This and That for September 21st

Here is an interview with the New Kids on the Block from the show "This Morning"

Videos courtesy of JordanKnightUK

Spoiler alert: Lots of video footage of the their recent concerts!

 Article from the NY Post here 

FOR girls who weren’t in their teens between 1986 and 1994, the acronym NKOTB might look like gibberish. But to those in the know, there’s no mistaking those letters. Before there were countless boy bands, there was New Kids on the Block – and the “right stuff” that sold 70 million records (and countless themed sleeping bags) worldwide. They moseyed off the block 14 years ago, but now the Kids – men, rather – are back.

Yup, Jordan, Joey, Jonathan, Donnie and Danny are embarking on a 48-city tour that began in Toronto on Thursday. After performing songs from their new album, “The Block,” along with their old hits, in New York, Las Vegas, Denver and 45 other cities, their tour wraps up in Los Angeles on Nov. 26.

But first, a question: Huh? And . . . why? And: eh?

Danny Wood says the band’s return was sparked when Donnie Wahlberg was in New York, visiting his entertainment lawyer. The lawyer handed him a demo tape from a young singer-songwriter named Nasri – and he was hooked.

“I popped the CD in, and from the minute it started it just grabbed me,” says Wahlberg. “It was hip-hop and honest enough for me, it was soulful enough for Jordan [Knight] and pop and unselfish enough for Joe [McIntyre]. I spent the next few hours driving up to girls at red lights and playing them the song.”

When they stepped into the recording studio to make the album, it was the first time they had been in the same room together in 14 years.

And their fans? The fans are eager to revisit the Block as well, even if they’re now well into their thirties. They have (we hope) traded in their acid-washed denim and scrunchies, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the sheer, nay, maniacal excitement surrounding all things NKOTB. And although times (and technology) have changed, there’s no shortage of fan clubs. It’s just that while they used to be advertised in the backs of magazines like Tiger Beat, now they’ve gone online.

“My childhood neighbor had the [NKOTB] dolls, and my sister and I would play with her all the time,” says Gaby, 25, a self-described “fan from the beginning.” Though she was never a member of an official fan club per se, Gaby does admit to owning a NKOTB sleeping bag during their heyday.

Tanisha isn’t shy about sharing her love for the band, either. She, too, is “a fan since day one. I had the dolls, the sheets, T-shirts, and I wore the nightgown. My mom just recently found it!”

Nostalgia’s great and all, but it’s only part of what NKOTB is basing their return tour on. They’ve moved past “Hangin’ Tough” to tunes like “Grown Man” and “Sexify My Love.” The latter boasts lyrics such as, “Tonight I want to try / Every position we can dream of /All over the house.” Naughty!

The music has definitely changed; they’re no longer

teenage boys wearing a great deal of hair gel and singing to teenage girls. “We’re more mature now,” says Knight. “Our fans are older, and we’re singing about different life experiences than we had back then.”

Ie., they’ve moved past their days of rhyming words like “fun” and “one,” as they did in their hit “Step by Step.”

And while plenty has happened since the group last toured together, the band still shares a strong camaraderie. The guys “are friends first,” says McIntyre. “Almost 20 years later we can get together hang out and have fun. It’s a little more planned and professional now, but we’re still a bunch of guys who love doing this.” And lest you think any of their moves might be toned down, oh no – Wahlberg would like to reassure the fans: “We’re still young, we’re still hot!” he says. “We still do some of our old moves to keep it real, but our choreography is definitely updated. You’ll just have to come to the show and see for yourself.”

Fans will have three chances to see NKOTB perform in the New York area. They play Tuesday at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ, Wednesday at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island and at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27. For more information about the tour, visit nkotb.com.