Last Christmas, when decorating the house, I discovered that a mouse (or that’s what I suspect) had been having a field day with my Christmas decorations. I think like most of us, I keep seasonal stuff tucked away at places I don’t regularly visit. The shock to find the remains of my Christmas stuff was one thing, but panic hit me once I realized that my collections of music books, calendars, clippings, tour programs, posters and T-shirts were just a few boxes down the line and would have been completely accessible for a tiny mouse.
I’ve spend hours and hours of most of my youth and early adulthood collecting on a range of artists before finally limiting it to Madonna and Kylie Minogue, and New Kids On The Block to the point where they’d originally split.
So, since December, I’ve been on a journey back in time. Confronted by all the musical loves of my distant past and discovering what is left of your love or fanship towards certain artists. Madonna and Kylie are idols, perhaps even muses. I turn to their career, still, when I need some inspiration. It’s no doubt that the connection with them has stood the test of time, but like many women, I was a teenaged girl once and I, too, loved a slew of boybands, R&B stars and teen stars.
I admit it, I was a fan of all of the groups, starting with Bros, New Kids On The Block, Take That, East 17, Boyzone and Backstreet Boys. I always knew some were phases and I didn’t have a weak for them as strong as for others, but the group I had the most connection with was NKOTB. To me, they had a fresh sound when they first arrived with “Hanging Tough” and they were the first group I had ever seen who hardly ever wore the same clothes. They showed no unity really, haha. The things you remember.
It was good fun growing up with them. While with Bros I was heavily crushing on one of the members, I saw the members of NKOTB more like friends. I never thought any of them were cute, so I never crushed on them. I appreciated them for showing me a different kind of artist. For the most part, they looked like the boys next door. No styling, no divo attitudes , no addictions to as far as I know and they seemed accessible. Getting reacquainted to my collection of the group again, felt like going through a photo album and seeing old friends again.
Take That come the closest to that with me, even though that hasn’t really survived the test of time. I thought they were very down to earth and very good sports and I have incredible memories of the group, especially because I met them on several occasions, whereas I never met NKOTB (and even avoided trying to meet NKOTB when they did their first comeback. Something I have regretted at times, because perhaps there were some things you owe to your inner child).
I am still in touch with some other NKOTB fans and through them I hear about what the group are up to. I heard about a new EP and I know they are touring with Boyz II Men and Paula Abdul later this year (which would have been my dream tour back then). Maybe I will check some recent stuff out after all…
