HANSON MERCURY AIMS FOR A PLATINUM LP Apart from another number one single for Spice Girls, there are few sure things in pop music. But if ever a new pop act was destined for huge success, it is Hanson, a trio of brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma.
At 16, Isaac Hanson is the eldest. Taylor, who sings most of the lead vocals and looks like a pubescent Kurt Cobain, is 14. Zac is just 11. The boys sing sweet harmonies and play their own instruments. They possess huge teen pin-up appeal and their self-penned debut single MMMBop is a sunny, vibrant slice of soul pop reminiscent of classic Jackson Five stompers such as ABC and I Want You Back. Hanson have a little bit of street cred, too. MMMBop is one of two tracks on Hanson's first Mercury album, Middle Of Nowhere, which have been produced by the ultra-hip Dust Brothers, who list Beck's award-winning Odelay among their recent credits. The remainder of the album is produced by Steve Lironi (Black Grape), so Hanson certainly appear to have all bases covered.
Mercury managing director Howard Berman says, "I will be genuinely surprised and disappointed if the Hanson album does not turn out to be one of the biggest selling records of 1997. If this is not a platinum album by the end of the year, I think we will have done something very wrong. This is as big a priority as any project can be, but essentially it's a self-generated thing. Hanson made themselves a priority and the whole company is going with the flow." Berman's words take on a certain irony when the group's manager Christopher Sabec reveals that Mercury were one of 12 labels to pass on Hanson between 1992 and 1995. "Most labels advised me to get away from this act as fast as possible," Sabec says. "People said this act would ruin and humiliate me. It was very difficult." Sabec was working as a music attorney when he discovered Hanson. "I was having lunch in Austin, Texas, when the boys came over to me and asked if they could sing for me. Everyone else was ignoring them. They sang a cappella and I just said, 'Where are your parents? I need to talk to them fast!" In 1995, with two Hanson CDs released on independent labels, Sabec found an ally at Mercury in Steve Greenberg, the company's New York-based vice president of A&R. "They'd already written MMMBop, their first great song, when we signed them," he says. "But I felt they needed a lot of mentoring. They needed to be around a lot of people who could really help them make the right kind of record. The Black Grape record [It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah!] is one of the best arranged records I've heard in a long time, so I suggested Steve Lironi. The guys needed help with arrangements. That was the most important thing." Taylor Hanson says the brothers were told to relax and enjoy themselves when they made the album. "It was cool meeting the Dust Brothers," he says. "We recorded stuff in their house and messed around in their pool. We're always writing songs, so we had around 200 ready." "Their songwriting is so good," adds Berman. "That's what separates Hanson from all the so-called boy bands. Obviously, they will appeal to the kids who read Smash Hits and Big!, but these songs will appeal to a lot of different people." MMMBop is one of four songs on the album written by the brothers alone. Other co-writers include the legendary team Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil and Mark Hudson, who has written for Aerosmith. Berman reckons Mercury can pull at least five hit singles off the album, but there was never any doubt in his mind that MMMBop was the perfect song to launch the group worldwide. "With such a strong single, there is a very high level of expectation about Hanson. It sounds like I'm just spreading Hanson propaganda, but people are reacting to this act with total, uncynical enthusiasm," he says. "The great thing about Hanson is that they can stand on their own musically - and obviously, the icing on the cake is their age and the way they look. This band really is an absolute joy to work with."
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