STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Backstreet Boys are going to shrink the globe like no other pop group -- the U.S. superstars are going around the world in 100 hours on a whistle-stop tour of six continents to promote their new album, ``Black and Blue.''

``We figured it would be cool to do something that no one has ever done before,'' said Kevin Richardson, who at 29 is the elder statesman of the Backstreet Boys, now billed as the world's biggest pop group after their record sales topped 55 million copies.

Before flying off from Stockholm in their personal jet to Tokyo, Sydney, Capetown, Rio de Janeiro and New York on their 26,000 mile odysssey, Richardson confessed that the Beatles inspired their promotional brainwave.

``I look back at old footage of the Beatles getting off the planes at the airport and having all the fans there. That is cool to me, that is a cool vision in my head,'' he told Reuters before Friday's big lift-off.

``We are are one of the few groups right now that is successful other than Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson or the Rolling Stones, U2 or Madonna who could do something like this. And I don't want to look back on this in 10 years' time and say why didn't we do that?''

The Backstreet Boys will spend 55 hours flying and 45 hours on the ground, giving them a fleeting glimpse of Tokyo's Bay Area, Sydney's Bondi Beach, Capetown's Table Mountain, Rio's Copacabana Beach and Time Square in New York.

The logistics for the ultimate album launch took four months to work out. ``It's monumental man,'' said fellow band member A.J. Mclean. ``We are going to have to pace ourselves. It is definitely a first for us or anybody in the business.''

The group may now be garnering the pop awards, being dressed by Donatella Versace, notching up the platinum discs and being interviewed by the Duchess of York.

But they are certainly no overnight success. After eight years together and a fan base that was first built up outside their homeland, it tastes that much sweeter.

``This is not all about America. We have had success all around the world,'' said Howie Dorough, reflecting on the rollercoaster ride to fame.

The Backstreet Boys get easily riled if you call them a boy band. They wholeheartedly agreed with Elton John and George Michael's complaint that the record industry was overrun by talentless, manufactured groups that appealed only to pre-pubescent children.

Richardson said: ``We came to Europe and saw these pretty boys that were put together and maybe one of them could sing half way decent. The pressure made us sick to the stomach. We wanted to be the group to end all this. We are vocalists, all five of us have been singing since we were little kids.''

``We hate to be compared to a boy band and thrown into that category,'' he said. But they have no plans to change their name. ``You do have the Pet Shop Boys and the Beastie Boys and they are older than us. We will never change our names.''