New Kids on the Block

Word to LFO, if you came up in the ‘80s era of boy-band R&B music, it made you sick to watch New Kids on the Block overshadow the foundation that their Boston predecessors, New Edition, laid since the days of “Mr. Telephone Man.” But decades later, after much scrutiny and nearly one-hundred million records sold (“Hangin’ Tough,” “Please Don’t Go Girl,” and “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” being the marquee songs), NKOTB has reconciled its white pop privilege by paying tribute to some of the originators and progenitators of their style on their recent “Boys in the Band” tribute single to groups such as Jackson 5, NSYNC, B2K, and others. The satiric video features a cameo from tourmates Naughty by Nature as well as one from the New Edition spinoff group, Bell Biv DeVoe. It’s all in fun now. But why wouldn’t it be? These were all the poster boys of many of our adolescences (you were either a Jordan Knight or Joey McIntyre nut). But now that the posters are all rolled up and either thrown or hidden away, that doesn’t mean that you still can’t hit that Running Man dance move that Jordan used to kill. Also with Salt-N-Pepa, Naughty by Nature, Tiffany, and Debbie Gibson.