New Kids on the Block, Hangin’ Tough

By Christian Lipski

I’m cheating a little on this one, as I didn’t actually own this album. But I do definitely remember when it was released, and when it exploded into a phenomenon. I would see the video for “Please Don’t Go Girl” from time to time, back when the boy band was a relatively new concept in the U.S. (at least for those who didn’t remember the Osmonds). It wasn’t until a couple years later that I really started getting into the NKOTB, but I did dip back into their “old school” stuff when “Step By Step” came out.

Man, this stuff was SO vanilla and harmless, it was like watching Leave It To Beaver. “Please don’t go girl /It would ruin my whole world.” I think the appeal to me was the innocence of it all. Plus there was the whole ironic nature of a grown man enjoying teeny-bop music that was entertaining. Maybe I’m getting that old-man nostalgia for what I now see as a simpler time, but kids’ music was certainly that way.

I volunteered to work security for Bill Graham Presents when the New Kids played at the Oakland Coliseum, and it was a dream. I was singing about as loud as the ten-year-olds around me, and the songs were just as innocent as they are on the album. Even on their follow-up, “Step By Step,” the relationships depicted are simple and sweet although they sometimes go wrong. Jordan and Joey tried to push their music careers further, but in general the New Kids never seemed to fall into the sleazy realm that most ex-boy bands do, and that probably explains why I see their reign as a kind one.

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