1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: I've always been curious about what massive fame does to 2 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: the frontal lobe that is still being formed. And I 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: don't I mean, I don't even know if that is 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: a thing that you can pull yourself outside of yourself 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: to know. 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 2: You know, you're in a candy store, so you want 7 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 2: more candy, you know what I mean. 8 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: This is a very special episode of Waiting for Impact, 9 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: because that is Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block. 10 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: If we're talking about boy band pop stars of the 11 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: early nineties, there is no bigger get. He was at 12 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: the pinnacle, the absolute best case scenario for the kind 13 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: of fame Sudden Impact we're preparing themselves for for a 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: few years, peeking it. Right around the time Sudden Impact 15 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: was pointing, Atcha and Hayden and Vette Nicole Brown were 16 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: singing for Michael Bivens and his Sheraton Hotel lobby. New 17 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: Kids on the Block were something more than just popular. 18 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: They were like multi platinum album stad h tour, deafening 19 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: screams of girls in the throes of puberty, huge massive 20 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: until they weren't. So then what happens. 21 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 2: You're spiritually, physically, mentally handed cupcakes all day long, so 22 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 2: you think that's what's feeding you. So how else am 23 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: I what's the biggest cupcake? 24 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety one, Joey was on top of the world. 25 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: But when you're on top of the world, there's really 26 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: only one direction you can go. 27 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,759 Speaker 2: When you're so high and you're at the top, any 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 2: little slip feels like it's it's over, you know what 29 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 2: I mean? And yeah, so and that's how it's almost 30 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 2: like it was like a party, you know. So for 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 2: for me as like a kid, you know, a young kid, 32 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 2: I was like. 33 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 3: Oh man, the party's over. But wait, why what what? 34 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 2: And my my buddies are like, yeah, man, I'm not 35 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 2: feeling it. Man, I'm going home, and I'm like. 36 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 3: But but it was still what do you mean? Like 37 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 3: people are here and music, you know, and they're. 38 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: Like, Joey got the fame and fortune that sudden impact 39 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: were after. So while I wait to find out if 40 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: Aaron King is going to get back to me, if 41 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: I can stop myself from screaming at Joey McIntyre, I'm 42 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: going to talk to Joey McIntyre about it, find out 43 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: if life as a teen idol was all that it 44 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: was made out to be and find out what it 45 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: did to him and what you do when the party's 46 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: over and you're twenty one. 47 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 2: When you're fed a certain thing that's what you think 48 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 2: is going to sustain you, you know what I mean, 49 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 2: until you figure something else out. 50 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: This is waiting for impact. A Dave Holmes Passion project. 51 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 2: I join New Kids on the Block at twelve. And 52 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 2: by the way, is that you're a dog because that 53 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 2: was on the list. That is my that was on 54 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 2: the list that was Yeah, make sure we love you guys. 55 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: Joey McIntyre is busting my chops because when we book 56 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: a guest, we send an email telling them to record 57 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: from a quiet place in their house, maybe put their 58 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: dogs in a crate. And I didn't put my dog 59 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: in a crate, and now my dog is barking. Joey 60 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: is also busting my chops because he's from Boston and 61 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: as we have established, that is what they do there. 62 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: But in my place in Los Angeles it is very noisy. 63 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: There's also there are people I think building a home 64 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: from scratch, like ten feet from my backyard. This is 65 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: an absolute sonic nightmare of a day. We'll fix it. 66 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: We'll fix it. 67 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 3: I'm sorry. 68 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: I'll fix it in post. Joey's in a parked car 69 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: outside his New York City apartment because he's got kids 70 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: and that's as quiet a place as he can find. 71 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: The idea of Joey McIntyre just being out there in public, 72 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: unguarded is crazy to me because I'm old enough to 73 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: remember when he was a teen idol back in nineteen 74 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: ninety one. The site of Joey McIntyre would make girls 75 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: look use their minds. It all started with a ballad 76 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: called Please Don't Go Girl in nineteen eighty eight, and 77 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,839 Speaker 1: as Joey notices a framed photograph of a New York 78 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: City landmark behind me in my office, I learned something 79 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: I did not know about the video for that song. 80 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 3: Oh my God. Now I'm saying is that CBGB's. 81 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: CBGB in the Bowery in New York City was ground 82 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: zero for New York City punk music in the nineteen seventies. 83 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,720 Speaker 1: It was full of noise and heroin and vomit. If 84 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: you think about the CBGB bathroom too hard, you get hepatitis. 85 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 3: Fun fact, that's where we did our first video, CBGB's 86 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 3: Yes a Pop boy Band at CBGB's Please don't go, girl. 87 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: Stop this. Swear to God, you stop that. 88 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 3: I know, isn't that wild? 89 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,840 Speaker 1: In CBG Nobb's. 90 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 2: Absolutely so the next time you see that, you'll know 91 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 2: and you might recognize it. 92 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: I don't know what's funnier the fact that Joey McIntyre 93 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: thinks I watch New Kids on the Block videos regularly 94 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: or the fact that he's right. But there you go. 95 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 1: The tender ballad that launched the great American boy band 96 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: of the eighties and nineties was filmed on the stage 97 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: that gave us the Ramones and television Now it's a 98 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 1: John Varvados and now so weird. What's actually weird is 99 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: that I have a framed photograph of CVGB hanging in 100 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: my office because I used to live very close to 101 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: it in New York City and I never went even 102 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,920 Speaker 1: once because I was scared. But Please don't Go, Girl 103 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: blew up and the hits kept coming for about three years. 104 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: New Kids were the pop group. Joey's a good example 105 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: of someone whose plans for pop music success did pan out. 106 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: So I wanted to talk to him about the whole 107 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: ride and whether he's glad he took it and my 108 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: friends Joey gets real. 109 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 2: I joined New Kids on the Block when I was twelve. Okay, 110 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 2: it wasn't a cattle call. It wasn't a big American 111 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 2: idol search. I think a total of eight people auditioned, 112 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 2: so it wasn't a huge deal at the time. And 113 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 2: you know, for the first three years, we really although 114 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 2: we got to go into a studio and record, we 115 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 2: were really just you know, as an after school thing. 116 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty four, after New Edition came back home 117 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: from their first world tour and were mailed to check 118 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: in the amount of one dollar and eighty seven cents 119 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: for their work, the group fired their manager, Maurice Starr. 120 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: Starr responded by holding auditions for a new vocal group 121 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: five members, just like New Audition, but white. He found 122 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: five guys. Joey was the last to join. They called 123 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,919 Speaker 1: themselves Nanook at first, and they got signed to Columbia Records, 124 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: and Columbia Records said change that name. Track one on 125 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: side two of their debut album became their new name, 126 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 1: New Kids on the Block. That first album came out 127 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty six. It was marketed to R and 128 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: B radio stations and it tanked. 129 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 2: I mean that being said, when I was fifteen, we 130 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 2: got a break and we were gone. 131 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty eight, they released a second album, Hanging Tough. 132 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: It too was pushed to black audiences and it two tanked. 133 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: At least at first Columbia Records was getting ready to them, 134 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,239 Speaker 1: and then Q one o five, a top forty station 135 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: in Tampa, Florida, began playing Please Don't Go Girl, and 136 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,119 Speaker 1: their listeners began requesting it, so Q one o five 137 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: now started playing it a lot. Columbia changed their marketing 138 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: strategy and began to push the record at top forty stations. 139 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: It worked. The album Hanging Tough went on to sell 140 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: fourteen million copies. That, of course, is the title track 141 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: from Hanging Tough. And if you were alive and under 142 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: twenty years old in nineteen eighty nine, your arms are 143 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: up over your head right now. You're waving them back 144 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: and forth. You can't help it. It's a reflex action. 145 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: The album Hanging Tough put five singles into the top ten. 146 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: In a flash. New Kids on the Block became huge. 147 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: How huge Christmas album? 148 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 2: We know what? 149 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 4: Millions of girls all over the world want Santa to bring. 150 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: Them for Christmas. 151 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 4: My next guest performing the hit single Funky Funky. 152 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: Christmas from their platinum Albune Marry Merry Christmas, Please Welcome 153 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: the New Kids of the Life. Yep, that was Arsenio Hall. 154 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: I just really wanted you to know about Funky Funky Christmas. 155 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: But New Kids' popularity was a very specific kind of popularity, 156 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: and so then for those next several years, it was 157 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:45,599 Speaker 1: just adoration for you. I mean, I don't know what 158 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: I mean. 159 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 5: Yes, you know what comes into my mind is like, yes, 160 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 5: of course, of course you know it was adoration, but 161 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 5: you're also it's also us against the world, you know 162 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 5: what I mean. 163 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 2: It's like when you're coming up and I want to say, 164 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 2: it seems more so back then because it feels more romantic. 165 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 3: It's almost like a movie, like we're going to show 166 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 3: the world. You know. I don't mean this in. 167 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 2: A heartless way, because we were defending ourselves back then 168 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 2: a lot, some of us more than others, you know, 169 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,640 Speaker 2: But like it's called life, you know, it's called life 170 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 2: where humans on the earth, we're not perfect. We give 171 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 2: each other a hard time, like you know, back then, 172 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 2: we didn't have any. 173 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,320 Speaker 3: Critics on our side, you know what I mean? But 174 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 3: we had the greatest fans in the world. 175 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: Those fans, mostly very young girls, would go on to 176 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: buy over seventy million New Kids records in nineteen ninety one. 177 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: New Kids were on top. So where personally was Joey? 178 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: Who was Joey McIntyre in nineteen ninety one? 179 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 2: Oh boy, You know, I hesitate because of course you 180 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 2: want the truth and you just want whatever it feels genuine. 181 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 3: You know, I want to say something perfect. 182 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 2: I want to say that I was X in nineteen 183 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 2: ninety one, and it fits in perfect with the fact 184 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 2: that I was in one of the biggest pop bands 185 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 2: in the world at the time, and you know, really 186 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 2: at the height and playing stadiums, and you know, certainly 187 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 2: before we kind of like imploded in our beautiful way. 188 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:26,280 Speaker 2: But ninety one, you know, I was eighteen. I was 189 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 2: a little bird man, you know. I there is definitely 190 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 2: some arrested development as far as I am concerned, and 191 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 2: I think that has a lot to do with being 192 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 2: very busy and famous as a teenager. 193 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, you said there was some arrested development. 194 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 3: What do you mean, Well, I don't know. 195 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, I say that in comparison to 196 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 2: what I see kids now and how full they are 197 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 2: as people at such a young age. 198 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 3: I don't see myself that way. 199 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 2: I think again, maybe that was just because I didn't 200 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 2: go to high school and I didn't have the normal 201 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:11,319 Speaker 2: teenage angsty journey of figuring things out at the same time. 202 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 2: Every time we hear about high school, everyone refers to 203 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 2: it as the worst time in their lives. 204 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 3: So I mean, I don't Maybe I. 205 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: Dodged a bullet there, but I. 206 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 3: Don't know it. Just a lot happened to me at 207 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 3: that age. 208 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, but I know you now, and you are well 209 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: adjusted and put together as far as I can tell. 210 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: You're laughing. 211 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:39,479 Speaker 3: Yeah. 212 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: New Kids' third album, step by Step, came out in 213 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, and it sold three million copies. Still a 214 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 1: big hit, just a lot fewer millions than Hanging Tough. 215 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: It was a precarious time for the band, and they 216 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: got offered a huge and risky gig. Tell me about 217 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: the super Bowl halftime show. 218 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 3: Oh geez. 219 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,839 Speaker 1: From today's perspective, the super Bowl halftime show seems like 220 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: a real coup, a spot for a Springsteen or a 221 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: U two or a Katie Perran Left Shark. Now it's 222 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: a gig that puts an official stamp on you, says 223 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: you are iconic. But up until nineteen ninety one, no 224 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: current pop stars had ever played the halftime show. Pre 225 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,440 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one, it was still up with People or 226 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: the Grambling State Marching Band or I'm serious here Carol Channing. 227 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: The nineteen ninety halftime show featured Master of Presta digitation 228 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: Elvis Presto, doing a three D card trick. Sponsored by 229 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: diet Coke. The super Bowl is the biggest television event 230 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: of the year, more than one hundred million pairs of 231 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: eyes on you. I mean, that's the peak. 232 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 3: No, that was the cliff. 233 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: In nineteen ninety one, New Kids had just come off 234 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: their Magic Summer Tour sponsored by Coke, one of the 235 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: biggest selling tours of the decade. There were New Kids 236 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 1: on the Block t shirts, there were New Kids on 237 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: the Block lunchboxes, there were New Kids on the Block dolls. 238 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: There was a New Kids on the Block Saturday Morning 239 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:01,199 Speaker 1: cartoon for God's Sake, and then my favorite, there was 240 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,160 Speaker 1: a New Kids on the Block hotline nine hundred nine 241 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:07,959 Speaker 1: oh nine five Kids are New Kids on the Block. 242 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: Fans could call and listen to a recording two dollars 243 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: for the first minute, forty five cents each additional minute 244 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: under eighteen, ask your parents for permission call, And just 245 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,240 Speaker 1: to give you a sense of how this thing was 246 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: being marketed, I need you to hear this line from 247 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: Joey McIntyre. You know, we're not too young to fall 248 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:24,320 Speaker 1: in love. 249 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 2: And if you don't wanted the special callers, you get 250 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:27,560 Speaker 2: to talk to us live. 251 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: Hang on the line at forty five cents each additional minute, 252 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:32,719 Speaker 1: and eventually I might come on and fall in love 253 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: with you. New kids were raking it in, but all 254 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 1: that money wasn't free. 255 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,839 Speaker 2: Everything happened so fast, you know, so when we talk 256 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 2: about you know, we started talking about us at CBGB's 257 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 2: and you think, what are new kids on the block 258 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 2: filming a video and one of the most hallowed rock 259 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 2: and roll clubs of all time. 260 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 3: But like we were city kids, you know what I mean. 261 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 3: We were a black and white movie, you know. 262 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 2: And you look at those first four videos and they're 263 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,479 Speaker 2: completely genuine, and they they that's. 264 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 3: What drew people to us. 265 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 2: And then you know, the business said, wait a minute, 266 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 2: your fans are five years old. Your colors should be fluorescent, 267 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 2: pink and green, and yellow, not black and white. And 268 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 2: then by the six months later, we said, why are 269 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 2: their slippers with our face on them? 270 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Like? 271 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 2: And we was still at any era in nineteen ninety one. 272 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety that like, it just got away from us. 273 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 2: And it didn't mean that the managers were bad people. 274 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 2: They weren't trying to steal from us. It just got 275 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 2: away from us and happened too fast. 276 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: New kids on the Block wanted to grow up. The 277 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one Super Bowl halftime show was marketed as 278 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: the first all Kids Halftime show, A small world salute 279 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: to twenty five years of the Super Bowl, brought to 280 00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: you by Walt Disney World, and it is something else. 281 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 1: A cast of actual children, small children playing cheerleaders, referees, 282 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: and players in a choreographed SLA appstick football game coached 283 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: by Roger Rabbit and Goofy people in Chippendale Rescue Rangers 284 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,000 Speaker 1: costumes do the Running Man to MC hammers, you can't 285 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: touch this. A five year old boy with a bowl 286 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: cut sings win Beneath My Wings to the men and 287 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 1: women of the Armed Forces. And then new Kids on 288 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: the Block come out and literally two thousand children in 289 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: the costumes of our small world run at them. As 290 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: I watch this, I realize this halftime show is why 291 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: we now have halftime shows with Springsteen and YouTube and 292 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: Katy Perry and Left Shark. This one is corny. This 293 00:15:33,640 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: is the one that makes the NFL say, how about 294 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,920 Speaker 1: we change course? Here? New Kids on the Block had 295 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: the same discussion. 296 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 2: We didn't want to be performing with Mickey Mouse, you 297 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. I had just turned eighteen. The 298 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 2: rest of the guys were twenty one, twenty two. 299 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: That's a big difference. 300 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 6: Yeah, they were ready to move on in a lot 301 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 6: of ways and you know, not be seen in that way, 302 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 6: and so, you know, in many ways, it was that 303 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 6: classic thing of. 304 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 2: You know, the stress of the outer world was coming 305 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 2: in and it was really nothing personal. We stuck together 306 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 2: and we've certainly obviously over the years, have respected and 307 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 2: loved one another. 308 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 3: I mean, we just kind of lucked out. But you know, 309 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 3: we didn't want to be there, you know what I mean. 310 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 2: We didn't want to be in you know, white and 311 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 2: Gold and have Mickey Mouse and thousand and five year 312 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 2: olds running behind us, like we wanted to maybe not 313 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 2: rock out, but like do it a little differently so, 314 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 2: but the wave had already showed up. 315 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 3: And do you say no to the Super Bowl halftime show? 316 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: This was the Super Bowl when Whitney Houston sang the 317 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,120 Speaker 1: national anthem and it went to number one. It was 318 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,440 Speaker 1: at the height of Operation Desert Storm, the original Iraq War. 319 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: Before they rebooted the franchise in two thousand and three, 320 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: America had war fever. In nineteen ninety one, newscasters like 321 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: Arthur Kent and I Swear to God Wolf Blitzer became 322 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: heart throbs and in wartime, if you're lucky, sometimes you 323 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,400 Speaker 1: dodge a bullet. ABC, who aired the Super Bowl that year, 324 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,159 Speaker 1: knew how good war is for ratings, so at the 325 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: end of the first half they cut away to a 326 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,840 Speaker 1: news package about Operation Desert Storm. They didn't air the 327 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: halftime show. Some ABC affiliates did air the halftime show 328 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: after the game, but most didn't. Most just went to 329 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,400 Speaker 1: the premiere of the big new comedy that the network 330 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 1: was so proud of they gave it the plumb post 331 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: super Bowl spot, Davis Rules, starring Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters. 332 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:45,840 Speaker 1: New Kids on the Block got the biggest stage in 333 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,920 Speaker 1: the world, on the highest rated television event of the year, 334 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: in a show that was extremely corny and almost nobody 335 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:55,439 Speaker 1: saw it. But the tension in the group was growing 336 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: and the culture was changing. As Chris Malanfei told us 337 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: in the last episode, the pop charts were beginning to 338 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: more accurately reflect America's tastes in music. We were starting 339 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: to want something darker, more experimental. The alternative radio format 340 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: artists like Nirvana, Pearl Jams, Soundgarden was blowing up. Hip 341 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: hop was going mainstream, and the music New Kids on 342 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: the Block was releasing wasn't cutting it. 343 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 3: MTV just almost changed, like you know, overnight. 344 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: It really did. It really did, And I'm wondering what 345 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: that feels like to a massive pop act. Did you 346 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: feel like, oh, oh boy, we might not be a 347 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:37,000 Speaker 1: part of what's next. 348 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:42,959 Speaker 2: No, I think, you know, I think it's more specific. 349 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 2: I think I think our journey is just more personal. 350 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 2: When you talk about the music and you think of 351 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:54,120 Speaker 2: the Hanging Tough album and the way we recorded that record, 352 00:18:54,240 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 2: with the soul and the integrity and the time and 353 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 2: the fun and the work it, you know, we never 354 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 2: felt like, wow, how did that happen? Like we knew 355 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 2: that we put the work in and then, you know, 356 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 2: because it was like everything else, because we were so popular, 357 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 2: you got to rush out the next album. You know, 358 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 2: ours do that all the time, and they still do. 359 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 2: They still do, you know, and they swear it's a 360 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 2: good album, but everyone's everybody and everyone plays along with it, 361 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 2: but it's not. 362 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 3: Really as good as the one that really took off. 363 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 3: Do you know what I'm saying. 364 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:36,639 Speaker 2: It's like you get a freeze in, like Billy listen, listen, 365 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 2: let me, let me get whatever, because no one cares anyways. 366 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 2: But Billie Eilish, you know that that single, I can't 367 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 2: even name it. You know, I'm not a friend that 368 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 2: than anyone. You know, that's an album cut from the 369 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,719 Speaker 2: album before. That's not the next hit record. But everybody's 370 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,560 Speaker 2: gonna play it, yeah, you know, because they love her. 371 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 3: The record's not as good, you know. So it's that 372 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 3: that's just the way it works, you know. 373 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 2: Shots fired against Billy Iowa, shots fired. 374 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, I know she's yeah, nobody cares, thank god, so 375 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: so you know. 376 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 2: But my point is is, obviously, you know, our second 377 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 2: album on the third album, but our album have to 378 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 2: hang it tough. 379 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 3: Step By step was a massive record, that was a 380 00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 3: great hit record. Jordan's saying an amazing lead. 381 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 2: It was awesome, But the album didn't have the thing 382 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 2: because we were rushing it. 383 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 3: We were recording it in the hotels. We weren't on the. 384 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 2: Same page creatively, you know. So it wasn't Nirvana that 385 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 2: did it, it was us that did it. So I 386 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 2: felt I never connected our fall if you will, with 387 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 2: Nirvana and grunge. 388 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 1: New Kids on the Block had stuck together through the 389 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: struggle for success, through NonStop touring, through being adored by 390 00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: young girls and vilified by critics, through that hotline. But 391 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: the dress of trying to decide what to do next 392 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: while they were on the mountaintop and any tiny misstep 393 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,920 Speaker 1: could send them tumbling down was tearing them apart. At 394 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,679 Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety American Music Awards, New Kids on the 395 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: Block won Best Duo or Group and Best Album for 396 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 1: Hanging Tough. They performed a big medley of their hits 397 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: the nineteen ninety one American Music Awards, first of All, 398 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: were hosted by Keenan, Ivory Wallians and Bart Simpson. 399 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 3: I'm really confused, man, where's the host of this sting? 400 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 2: Honey? Where's that Keen and Ivory Wayans, where is he? 401 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 2: I'm not supposed to do the host here, William? Then 402 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:36,120 Speaker 2: I throw that top. 403 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the show. That is Nancy Cartwright, the woman 404 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: who does the voice for Bart Simpson, saying words that 405 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:46,160 Speaker 1: are being acted out by someone in a Bart Simpson's suit. 406 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: It is terrifying. But at those nineteen ninety one American 407 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: Music Awards, New Kids wanted to go a little harder in. 408 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 3: Our performance that year. You talk about change. 409 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 2: If you go from our performance at the America Music 410 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 2: Awards in nineteen ninety to our performance in nineteen ninety one, 411 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 2: talk about a sea change. Because we were into hip hop, 412 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,479 Speaker 2: we were into different music, so we wanted we wanted 413 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 2: a different look and vibe as well, you know. 414 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: So they performed Games, a hip hoppy single from their 415 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: No More Games remix album. Flavor. Flav made an appearance. 416 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 1: Donny Wohlberg wore a War Sucks tank top and sent 417 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: the performance out to no good enough away, But I'm 418 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:37,120 Speaker 1: gonna tell you what. We are going out like that, 419 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: and it felt a little defensive, and on the inside, 420 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,440 Speaker 1: Joey was beginning to panic. They were up for Best 421 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: Duo or group again. But unlike last year, when winning 422 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,040 Speaker 1: had been an honor, winning this year felt like a 423 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: matter of life and death. 424 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:57,919 Speaker 2: It was us and Arosmith and someone else, you know. 425 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 2: And I just remember, like Danny was next to me, 426 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 2: and I was like, man, you know, I just had 427 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 2: the idea that like, if we won, then it would 428 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 2: give us another year, you know what I mean. 429 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 3: I think Aerosmith won. We didn't win, you know, but 430 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:11,800 Speaker 3: I'm like, it's over if we don't win, you know 431 00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 3: what I mean. 432 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: Aerosmith did win. The other nominee in the category, by 433 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: the way, was Bell BIV Devo. In nineteen ninety three, 434 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: New Kids on the Block shortened their name to NKOTB, 435 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: which I'm going to be a dick and point out 436 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: is the same number of syllables, and released the album 437 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,439 Speaker 1: Face the Music. Face the Music sold one hundred and 438 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 1: thirty six thousand copies in the States, total, about what 439 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,360 Speaker 1: Hanging Tough would have sold in a single week three 440 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:40,160 Speaker 1: years earlier, and the single Dirty Dog Dawg didn't make 441 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: the top forty. Jonathan Knight left the band due to 442 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 1: extreme stage fright. The remaining four soldiered on for a 443 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: few months and then decided to call it a day themselves. 444 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: The New Kids on the Block party was over. Joey 445 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,960 Speaker 1: was twenty one, a young man raised on cupcakes. 446 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 2: I think of often I had. It was just when 447 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 2: The New Kids broke up and I jumped right into 448 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,240 Speaker 2: a movie. It was called The Fantastic because it was 449 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 2: based off the Off Broadway longest off probably running show. 450 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,360 Speaker 3: And I didn't think much of it. 451 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 2: And I had a publicist at the time, and I 452 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 2: think it was like with ET or something, they were 453 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 2: going to be like the ten hottest you know, young 454 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,400 Speaker 2: actors or whatever, you know, potentially, you know what I mean. 455 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 2: Do an interview with this guy and I remember like 456 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 2: what he said, what do you want? And my answer 457 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 2: was incredibly superficial. It was incredibly sugary and like a cupcake. 458 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 2: I said, I want to billboard on Sunset Boulevard, I 459 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 2: want to be on the coverage EQ, and I want 460 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:46,719 Speaker 2: to be on David Letterman. 461 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 3: And I could in retrospect I heard it. 462 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 2: It was like I heard the silence on the end 463 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,720 Speaker 2: of the phone from the decent guy. But he was 464 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 2: a journalist, you know what I mean, And it wasn't 465 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 2: it was it was not the deep answer he looked for, 466 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 2: and you know, he went back to his editor and said, 467 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 2: he's not a guy. 468 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,359 Speaker 1: Joey didn't know what he wanted and he didn't know 469 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: how to relax. 470 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 3: It's like a breakup. 471 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 2: They say it takes half as long of the relationship 472 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 2: to get over it. 473 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 5: You know. 474 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 2: So if we were together, if we had like, you know, 475 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 2: six or seven strong years, you know, we needed a 476 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 2: few years to just zone out and you know, have 477 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 2: a lost weekend. And you know, I remember talking to Donnie. 478 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 2: It's like along the way and we share a work 479 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 2: ethic too, and you know, we just come from working 480 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:43,120 Speaker 2: class families. And he basically said, like there were times 481 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 2: where you you would have to defend playing around a 482 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 2: golf you know, because like, am I doing enough? Am 483 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 2: I retired at twenty one? And it felt slothy, It 484 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 2: felt you know, there were moments of like. 485 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:00,440 Speaker 3: What am I doing? 486 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 2: Sometimes the perfect thing to do is to buy the 487 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 2: farm for a few years. 488 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 1: You know, I know what you said you thought you 489 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: wanted in nineteen ninety one. Do you what do you 490 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: think you wanted for real in nineteen ninety one? Or 491 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,719 Speaker 1: was the public answer also the private answer? 492 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I didn't. 493 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:24,920 Speaker 2: Want much, you know what I mean, And maybe that's 494 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 2: that's why I was like, you know, I mean, it's 495 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 2: very clear what Donnie Wahlberg wanted, right, I mean, he 496 00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 2: wanted to make a rap album and he did and 497 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,119 Speaker 2: it was some massive hit. And now the world has 498 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 2: Mark Wahlberg, you know what I'm saying. So he was 499 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 2: just in a different place and I, I'm cut from 500 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 2: a different cloth, you know. I came up in the theater, 501 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So I wanted the next show. 502 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 2: I wanted the next show. I wanted the next song. 503 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,880 Speaker 2: I wanted the next performance. I wanted the next stage. 504 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 2: That's all. 505 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 3: You know. I love being on stage. 506 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,439 Speaker 2: I love to perform, so you know, and that kind 507 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 2: of hooked up into like, what's the party's over? 508 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 3: What do you mean? Like, what come on? Man? 509 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 2: Let's you know, and uh so that's it was. It 510 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 2: was simple. It was simple what I wanted, you know. 511 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:13,919 Speaker 2: It wasn't wasn't a big I didn't have a lot 512 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 2: of big dreams in ninety one. 513 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,679 Speaker 1: My dreams in nineteen ninety one didn't necessarily include working 514 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,960 Speaker 1: with Joey McIntyre on MTV in nineteen ninety nine or 515 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 1: seeing the New Kids on the Block Stadium tour at 516 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: least twice, and screaming my head off. But all of 517 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,919 Speaker 1: those things happened, So maybe I just don't know how 518 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: to dream big enough. We'll get into all of that 519 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: in a bit. I feel like I need another viewpoint 520 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: on the Sudden Impact moment. I know how I reacted 521 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: to the Motown Philly video as a twenty year old guy, 522 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,000 Speaker 1: but I want to know how it played for the 523 00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:55,159 Speaker 1: younger women who also comprised a big part of the 524 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,960 Speaker 1: MTV VH one be Et audience. Really, more than anything, 525 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: what I want is an excuse used to talk to 526 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: Winter Mitchell. She's a digital branding expert, a journalist, a 527 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: cultural omnivore like me, and she's the co host of 528 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: the excellent podcast Waiting to Exhale. Winter Mitchell, can you 529 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:12,280 Speaker 1: tell me what you're seeing? 530 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 4: I'm looking at the Boys to Men Boys to Men 531 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,480 Speaker 4: Motown Philly official video, and a white a group of 532 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 4: white males called Sudden Impact just flashed across the screen. 533 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:32,520 Speaker 1: Yes they did, Yes they did. Do you remember seeing 534 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: this video in nineteen ninety one oh one hundred percent. 535 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,400 Speaker 4: I was a very very big Boys to Men fan, 536 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 4: I rooted for them. If I want to talk about 537 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 4: like the black you know, harmonizing group universe that sort 538 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 4: of like that Motown Philly what do you call that 539 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 4: new Jack swing that came out? But I also want 540 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 4: to talk about the universe of R and B like 541 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 4: guys singing groups that look like bank tellers, and I 542 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 4: feel like they were like the top of that with 543 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 4: the ones at the very bottom, the ones that saying 544 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 4: I want to sex you have color me bad. So 545 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 4: they were like of the black of the not the 546 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 4: black of the bank teller singing harmonizing group. 547 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 7: They were like the kings and champions of that. I love. 548 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: They were fully in the Alex Vanderpool era. Yes, as 549 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: the crawl in the video tells you, Yeah, they were 550 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 1: all turned out in sport coats and shorts right right, 551 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: fresh summer idea. There's a lot of visual information in 552 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,560 Speaker 1: the Motown Philly video. There's all the East Coast family stuff. 553 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,840 Speaker 1: There are references to Temple University and to the Performing 554 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: Arts High school where boys and men came together. There's 555 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: a scene at Geno's Stakes, and at a couple of 556 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: different moments, words across the bottom of the screen say 557 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: coming soon, the Alex Vanderpool era. This is a reference 558 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,640 Speaker 1: to a character on All My Children at the time, 559 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: a preppy nerd named Alfred Vanderpool. In the liner for 560 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,239 Speaker 1: Boys to Men's debut album, the guys are listed by 561 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: their names and by the nicknames Michael Bivens wanted them 562 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,760 Speaker 1: to be known by. So wan Ye was squirt, Sean 563 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: was Slim bass voice, Mike was just bass, and Nathan, 564 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,920 Speaker 1: the preppiest member of the group was Alex Vanderpool. The 565 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: nicknames didn't really stick and nobody seemed to press the issue, 566 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: but it speaks to Michael Bivens' ambition in the world 567 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: of marketing. He was always looking for a way for 568 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,840 Speaker 1: the listener to connect to the music and to the artist, 569 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: a way to build buzz, which is what he was 570 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,080 Speaker 1: doing with Sudden Impact here. So did it work. Did 571 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: Sudden Impact make an impact on you as a young viewer? 572 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 4: Absolutely not, No, no, because I wasn't thinking. Here's what 573 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:50,360 Speaker 4: you need to understand, David. This era was coming in 574 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 4: like a. 575 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,760 Speaker 7: Steamroller, so like this trying to. 576 00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 4: Sort of pick up where the new kids on the 577 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 4: block were slowly fallen off. Era was just that era 578 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 4: came to a fast like end that was just like 579 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 4: like done, And so I don't think Sudden Impact had 580 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 4: a chance. 581 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,200 Speaker 1: And help I tell Winter about my obsession with this story, 582 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,239 Speaker 1: what I've learned about Vet, Nicole Brown and Hayden, and 583 00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,719 Speaker 1: what Michael Bivens was building with the East Coast family, 584 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 1: and how weird it is to me that Sudden Impact 585 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: never had their moment. But Winter was young in nineteen 586 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: ninety one, so to her it makes perfect sense. 587 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 7: As compelling as a story you told me was. There 588 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 7: was never. 589 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 4: Any moment that they were going to pop off. There 590 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,200 Speaker 4: was just when they pop up on the screen. Again, 591 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 4: the bank Teller aesthetic works because it was like, we're 592 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 4: not super sexy, but you can bring us home to 593 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,240 Speaker 4: your parents and they will be like, that's a nice guy. 594 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 4: He's cute, he. 595 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 7: Seems like a good guy for you. 596 00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 4: That aesthetic to me where like all of these sort 597 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 4: of like it was like the this is of Jodasy, 598 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 4: which is like, you don't want these guys coming near 599 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 4: your daughters, but boys to men will take you to prom. 600 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,240 Speaker 7: And there was the whole Waanyi and Brandy of it. 601 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 4: All these white guys don't offense, These white guys. 602 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 7: But they're in that two second moment. 603 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 4: While I remember it, it didn't create a sudden impact 604 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,239 Speaker 4: and it was never going to. They just didn't have 605 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 4: the esthetics, no offense to them. 606 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: The missing piece of the puzzle is what Michael Bivens 607 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 1: was thinking signing them at this moment, as new kids 608 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,800 Speaker 1: on the Block were huge? Was there a moment of 609 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: new kids on the block was coming for us? Now 610 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: I'm coming for them? 611 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 7: Of course. 612 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 4: I mean in nineteen ninety they were the big new 613 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,040 Speaker 4: kids on the block, was the biggest group in town, 614 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 4: in the world. 615 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: They were huge. 616 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 7: I mean, you couldn't get bigger than that. 617 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 4: So seeing an opportunity for competition, and also from Michael 618 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 4: Bibbins's perspective, I don't know him, I'm not speaking on 619 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 4: his behalf, but considering that Bobby was on his way 620 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 4: to you know by now what he was almost married 621 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 4: to Whitney. He was a fantastic solo artist. At this point, 622 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 4: they didn't know what their legacy was. 623 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:11,320 Speaker 1: Going to be. 624 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 4: He was taking a chance on anything, and I think 625 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 4: he was trying to capture wherever. 626 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:17,720 Speaker 7: It was going to be. 627 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 4: So like young boys that are like street boys who 628 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 4: can harmonize these you know good like college going, you 629 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 4: know young adult men who can harmonize. Like he was 630 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 4: just trying to capture whatever it is on top of 631 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 4: what was he was creating with BBD. 632 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: While I was working on this show, Waiting for Impact, 633 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 1: a Dave Holmes passion project, a docu series called This 634 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: Is Pop came out on Netflix, a bunch of one 635 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 1: hour episodes, each one featuring a different pop act. There's 636 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: a Boys to Men episode that I watched, and something 637 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: that really jumps out at me is how much work 638 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: Boys to Men had to do to get ready for 639 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: their big break. They didn't even meet Michael Bivens. They 640 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: didn't even try to sing for him until they knew 641 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 1: they were the best. We don't know whether Sudden Impact 642 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,360 Speaker 1: had to do the same amount of work, or whether 643 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: they got a leg up because they were handsome white 644 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: guys who looked a little like new kids on the block. 645 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: We can't know for sure what Michael Bivens was thinking 646 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,480 Speaker 1: or to what degree race factored into his decision to 647 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:15,880 Speaker 1: work with them, But in twenty twenty one, we have 648 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: to ask the question, mostly because we haven't heard them. 649 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,919 Speaker 7: The problem with this all is that I have no 650 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,239 Speaker 7: idea if they're good or not. I'm not Michael. 651 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 4: Bivens, So I can't say from a industry perspective, as 652 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:37,480 Speaker 4: an industry like you know, taste maker, decision maker, if they. 653 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,839 Speaker 7: Would have gone on. 654 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,919 Speaker 4: To great success, you know what I mean, Like, there's 655 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,720 Speaker 4: no there's just no way to predict without really knowing. 656 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:49,880 Speaker 7: Second thing is, I feel really bad because. 657 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 4: All America got was like two seconds of them, which 658 00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,320 Speaker 4: is completely amazing marketing. 659 00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 7: By the way, like Michael Bivens, you know, he knew 660 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 7: I have this, this group is going all the way. 661 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:09,680 Speaker 7: I gotta shove in all this other stuff that I got. 662 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 3: I get it. 663 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 4: It's like a total like Benny Medina puff Daddy, Like 664 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 4: I get that sort of like ability to sort of 665 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 4: like make it happen, make it work. 666 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 1: But yeah, we've been calling it the the Michael Bivens 667 00:35:23,520 --> 00:35:25,000 Speaker 1: extended cinematical. 668 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 4: Exactly exactly, and so I get the whole point of it. 669 00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,080 Speaker 7: But these guys have even had a chance. They didn't 670 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:38,799 Speaker 7: even have a chance, and that feels really shitty. I 671 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 7: feel shitty for them. 672 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 4: But I also, having worked in the industry this long now, 673 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:44,440 Speaker 4: I also them. 674 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,520 Speaker 7: The breaks dims, the breaks. 675 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 4: I mean, there's a lot of people we look at, 676 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:51,919 Speaker 4: we look back on, and we, you. 677 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:52,920 Speaker 7: Know, wonder what happened to them? 678 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 4: Remember the brew haha over Gretchen Mall that was such 679 00:35:57,000 --> 00:35:59,760 Speaker 4: a big deal and all. 680 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,920 Speaker 1: Cover of sanity fair out of nowhere. 681 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,040 Speaker 4: This is the one, This is the one. And I 682 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 4: couldn't pick her out of a lineup now. 683 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you know, yeah, twenty plus years of Sienna Miller, 684 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:13,360 Speaker 1: I still don't know which one. 685 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:18,840 Speaker 7: She doesn't know she is. But there is there any 686 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:22,080 Speaker 7: way possible to redeem. 687 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 4: These these these gentlemen, because I would love them to 688 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:25,320 Speaker 4: have some redemption. 689 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:27,239 Speaker 7: They should, They deserve a redemptive arc. 690 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 1: You know by now that I agree with Winter. It's 691 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:32,839 Speaker 1: never too late for redemption or even just to meet 692 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,959 Speaker 1: sudden impact once and for all. And it is never 693 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:40,040 Speaker 1: the wrong time to reboot the Alex Vanderpoole era. So 694 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: let's return to the block where Joey McIntyre wants a 695 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 1: new kid, and one of those kinds of famous where 696 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 1: you can't just go next door and not be famous, 697 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,279 Speaker 1: is now sitting in a parked car zooming with me 698 00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:54,200 Speaker 1: on his smartphone. After initially just trying to stay super 699 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:56,480 Speaker 1: famous in the wake of New Kids on the Blocks breakup, 700 00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: he took some time off, took a step back, and 701 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:03,360 Speaker 1: regrouped breath. He returned in nineteen ninety nine with a 702 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: solo album called Stay the Same. That album got a 703 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,799 Speaker 1: couple hit singles, couple videos on the TRL charts. That's 704 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:10,520 Speaker 1: where we met. 705 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 2: Now. 706 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: We definitely did episodes of Total Request live together, but 707 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,480 Speaker 1: I cannot find any of them. What I could find 708 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:21,319 Speaker 1: on YouTube was this. I found a clip from a 709 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,440 Speaker 1: celebrity episode of Say What Karaoke, which I am co 710 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:28,520 Speaker 1: hosting with Jerry Springer and Joey McIntyre duets with Jamie 711 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:32,279 Speaker 1: Lynn Sigler, Medo from the Sopranos on Aerosmith, and run 712 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,880 Speaker 1: DMC's Walk This Way. Okay, Yeah, I typed those words. 713 00:37:35,960 --> 00:37:37,799 Speaker 1: I said them out loud. I am now looking at 714 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,759 Speaker 1: them and they still don't make any sense to me. 715 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: Joey got back into theater, playing the lead in Jonathan 716 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 1: Larson's Tick Tick Boom off Broadway, which I went to 717 00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,840 Speaker 1: see and his performance made me cry so hard. People 718 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,920 Speaker 1: turned and looked. That is not a joke. He started 719 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:55,399 Speaker 1: touring again theaters, this time instead of arenas, different more 720 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 1: intimate experiences. He got back on track, back to doing 721 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,800 Speaker 1: the things he loved, except this time with a feeling 722 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,279 Speaker 1: of gratitude for them. Did you have a sense for 723 00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,960 Speaker 1: what twenty twenty one would look like for you in 724 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:07,879 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety Nah? 725 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:14,000 Speaker 3: No, No, I mean you know I love live performance, man. 726 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 3: I mean I love to make records too. 727 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 2: I mean I do love to sing in a studio 728 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 2: and write music and that that electricity that you get 729 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 2: about songwriting, and oh man, this is good, you know 730 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,040 Speaker 2: what I mean. And let me keep trying, and let 731 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:31,880 Speaker 2: me keep swinging at it and let me get the 732 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:36,399 Speaker 2: vocal and make some magic. But like if I'm doing 733 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:39,120 Speaker 2: Shakespeare in New Jersey, I mean, it's a beautiful theater. 734 00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,120 Speaker 2: But like if I'm if I'm doing Shakespeare and it's 735 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,200 Speaker 2: paying seven hundred bucks a week, then I'm good, you 736 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 2: know what I mean. 737 00:38:45,719 --> 00:38:48,719 Speaker 3: That's that's my journey. Like I've earned that. That's what 738 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:49,279 Speaker 3: i want to. 739 00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:52,120 Speaker 2: Do, you know, and I'll always have it, Like I 740 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,120 Speaker 2: love an intimate setting and I and I'm lucky enough 741 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 2: to play arenas too. 742 00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: So yeah, and two thousand and eight, New Kids on 743 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: the Block got back together, and in the last few 744 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,600 Speaker 1: years they've played big summer package tours with Nelly and 745 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:08,560 Speaker 1: TLC or Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Salt and Peppa. I 746 00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:12,000 Speaker 1: have been to these summer shows and they are insane. 747 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:14,759 Speaker 1: Those five year old girls who rushed the Super Bowl 748 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,040 Speaker 1: stage in nineteen ninety one, they're thirty five now. They 749 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:20,400 Speaker 1: got a babysitter at home and a plastic tumbler of 750 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: Pinogregio in their hands. They are ready to throw down. 751 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:25,919 Speaker 1: And I mean this from the bottom of my heart. 752 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:28,239 Speaker 1: If you get a chance to see New Kids live, go, 753 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: I wouldn't have thought in nineteen ninety one that, in 754 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:34,400 Speaker 1: you know, twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, I'd go to Hollywood 755 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: Bowl and see New Kids on the Block. Ye half 756 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: the time of my life. 757 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:40,799 Speaker 2: Yeah, but I did, Yeah, and we do. You know, 758 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:45,160 Speaker 2: I think the quick math is number one. Take fourteen 759 00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:49,720 Speaker 2: years off, you know, as a group and as a band, 760 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:54,120 Speaker 2: because you know, so many bands could have to certain 761 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,919 Speaker 2: degrees similar experiences, but they don't because bands don't stay 762 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,399 Speaker 2: together for a lot of different reasons, you know. And 763 00:40:02,120 --> 00:40:04,839 Speaker 2: we were able to move on. 764 00:40:05,360 --> 00:40:08,800 Speaker 8: And have lives and then get back together fifteen years later, 765 00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 8: and you know, our fans were ready to, you know, 766 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:18,000 Speaker 8: and now we get to with time and a little maturity, 767 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:20,640 Speaker 8: you know, we get to look back and embrace those 768 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:24,759 Speaker 8: moments with a sense of humor, but with a lot 769 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 8: of love and admiration for what we were able to share. 770 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:32,840 Speaker 2: And we benefit from this time. And now you know, 771 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:35,520 Speaker 2: we're like family with our fans, you know. And so 772 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,919 Speaker 2: you know we're not going anywhere. And you know, now 773 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 2: it's a combination of our work and our intention and 774 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:49,160 Speaker 2: our connection with our fans and the right kind of 775 00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:54,040 Speaker 2: management to you know, facilitate that, you know what I mean, 776 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:56,400 Speaker 2: to keep the party going in a healthy way, in 777 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:57,080 Speaker 2: a fun way. 778 00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,080 Speaker 1: Joey McIntyre got what he wanted from his life, and 779 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,560 Speaker 1: all it took was being grateful for what he already had. Joe, 780 00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: thank you so much. Thank you Bunny for taking the time. 781 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:10,520 Speaker 3: I hope you get a nugget or side where it's warm. 782 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:12,120 Speaker 3: Sudden impact. 783 00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,000 Speaker 1: Sudden impact. We're finding them. But the whole East Coast 784 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,440 Speaker 1: family story is really interesting. Like people would just go 785 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:22,719 Speaker 1: to where Bell Bivdevou was staying when they toured and 786 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 1: just singing Michael Bivens's face, and then sometimes he would 787 00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:32,040 Speaker 1: sign them ivette Nicole Brown, actress from Community and various 788 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:34,000 Speaker 1: other things. She was one of them. She was a singer, 789 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:36,759 Speaker 1: she was a solo act as part of the East 790 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:40,160 Speaker 1: Coast Family. Yeah, I'll send you a video. 791 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,080 Speaker 2: Those are fun times, man, I don't think it happens 792 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:48,560 Speaker 2: like it's almost like well Motown Philly, right, I mean 793 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 2: it's that motown, you know, like just get me in 794 00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,800 Speaker 2: front of her man, you know, and we came from. 795 00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:54,400 Speaker 8: That, and. 796 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,280 Speaker 3: It's sweet. It's sweet. 797 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:02,399 Speaker 2: I'm glad you're celebrating that and kind of going back 798 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:03,200 Speaker 2: into that world. 799 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,720 Speaker 3: So I look forward to seeing what you'll find. 800 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:08,080 Speaker 1: So Hayden has put in a good word for me 801 00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:11,360 Speaker 1: to Aaron Kin. I have followed up with an email 802 00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:14,239 Speaker 1: to the address that is on Aaron's YouTube channel. And 803 00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:17,799 Speaker 1: after a few days, I check my email and there 804 00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:21,759 Speaker 1: is a message from Aaron Kin. And I hesitate for 805 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:23,719 Speaker 1: a moment before I click on it, because what if 806 00:42:23,719 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: he wants to leave this all behind him? What if 807 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:27,919 Speaker 1: he doesn't want to talk at all? What if I'm 808 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:31,200 Speaker 1: out of story and it's only episode four. It's like 809 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:33,359 Speaker 1: that certified mail notice back when I got kicked out 810 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:35,960 Speaker 1: of college. I know something important is in the post. 811 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,479 Speaker 1: I just don't know what it is until I open 812 00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:43,080 Speaker 1: that message up. This email contains the future. I click 813 00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:46,719 Speaker 1: it open and there they are ten short words and 814 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:50,399 Speaker 1: a lot of exclamation points. Hey Dave, yeah, that would 815 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:54,759 Speaker 1: be awesome. Let me know. Oh my god, we have 816 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,920 Speaker 1: made contact with Sudden Impact. We will talk to the 817 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:02,160 Speaker 1: legendary in Kane, the man in the middle, the guy 818 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,439 Speaker 1: in the bow tie. On Waiting for Impact, a Dave 819 00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:14,640 Speaker 1: Holmes passion project. This has been an exactly Right production. 820 00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:20,800 Speaker 1: Written by Me Dave Holmes, produced by Hannah Kyle Crichton, recorded, 821 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:25,279 Speaker 1: mixed and sound designed by Andrew Eapen. Additional engineering and 822 00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:30,839 Speaker 1: assembly by Annalise Nelson. Music by Ben Wise, artwork by 823 00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:35,600 Speaker 1: Garrett Ross. Executive produced by Karen Kilgarriff, Georgia hart Starr 824 00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:40,200 Speaker 1: and Danielle Kramer. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, and 825 00:43:40,239 --> 00:43:44,240 Speaker 1: Twitter at exactly right and follow me at Dave Holmes. 826 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,840 Speaker 1: For more information, go to exactly Rightmedia dot com. Binge 827 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:52,600 Speaker 1: the show add free on stitchr Premium for a free month. 828 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,279 Speaker 1: Head to stitcher Premium dot com, slash impact and enter 829 00:43:56,320 --> 00:44:00,319 Speaker 1: promo code Impact when you select a monthly plan, send 830 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:04,120 Speaker 1: Subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, 831 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:08,600 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.