18 Years of Backstreet Boys: A Youtube Retrospective
I think a lot of you know what day it is today. And if you don't, please allow me to present...
18 Years of Backstreet Boys: A Youtube Retrospective
1993 - Promo Video
People might say they're traumatised at the midget that would grow up to be Nick Carter, but I have an unabashed love for the promo video they made when they first got together as a group. Let Me Be Your Loverboy is possibly my favourite. It's so bad it's good. Especially since AJ still remembered the dodgy choreography when asked about it at a random soundcheck during the Never Gone tour.
1994 - BSB in Tampa
Look, if the Fat Bastard didn't file for bankruptcy and get arrested for running a Ponzi scheme, then the police wouldn't have had to sell the stuff they seized in an auction to try and raise money to pay back the people he duped. And then we would never have had people on ebay hawking old old OLD footage from BSB's early years. Like this one. And yeah, the blond midget is still Nick Carter. If you're interested in more baby!Boys, have a low-budget music video of Stay In My Life, filmed in a hotel.
1995 - First WGIGO performance on stage in Germany
In 1995 they released their eponymous album in Europe and blew up pretty damn quickly. This is the first of what would be many, many performances in Germany.
1996 - Backstage Tour
So they got successful pretty quickly, and started touring. And touring. And touring. And if you count fic, they've really never stopped touring in Germany. I chose this clip because it's a good intro to everyone from the old days: Donna Wright, Jane Carter (*spits and crosses self*), Denise McLean, Konrad (the guy that drove them all around Germany in the early days), Trey D, and a rare appearance by Anne Richardson ♥.
1997 - RuPaul performance
1997 will always be the year they cracked America. There's tons of clips to choose from, but I chose their performance on RuPaul because a) she's a fierce bitch, b) she clearly loves them, c) they sing Anywhere For You acapella and are overall AWESOME.
1998 - MTV VMAs Performance
Okay seriously, this performance was epic. Still is today, really. Featuring Kristin Richardson (nee Willits) as one of the dancers, and the first appearance of AJ's blue hair. Sing it now, EVERYBAAAAAAAWDAAAAAAAAAAAAAY (YEAAAAAAAAAAH).
1999 - Disney Special
BACKSTREET BOWLING. This, and the segment where AJ and Howie go shopping, are hands down some of my favouritest footage EVER. UH OH AJ FOUND HATS.
2000 - Backstreet Blitz
More of my all time favourite footage. When Rosie asks about a band Nick was in when he was 13, and he has no idea. Man, 2000 had a lot of good stuff. As an alternative, have some Boys performing at the Grammys that same year.
2001 - AJ goes into rehab
Now comes an event too important to leave out, even if it still makes my heart break a bit. In July 2001, the Boys went on MTV to announce that the Black and Blue tour had to be postponed so that AJ could get help for his depression and drug and alcohol addiction. (Yeah, this is still a little painful for me to watch.) The embedded vid is part 1 of the announcement, part 2 is here. Of course since then he's sought help several times, and while I suspect that he'll always have some struggles with them, at least he keeps trying, and that's never a bad thing.
2002 - Presenting at the Grammys
In 2002, Nick recorded his solo album and went around touring and promoting, so there wasn't much group activity. But this clip from the 2002 Grammys has gained infamy (?) in fandom thanks to Brian's seemingly inappropriate touching. While on stage. You go, Brian. (This is also possibly the only footage I have of a very excited Pink hugging AJ while accepting the award.)
2003 - Reunion on Oprah
I don't much like Oprah, but I'll give credit where credit is due, and she brought our Boys back together. Not once. But twice. Her team however has a ridiculous policy on youtube videos, so while I can find the 2010 appearance, I can't find the 2003 one for this post. Fail. If anyone still needs the footage, comment and I'll hook you up.
2004 - Beautiful Woman (live in Japan)
Ah, I remember getting so damned excited when I realised they were gearing up to release a new album. And even more excited when they visited Asia for the first time in FOREVER.
2005 - MusiCares Performance
More all time favourite footage. The harmonies on this are flat out AMAZING. Turn your speakers up for this one, it's well worth it. (Hearing Kevin sing 'won't last forever' STILL gets me choked up, dammit.)
2006 - A Quiet Moment with the Backstreet Boys
I'll let this clip stand on its own. :D
2007 - BSB on Paul O' Grady
Aka the clip where AJ shows us that his South London accent actually has a lot of Aussie in it. :D (Bear with me, I'm running out of steam with the commentary.)
2008 - VH1 Greatest Hits
I still laugh like an idiot at all of their ridiculous, silly banter. But most of all the first time I saw this, I laughed so hard at Nick's seal impression I nearly fell out of my chair.
2009 - Chelsea Lately
Howie: Nick was 12 when we started.
Brian: No, Nick was 4!
2010 - Don't Forget The Lyrics
An epic, epic piece of footage, particularly noted for how badly they screw up the lyrics for We Didn't Start The Fire. Possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen them do on TV. If you haven't watched this yet, WATCH IT NOW. Part 2 is here.
2011 - New Year's Rockin' Eve
Technically this is from 2010, but eh, what's a few hours before midnight on NYE?
Thank you guys for 18 wonderful years. Without you I never would've even met a fraction half of the amazing, fabulous and generous people that I know in fandom. Here's to 18 (or more!) years.
If anyone wants to have copies of any of the youtubes I've put up, drop me a comment and I'll hoook you up with uploads.
comments at Dreamwidth. Comment at either place.
18 Years of Backstreet Boys: A Youtube Retrospective
1993 - Promo Video
Click to viewPeople might say they're traumatised at the midget that would grow up to be Nick Carter, but I have an unabashed love for the promo video they made when they first got together as a group. Let Me Be Your Loverboy is possibly my favourite. It's so bad it's good. Especially since AJ still remembered the dodgy choreography when asked about it at a random soundcheck during the Never Gone tour.
1994 - BSB in Tampa
Look, if the Fat Bastard didn't file for bankruptcy and get arrested for running a Ponzi scheme, then the police wouldn't have had to sell the stuff they seized in an auction to try and raise money to pay back the people he duped. And then we would never have had people on ebay hawking old old OLD footage from BSB's early years. Like this one. And yeah, the blond midget is still Nick Carter. If you're interested in more baby!Boys, have a low-budget music video of Stay In My Life, filmed in a hotel.
1995 - First WGIGO performance on stage in Germany
In 1995 they released their eponymous album in Europe and blew up pretty damn quickly. This is the first of what would be many, many performances in Germany.
1996 - Backstage Tour
So they got successful pretty quickly, and started touring. And touring. And touring. And if you count fic, they've really never stopped touring in Germany. I chose this clip because it's a good intro to everyone from the old days: Donna Wright, Jane Carter (*spits and crosses self*), Denise McLean, Konrad (the guy that drove them all around Germany in the early days), Trey D, and a rare appearance by Anne Richardson ♥.
1997 - RuPaul performance
1997 will always be the year they cracked America. There's tons of clips to choose from, but I chose their performance on RuPaul because a) she's a fierce bitch, b) she clearly loves them, c) they sing Anywhere For You acapella and are overall AWESOME.
1998 - MTV VMAs Performance
Okay seriously, this performance was epic. Still is today, really. Featuring Kristin Richardson (nee Willits) as one of the dancers, and the first appearance of AJ's blue hair. Sing it now, EVERYBAAAAAAAWDAAAAAAAAAAAAAY (YEAAAAAAAAAAH).
1999 - Disney Special
BACKSTREET BOWLING. This, and the segment where AJ and Howie go shopping, are hands down some of my favouritest footage EVER. UH OH AJ FOUND HATS.
2000 - Backstreet Blitz
More of my all time favourite footage. When Rosie asks about a band Nick was in when he was 13, and he has no idea. Man, 2000 had a lot of good stuff. As an alternative, have some Boys performing at the Grammys that same year.
2001 - AJ goes into rehab
Now comes an event too important to leave out, even if it still makes my heart break a bit. In July 2001, the Boys went on MTV to announce that the Black and Blue tour had to be postponed so that AJ could get help for his depression and drug and alcohol addiction. (Yeah, this is still a little painful for me to watch.) The embedded vid is part 1 of the announcement, part 2 is here. Of course since then he's sought help several times, and while I suspect that he'll always have some struggles with them, at least he keeps trying, and that's never a bad thing.
2002 - Presenting at the Grammys
In 2002, Nick recorded his solo album and went around touring and promoting, so there wasn't much group activity. But this clip from the 2002 Grammys has gained infamy (?) in fandom thanks to Brian's seemingly inappropriate touching. While on stage. You go, Brian. (This is also possibly the only footage I have of a very excited Pink hugging AJ while accepting the award.)
2003 - Reunion on Oprah
I don't much like Oprah, but I'll give credit where credit is due, and she brought our Boys back together. Not once. But twice. Her team however has a ridiculous policy on youtube videos, so while I can find the 2010 appearance, I can't find the 2003 one for this post. Fail. If anyone still needs the footage, comment and I'll hook you up.
2004 - Beautiful Woman (live in Japan)
Ah, I remember getting so damned excited when I realised they were gearing up to release a new album. And even more excited when they visited Asia for the first time in FOREVER.
2005 - MusiCares Performance
More all time favourite footage. The harmonies on this are flat out AMAZING. Turn your speakers up for this one, it's well worth it. (Hearing Kevin sing 'won't last forever' STILL gets me choked up, dammit.)
2006 - A Quiet Moment with the Backstreet Boys
I'll let this clip stand on its own. :D
2007 - BSB on Paul O' Grady
Aka the clip where AJ shows us that his South London accent actually has a lot of Aussie in it. :D (Bear with me, I'm running out of steam with the commentary.)
2008 - VH1 Greatest Hits
I still laugh like an idiot at all of their ridiculous, silly banter. But most of all the first time I saw this, I laughed so hard at Nick's seal impression I nearly fell out of my chair.
2009 - Chelsea Lately
Howie: Nick was 12 when we started.
Brian: No, Nick was 4!
2010 - Don't Forget The Lyrics
An epic, epic piece of footage, particularly noted for how badly they screw up the lyrics for We Didn't Start The Fire. Possibly one of the funniest things I've ever seen them do on TV. If you haven't watched this yet, WATCH IT NOW. Part 2 is here.
2011 - New Year's Rockin' Eve
Technically this is from 2010, but eh, what's a few hours before midnight on NYE?
Thank you guys for 18 wonderful years. Without you I never would've even met a fraction half of the amazing, fabulous and generous people that I know in fandom. Here's to 18 (or more!) years.
If anyone wants to have copies of any of the youtubes I've put up, drop me a comment and I'll hoook you up with uploads.
comments at Dreamwidth. Comment at either place.