NKOTB and other boy bands of the past

[clemsonfan]

So we were in the car and NKOTB's "Step By Step" came on the 90's station on XM radio. I turned it up and sang along and my husband rolled his eyes and tried to turn the station. So I told him that "Step By Step" was not their best song and that "Hangin' Tough" was much better. He has such sheer hatred for them that we couldn't even really talk about them. I ended up finding "Hangin' Tough" on you tube on my phone and my 10 year old son starts singing along!

So anyway, I have some questions if you all could help me out.

1. How does a 10 year old boy know about "Hangin' Tough"?

2. Why does almost every man my age that I have met have a huge hatred of NKOTB? I don't expect them to like them but at least not get really annoyed when I sing along to them on the radio and relive my middle school years for just a second.

NKOTB reminds me of the last few years of my childhood innocence. Before high school and dating and all the other stuff that goes along with that.

[Julio Riddols]

Guys hate NKOTB because that kind of shit makes girls swoon and almost no straight guy actually acts like that. They're a horrible misrepresentation of males in general that gives the rest of us a headache. Their popularity was as inexplicable then as One Direction's is now. It's not that we're all meatheads or whatever, but when we see a group of dudes acting like this, we know its just a farce and a joke, and we can't respect that or we lose respect for ourselves.

[stevew]

1. How does a 10 year old boy know about "Hangin' Tough"?

My parents didn't let us listen to the radio, yet even I knew about Hanging' Tough

2. Why does almost every man my age that I have met have a huge hatred of NKOTB? I don't expect them to like them but at least not get really annoyed when I sing along to them on the radio and relive my middle school years for just a second.

Probably something to do with the awkwardness of puberty, and all the girls our age being interested in Jordan but paying us no mind? I'm a bit more than a year older than you

[Suicane75]

Not all guys hate NKOTB, In fact some of us have shrines devoted to them.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by stevew

1. How does a 10 year old boy know about "Hangin' Tough"?

My parents didn't let us listen to the radio, yet even I knew about Hanging' Tough

I think the question is how does someone who's 10 years old *now* know about it.

[Autumn]

I can't imagine why anyone younger htan me would have ever heard a song by NKOTB.

And I think guys hate it because girls were super in love with these guys when we wanted them to be obsessed with us instead. And because they were "designed" to appeal to women, and generally guys can't stand when things aren't designed to appeal to them instead. The male gaze strikes!

[lungs]

When I was in the first grade I broke up with my girlfriend because she came to school with a New Kids on the Block keychain.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by lungs

When I was in the first grade I broke up with my girlfriend because she came to school with a New Kids on the Block keychain.

That sounds like the plot to a Bieber video...

[lungs]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

That sounds like the plot to a Bieber video...

She also dug through my lunch box and stole my Swiss Cake Rolls.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by lungs

She also dug through my lunch box and stole my Swiss Cake Rolls.

Okay, maybe the Bieber cover of "Gold Digger"...

[thesloppy]

Amid all the other valid and not-so-valid reasons to hate this, that or the other boy band, the fact that "Hangin' Tough" is absolutely fucking horrible music shouldn't be discounted. NKOTB in particular weren't too far removed, musically or lyrically, from Barney or Raffi (perhaps borne out by the fact that 10 year olds today are apparently still singing it), but with a facade of pre-teen romance, which was certainly worthy of some scorn...especially if you were not only male, but old enough to be 'over' that kind of thing when it came out, yet still young enough to be constantly exposed. I bet the 10 year-old heard some slightly-bastardized version on some flavor of them kiddie-rock cover CDs that are somewhat popular these days.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by clemsonfan

So I told him that "Step By Step" was not their best song and that "Hangin' Tough" was much better.

I think you are missing the part where you lost the argument by trying to validate what NKOTB song was better.

Also:

[M GO BLUE!!!]

The Jackson 5 were pretty good...

[clemsonfan]

Originally Posted by Matthean

I think you are missing the part where you lost the argument by trying to validate what NKOTB song was better.

Yeah, he actually said that saying NKOTB had a good song was like saying Hitler wasn't all bad. That's right, he pulled out the Hitler card.

[Senator]

Still waiting for Chuck Klosterman to go into great depth regarding the strangely important significant triangulated similarity between NKOTB, Billy Joel, and the Wu Tang Clan.