( Gannett News Service ) MIKE HUGHES; 05-29-2001
On its road to world domination the Backstreet Boys faced one black hole.
And it stretched between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
"We called the U.S. `No Fan Land,' " Brian Littrell recalls. "Whenever we came back home, no one knew us."
The group was big in 16 other countries. In 1996, it won the MTV Europe Viewers Choice Award. Back in the states, it was mostly known in the Dakotas.
All of that has changed lately. The Boys' last three albums sold a combined 35 million copies. Now it's starring in "Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life," at 8 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 30, on CBS.
The Boys isn't the only group that's larger than life, however. This summer boy bands and girl groups will dominate the television landscape.
"I think that always goes in cycles," says Christian
Burns of BBMak, which will be in an ABC special June
10 and will spend the summer opening for 'N Sync.
That may be true in England, where BBMak is from, but
in the United States, however, there was a slow spell
for light pop groups.
"There wasn't really that much pop music here,"
Littrell says. "We wanted music that was a little more
positive."
The resurgence may have been sparked by Boyz II Men that revived a blended-voices style that had been popular during Motown's heyday and the early Beatles years. There's also the cute factor. It may be no coincidence that the current pop scene -- like the one in the late 1950s -- consists mainly of people who are young and cute.
And now TV has suddenly taken an interest.
"When I was a kid, I used to love watching `Top of the Pops,' " Burns says. "That was a real thrill when we were on the show."
That British show has been around for decades and boosted the careers of many young stars. In the states "American Bandstand" folded and nothing replaced it. Would-be stars were restricted to music videos.
Then TV took an interest. Cable's Disney Channel keeps airing concerts with young stars that have included 'N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, BBMak, Jessica Simpson and more.
Now the big networks join in. CBS has the Backstreet Boys concert on Wednesday and ABC is tentatively scheduled to air "Walt Disney World Summer Jam Concert," with Baha Men, BBMak, Dream, Shaggy and Sugar Ray on tentatively on June 10 at 7 p.m. EDT.
TV has propelled young groups -- and annoyed them.
Two networks have had series that created a group from scratch. ABC' s "Making the Band" created and follows a group called O-Town; WB' s "Popstars" created Eden's Crush this season and will make another group next season.
"It kind of makes a mockery of what we do," Littrell says.
The Backstreet Boys wasn't a corporate creation, he insists. Three friends (A.J. McLean, Howie Dorough and Nick Carter) hooked up with two cousins (Kevin Richardson and Littrell); they sang everywhere, from high school gyms to Sea World.
"We were doin' this when no one was interested in pop music," Littrell says. "We knocked down a lot of doors."
At times, the Backstreet Boys simply sang in the hallways of record companies. On the other side of the Atlantic BBMak was doing the same.
"We actually busked (sang unrequested) outside all the
record companies, " Burns says. "We got a lot of
interest. Then we did a show and all the record
companies came."
BBMak has found some success
"We're sort of under house arrest," Littrell says by phone from a Rio de Janeiro hotel. "There are so many fans out there that we can' t go out."
MIKE HUGHES, Boy bands will dominate summer TV landscape. , Gannett News Service, 05-29-2001, pp ARC.
