Angel's Slice of the Pie#14: If You Go Away... 25 years Since NKOTB Called It A Day

"I can't believe, it's overrrrr... I can't belieeeeve, you're breaking my hear-ar-art," sang New Kid's Jordan Knight.

Well how did he think us Blockheads felt! One minute our fave boy band was back on the block. The next minute, they'd disappeared from the block. Where did they go? No one knew. I remember the autumn of 1994 when I finally had to accept that my favourite pop band in the whole world had left the building, breaking my little teenage heart.

January 2019 marked twenty five years since New Kids On The Block - or NKOTB as they were called at the time of their comeback - released Face The Music, their fifth studio album. Unfortunately this autumn also marks twenty five years since us blockheads had to face the music that our idols had decided to call it a day. After arriving back on the pop scene with an almighty bang, the New Kids left without so much as a fizzle. The group disbanded and walked out of our lives - seemingly for good - and Donnie, Danny, Jon, Jordan and Joey broke the hearts of millions of Blockheads around the world.

What we didn't know was that fifteen years later they would do what no one expected them to do and return to rock our worlds once again - and this time the comeback would be a huge success, even seeing them get their own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Since 2008, the New Kids have been back where they belong thus marking the end of their wandering around in the pop musical wilderness. And every Blockhead will agree, pop really wasn't the same without them. Thank goodness they came back when they did!

It goes without saying that New Kids fans are thrilled to have them back and still going strong eleven years after their return. But we still ask the question of what went wrong all those years ago? Why was it the comeback that never was???

THE HIATUS

After years of being on the road and touring solidly, the group wanted to take a break from being New Kids and just wanted to be regular kids for a while. So at the end of 1991, they took a break. No one could begrudge the hardest working kids in showbiz the chance to relax and take it easy for a while after the huge success they enjoyed and hysteria that followed them, even though us Blockheads did have a little cry (and that's putting it mildly!) But this was expected to be a break - not a break up, and fans were expecting to see the group performing again. So while the New Kids were catching up with family and friends, enjoying a bit of home cooking and sleeping in their own beds instead of hotel rooms for a change, the fans were eagerly awaiting their return. It's just a good job we didn't know how long it was going to take!

BEFORE THE COMEBACK...

There was talk that the five bad brothers from the beantown land were hard at work in the studio, working on their latest musical offerings which Blockheads, knew, just knew, even without listening to a single note, that it was going to be nothing short of awesome. But there was no release date for the new album, and we kept hearing about recording hitches, though we weren't worried - we knew it was a question of when and not if.

Then towards the end of 1993, the New Kids brought a smile to fans' faces by doing their first interview in over two years with Smash Hits magazine. This was then followed by the announcement that the group were going to perform at that year's Smash Hits Poll Winners Party.

We. Could. Not. Wait!

But there was disappointment in store for the Blockheads when the Poll Winners' Party began and ended and there was no sign of the New Kids. What on earth had happened? Had they got on the wrong bus? Had the Northern Line broken down again? The New Kids didn't know London that well and it was in the days before Google Maps - they had to have got lost... right???

"Why do you think the New Kids didn't show?" I asked my bestie at school the next day where the only topic of conversation was the Poll Winners' Party (while we struggled to finish our maths homework that should have been completed over the weekend! And by 'struggled', I mean we went around the class looking for someone who would let us copy from them.)

"Oh it's because their song was too dirty, so they wouldn't let them perform," she replied very knowledgably. Looking back, what I want to know is how she was able to find out so quickly in the pre-Google age. MW, you should have been a private detective!

And she was right. Dirty Dawg was considered way too raunchy to be performed at the Poll Winners' party where the average age was probably something like fourteen. Joey McIntyre confirmed that the band had been asked to change some of the lyrics to Dirty Dawg - but they refused to do so. And good for them, I say!

But as disappointing as that was, we were relieved to find out that the New Kids were releasing their new album in early 1994.

We. Could. Not. Wait!

The boys were back. Nothing could go wrong now... right???

THE COMEBACK

It was all going so well. It was January 1994, and Face the Music, was due for release shortly. Blockheads were doing cartwheels up and down the street. The New Kids were back!

Fans were delighted to get their first glimpse of the boys. And furthermore, we were glad to see that New Kids mania was still alive and well. Fast Forward magazine reported that a recent record signing in their hometown of Boston, saw the New Kids leave at 3am thanks to all the fans who had turned up. And when they arrived in London, it was exactly as it had been three years earlier with hoards of screaming fans. The boys did a press conference in London; a radio interview with Clive Warren at Capital Radio, and countless other interviews. A nationwide tour was in the pipeline. And there was critical acclaim for Face the Music which insiders felt was their strongest album musically. And it was great news for fans of hip-hop and RnB as urban stations played tracks from the album that had been produced by legendary RnB producer Teddy Riley. I still remember when MW excitedly phoned me and demanded that I turn the radio on immediately - I soon found out why!

I still remember how excited I was that the boys were back. I'd watch every TV show they were due to appear on, and I'd buy teen mags by the bucket load and cut out anything that so much as mentioned 'NKOTB'. It was fantastic to see my idols back where they belonged. I had high hopes for them - as did all Blockheads. And when Face the Music was finally released in the UK and available to buy - guess who also bagged herself a CD? And trust me, I listened to it morning, noon and night!

THE HATERS!

But sadly it wasn't all good news. Despite a promising start, problems started to arise. Then there was the backlash. Oh dear, the backlash! Critics had panned the group even when they were the biggest act in music. But back then, the New Kids had the full support of their fans. It soon became apparent, sadly, that not everyone was going to give the boys the welcome they had been hoping for.

Piers Morgan declared that NKOTB were never going to be as big as they once were. Even before I'd had a chance to listen to Face The Music, there was talk that their new sound and image was drastically different - they'd apparently gone all gangsta rap. I was worried that I would hate it, and I was concerned that the change was so dramatic that they'd lost that New Kids vibe; the thing that made them so unique and special. As it happens I was worrying for nothing. I loved their new image and sound but I can see how all this talk about the New Kids undergoing a personality transplant could be daunting for fans.

And after the Smash Hits interview in which the boys declared that they were going to 'kick Take That's ass', the Mancunian pop band got all shook and hit back that if the New Kids thought they were going to kick Take That's ass, they had another thing coming. Take That's lead singer Gary Barlow took things further by saying that the New Kids could open up for them at Take That's next tour. A bit rich coming from a band who only got lucky because the New Kids had taken a break. Had it not been for that, Take That would still be prancing around like low budget Village People, smearing jelly all over each other. That's right people - I was NEVER a Thatter! And Joey, when asked what he thought about Take That's comments, he refused to say anything except that he didn't think they'd be opening their gobs if they were all in the same room. Take That take on Donnie Wahlberg? Never!

Then there was that very ill-fated appearance on BBC's Live and Kicking in which the presenter behaved like an annoying little twerp. NKOTB retaliated by acting like they couldn't be a*sed and that they would rather be anywhere doing anything that was a lot more fun - like trimming the lawn with a pair of nail scissors! But worse was to come when the same annoying little twerp, when presenting a BBC awards show, took great pleasure in belittling and humiliating the New Kids. Blockheads were NOT pleased!

NKOTB had hoped to reconnect with members of their fanbase, and simultaneously appeal to a wider audience with their new mature sound and image. And while many of the Blockheads had grown up and grown up with the New Kids, during NKOTB's hiatus, many of their fans had gone grown up and grown out of teenybop tunes to a more 'credible' genre such as grunge, hip-hop, or dance.  And those who were still into mainstream chart music, preferred the new pop bands du jour such as Take That, Let Loose or East 17. Therefore when NKOTB released Face the Music, the fanbase they left behind had rapidly disintegrated - although of course the die-hard Blockheads remained - and still do!

Then some people got their battyriders in a twist because Dirty Dawg was said to have vulgar lyrics and was 'against all women' (we had yet to learn the term 'misogynistic'!) The promotional tour for Face the Music involved NKOTB not only publicizing their return and promoting the new album, but also defending themselves against accusations that they were 'anti-women.' Anti-women? Seriously? Did people not know who the majority of their fan base were??? Even when NKOTB explained that the song was about women who had cheated on them and not against all women, their explanations fell on deaf ears. It was almost as though media and the public were looking for an excuse to attack the New Kids.

Because of the outcry, a lot of radio stations wouldn't play the song, and music channels refused to show the video before the watershed, despite the New Kids vehemently denying that the song and the accompanying video were violent, misogynistic, and degrading to women. It was no surprise then that Dirty Dawg debuted at number twenty seven in the UK charts. Their follow up single, Never Let You Go, didn't even make it into the UK Top Forty. And the tour did go ahead, but whereas NKOTB once sold out stadiums and arenas, they were now playing in much smaller music venues.

We knew in our hearts that all the signs were pointing to the end being nigh, but we didn't want to admit to that. We still had some hope that by some miracle, the New Kids would be as huge as they once were. I mean they were the New Kids On The Block, right? What could possible go wrong???

THE END... FOR NOW...

The final nail in the coffin came when Jonathan Knight wanted out. He'd started to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and dropped out of the tour. The word on the block was that Jon had suffered an injury after falling off a horse and was recuperating. From what I can remember, initial press articles claimed that the tour would continue and Jon would join the group again once his injury had healed. This was then followed by reports that the tour had been postponed while they were waiting for Jon. So we waited... and waited.. and waited...

The rest of the tour had been cancelled long ago. That was in the summer of '94. The band broke up and quietly left the spotlight. There hadn't been an official announcement - if there was, I'd clearly missed it. By autumn we knew that we were never going to see the New Kids perform again. And for fifteen years, we were right!

MUSICAL WILDERNESS

And so began the descent into the musical wilderness that was to last until 2008 when the New Kids reunited. For me personally, chart music just wasn't the same. After the New Kids spilt, there was a plethora of boy bands who the girls got crazy over, but I didn't feel that any of them matched up to New Kids on the Block, even though I did like East 17, Bad Boys Inc. and Backstreet Boys. But I found most of the others to be bland and unappealing. There may have been Blockheads who never gave up hope of a reunion but I wasn't one of them. It seemed unlikely as the New Kids had all moved on to other things: Jordan and Joe began solo careers, while Donnie and Danny got into writing and producing for other musical acts. In addition to music, Joe and Donnie also started acting careers. Only Jon turned his back on fame, opting for a quiet life on his ranch and got involved in real estate. Each of the New Kids also began settling down and starting families. So no, it didn't look as though the band would ever get back together again.

WE'LL BE LOVING THEM FOREVER

But even though the band had split up for good, I wasn't ready to stop being a Blockhead (and I'm glad to say, I never have!) Unfortunately it was considered 'uncool' to be a New Kids' fan, so while I never pretended to not like them, I didn't exactly shout it from the rooftops either. At that age it's all about fitting in and being accepted. Teen years can be daunting but the New Kids on the Block were my happy place – a fuzzy, warm, place of comfort and innocence and they brought back memories of a time when things were so much simpler. I so didn't want to leave that behind. When things were bad - as they could be during these years - I'd often dig out an old VHS or cassette tape (really showing my age here!) and all was right with the world again.

We obviously didn't have the internet the way we do now but I did manage to connect with other Blockheads via Teletext ( Teletext! I'm really showing my age now) Like me, they were also saddened by the split; had a hard time dealing with the ridicule and teasing about their musical preferences, and didn't feel as though music was quite the same now that the boys from the band were gone. Chart music had pretty much lost it's appeal for me, and while I eventually became a huge fan of urban and rock music, the New Kids ALWAYS had a special place in my heart...

And as every Blockhead now knows, that was NOT the end of the New Kids story... But we had to wait until 2008.

Photos and word cloud by Angel Noire