Backstreet Boys release New CD

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Nov 22, 2000 Source: Excite News Submitted By: Carriej By Nekesa Mumbi Moody AP MUSIC WRITER NEW YORK (AP) -- The Backstreet Boys, hoping to reclaim their spot as the most popular boy band, came out with their third album, ``Black & Blue,'' on Tuesday in a blizzard of hype. The quintet -- Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson -- arrived in New York after visiting Sweden, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Australia in a four-day whirlwind tour. MTV has the band's current video, ``Shape of My Heart,'' in heavy rotation and it's at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100; the album is expected to debut high on the charts next week. The group was to give a live concert on top of MTV's Times Square building Tuesday night. ``We've actually started to see people outside this morning, anticipating their arrival,'' said Amy Doyle, director of programming at the channel. It's only a year and a half since the Backstreet Boys released their second album, the Grammy-nominated ``Millennium,'' which sold a record 1.13 million copies in its first week alone. But since then, teen-age girls have swooned over their Jive label mates 'N Sync, who shattered that record by selling 2.4 million copies of their second album, ``No Strings Attached,'' in its first week. In addition, 98 Degrees and other acts that fit the Backstreet Boys mold -- good looks, clean-cut image, mainstream pop sound -- have inundated the market, with varying success. Still, Doyle says the growing number of groups has not eroded the Backstreet Boys' audience. On MTV's ``Total Request Live,'' which often serves as a benchmark for sales, the group's new video was alternating between the first and second spot with 'N Sync, said Doyle. And in case anyone doubted their popularity, the Backstreet Boys invited some 500 shrieking fans to a news conference Tuesday at which they announced plans for a world tour, to kick off Jan. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The fans interrupted with shrieks of ``I love you!'' while the band answered questions from journalists hand-picked by an MTV veejay. Many of the fans gained entrance to the event after attending Tower Records' midnight sale for the record and other new releases. The store gave out wristbands to buyers -- mainly teen-age girls (along with a few parents). One Tower Records store said they had sold 200 copies of ``Black & Blue'' by mid-morning. ``That's pretty good for a first day,'' said Nadezhda Ball, administrative assistant to the general manager at the store in Greenwich Village. Ball noted that the store's big seller last week, Sade's ``Lovers Rock,'' sold more than 1,000 copies in a week. McLean, who had boasted that the group would shatter 'N Sync's record, downplayed the competition Tuesday. ``Obviously, it's going to be based on our fans,'' he said of first-week sales. Though he added, ``materialistically, it would be nice.'' On the Net: http://www.backstreetboys.com Comment on this item. Next Item: Boys Announce Preliminary Tour Cities Prev Item: Rio goes Brazil nuts for Backstreet Boys