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Boy band

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A boy band (or boyband, British) is a type of pop group usually featuring between three and six young male singers. The members are generally expected to perform as dancers as well, often executing highly choreographed sequences to their own music. In addition to pop music, boy bands also sing R&B songs and sometimes pop-punk bands. Although there are no distinct traits of boy bands, one could label a band a "boy band" for following mainstream music trends, changing their appearances to adapt to new fashion trends, and performing elaborate shows. They can evolve out of church choral or Gospel music groups, but are often put together by managers or producers who audition the groups for appearance, dancing, and singing ability, and often seem to be prefabricated. Although they are referred to as "bands", they rarely play instruments, and the acts are essentially vocal harmony groups (though there are some exceptions, such as A1). Due to this and the fact that the acts are generally aimed at a teenybopper or preteen audience, the term has negative connotations in the rock press. Boy bands are similar in concept to girl groups. Some people refer to boy bands as boy groups, male vocal groups or guy groups.

In the 1990s, boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys sometimes found the term "boy band" offensive and insisted on being called a "male vocal group".

History

Maurice Starr is usually credited with starting the trend, with his protégés New Kids On The Block, though the term "boy band" did not exist until later in the 1990s. Starr's idea was to take the traditional template from the R&B genre (in this case his teenage band New Edition) and apply it to a pop genre. This formula was in turn redefined by a number of European managers such as Nigel Martin-Smith and Louis Walsh, until the UK pop marketplace was saturated with the genre.

Though the term is mostly associated with groups from the 1990s onwards, antecedents exist throughout the history of pop music. The Beach Boys, & The Temptations, popular in the 1960s, have been considered a form of boy band by some, while The Monkees certainly were prefabricated and Latin boy band Menudo was founded in 1977.

The most famous boy band manager is Lou Pearlman, responsible for extremely commercially successful acts such as the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. In the U.K., producer Simon Cowell (noted in the U.S. for the American Idol/Pop Idol franchise) is known for having produced uberboyband Westlife, which in itself was created by former boyband member Ronan Keating of Boyzone.

Key factors of the concept

Seen as important to a "boy band" group's commercial success is the group's image, carefully controlled by managing all aspects of the group's dress, promotional materials (which are frequently supplied to teen magazines), and music videos. Typically, each member of the group will have some distinguishing feature and be portrayed as having a particular personality stereotype, such as "the baby," "the bad boy," or "the nice boy." While managing the portrayal of popular musicians is as old as popular music, the particular pigeonholing of band members is a defining characteristic of boy and girl bands.

In most cases, their music is written, arranged and produced by a producer who works with the band at all times and controls the group's sound - if necessary, to the point of hiring session singers to record guide vocals for each member of the group to sing individually if the members cannot harmonize together well.

A typical boy band performance features elaborately choreographed dancing, with the members taking turns singing and/or rapping (though in some cases and as with many pop acts, they are to lip-syncing to pre-recorded vocals). Boy bands generally do not compose or produce their own material, unless the members lobby hard enough for creative control (e.g. The Monkees and *NSYNC).

Criticism

Boy bands tend to be heavily criticized by certain musical press for appealing to young pubescent girls and for seeming to emphasize marketing and packaging over quality of music. Such views are reflected in the humorous definition in the Chambers Dictionary: "a pop group, targeting mainly the teenage market, composed of young males chosen because they look good and can dance and sometimes even sing."

Some critics compare boy band output to the "machine-generated" popular music found in George Orwell's novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, noting that much of their music (as well as the bands' composition) is extremely formulaic. Other critics point to boy bands (and related musical groups) as case studies in commercialism and postmodernism, with little cultural content. Such criticisms can become extremely scathing:

After scouring the country for five boys who could belt out tunes while doing the splits, (Lou Pearlman) assembled a clean-cut collection of effeminate white and Latino-looking boys, all pink cheeks and crew cuts with peroxided tips. Just like the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, there's the cute blond guy, one with curly hair, the dark one with big dimples, the guy with the funny facial hair and the less cute, but really sensitive, guy.
Pearlman herded them into a tiny apartment, forcing these guys in their late teens and early 20s to share bedrooms (hey, less opportunity for illicit sexual activity - at least with the opposite sex), and forbade them to stay out past midnight. He dressed them in coordinated red and silver "rave" outfits and spoon-fed them sugary-sweet lyrics like "Would I cross an ocean just to hold you ... Would I give up all I have to see you smile?" And then he set them loose on concert halls full of 12-year-old girls, who dutifully screamed their lungs out in a kind of mass orgasm fueled by all that scrubbed-clean testosterone. (Janelle Brown, "Sluts and Teddy Bears," Salon.com, 2001).

Pop culture influence

Due to their pre-fab nature, boy bands are not only a frequent target of criticism, but also a frequent source of parody in popular culture, ranging from the television series 2ge+her (which created a parody boy band with five personality types) to a week-long spoof in 1999, wherein talk show host Conan O'Brien, complaining that he couldn't find a decent "musical guest" for his show, created his own boy band, Dudez-A-Plenti, after randomly selecting five out-of-work actors. A series of humorous sketches ensued, culminating in a Friday performance of a song O'Brien apparently made up himself: "Baby, I Wish You Were My Baby.". Further examples of boy band parodies in pop culture include:

  • In The Simpsons, Bart is recruited to a boy band named Party Posse that is secretly a vehicle for subliminal navy recruitment messages. The members of 'N Sync cameoed in the episode as themselves. Contrary to popular belief they did not do the "Party Posse" voices. Members of Lou Pearlman's other band Natural, however, did provide most of the voices. (Marc Terenzi did Nelson while Michael 'J' Horn did Milhouse; the rest are unknown.)
  • On the Veggie Tales video The Ballad of Little Joe, Larry, Mr. Lunt, Jimmy, and Junior do a parody of a boy band video for the original song "Bellybutton."
  • A play (with music) called Boyband, featuring a band named "4ORCE" and parodying the boy band phenomenon of the '90s with songs such as "Coming from Behind," "Our Love is Like Water - H40" and "Integrity," was performed at the Seymour Centre in Sydney, Australia for 2 weeks in 2005 and is returned for a four-week season in March 2006. (Note: not to be confused with the band 4ORCE from Manchester, United Kingdom, who were a real male/female vocal group).
  • In an episode of the Disney Channel series That's So Raven, Raven wants a boy band named the "Boyz in Motion" to perform in front of her friends. In another episode, Raven wants the "Boyz in Motion" to perform in an emergency plan video for Donna Cabonna. The Boyz in Motion are sometimes called the Boyz, and are probably a parody of the Backstreet Boys.
  • The Blink 182 music video for "All the small things" is a parody of boy bands.

Success in the genre

Though some fans are wildly supportive of the music, the commercial success of specific boy bands does not tend to last long. As the fans (mostly teen girls) age and their musical tastes evolve, they tend to outgrow such groups' appeal. If success is sustained, often one or more members of the band will leave and seek a solo career (particularly if they have some songwriting ability), often with some success, for instance: Michael Nesmith, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake, Ronan Keating, Jesse McCartney and Ricky Martin.

Certain boy bands have continued to thrive long after the members have ceased to be 'boys', particularly in Asia, e.g. SMAP of Japan and Shinhwa of Korea. In these cases, the members have developed into stars in their own right, starring in television shows, movies, and commercials.

Groups commonly referred to as boy bands

  • 112 (USA)
    • Daron Tavaris Jones, Michael Marcel Keith (aka Mike), Quinnes Diamond Parker (aka Q), and Marvin Eugene Scandrick, III (aka Slim).
  • 2Gether (USA)
    • Noah Bastian, Michael Cuccione, Kevin Farley, Evan Farmer and Alex Solowitz
  • 5566 (Taiwan)
    • Zax Wang, Jason Hsu, Sam Wang, Rio Peng, and Tony Sun
  • 5ive (United Kingdom)
    • Richard "Abs" Breen, Jason "J" Brown, Sean Conlon, Richard Neville, and Scott Robinson
  • 911 (United Kingdom)
    • Lee Brennan, Jimmy Constable and Simon 'Spike' Dawbarn
  • 98 Degrees (USA)
  • A1 (United Kingdom)
    • Ben Adams, Christian Ingebrigsten, Paul Marazzi, and Mark Read
  • All-4-One (USA)
    • Tony Borowiak, Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, and Alfred Nevarez
  • Another Level (United Kingdom)
    • Mark Baron, Dane Bowers, Bobak Kinoush and Wayne Williams
  • Ant & Dec (United Kingdom)
    • Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly
  • Az Yet (USA)
  • Backstreet Boys (USA)
  • BBMak (United Kingdom)
    • Mark Barry, Christian Burns and Stephen McNally
  • Big Fun (United Kingdom)
  • Blackstreet (USA)
    • Teddy Riley, Chauncey Hannibal, Eric Williams, and Terrell Philips
  • Blazin Squad (United Kingdom)
    • Lee "MC Krazy" Bailey, Stuart "MC Reepa" Baker, Tom "DJ Tommy-B" Beasley, Sam "MC Spike-E" Foulkes, Oliver "MC Freek" Georgiou, James "MC Kenzie" MacKenzie, Chris "MC Melo-D" McKeckney, James "MC Flava" Murray, Mustafa "MC Strider" Omer, and Marcel "MC Plat'num" Sommerville
  • Blue (United Kingdom)
  • Boyz II Men (USA)
    • Nathan & Wanya Morris, Michael McCary and Shawn Stockman
  • Boyzone (Ireland)
    • Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Michael Graham, Ronan Keating and Shane Lynch
  • Busted (United Kingdom)
  • Caught in the Act (boy band) (Netherlands/United Kingdom)
  • The Choirboys (Australia)
  • Dream Street (USA)
    • Jesse McCartney, Matt Ballinger, Frankie Galasso, Greg Raposo and Chris Trousdale
  • East 17 (United Kingdom)
    • Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell
  • Evan and Jaron (USA)
    • Evan and Jaron Lowenstein
  • F4 (Taiwan)
    • Vanness Wu, Jerry Yan, Vic Zhou, Ken Zhu
  • Fightstar (United Kingdom)
    • Omar Abidi, Dan Haigh, Charlie Simpson and Alex Westaway
  • Friday Hill (United Kingdom)
    • James Murray, Mus Omer and James McKenzie (Kenzie)
  • G4 (United Kingdom)
    • Jonathan Ansell, Matthew Stiff, Mike Christie and Ben Thapa
  • Green Day (United States)
    • Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool
  • Hanson (USA)
    • Isaac, Taylor and Zachary Hanson
  • H.O.T. (Korea)
    • Kangta, Moon Hee Jun, Tony An, Jang Woo Hyuk and Lee Jae Won
  • Hi-Five (USA)
    • Tony Thompson, Roderick "Pooh" Clark, Marcus Sanders, Russell Neal, and Toriano Easley (replaced by Treston Irby)
  • Human Nature (Australia)
    • Toby Allen, Phil Burton, Andrew and Michael Tierney
  • Il Divo (United Kingdom)
    • Carlos Marín, Urs Bühler, David Miller, and Sébastien Izambard
  • Jagged Edge (USA)
    • Brandon & Brian Casey, Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo
  • Junior Senior (Denmark)
    • Jesper Mortenson and Jeppe Laursen
  • K-Ci & Jojo (USA)
    • Cedric & Joel Hailey
  • LFO (USA)
    • Rich Cronin, Brad Fischetti and Devin Lima
  • MDO
  • Menudo (Puerto Rico)
  • Michael Learns To Rock (Denmark)
    • Mikkel Lentz, Jascha Richter, Kåre Wanscher and ex-MLTR member Soren Madsen
  • The Moffatts (Canada)
    • Bob, Clint, Dave and Scott Moffatt
  • Natural (band) (USA 1999-2004)
  • New Edition (USA)
    • Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill
  • New Kids On The Block
    • Jonathan & Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood
  • 'N Sync (USA)
  • O-Town (USA)
    • Ashley Parker Angel, Erik Estrada, Dan Miller, Trevor Penick, and Jacob Underwood
  • Plus One (USA)
    • Nate Cole, Gabe Combs, Jeremy Mhire, Jason Perry and Nathan Walters
  • Portrait (USA)
  • Right Said Fred (United Kingdom)
    • Fred & Richard Fairbrass and Rob Manzoli
  • Same Same (Canada)
    • Bob and Clint Moffatt
  • Silk (USA)
    • Tim Cameron, Jim Gates, Gary Glenn, Gary Jenkins and John Rasboro
  • Soul Control
  • SMAP (Japan)
    • Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Shingo Katori
  • Take5
    • Stevie Sculthorpe, Tilky Jones, TJ Christofore, Clay Goodell, and Ryan Goodell
  • Take That (United Kingdom)
  • Teriyaki Boyz (Japan)
    • Ilmari and Ryo-Z of Rip Slyme, Verbal of m-flo, Nigo and Wise of Bathing Ape
  • TVXQ (Korea)
    • U-KNOW YunHo, MICKY YooChun, HERO JaeJoong, MAX ChangMin and XIAH JunSu
  • US5 (USA)
    • Chris Watrin, Izzy Gallegos, Jay Kahn, Michael Johnson and Richie Stringini
  • Ultra (United Kingdom)
    • James Hearn (vocals), Michael Harwood (Guitar) Jon O'Mahony (Drum), and Nick Keynes (Bass)
  • V (United Kingdom)
    • Aaron Buckingham, Antony Brant, Mark Harle, Kevin McDaid and Leon Pisani
  • Westlife (Ireland)
    • Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan and ex-Westlife member Bryan McFadden
  • w-inds. (Japan)
    • Ryohei Chiba, Ryuichi Ogata, and Keita Tachibana
  • Worlds Apart (United Kingdom)
  • Youngstown

Male/Female vocal groups of the boy band era

These groups are or were similar in style to boy bands and marketed at the same "preteen" and "teenybopper" markets, but are or were mixed gender groups:

See also

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