New Kids On The Block Hanging Tough

If you’re in your late twenties or older, every time you hear the phrase “hanging tough” you immediately think back to the chorus from the 1989 hit of the same name by the New Kids On The Block.

It’s not something you’re particularly proud of but you do it nonetheless.

New Kids On The Block are comprised of Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood. They were assembled in the Boston in 1984 by producer Maurice Starr.

They released their first album way back in 1986 but the quintessential boy-band didn’t rocket to stardom until 1989 when their seminal bubblegum album Hangin' Tough hit store shelves.

For the next year, New Kids On The Block were the world’s hottest band, making 12-year old girls cry everywhere they went. However, by the end of 1991, the Kids’ run was over.

To illustrate their rapid decline, look at the band’s third studio album, Step By Step which was released in 1990. The first single from the album, the title track, was the New Kids’ biggest selling single of all time. The last single released from the album, "Let's Try It Again,” failed to crack the top 50 as most radio stations refused to play it.

That’s what happens when your songs are the musical equivalent of the nutritional value found in Funyuns. It’s also what happens when you stop going by the name “New Kids on the Block” and start going by the initials “NKOTB,” which the band started doing in 1991.

Incidentally, NKOTB is the worst acronym of all-time. It’s impossible to remember and looks awful when written.

The group has released more greatest hits, remixes, and Christmas albums than they have studio albums. That includes their 2008 release, The Block. Miraculously, it debuted at number one on the Billboard Pop Album Chart and number two on the Billboard 200. It sold over 100,000 copies in its first week.

Last year, the group launched a successful reunion tour, “New Kids on the Block: Live,” and they will once again be hitting the road in 2009. The “Full Service Tour” begins May 28th in Atlanta and concludes July 18th in the Woodlands, Texas.

Touring with the New Kids on the Block will be Jabbawockeez, season-one winners of "America's Best Dance Crew" (that’s a sentence I hope I’ll never have to write again).

New Kids will be visiting venues all across America, like Bristow, Cuyahoga Falls, Las Vegas, and Mohegan Sun just to name a few.

The “Full Service Tour” offers a variety of ticket packages including one that allows fans to dine with the Kids in a backyard style barbecue.

However much that costs it’s worth it. Having ribs with the New Kids in Dallas or Maryland Heights or Raleigh would be priceless.

Think of all the great stories they can tell. They’re probably more forthcoming and friendlier then other artists. And you know they’d be appreciative that you forked over big money to eat with them.

As for their set list, what does it matter? All their songs sound the same and other than Joey, none of them can sing (sadly, they can't dance either).

But you don’t go to their show for the music. You go for the experience of seeing forty-year-olds trying to sing and dance like they were teenagers. Yes, that’s right, the New Kids are pushing forty!

If that doesn’t make you feel old, nothing will.

The New Kids are old enough to have kids that have actually out grown the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus.

That’s okay though, because Jordan, Jonathan, Joey, Donnie, and Danny are still hanging tough.