THE
BACKSTREET BIO
BACKSTREET BIO
Backstreet Boys Biography
From Contemporary Musicians, April 1998
(Volume 21) by Gerald E. Brennan
Occupation: Vocal group
Personal Information Members include Nick
Carter (born January 28, 1980 in Jamestown,
NY; son of Robert and Jane Carter), vocals;
Howie Dorough (born August 22, 1973), vocals;
Brian Littrell, (born February 20, 1975 in
Lexington, KY; son of Harold and Jackie
Littrell), vocals; A. J. McLean (born January
1, 1978 in West Palm Beach FL), vocals; and
Kevin Richardson, (born October 3, 1972 in
Lexington, KY), vocals.
Awards: MTV Europe Viewers Choice 1996.
Addresses
Home -- Orlando, FL. Manager -- Donna and
Johnny Wright, Wright Stuff Management, 7380
Sand Lake Road, Suite 350, Orlando, FL 32819.
The Backstreet Boys consist of five young men
from Orlando, Florida, who took the world by
storm in 1995, and two years later became an
international phenomenon. They sold over
eleven million records worldwide, had four
Top Ten singles, and sold out concert venues
in Europe, North America, Asia, and
Australia. In 1996 they were awarded the MTV
Europe Viewers Choice Award, beating out acts
like Oasis and Spice Girls as European
favorites. Their popularity grew
uncontrollably everywhere except in their
home country, the United States. It wasn't
until 1997 that America heard its first
Backstreet Boys album -- two years after the
rest of the world -- and the band launched a
tour in an effort to conquer their own
country.
The popularity of Backstreet Boys signals a
resurgence of the innocent teen music of
years past; Backstreet Boys are an old type
of act with a new name, "the boy group."
Their music appeals mostly to Tiger Beat and
Seventeen crowds, who haven't had a similar
fave rave since the New Kids On The Block
bowed out in the early 1990s. The rise of the
Backstreet Boys coincides with the decline of
angst-ridden, doom-obsessed indie rock groups
like Nirvana. "This music is an aural upper,"
Seventeen's music editor Susan Kaplow told
USA Today. "I think consumers and the
industry are ready for that." More cynical
observers note the similarities in both the
group's image -- five different male
archetypes -- and the demographics of their
fans -- teen and pre-teen girls -- to that of
heart throb groups of the past, like the New
Kids, Menudo, and the Bay City Rollers. All
those groups flashed by and disappeared
without leaving much of a blip on the radar
of public consciousness. But the Backstreet
Boys say they are different.
The band got their start in Orlando, Florida,
in the early 1990s. By that time both Disney
and MGM studios had established high profiles
and were providing lots of work in movies and
commercials. Two high school students, A. J.
McLean and Howie Dorough, and junior high
schooler Nick Carter started running into
each other at auditions. They discovered a
common interest in singing and soon they were
harmonizing together a cappella whenever they
had breaks. After a while they decided to
form a group, but felt they needed were two
more voices to add range and depth to their
sound. Through a friend they discovered Kevin
Richardson, who was singing in a show at
Disney World. Richardson suggested his
cousin, Brian Littrell, who was living in
Kentucky at the time. Phone calls were made
and Littrell agreed to move down to Florida.
With the line-up set they adopted the name
Backstreet Boys, after Orlando's Backstreet
Market, a popular hang out for the city's
teens.
They started singing a cappella covers of
their favorite songs by groups like Boyz II
Men, Shai, and Color Me Badd. Then, they
found managers Johnny and Donna Wright.
Johnny had been the Road Manager for the New
Kids on the Block. "Before I saw them perform
I wasn't sure if I wanted to get involved,"
Donna told Billboard. "The New Kids had just
finished up two years prior. But hearing them
sing just gave me chills running from the
back of my heels to the top of my head. I
felt like we really had something here." The
Wright's company, Wright Stuff Management,
developed a strategy to help the Backstreet
Boys perfect their showmanship and
musicianship while raising visibility among
potential fans. They booked them at junior
high and high schools as well as at theme
parks. The teenage fans shared the Wrights'
initial suspicions about Backstreet Boys.
Kevin Richardson told Billboard "You could
tell they were thinking 'What is this, the
second coming of the New Kids On the Block?'
But once we started singing a cappella and
showing them we could really sing, we won
them over every time."
Eventually the Wrights got the group booked
as openers for veteran acts with a "family"
audience, like REO Speedwagon, Kenny G and
the Village People. The turning point came in
1994, when Donna Wright had been begging
David McPherson, an executive at Jive
Records, to give Backstreet Boys a listen.
She called McPherson from a Backstreet Boys'
show in Cleveland and simply held the phone
up. When McPherson played his messages the
next day he could hear the sounds of
fanatically screaming kids, and soon
afterward, Jive signed Backstreet Boys on.
Their single called "We've Got It Goin' On,"
first released in 1995, did not live up to
expectations in the United States, getting no
higher than 65 on Billboard's Top 100. But it
exploded onto the charts in Germany, and from
there Backstreet Boys mania spread throughout
Europe. The "boy group" craze already had a
foothold in Europe, providing Backstreet Boys
with a ready made audience. They brought a
unique something extra -- they were American,
and thus more novel. "We used the success in
Germany as a springboard and brought them
over to do shows right off the bat. Once that
happened, the whole European market opened
up." McPherson told Billboard.
From Europe the Backstreet Boys' popularity
spread throughout the world -- Japan,
Australia, Canada, Southeast Asia. Their
first album, Backstreet Boys, released in
April 1996, sold over eleven million copies
and was certified platinum in 26 different
countries. Backstreet Boys: The Video was
also a number-one seller in Canada for three
months. The group toured overseas for 18
months and their concerts recalled the days
of High Beatlemania, complete with crowds of
crazed teenage girls, narrow escapes out back
windows, and screams so loud the music was
barely audible. At home in Florida, foreign
fans wait in the parking lots outside the
apartment houses where the Backstreet Boys
live, hoping for autographs. German fans have
torn up their lawns for a blade or two of
souvenir grass. Yet back in Orlando, the
Backstreet Boys pass everywhere in the city
unrecognized.
In 1997 the United States was the final
frontier for the Backstreet Boys. As 1998
approached and the band prepared for its
second U.S. tour, it was looking forward to
seeing whether America had taken to them to
the degree everyone else had. "I think the
(U.S.) market is more ready for a group like
us now," Howie Dorough told USA Today. "I
think at the time we released our first
record, alternative, grunge and urban were
hot. Now we feel that pop music is starting
to come back a little bit." Their album was
finally released in the United States in
August 1997, nearly a year and a half after
the rest of the world heard it for the first
time. They included some of their newer songs
on the American version, songs that were used
on their second international album,
Backstreet's Back. Jive promoted the album
heavily, concentrating on its key female
audience. Free Backstreet Boys cassettes were
distributed with J.C. Penney make-up, at
cheerleader camps, and with books in the teen
romance series, "Love Stories." "The
Backstreet Boys have made a great choice in
selecting their music. When you listen to it
you'll know why they are probably going to be
the next new thing," wrote Christina Psoros,
a 12-year-old reviewer for Newsday.
The Backstreet Boys were also working on
broadening their musical foundations. All
members of the group took up songwriting --
though in December 1997 no Backstreet Boys
penned number had made it onto a record --
and all were learning how to play
instruments. In addition, they have focused
more attention on dancing, which has become a
major part of their stage show. The group
realizes that almost everyone in the world
expects them to disappear completely after a
year or so. Yet the Backstreet Boys are
determined to prevent that from
happening.
Selected Discography
Backstreet Boys, (International release),
Jive/Zomba, 1995.
Backstreet's Back, (International release),
Jive/Zomba, 1997.
Backstreet Boys, (American release,
additional cuts), 1997.,
Videos
The Backstreet Boys: The Video, Jive, 1996.
Sources
Billboard, July 1997.
Newsday, August 19, 1997.
USA Today, April 1, 1997; September 30, 1997.
Online
http://www.varta.de/bsb/intervie.html
Sources
