I'm A Bad Boy But I'm Nice (Boyband 15)

[koganbot]

Inspired by Christophe calling Big Bang's "Blue" the greatest boyband song since Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," I compiled a list of fifteen boyband tracks. Not a best-of, not a survey, but some stuff I think highly of, and enough gaps to call forth lists of your own:

The Jewels "Hearts Of StoneDion And The Belmonts "I Wonder Why

Comments

[koganbot]

You're probably right about Bell Biv DeVoe, but I consider them crucial to the boyband style because they were the specific template that Backstreet Boys had in mind. As for *NSync, I might argue that "Bye Bye Bye" and the entirety of No Strings Attached and then especially "Girlfriend" and Celebrity were meant to signal *NSync's readiness to be a regular R&B/pop act, not just a "teen" act -- though Justin was the only one really to cash in on that intention. I might say the same thing about recent Big Bang material (I'm assuming older teens and young adults in Korea are fine with listening to K-pop anyway, though I don't know how across-the-board true this is).

Actually, as I recall the heyday of the American* teenpop era in 1999-2000, the Top 40 and adult contemporary stations were pleased to play Britney and Backstreet Boys and *NSync; it was only in 2001, with all the attention to this music as, specifically, "teenpop," that these stations began holding off. And the "teen" music itself began to change with the coming of Michelle and Vanessa and Avril, and the rebellion of Pink.

*A lot of these "American" tracks were written and produced by Scandinavians. Just like a good number of the K-pop tracks on SM Entertainment.

[ext_878085]

The more I think about it, the move (or the attempt to move) from teen pop to a more adult style is really an essential element for any teen-pop band or artist. With "No Strings Attached" that move was spelled out in the title but it pretty much happens with all of them from. The exceptions that come to mind are one hit wonders that never release a follow-up (or never have a hit in the first place) and bands that follow the Menudo template and replace members as they pass a certain age.