| I found this in a local newspaper, and the author (J. Freedom Du Lac of the Sacramento Bee) has some damn good and damn funny points. Read on to compare... NOTE FROM ALI: THIS DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC, MEANING EVERYONE READING THIS. I DON'T PERSONALLY AGREE ON SOME OF THEM, BUT THEY'RE DAMN FUNNY. Pop music spins in cycles, so it's not necessarily surprising that the bubblegum-boy-band trend has washed ashore again in tidal-wave form. Just as the stunningly successful New Kids On The Block dominated the musical neighborhood when the 80's melted into the 90's, the Backstreet Boys and *N Sync are doing same at the turn of the millennial clock. But while the Boys are the ones with the album titled "Millennium," it's *N Sync that's really got what the New Kids (or NKOTB for short) would refer to as "the right stuff," having recently obliterated the all-time single-week sales record by blowing out 2.4 million first-week copies of its new album, "No Strings Attached." Of course, there are those pop-culture conspiracy theorists out there who've noticed what seems to be a rope-sized string tying *N Sync to NKOTB, suggesting that the two are really the same group with a new wardrobe consultant and choregrapher. We can't quite confirm that, but we can chart some evidence. You decide. NKOTB: Five funny-dancing, pseudo-R&B-singing white guys from Beantown (Boston) *NSync: Five funny-dancing, pseudo-R&B-singing whte guys from O-Town (Orlando, Fla.) NKOTB: Self-titled debut album features the song "You Got It (The Right Stuff)." *NSync: Self-titled debut album features the song "You Got It." NKOTB: Opening act for early 1989 tour - Tiffany! (Who dated a member of NKOTB) *NSync: Opening act for early 1999 tour - Britney Spears! (Who dates a member of *NSync, wonder which one...) NOTE FROM ALI: I ADDED THE PARENTHESES, I FELT THEY HAD TO BE ADDED! NKOTB: Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis declares April 24, 1989, "New Kids On The Block Day." *NSync: Mayor of New Haven, Conn., declares March 13, 1999, "NSYNC Day." NKOTB: Designated bad boy Donnie Wahlberg sets fire to a hotel-hallway carpet. *NSync: Designated doofus Joey Fatone dyes his hair-ends fire red. NKOTB: Creator-manager Maurice Starr fired in quest for creative freedom. *NSync: Creator-manager Louis J. Pearlman fired in quest for creatice freedom. NKOTB: Holiday album "Merry, Merry Christmas" goes double-platinum. *NSync: Holiday album "Home For Christmas" goes double-platinum. NKOTB: Sells out a pair of 1991 concerts at the Oakland Coliseum. *NSync: Sells out an upcoming June 2000 concert at the Oakland Coliseum. NKOTB: Bowser lookalike Danny Wood injures his ankle by tripping over a stuffed animal during an overseas concert. *NSync: Tonya Harding lookalike Lance Bass injures his ankle by tripping over himself during a "Saturday Night Live" rehearsal. NKOTB: Has a hit with "Cover Girl." *NSync: Has a quintet of TV Guide covers, each featuring a different boy from the band. NKOTB: Band's career is cut short after a new album, "Face The Music," drops off the charts almost immediately following it's 1994 release. *NSync: Autograph-signing session at Minnesota's Mall of America is cut short after a water balloon is dropped off a balcony. |
 |
|