First off, let me say HAPPY THANKSGIVING, PEEPS! I hope you are all spending time with your families and/or loved ones. I will do the same but first it is time for a special Turkey Day post. Nicole asked me to do this and I decided “why the hell not” so I give to you a special Thursday countdown. Today, I will count down twenty of the one thing we should be the most thankful for: boy bands. Without boy bands we wouldn’t have funky fresh dance moves, a scientific meaning for “the shy one” and most importantly we would have a hell of a lot more country. And no one wants that. So, I bring to you on this special day of days…
Passion of Chachi Presents: Top 20 Boy Bands of the 90’s!
I tried to make this as fair as possible and chose the 90’s because that was the beginning, the end and the return of the boy band…all in one decade. The 90’s were a simpler time and boy bands gave us hope. They helped us dream. They gave us killer dance routines. To thank them I will rank them and count them down for you. It’s what they and the boy band gods would want. First, a few honorable mentions!
B4-4
Why They Didn’t Make It: Well, although their concept was created in 1999 I believe, they didn’t become a group until 2001. That and this may be the worst fucking video I have ever seen. And I saw R. Kelly pee on that child.
3T
Why They Didn’t Make It: Well, mostly because they only had one good song (And not this one. Something about letting little boys sing with Michael Jackson just…doesn’t fit for me) and even though “Anything” was a great song…they are fucking creepy.
Let’s get this bad boy started!
20. Immature/iMX
Synopsis: Immature came in when Black boy bands stopped being considered “boy bands” so their focus tried to be on the music. Problem was that they weren’t really that good of singers. Surprisingly, they actually had some very good songs (Never Lie, Feel The Funk, Give Up The Ghost with Bizzy Bone which is a personal favorite of mine) which is what puts them on here. After the fact, they spun off a little boy band by the name of B2K in the 2000’s but Immature was kind of underrated and really overlooked as a boy band.
19. DreamStreet
Synopsis: DreamStreet got a really bad rap and I will admit a lot of it is well deserved. Their voices were FUCKING ANNOYING AS HELL and their dancing was subpar to be nice. However, they were proof that girls screaming causes more girls to scream. It was ridiculous how popular these guys were but when you look at them you can see why. They make puppies look like crap! They really don’t have a great collection of songs and fell off first of the younger boy bands in the late 90’s but it DID give us Jesse McCartney so it wasn’t all bad. YES, I like Jesse McCartney…wanna fight about it?
18. soulDecision
Synopsis: Okay, this one is tough to judge because SoulDecision didn’t dance (I believe) so I have to give them no points there. However, they had one of the best, albeit underplayed, songs of the 90’s with “Faded.” They were multifaceted musically with ballads, dance songs and up-tempo tracks. They really got overshadowed by the more popular bands but I put them up there with the best of them in song quality.
17. Take That
Synopsis: Now I for one never really liked Take That. I heard them when I was overseas and then we I got back to the states I had to hear the SAME SONGS OVER AGAIN, much like with Ace of Base. With that being said, I can’t take away from their songs and talent. They were one of the better British boy bands and did give us Robbie Williams. Which is neither a plus or a minus.
16. Soul IV Real
Synopsis: Soul IV Real is another one of the Black boy bands that was just categorized as “R&B” which really limited them. I for one STILL bump “Candy Rain” cuz I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like it. Now the major problem that hit this group hits everyone at some point: puberty. When puberty hit (Like…four months after this video or some shit) the lead singers voice changed and shit went downhill from there. Despite that, Soul IV Real had a great first album and…um…yeah.
15. Color Me Badd
Synopsis: You know GOD DAMNED WELL you loved some Color Me Badd! I have to say when they came out I was overseas (Aviano, Italy) and EVERYONE HAD THIS TAPE. Yes, I said tape. Their first album gave us CLASSIC 90’s songs from “I Wanna Sex You Up” to “All For Love.” I can honestly say that these guys gave NKOTB a run for their money for a while in terms of popularity. They could sing, they could dance and someone out their thought they were sexy (I was more of a Jordan Knight man myself) because they were on everything! Unfortunately, their albums after their first one all sucked it dry. But man, they were fucking AWESOME for that one year!
14. BBMak
YES, YES AND MORE YES. BBMak may just be the most underappreciated boy band of all time. They played real instruments, wrote awesome songs and had the voices of angels! If you can listen to “Back Here” and not think it is a great pop song then you don’t know pop music, my friend. They had a few other hits but being from across the pond, Americans lost their interest quickly because we were too busy with our Macarena and shit like that. Yeah, we suck but BBMak didn’t.
13. All-4-One
You know, I was never really a fan of All-4-One. That didn’t mean every female I knew wasn’t, though. Chicks totally dug these guys and I guess I see why. Between “I Swear”, “I Can Love You Like That” and “So Much In Love” they have weddings, proms and stalkers outside of windows with jamboxes market locked down from Peter Gabriel. Now they didn’t really DANCE but being a boy band isn’t ALL about the dancing. It sure as hell should be, though.
12. 2Gether
AAAAWWWWW YEEEEAAAAAHHH! One of the best boy bands of the 90’s was actually a spoof on boy bands! 2gether was on MTV as kind of a knock on the boy band craze and actually ended up being one of the bigger boy bands of the time. It started off as movie (Which was awesome) which parleyed into a show (Which was uber-awesome) and then led to an album with RULED. They danced (Albeit poorly), they sang (Although it even poorer than their dancing) and they got mad honeys. Can’t beat that!
11. O-Town
Okay, who DIDN’T watch “Making The Band?” If you did then you know about some O-Town. Now I believe the show started in 1999 but the band actually didn’t DO anything until 2000 but I will let it slide. Mostly because their first album wasn’t bad. It was actually…good. Problem was that when you get created on a TV show, no one takes you seriously and no one did. So they fell off after their next album but for a yeah they were the hottest band out there.
10. LFO (Lyte Funky Ones)
We are down to ten and we start off with arguably the most hated boy band in the 90’s. “Summer Girls” was one of those songs that was good the first time you heard it because you could relate…but then you heard it all the time. LITERALLY ALL THE FUCKING TIME. But Summer Girls is one of the best boy band songs because once you don’t hear it for a year and you hear it again you are no longer pissed. Can’t say that about “Closing Time” I tell you what.
9. New Edition
Okay, this one was a little rough. They broke up in 1989/1990 after NE Heartbreak but they got back together in 1996 for “Home Again” with arguably their best song “I’m Still In Love With You.” New Edition was the best boy band in the 80’s in my honest opinion and even though their reunion was a bit of a letdown they still got down. More from them later…
8. Westlife
Okay, I used to HATE Westlife but then they covered Frank Sinatra. AND DID IT RIGHT! Let me explain something to the peeps: when you cover The Chairman of the Board you better have your game tight and dammit they were on it. The covered “More Than Words” AND “Uptown Girl!” I never really saw them dance but they have the best voices of any boy band STILL TO THIS DAY. Yeah, I said it. Come get some.
7. Hi-Five
You know, I have to say that Hi-Five is one of my favorite boy bands ever. Hell, maybe one of my favorite groups of all time. They made great R&B and pop songs and Tony Thompson had a serviceable singing voice. They could dance and even had the other members drop some vocals rather than have Tony sing all the time. It sucks that reunion talks were going on when Tony Thompson died.
6. 98 Degrees
The dreamy Nick Lachey. My bad, gotta focus. 98 Degrees was in the wrong place at the wrong time. They began as a “R&B” group after the “Invisible Man” fiasco which has a great song but was really marketed toward Blacks and unless it’s Steve Winwood we don’t like White’s in our Soul music. When they pivoted to being more pop they took off…but behind two BIGGER groups who will remain nameless. They had great albums, did a little (and I mean a LITTLE) bit of dancing and could really fricking sing. But they were always bronze medalists.
5. Bell Biv DeVoe (B.B.D.)
Only five more to go and we make it to my controversial pick. If you were around when New Edition broke up then you remember the anticipation of the Bell Biv DeVoe album. While most wouldn’t consider BBD a BOY BAND you have to consider what they came from. New Edition was THE boy band of the 80’s and all that changed was Michael Bivins rapped a little bit (At J-Tim used to beat-box…for some reason) so it is the exact same. “Poison” is EVERYONE’S FAVORITE SONG and they had the three tenants of boy banding down: fresh dance moves, good looks and catchy songs. Sounds like a boy band to me.
4. N’SYNC
Well you knew they were going to be on here somewhere! They were part of the initial movement that brought boy bands back into the mainstream but behind good looks and spiffy dance moves were actually great pop songs and above average singers. I DARE you to not sing “Bye Bye Bye” when it comes on and if you say you don’t then you obviously do…liar. This band spawned off the wannabe act Justin Timberlake (Wanting to be anything but white) and of course the gayest man in music today. Oh, and Lance Bass. JC Chasez is playing with the boys!
3. New Kids On The Block
Okay, first off The New Kids On The Block redefine boy band from just being dudes singing and dancing in a gay way to dudes singing and dancing in a gay way and getting massive amounts of lolis. Although by 1990 they were coming down off their major run from 1987-1989 they were still noth just the dominant boy band but the dominant musical act not named Michael Jackson. Their change to NKOTB really fell off but they are still one of the all time best. You KNOW you like “Step By Step” so stop frontin.
2. Backstreet Boys
OMG! HOW CAN THEY NOT BE NUMBER ONE?! Well, it was very close. I mean from 1997 to 2000, Backstreet Boys were everywhere and rightfully so. I mean come on, did they make a bad song? They had awesome dance moves (Before they got “too big” to dance) and a hell of a lot of great songs. “I Want It That Way” and “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” are two of the greatest songs EVAR. You fucking know it, too. They are bigger in Japan than schoolgirls and they still are together, unlike almost ALL THE BOY BANDS ON HERE. Standing the test of time is something boy bands usually don’t do, peeps. And we are now down to one! WHO IS IT?!
1. Boyz II Men
East Coast swing, fools! Yes, Boyz II Men were the best boy band of the 90’s. From “Motownphilly” to “Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday” they dominated the early 90’s boy band scene that NKOTB left open and by the time they released “End Of The Road” they were THE BAND. There was no one bigger than Boyz II Men when it came to singing. They had some of the best songs ever written and even still danced, something most boy bands stop doing as they get older. When it all boils down, it couldn’t be anyone BUT Boyz II Men on the top of this bad boy.
Let the arguing begin! I am out for now; I will be back tomorrow for the official Countdown but until then stay up and enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving!
Chachi Out!
