I don't live for money."
Wood admitted that reclaiming the spotlight has been one of the major benefits of the reunion.
"I went to this restaurant that I always go to, and they comped me dinner," said Wood, who lives in Miami. "The manager's like, `Thank you for coming. We're glad you came in here.' And I'm like, `Dude, I come in here all the time.' ... I know some of the waiters and waitresses, but they just didn't realize until we got back together that I was in the group. So it's kinda cool. .. I'll take it, you know."
That goes for McIntyre, too, who half-jokingly remarked he was abusing the services of their assistant Zach.
"I checked myself like a couple weeks ago," he said. "I'm having him do all these little things. Like, back in the day we joked about how we wouldn't even turn the light switch on our own. There was someone to do everything for you."
The tight bond between McIntyre and company was clear earlier this month during an interview at The Associated Press headquarters in Manhattan. The group (sans Wahlberg, who spoke to the AP later) talked about maturing from boys to men — which involved diaper duty for four out of five guys — and cracked themselves up in the process.
When asked about advice for the young Jonas Brothers — who are beating the New Kids on the charts — they yelled jokingly, "Get off our block!"
Want Boston tickets?
Donnie just announced they just released a few hundred tickets for the Boston shows - good seats (seats originally held for family members)!
Video from Fox in New York
Here's a video from Fox New York of the guys backstage (spoiler warning, brief concert footage towards the end). Update: Video has been deleted, does anyone have it saved?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Interview from newsday.com
Here is a short interview from newsday.com
Now that the New Kids on the Block have returned after 14 years with a fine new album, "The Block" (Interscope), that shows they've moved into a whole new musical subdivision, Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood say they are ready to take their show on the road.
Donnie, it's been said that you've been the holdout [for the reunion] and that something changed recently. Is that true?
Wahlberg: I think everyone's held out at some point or another. At one point or another, everybody said, "No." I think, for me, a perfect storm of things all collided at once. I found a song that really inspired me. I was going through a breakup in my marriage, and I needed another creative outlet, and I think the other guys were ready, too. I think when they heard the song, they felt the same way I did.
After seeing you at Zootopia this year, it became clear that this wasn't the usual paycheck-driven reunion.
Jordan Knight: We wanted to do it so that we were comfortable, so that we were satisfied, so that when we're out on tour for six months, we have new stuff to be excited about to keep us going. It gets boring up there if you're not doing new material, and if you're not doing new fresh dance moves.
Wahlberg: To just leave everything behind, leave our families, leave our individual goals and aspirations, and go and reform a group, and just do an old walk down memory lane, I don't think you could pay me enough to just go and do an old reunion tour without a new album. Happiness is more important than money.
How does the reaction you get today compare to the old days?
Jonathan Knight: I think the frenzy we had back in the day is the equivalent of what the Jonas Brothers have now. Our fans have grown up. Their hormones have stopped... They're not chasing us down the street, trying to pull our hair out. It's been nice to be able to have conversations with them.
And they're not screaming as loud when you're on stage.
McIntyre: Yeah, now we can hear ourselves sing, which is great.
New Kids on the Block
When/Where: 7:30 Wednesday, Nassau Coliseum; Oct. 27, Madison Square Garden
Info: $36-$74 (Nassau), $41-$79 (MSG) at Ticketmaster, 631-888-9000, ticketmaster.com
Now that the New Kids on the Block have returned after 14 years with a fine new album, "The Block" (Interscope), that shows they've moved into a whole new musical subdivision, Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood say they are ready to take their show on the road.
Donnie, it's been said that you've been the holdout [for the reunion] and that something changed recently. Is that true?
Wahlberg: I think everyone's held out at some point or another. At one point or another, everybody said, "No." I think, for me, a perfect storm of things all collided at once. I found a song that really inspired me. I was going through a breakup in my marriage, and I needed another creative outlet, and I think the other guys were ready, too. I think when they heard the song, they felt the same way I did.
After seeing you at Zootopia this year, it became clear that this wasn't the usual paycheck-driven reunion.
Jordan Knight: We wanted to do it so that we were comfortable, so that we were satisfied, so that when we're out on tour for six months, we have new stuff to be excited about to keep us going. It gets boring up there if you're not doing new material, and if you're not doing new fresh dance moves.
Wahlberg: To just leave everything behind, leave our families, leave our individual goals and aspirations, and go and reform a group, and just do an old walk down memory lane, I don't think you could pay me enough to just go and do an old reunion tour without a new album. Happiness is more important than money.
How does the reaction you get today compare to the old days?
Jonathan Knight: I think the frenzy we had back in the day is the equivalent of what the Jonas Brothers have now. Our fans have grown up. Their hormones have stopped... They're not chasing us down the street, trying to pull our hair out. It's been nice to be able to have conversations with them.
And they're not screaming as loud when you're on stage.
McIntyre: Yeah, now we can hear ourselves sing, which is great.
New Kids on the Block
When/Where: 7:30 Wednesday, Nassau Coliseum; Oct. 27, Madison Square Garden
Info: $36-$74 (Nassau), $41-$79 (MSG) at Ticketmaster, 631-888-9000, ticketmaster.com
Article from The Independent
Here is an article from The Independent
Boyz to men: The (not so) New - Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block were the ultimate teen idols. Now they're all grown up – and making a comeback. And so are their fans. Matilda Egere-Cooper reports
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
It normally starts with a chant, followed by squeals, which quickly build up into a euphoric chorus of screams, claps and occasional foot-stomping. At HMV on London's Oxford Street, hundreds of New Kids on the Block fans are in fine form, even if most of them are in their late twenties and early thirties. One buxom woman, squeezed up against a security barrier, is wearing a white vest emblazoned with the name "Donnie" and proudly waving a banner that reads: "I heart you Donnie – mwah".
Another fan from Baltimore, Maryland, tells me she hung out with Joey in their hotel bar the previous night and apologised for stalking him at his Boston house 15 years ago. "He was so sweet," she gushes. "But Jordan? He just doesn't know how to act." The discussion turns to our favourite songs and stories of hopping into taxis to chase the Kids back in the day. The chanting kicks off again. "We want New Kids! We want New Kids!"
The hysteria is mild, but still impressive. Many of these woman have travelled from all over the country and beyond (a few are from New Zealand). Some camped outside the shop the night before. A few have dragged along their kids, who look pretty confused by the fuss.
But any fan worth their limited-edition NKOTB lunch-box knows this gig is a big deal. It's been 14 years since the world's biggest boy-band split, disappearing into the haze of the Nineties until Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Take That and others stole their thunder a few years later. But nothing could beat the New Kids – 80 million records sold, countless No 1 hits, hundreds of well-executed arena shows and a shameless array of merchandise.
When Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and Jordan and Jon Knight finally take to the stage for this much-anticipated appearance, they're ready to party like it's 1989. "London, how ya doing?" asks Donnie, who at 39 quickly works his playboy persona by grabbing hands and laying kisses on anyone within reach. Cue screams, claps and foot-stomping. Their four-song set, which includes the oldies "Step by Step" and "Tonight", is a reminder that they're no longer boys, but grown men clinging on to former glories thanks to careful choreography that doesn't require backflips and the impressive vocals of Jordan and Joey. And they're still after the hearts of their lady fans. Asked what was the weirdest thing they ever had to sign, Donnie smiles wryly. "Does ass count?" Cue screams.
Strangely, the hype doesn't follow them back to their hotel a few hours later. Either the word hasn't got out where they're staying, or their groupies have gone back to work. Whatever the case, the group are back to their casual selves. Donnie greets me with a handshake and a kiss. A muscle-bound Danny is all smiles, while the strikingly handsome Joey is still quite hyper. Jon's disappeared, and Jordan is just hanging around.
Two Kids join me in a booth: Donnie is slouched to my right, Danny comfortably close to my left. I ask Donnie if he's ever had the surreal experience of meeting a childhood idol he never thought he'd meet. "No," he smiles steadily, "but I've slept with a woman I never thought I'd meet." Oh, Donnie. "He's just worked with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro for his new film," Danny quickly offers, as Jordan and Joey take a seat. Someone's missing. "Jon's probably having a cigarette," Joey suggests.
A quick glance, and it's clear that they've aged well. Everyone has kids except Jon. Jordan and Joey are married. Danny is divorced, along with a newly single Donnie, who practically bristles at the mention of the word.
A reunion had been rumoured for years, but it was thought that Jon, who's made a mint selling houses, wasn't up for it. He left the group because he suffered from panic attacks caused by years in the limelight. This afternoon, however, he's cheerful, but leaves the other four to bask in the attention.
Put on the spot about his decision to rejoin the group, he chooses his words carefully: "There was a part of me that missed it. I thought long and hard before I said I would do it. In the past, I never held out... I know in 1999 we were asked to present an award at a TV show and I was like, 'Why bother? There's nothing in it for me.' It wasn't a big deal. But I love these guys and I knew what it was like before. It just seemed the right time for me to jump back in."
Still, the timing is contentious. With a number of high-profile reunion albums and tours boosting the music industry, it wouldn't be unseemly for the boys to cash in. Donnie's become the most successful New Kid to date, having built a Hollywood career almost as lucrative as his younger brother Mark's. Joey has had some success in acting, while Jordan and Danny dabbled in reality TV. Jon sold houses.
But the suggestion that they jumped on the reunion bandwagon annoys Donnie. It was his idea for the group to reform last year after hearing a demo he thought would suit them. "I think [the idea] that we'd do a reunion just because someone else did is very discouraging to me. It wouldn't guide my personal choice. If I'm going to be part of something that's going to be compared to Take That or someone else, that would just be a negative on my list. It has no bearing on why we're doing this."
But they are doing it well. On their new album The Block, they've roped in the star power of Akon, Ne-Yo and the Pussycat Dolls to unveil a new sound that could fit in today's musical landscape – but cringe-worthy song titles like "Sexify My Love", and Donnie's insistence on rapping, border on parody. It's hard to work out if they're trying to appeal to their old fans or to their kids' schoolfriends.
"We didn't do the album trying to make it for any age group," Danny says. "If you set out to reach certain people... The people you're trying to reach, they might think it's fake; people who've always been your fans may not appreciate it," adds Donnie, who served as one of the album's executive producers. "You have to make the music for yourself first and make the music that you feel good about. Then everyone else will like it as well."
But their live shows are expected to deliver. When they announced their reunion tour in the US, tickets sold out within minutes. And the boys head to these shores in January. As for future albums, they snigger at the suggestion that they'll follow The Block with more records. Surely they would? "The idea is to keep the door open," Joey explains. "The idea that we can come back, in whatever manifestation; I think that's cool. We can come back and people will expect something good from us."
New Kids on the Block were put together by Maurice "The General" Starr – a Berry Gordon-esque Svengali who'd made a sensation out of R&B teen hitmakers New Edition and hoped to emulate that success with white kids to rival The Osmonds. He met Donnie in summer 1984 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Donnie helped him to find the others: Danny was his best friend, Jordan and Jon friends from school. Donnie's younger brother Mark was a member in the early days, but left to be reborn as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Joey replaced original member Jamie Kelly because, as Donnie explains, "He wasn't good – he had no talent. He was just any other white guy crazy enough to get on stage with us."
The boys are proud of their early rise to fame. "To find five kids who were willing to stick it out and go through that impossible journey... When you think about the odds of us ever accomplishing anything on that level, and then the challenges that faced us... we could have woke up any morning and just walked. We could have just gone off and got a girlfriend and gone and had babies and had a life. And you couldn't find guys doing what we did," says Donnie. "You would have to scour the whole country to find 100 white guys doing what we were doing, to audition for the group." Danny chips in: "There was no Disney factory in Orlando, churning out boy bands back then."
They admit things got murkier when their careers peaked in 1989, after hits like "The Right Stuff" and "Hangin' Tough". They've never told tales of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, but they've never denied they weren't as clean-cut as they appeared to be. "Stadium tours were the end of the innocence, but it was the beginning of the marketing of the innocence," says Donnie, knowingly. "It was just a bad time." "Godawful!" adds Jordan. "Everything just got away from us... It just got pinker and yellower..." ("More fluorescent," says Danny.) "And we were getting older," Jordan continues. "What you start having was a lot of fractures. It was a fractured group. It was just so big..."
Donnie tries to be diplomatic. "It stopped being about anything but work. We probably tried to take our talent to the limit and tried to define who we were individually but we also tried to do whatever we could to stay connected to reality somehow, so it became posses on the road, different personalities, everybody pushing to find their own voice. Then you have to come together and do commercials for every name brand in the world. Everything was starting to go down for the wrong reasons." "And there were 70,000 people out there that wanted a piece of you," adds Joey. "So you just start going into a little protective cocoon. You don't get to laugh and have fun like you used to."
By 1994, they were seeking independence. They changed their name to NKOTB and returned with the Starr-less album Face the Music, a much edgier offering. It tanked. "At a better time in our career, it probably would have worked," Jordan says. "We got so big and we were jammed down so many people's throats that people were gonna reject us regardless."
Their biggest challenge now will be to ensure they don't go down in history as the biggest boyband that tried and failed again. "If you play your cards right, and you are true and you are honest and you do good work and you believe in yourself, you can come back," Joey says. "And here we are. What other boy band is like us? There's no other boy band like us from our era."
"When I look at New Kids, I refuse to let that be the definition of my life," Donnie admits. "There's more to life than New Kids but at the same time, there are no rules. Today, we're defining who we are and we're defining how we'll be remembered, and that's fun. I'd rather have it be in our hands than anyone else's."
__
The album 'The Block' is out on Interscope Records; New Kids on the Block tour the UK in January
Boyz to men: The (not so) New - Kids on the Block
New Kids on the Block were the ultimate teen idols. Now they're all grown up – and making a comeback. And so are their fans. Matilda Egere-Cooper reports
Tuesday, 23 September 2008
It normally starts with a chant, followed by squeals, which quickly build up into a euphoric chorus of screams, claps and occasional foot-stomping. At HMV on London's Oxford Street, hundreds of New Kids on the Block fans are in fine form, even if most of them are in their late twenties and early thirties. One buxom woman, squeezed up against a security barrier, is wearing a white vest emblazoned with the name "Donnie" and proudly waving a banner that reads: "I heart you Donnie – mwah".
Another fan from Baltimore, Maryland, tells me she hung out with Joey in their hotel bar the previous night and apologised for stalking him at his Boston house 15 years ago. "He was so sweet," she gushes. "But Jordan? He just doesn't know how to act." The discussion turns to our favourite songs and stories of hopping into taxis to chase the Kids back in the day. The chanting kicks off again. "We want New Kids! We want New Kids!"
The hysteria is mild, but still impressive. Many of these woman have travelled from all over the country and beyond (a few are from New Zealand). Some camped outside the shop the night before. A few have dragged along their kids, who look pretty confused by the fuss.
But any fan worth their limited-edition NKOTB lunch-box knows this gig is a big deal. It's been 14 years since the world's biggest boy-band split, disappearing into the haze of the Nineties until Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, Take That and others stole their thunder a few years later. But nothing could beat the New Kids – 80 million records sold, countless No 1 hits, hundreds of well-executed arena shows and a shameless array of merchandise.
When Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood and Jordan and Jon Knight finally take to the stage for this much-anticipated appearance, they're ready to party like it's 1989. "London, how ya doing?" asks Donnie, who at 39 quickly works his playboy persona by grabbing hands and laying kisses on anyone within reach. Cue screams, claps and foot-stomping. Their four-song set, which includes the oldies "Step by Step" and "Tonight", is a reminder that they're no longer boys, but grown men clinging on to former glories thanks to careful choreography that doesn't require backflips and the impressive vocals of Jordan and Joey. And they're still after the hearts of their lady fans. Asked what was the weirdest thing they ever had to sign, Donnie smiles wryly. "Does ass count?" Cue screams.
Strangely, the hype doesn't follow them back to their hotel a few hours later. Either the word hasn't got out where they're staying, or their groupies have gone back to work. Whatever the case, the group are back to their casual selves. Donnie greets me with a handshake and a kiss. A muscle-bound Danny is all smiles, while the strikingly handsome Joey is still quite hyper. Jon's disappeared, and Jordan is just hanging around.
Two Kids join me in a booth: Donnie is slouched to my right, Danny comfortably close to my left. I ask Donnie if he's ever had the surreal experience of meeting a childhood idol he never thought he'd meet. "No," he smiles steadily, "but I've slept with a woman I never thought I'd meet." Oh, Donnie. "He's just worked with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro for his new film," Danny quickly offers, as Jordan and Joey take a seat. Someone's missing. "Jon's probably having a cigarette," Joey suggests.
A quick glance, and it's clear that they've aged well. Everyone has kids except Jon. Jordan and Joey are married. Danny is divorced, along with a newly single Donnie, who practically bristles at the mention of the word.
A reunion had been rumoured for years, but it was thought that Jon, who's made a mint selling houses, wasn't up for it. He left the group because he suffered from panic attacks caused by years in the limelight. This afternoon, however, he's cheerful, but leaves the other four to bask in the attention.
Put on the spot about his decision to rejoin the group, he chooses his words carefully: "There was a part of me that missed it. I thought long and hard before I said I would do it. In the past, I never held out... I know in 1999 we were asked to present an award at a TV show and I was like, 'Why bother? There's nothing in it for me.' It wasn't a big deal. But I love these guys and I knew what it was like before. It just seemed the right time for me to jump back in."
Still, the timing is contentious. With a number of high-profile reunion albums and tours boosting the music industry, it wouldn't be unseemly for the boys to cash in. Donnie's become the most successful New Kid to date, having built a Hollywood career almost as lucrative as his younger brother Mark's. Joey has had some success in acting, while Jordan and Danny dabbled in reality TV. Jon sold houses.
But the suggestion that they jumped on the reunion bandwagon annoys Donnie. It was his idea for the group to reform last year after hearing a demo he thought would suit them. "I think [the idea] that we'd do a reunion just because someone else did is very discouraging to me. It wouldn't guide my personal choice. If I'm going to be part of something that's going to be compared to Take That or someone else, that would just be a negative on my list. It has no bearing on why we're doing this."
But they are doing it well. On their new album The Block, they've roped in the star power of Akon, Ne-Yo and the Pussycat Dolls to unveil a new sound that could fit in today's musical landscape – but cringe-worthy song titles like "Sexify My Love", and Donnie's insistence on rapping, border on parody. It's hard to work out if they're trying to appeal to their old fans or to their kids' schoolfriends.
"We didn't do the album trying to make it for any age group," Danny says. "If you set out to reach certain people... The people you're trying to reach, they might think it's fake; people who've always been your fans may not appreciate it," adds Donnie, who served as one of the album's executive producers. "You have to make the music for yourself first and make the music that you feel good about. Then everyone else will like it as well."
But their live shows are expected to deliver. When they announced their reunion tour in the US, tickets sold out within minutes. And the boys head to these shores in January. As for future albums, they snigger at the suggestion that they'll follow The Block with more records. Surely they would? "The idea is to keep the door open," Joey explains. "The idea that we can come back, in whatever manifestation; I think that's cool. We can come back and people will expect something good from us."
New Kids on the Block were put together by Maurice "The General" Starr – a Berry Gordon-esque Svengali who'd made a sensation out of R&B teen hitmakers New Edition and hoped to emulate that success with white kids to rival The Osmonds. He met Donnie in summer 1984 in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Donnie helped him to find the others: Danny was his best friend, Jordan and Jon friends from school. Donnie's younger brother Mark was a member in the early days, but left to be reborn as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. Joey replaced original member Jamie Kelly because, as Donnie explains, "He wasn't good – he had no talent. He was just any other white guy crazy enough to get on stage with us."
The boys are proud of their early rise to fame. "To find five kids who were willing to stick it out and go through that impossible journey... When you think about the odds of us ever accomplishing anything on that level, and then the challenges that faced us... we could have woke up any morning and just walked. We could have just gone off and got a girlfriend and gone and had babies and had a life. And you couldn't find guys doing what we did," says Donnie. "You would have to scour the whole country to find 100 white guys doing what we were doing, to audition for the group." Danny chips in: "There was no Disney factory in Orlando, churning out boy bands back then."
They admit things got murkier when their careers peaked in 1989, after hits like "The Right Stuff" and "Hangin' Tough". They've never told tales of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, but they've never denied they weren't as clean-cut as they appeared to be. "Stadium tours were the end of the innocence, but it was the beginning of the marketing of the innocence," says Donnie, knowingly. "It was just a bad time." "Godawful!" adds Jordan. "Everything just got away from us... It just got pinker and yellower..." ("More fluorescent," says Danny.) "And we were getting older," Jordan continues. "What you start having was a lot of fractures. It was a fractured group. It was just so big..."
Donnie tries to be diplomatic. "It stopped being about anything but work. We probably tried to take our talent to the limit and tried to define who we were individually but we also tried to do whatever we could to stay connected to reality somehow, so it became posses on the road, different personalities, everybody pushing to find their own voice. Then you have to come together and do commercials for every name brand in the world. Everything was starting to go down for the wrong reasons." "And there were 70,000 people out there that wanted a piece of you," adds Joey. "So you just start going into a little protective cocoon. You don't get to laugh and have fun like you used to."
By 1994, they were seeking independence. They changed their name to NKOTB and returned with the Starr-less album Face the Music, a much edgier offering. It tanked. "At a better time in our career, it probably would have worked," Jordan says. "We got so big and we were jammed down so many people's throats that people were gonna reject us regardless."
Their biggest challenge now will be to ensure they don't go down in history as the biggest boyband that tried and failed again. "If you play your cards right, and you are true and you are honest and you do good work and you believe in yourself, you can come back," Joey says. "And here we are. What other boy band is like us? There's no other boy band like us from our era."
"When I look at New Kids, I refuse to let that be the definition of my life," Donnie admits. "There's more to life than New Kids but at the same time, there are no rules. Today, we're defining who we are and we're defining how we'll be remembered, and that's fun. I'd rather have it be in our hands than anyone else's."
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The album 'The Block' is out on Interscope Records; New Kids on the Block tour the UK in January
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