By ALISA WOLFSON
Posted: 1:05 am
September 20, 2008
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.
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