New Kids on the Block: Five Brothers and a Million Sisters

by Nikki Van Noy

Overview

An authorized biography of supergroup New Kids on the Block—tracking their rise, fall, and triumphant return as one of the biggest acts of all time (with a special focus on the fans who have supported them every step of the way).

Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, and Danny Wood.

They set the bar for every boy band that followed and changed the course of pop music forever. In the 1980s, for millions of young girls around the world, they were gods. But behind the scenes, they were just kids. In this authorized biography of the band, the New Kids tell it all to rock author Nikki Van Noy.

“What distinguishes this from similar biographies is Van Noy’s inclusion of the voices of dozens of NKOTB fans both in the story itself—commenting on events from a fan’s perspective—and sharing personal tales of kindnesses shown by the band members at the end of each chapter” (The Boston Globe).

With frankness and honesty, each New Kid recalls nearly thirty years of experience with the group, both on and off the stage. Like a time machine, this book will take you right back—giving you an inside look at the New Kids like you’ve never seen them before.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451667875
Publisher:	Touchstone
Publication date:	10/02/2012
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	575,562
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Nikki Van Noy is the author of So Much to Say, a biography of the Dave Matthews Band, and New Kids on the Block, a biography of the eponymous band. She works as a writer and editor in Boston, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Chapter 01 Coming Home 1

Chapter 02 What's a Nynuk? 17

Chapter 03 We're the New Kids on the Block 43

Chapter 04 You Got it 63

Chapter 05 Five Guys, One Bus 82

Chapter 06 First Time was a Great Time 99

Chapter 07 Remember When we Traveled 'Round the World? 122

Chapter 08 Hold on 144

Chapter 09 Face the Music 162

Chapter 10 The Thought of you Still Makes me Crazy 184

Chapter 11 Stronger then Ever 210

Chapter 12 Five Brothers and a Million Sisters 235

Chapter 13 This Love will Last Forever 253

acknowledgments 257

index 259

Editorial Reviews

Music writer Van Noy (So Much to Say: Dave Matthews Band—20 Years on the Road) applies her skills in thorough reporting and thoughtful analysis to an unlikely subject: New Kids on the Block, the first of the “boy band” phenomenon of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The New Kids—cute, young, white pop rockers whose five-part harmonies and hip-hop dance moves captured the hearts of millions of adoring teen and tween girls—set the mold for the careers of imitators such as the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync. Van Noy takes what seems like a clichéd pop story—New Kids meteoric rise and equally swift collapse—and turns it into something special, a fascinating tale that will delight the band’s large fan base as well as enlighten its harsh critics. She takes a serious look at the cultural roots of a band born and raised in the shadow of Boston’s polarizing busing controversy. She gets great quotes from band members like Donnie Wahlberg, the group’s cofounder and resident John Lennon figure (“I am—and I think we are as new Kids—the success story of busing”). Van Noy explores New Kids’ huge postreunion online fan base, millions of “Blockheads” whose intense devotion and concert-going support is equal—and surprisingly similar in style—to devoted followers of Phish and the Grateful Dead. Agent: Coleen O’Shea, Allen O’Shea Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The book deftly shows the sense of community the group has with its fans, the genuine love and affection both sides feel, and how five young boys from Boston became a cultural phenomenon. Fans of the group will want to get this inside look into their life on and off the road.

Graffiti Magazine

This new book offers readers an intimate all access, backstage pass to NKOTB including their incredible rise in the 1980s, the group’s tumble during the following decade and, of course, the triumphant rebirth… a highly readable story.

Tucson Citizen

What distinguishes 'Five Brothers' from similar biographies is Van Noy’s inclusion of the voices of dozens of NKOTB fans both in the story itself — commenting on events from a fan’s perspective — and sharing personal tales of kindnesses shown by the band members at the end of each chapter. … If you didn’t think NKOTB had the right stuff in the ’80s, “Five Brothers” won’t change your mind, but it does a decent job of explaining what those million sisters continue to scream about.

The Boston Globe

In the dozens of fascinating interviews with super fans that Van Noy records for posterity in this well-researched, smartly organized book, it becomes clear it's not about the music. (It never is.) It's about remembering the way we were — those junior-high days when so many of us loved nothing more than this band, when you could dream of marrying Jordan Knight and fully believe it really would come true.

LA Weekly

Van Noy takes what seems like a clichéd pop story—New Kids meteoric rise and equally swift collapse—and turns it into something special, a fascinating tale that will delight the band’s large fan base as well as enlighten its harsh critics.”

“The story of how five boys from Boston rose from nothing to become unlikely international recording stars in the late 1980s … there is true profundity in the stories of accomplished adult women who, during their formative years, fell in love with five flickering images on TV screens and never let go.”

“In the dozens of fascinating interviews with super fans that Van Noy records for posterity in this well-researched, smartly organized book, it becomes clear it's not about the music. (It never is.) It's about remembering the way we were — those junior-high days when so many of us loved nothing more than this band, when you could dream of marrying Jordan Knight and fully believe it really would come true.”

“What distinguishes 'Five Brothers' from similar biographies is Van Noy’s inclusion of the voices of dozens of NKOTB fans both in the story itself — commenting on events from a fan’s perspective — and sharing personal tales of kindnesses shown by the band members at the end of each chapter. … If you didn’t think NKOTB had the right stuff in the ’80s, “Five Brothers” won’t change your mind, but it does a decent job of explaining what those million sisters continue to scream about.”

“This new book offers readers an intimate all access, backstage pass to NKOTB including their incredible rise in the 1980s, the group’s tumble during the following decade and, of course, the triumphant rebirth… a highly readable story.”

“The book deftly shows the sense of community the group has with its fans, the genuine love and affection both sides feel, and how five young boys from Boston became a cultural phenomenon. Fans of the group will want to get this inside look into their life on and off the road.

From the Publisher

The story of how five boys from Boston rose from nothing to become unlikely international recording stars in the late 1980s--and the more interesting story of the legion of devoted "Blockheads" that has sustained them ever since. None of the largely nondescript personalities (save perhaps the gregarious Donnie Wahlberg) that comprise the New Kids on the Block is revealed to any significant degree in Van Noy's (So Much to Say: Dave Matthews Band--20 Years on the Road, 2011) otherwise readable band biography. But that clearly is not the point. Instead, the author is more concerned with illustrating the truly fascinating (bewildering?) bond that has seemingly been magically forged between NKOTB and their female fans--aka "Blockheads." The author quotes random fans extensively, and she dutifully chronicles the group's humble beginnings on the streets of Boston to their jet-setting zenith conquering the pop world. Despite the general banality of Jordan, Jon, Joe, Donnie and Danny, there is true profundity in the stories of accomplished adult women who, during their formative years, fell in love with five flickering images on TV screens and never let go. Van Noy maintains the gossamer veneer throughout, collecting the band's dirty laundry and tidily stowing it far out of sight. The author quickly skates over many of the intragroup conflicts – including hot-button issues like NKOTB's decision to part ways with original producer Maurice Starr, Joey McIntyre's gripes about his perennial outsider status and Jon Knight's surprising sexuality. Even though the NKOTB/Blockhead romance burned as hot as a neutron star inside teenage girls' hearts, you'd never know it by the way Van Noy manages to keep everything so chaste. A gauzy, PG-13 love letter from NKOTB to the throngs of faithful women responsible for making their rock-star dreams come true.

Kirkus Reviews