-By Michael Paoletta-

NEW YORK–In 1998, Orlando, Fla.-based Trans Continental Entertainment (TCE) reintroduced the concept of the boy group with pop acts like Jive’s Backstreet Boys and RCA’s ‘N Sync. Between the two five-member groups, more than 13 million albums have been sold, according to SoundScan.

Waiting around the corner is the latest TCE discovery: Epic Records’ C-Note, a male quartet that is three-quarters Hispanic. But the label is hoping to set them apart from boy-group mold.

“First and foremost,” says Ceci Kurzman, VP of worldwide marketing at Epic, “we don’t see them as a boy group, but as a very talented vocal group. It just so happens that they’re also very good-looking.”

Unlike Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync, both of whom were introduced to European markets before making their American debuts, C-Note will do just the opposite.

C-Note’s debut album, “Different Kind Of Love,” will be issued May 18 in the U.S.; it will be preceded by the single “Wait Till I Get Home,” which goes to top 40/rhythm radio Tuesday (9) and retail March 23.

According to Kurzman, the group also recorded a Spanish version of the song (titled “No Dejo De Pensar”) that will go to Latin radio in late March or early April.

Kurzman recognizes the Latin demographic as a major component of the C-Note master plan. “We want to stress the bilingual aspect of the group,” she says. “More importantly, the group itself has a strong desire for that element of its heritage to shine through. In the end, that’s what will really separate them from the other pop groups out there.”

Lee Chesnut, VP of A&R at Epic, admits that that’s one of the reasons he signed the act to a worldwide deal. “C-Note arrives with a different angle to work,” Chesnut says. “Their sound is definitely mainstream pop, dance, and R&B, but with a Latin twist. That will surely help in crossing them over to a variety of music formats. It should also help in broadening the age range of their fan base.”

Therein lies the major distinction between C-Note and groups like ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys, says Chesnut, who adds, “Perhaps fans of ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys have matured a little and want something a bit more grown-up. Maybe even something that borders on a ‘bad boy’ image.”

In fact, Chesnut believes that this “bad boy” image may cause concern among mothers whose daughters become fans of the group. But he’s not worried about negative consequences.

“This will only help our cause,” he says. “All these groups can’t be alike. You can’t keep following the same blueprint for success. In the end, though, I think many of these concerned mothers will end up being fans themselves.

He may be right. Touring throughout Florida for the past year, C-Note has attracted a broad demographic, says Kurzman. “The group doesn’t really have a core audience,” Kurzman says. “They attract teens, people in their 20s, as well as women in their 30s and 40s. It’s like the mothers are insisting on attending the shows with their daughters.”

C-Note members–José “Brody” Martinez, David Perez, Andrew “Dru” Rogers, and Raul Molina-- are surprised, yet pleased, by their broad demographic appeal.

FLIRTATIOUS MOMS
Explains Martinez, “The young girls are always right in front of the stage, while the older ones stand off to the sides, and the mothers and guys usually stand in the back of the room.”

Molina confirms this, adding, “After each show, we sign autographs, and there’ll be mothers waiting on line with their daughters. And it’s always the mothers who do the most flirting. It’s like the mothers are living vicariously through their daughters, reliving their youth. We have a lot of fun with it.”

For a group with no single or album in the marketplace, C-Note has a huge following throughout Florida–a result of constant touring. The act is managed by Alan Siegel of Trans Continental Management and booked by David Zedeck of New York-based Renaissance Entertainment.

Kurzman notes that it is the group’s nonstop touring, which she terms “a street-style promotion,” that will be the focal point of the label’s marketing plan.

“This is the perfect setup,” she says. “They’ve done a lot of the preliminary work for us. And once the album is in stores, we’ll be doing special promotions, and live performances will play an important role. We believe that face-to-face contact with consumers is key for a group like C-Note.”

In 1998, the foursome performed at state and county fairs, radio shows, shopping malls, and Orlando’s House of Blues, among other places.

Recalls Molina, “Last year, we were performing at a fair in Burlington [Vt]. The first day, 15 people showed up for our show. By the last day, wee were filling all the seats. Up to this point, our fan base has grown by word-of-mouth.”

A recent appearance on MTV’s “Utlra Sound” certainly upped the fan-base ante. Martinez says that prior to the show’s airing, the C-Note World Wide Web page (www.cnote.com) was receiving about 700 hits per day. “These days,” he says, “it’s getting about 4,000 hits” per day.

Friends since the early ‘90s, C-Note—an acronym for “create nothing other than excellence”–has been performing for the past four years and was discovered by TCE about two years ago, Molina says. “Trans Con actually came to us. [At the time,] Backstreet Boys hadn’t happened here yet, and ‘N Sync was just breaking in Germany.”

STAR MACHINE
The Louis J. Pearlman-helmed TCE is a multifaceted company that encompasses many aspects of the pop machine, from a multi-million-dollar recording studio and management company to a stable of vocal coaches, personal trainers, choreographers, stylists, and marketers–all designed with the future would-be pop star in mind.

An aviation business, travel agency, pizza and yogurt shops, and the Chippendales strippers are also part of the TCE mix.

For “Different Kind Of Love,” C-Note worked with a handful of producers: Guy Roche, Khris Kellow, Vassal Benford, Dakari, and Full Force, who also wrote the set’s first single, the Hall & Oates-sampled “Wait Till I Get Home.”

Dale O’Brian, PD of top 40 WWZZ (Z104) Washington, D.C., describes the single as strong and powerful. “We will definitely add it,” he confirms. “It doesn’t sound like every other group out there. They have their own unique style. And the Hall & Oates sample is as good as it gets.”

Also contributing to the album is songwriter Diane Warren, who penned both “Tell Me Where It Hurts” and “One Night With You,” which was originally recorded by Luther Vandross.

Jennifer Commander, regional marketing manager of the Orlando-based Virgin Megastore, is most direct when she says that C-Note is poised to be the next big thing to come out of Orlando’s music scene. “There is already quite a buzz in this area,” she says. “They are the ones to watch in 1999.”