Old is new again on New Kids concert tour

JON BREAM; Minneapolis Star Tribune
Last updated: November 21st, 2008 06:26 AM (PST)

For Kim Carlton and Alexis Lomen, it’s $375 each. That bought the 31-year-old BFFs from St. Paul, Minn., a chance to meet their childhood idols, the New Kids on the Block, and sit near the stage when they were in Minneapolis earlier this fall.

“I’m so excited to finally get my Donnie hug,” gushed Carlton, referring to New Kids leader Donnie Wahlberg.

“Having an outlet for that stupid energy you have when you’re 13 is kind of important,” said Lomen, who is blogging with her pal about their trips to five New Kids reunion concerts at www.projectnkotb.com. “I guess you carry that with you for the rest of your life.”

Thanks to devoted 30-something fans like Kim and Alexis, New Kids have become the unlikely pop-music comeback of the year. Their new album, “The Block,” debuted at No. 2 with 139,000 copies sold in September, and their tour of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe is the hottest-selling reunion since the Police in 2007. It stops Saturday at the Tacoma Dome.

“The tour is going amazing, really. It’s like a time warp,” said Jordan Knight, 38, once known as the cute New Kid. (Now he’s the handsome one.) “It’s almost the same. We’re all a little older, a little wiser and we pace ourselves a little more. But it feels exactly the same.”

At the height of their popularity, a New York critic said New Kids were selling sincerity and sincere about selling it. From 1988 through 1990, the Boston quintet issued two studio albums, a Christmas CD and a remix album, which together sold more than 70 million copies worldwide and featured eight top 10 singles including “Step by Step” and “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever).” They were the top-grossing show-biz act of 1990.

So what are the New Kids selling now?

“It’s sincerity, it’s love for what we do, it’s nostalgia,” Knight said. “And we’re selling good old-fashioned entertainment. Not too many gimmicks and special effects. We’re five creative guys. We’re not over the hill; we’re in our prime. You’re going to see a show that brings you back in time and is up to date. It is now and is cool and is hip.”

There has been talk of a New Kids reunion ever since their 1994 breakup.

“MTV tried to put us back together, VH1 tried to put us back together, different record companies, different promoters,” Knight said. “Everyone heard talk of it because they were trying to get us back together. (But) not till a year and a half ago, we all five didn’t start talking about it. We weren’t going to sell out for somebody else just because they’re flashing an idea in front of us and saying ‘You guys can make so much money.’”

Conceived by R&B producer Maurice Starr as a white version of the black vocal group New Edition, New Kids started in 1986 as mere teenagers, playing bubble-gum ballads and derivative R&B with rap touches. In 1994, after the ill-fated “Face the Music” album, they pulled the plug.

Still, New Kids became the prototype for such boy bands as Backstreet Boys and ’N Sync.

Unquestionably, the key man for this year’s reunion is Wahlberg, who has become a successful actor. Executive producer of “The Block,” he co-wrote nine of the 13 tracks on the CD, which features such famous guests as the Pussycat Dolls, Akon, Ne-Yo and New Edition and A-list producers Timbaland and Polow Da Don.

Knight is not sure where New Kids fit in today’s pop world.

“I hope to think we’re making our marks,” he said. “Before, it was kind of like we did it, we faded away, we left a mark but maybe it was a flash in the pan. Now, by doing this, it’s really branding us as the real deal. That’s why I’m glad we came back, to prove to the world that we’re the real deal and to prove to the fans that they weren’t crazy for believing in us and liking us.”

That’s music to the ears of eternal Blockheads like Lomen and Carlton.

LIFE AFTER NKOTB

OK, Jordan Knight admits that he did “The Surreal Life” in 2001 because he was bored and looking for a career boost. “Looking back, for me, it wasn’t smart,” he said. “I’m not that type of personality.”

Here’s what each of the New Kids has done since the band’s 1994 breakup.

Donnie Wahlberg: Although he produced the 1991 hit “Good Vibrations” for his brother Marky Mark and solo albums for ex-bandmates Joey McIntyre and Jordan Knight, he has mostly pursued acting, earning respect in more than 20 feature films (“Ransom,” “The Sixth Sense”) and several TV series and movies (“Boomtown,” “Band of Brothers,” “Runaway”).

Joey McIntyre: The youngest and most versatile New Kid, he has appeared on Broadway (“Wicked”), in films (“The Fantasticks”) and on TV (“Boston Public,” “Dancing With the Stars”). He also released four solo albums, with a top 10 single, “Stay the Same,” from his 1999 debut; 2006’s “Talk to Me” is a collection of covers.

Jordan Knight: A 1999 solo album yielded the top 10 hit “Give It to You.” He offered the embarrassing indie project “Jordan Knight Sings New Kids on the Block,” a 2004 one-man remix CD, and 2006’s “Love Songs,” including a duet with Deborah Gibson. Desperate to keep his name out there, Knight was on VH1’s third season of “The Surreal Life” and a judge on “American Juniors,” an “American Idol” spin-off.

Jonathan Knight: On “Oprah,” he revealed that he suffered panic attacks and was clinically depressed after NKOTB disbanded. He became a real estate developer in Massachusetts.

Danny Wood: He released little-noticed solo albums in 1999 (as D-Fuse), 2003 and 2007. The tattooed, muscle-bound Wood has acted in a few movies, including “Tequila Express.”

What: New Kids on the Block in concert, with Natasha Bedingfield and Lady Ga Ga

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma

Tickets: $30.50-$78.50

Information: Ticketmaster (253-627-8497 in Tacoma, 206-628-0888 in Seattle or www.ticketmaster.com)

Originally published: November 21st, 2008 12:25 AM (PST)