• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

  • DC Guides
    • DC Events
    • DC New 52
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
    • The Sandman Universe
  • Marvel Guides
    • Marvel Events
    • Captain America Guide
    • Iron Man Guide
    • Spider-Man Guide (1963-2018)
    • Spider-Man Guide (2018-Present)
    • Thor Guide
    • X-Men Reading Order
  • Indie & Licensed Comics
    • Spawn
    • Star Wars Guide
      • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
      • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
    • Valiant Guides
  • Drag
    • Canada’s Drag Race
    • Drag Race Belgique
    • Drag Race Down Under
    • Drag Race Sverige (Sweden)
    • Drag Race France
    • Drag Race Philippines
    • Dragula
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
  • Contact!
You are here: Home / Personal / topics / thoughts / the shocking discovery I made about boy bands may or may not shock you

the shocking discovery I made about boy bands may or may not shock you

January 4, 2015 by krisis

This is how I remember New Kids On The Block: The girls in third grade had buttons of them pinned to their winter coats.

“Buttons!” I told my mother after school one day. Why would you need a button of a band? I had NKTOB’s cassette tape and posters of Madonna, but I didn’t wear my fandom as an actual, physical badge (which wasn’t so easy to do back before the internet).

I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. They sang that one decent song, “The Right Stuff,” and that was about all that interested me about the whole endeavor. I think my mother might have liked them more than I did. And then, not so long afterward, they were gone – and Madonna remained.

That was my first and last exposure to boy bands in my youth. If there were any in the 90s, they were invisible to me (aside from Boyz II Men, of course – I am from Philly) and I was headed to college by the time Backstreet Boys and NSYNC broke. I remember the summer after freshman year – just a few short weeks shy of the birth of this blog – dancing with the incoming students to “Bye Bye Bye” during their orientation party, bobbing and weaving across the dance floor with my broken collarbone sending twinges of pain through my body with every choreographed wave goodbye.

Weirdly, that’s a positive memory, and so NSYNC has always benefited from a bit of unearned goodwill from me even though I have – and this is the honest truth – never again heard a single verse of a song by them in the intervening fifteen years.

Unless last week. Last week I liked to “Bye Bye Bye” a lot. Probably not enough to make up for my decade-and-a-half of abstention. Certainly not as much as a girl with a button on her winter coat might in a single 24hr period. But, a lot. Enough to have it mapped out cold in my head so we could rehearse it today as a result of sustained requests for more “boy bands,” plus the avalanche of cheering and drunken singing along that greets our cover of “I Want It That Way.”

Here’s the shocking discovery I made about boy bands along the way: most of their members are not really so much better at singing than the rest of us plebes (again: aside from Boyz II Men).

Okay, maybe it’s not so shocking for you. For me – brought up on non-stop Doo Wop on every car ride – it came as a bit of a revelation.

Sure, you need a tenor or two in there to fill out the chords, but there’s a reason that Justin Timberlake is the one one of the two guys in those two bands with a significant solo career – most of their voices aren’t all that interesting or amazing on their own. There’s no David Bowies or Freddie Mercurys in the bunch or else all of their songs would be as fucking weird as “Under Pressure.”

As it turns out, I can deliver perfectly serviecable versions of both “I Want It That Way” and “Bye Bye Bye.” The Backstreet Boys tune is on the high side for me, but I can nail the NSYNC without much strain. Even the harmony – which I had always assumed the whole point of assembling five good-looking guys to be a singing group – is easy enough that Ashley can jump into it and easily teach it to me.

This made me a bit curious about my original boy band: those New Kids. I listened to that seminal album on my way to work one day and made it two songs – just far enough to hear the first ragged and somewhat tuneless attempt at falsetto.

That will probably be my last listen to NKTOB for at least another fifteen years. I’m open to hearing some more NSYNC, though.

Filed Under: thoughts, Year 15

Previous Post: « the big kids are in the next room
Next Post: RuPaul’s Drag Race, S7E01 Recap: Born Naked »

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on BlueSky Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Universe Events Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing DC Universe Event Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing DC Universe Event omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Villains Joker Omnibus MappingEvery Missing DC Villains Omnibus – Joker, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Villains omnibus mapping - Joker, Doomsday, Lex Luthor, & more! - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Solo Heroes Q to Z The Spectre Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Question, Zatanna, Spectre Omnibus & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Hero Q-Z omnibus mapping - Question, Spectre, Zatana, & more - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Solo Heroes F to P Martian Manhunter Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Firestorm, Jonah Hex, Martian Manhunter Omnibus & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Hero F-P omnibus mapping - Firestorm, Jonah Hex, Martian Manhunter, & more - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - DC Solo Heroes A to E Doctor Fate Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, Deathstroke Omnibus & More, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Missing DC Hero A-E omnibus mapping - Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, Deathstroke, & more - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Superman Family Supergirl Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Superman Family Omnibus, Mapped – Superboy, Supergirl, & More! | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Superman Family omnibus mapping - including Supergirl & Superboy - from DC Comics for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Superman Omnibus MappingEvery Missing Superman Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Superman omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Every Missing Suicide Squad Omnibus, Mapped – plus, other DC Teams! | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Suicide Squad omnibus - plus other DC teams - mapping from DC Comics for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Teen Titans Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Teen Titans Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Teen Titans omnibus mapping (plus Young Justice) from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Shazam Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Shazam Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Shazam omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Legion of Super-Heroes Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Legion of Super-Heroes Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Legion of Super-Heroes omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Green Lantern Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Green Lantern Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Green Lantern omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Justice Society Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Justice Society Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Justice Society omnibus mapping from DC Comics to prepare for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]
  • Most Wanted DC Omnibus - Justice League Omnibus Mapping 2025Every Missing Justice League Omnibus, Mapped | 2025 Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Every missing Justice League omnibus mapping from DC Comics - plus Trinity team-ups! - for the 2025 Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll. […]

Content Copyright ©2000-2023 Krisis Productions

Crushing Krisis participates in affiliate programs including (but not limited to): Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program. If you make a qualifying purchase through an affiliate link I may receive a commission.