Teen Angles

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Mar 05, 2000 Source: Indianapolis Star Submitted By: Carrie Hall Boy bands aiming for the adolescent girl market have to exploit gimmicks quickly, for their reigns are short. When the Backstreet Boys visit Conseco Fieldhouse Friday and Saturday, here's one way to look at it: It's like the population of a small town going out of its collective mind over five guys singing sad, sincere love songs. The Backstreet Boys - Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, Nick Carter - have been around since '92, even though their first hits came just two years ago. So far, a clean-as-a-whistle image and irresistibly catchy songs have served the Boys well, making them No. 1 artists not only in the United States but also in 25 other countries. The smash "I Want It That Way" gets even Backstreet haters humming along. How big are they? Bruce Springsteen made headlines for selling out 15 nights in New Jersey in less than one day. The Backstreet Boys sold out the entire nation in 60 minutes. The latest album, Millennium, set the record for the highest-ever first week of sales and then set it for the second week, then the third week. Think of the title no so much as a name but as a prediction as to how long it's gonna stay on the charts. Worldwide sales since May: 28 million and counting. That's more that halfway to being the best-selling album of all time in just 150 days. They're also walking away with $30 million from their current concert tour, and it's only that low because they kept prices relatively within the allowance range, at $30 to $40 a pop. The Backstreet Boys already are planning to release a new studio album in October and launch another tour (to be sponsered by Burger King). If all this makes your eardrums beg for relief, there's good news: They can't last much longer. Boy-band life spans average just under six years from start to finish. At this rate, the seven-years-and-counting Backstreeters already have hit the snooze switch a couple of times on their 15-minutes-of-fame clock - and that alarm always goes off eventually. The reason: Manufactured groups just can't last long by design. Some artist - former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, for example - start to believe the hype and think they're hot enough to go out on their own. Some chafe under management edicts and rebel: Witness New Kids on the Block setting hotels on fire with vodka and 'N Sync's record label switch from RCA to Jive. However, the biggest problem is boredom - the fans', not the artists'. Even the cuddliest 18 year old loses some of that charm at 24. And you can't go home again, as New Edition proved with a laughable reunion tour. The bad news is that someone's surely lined up to take their place. It's a formula as old as rock 'n' roll: You pull together a bunch of good-looking teens who may or may not be able to sing. You stock 'em up with catchy songs and a calculated image. But you end up with an unavoidable curve of massive popularity, then massive indifference. At the bottom of page 1 are some prime examples of how easily and cynically such phenoms can be born and how quickly fans can forget. Note from submitter: One thing I noticed in this article is that he wrote that boy bands don't last longer than 6 years. Did you guys notice that too? Well, 7 years is more than 6 years, am I right? Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: kipetok Submitted by: lodo4ka Submitted by: snymrik Comment on this item. Next Item: Super, Man Prev Item: Post Concert Depression?