Hanson BioWhether they make you want to bop -- or bop them over the head with a sledgehammer -- you can't deny the charisma and sheer selling power of the corn-fed, sweet-faced, lanky Hanson brothers, who first barnstormed teen girls' hearts and wallets two years ago. Like their quadruple-platinum 1997 debut, the three fresh-faced, golden haired lads literally burst on to the charts from the Middle of Nowhere. With their perpetually positive music and clean-cut appeal, Hanson was the antithesis of grunge, then music's driving force. Yet the brothers' infectious and cheerful music, driven by the smash hits "MMMbop" and "Where's the Love," took hold, culminating in three Grammy nominations in 1997 and total album sales currently totaling some 15 million. And by priming the ripe teenage market, always hungry for more cute crooners, Hanson -- Isaac, now 17, Taylor, 14, and Zachary, 12 -- helped pave the way for current teen sensations Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and 98 Degrees. More Jackson 5 than some of today's ultra-slick Spice Boy bands, the three squeaky clean Midwestern brothers, all devout evangelical Christians, aren't exactly your average studio creation dreamed up by a Svengali music promoter eager to market sweet young things to rabid, youthful audiences. For one thing, the brothers wrote or co-wrote all the contagious, deftly-layered yet uncomplicated pop songs on their album. For another, they sing and play most of their own music. And they project such a hygienic, positive image, virtually devoid of sexual innuendo, that it's difficult to dislike them, no matter how hard you might try. "People are going to say, 'Oh, they're young kids, they don't play, they don't write, they were put together, something's got to be screwy about that,' " Taylor Hanson told Billboard in 1997. "But you just have to listen to it. The music speaks for itself." The Hanson brothers, born in the oil drilling town of Tulsa, Okla., were weaned on their parents' record collection, which included such early '50s and '60s blues and funk staples as Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin and Beach Boys. Home-schooled along with their three younger siblings, the Hanson brothers started to play music as youngsters and began singing together in 1992. That same year, they played in public for the first time, at an Oklahoma festival. First calling themselves the Hansons and then the psedo-funky Hanson Bros, the boys performed at state fairs, parties and even parking lots. Driven by nothing more than faith in themselves, the clan worked the local circuit, with their father serving as their lone roadie and their mother peddling CDs and T-shirts. Hanson managed to record and release two self-distributed CDs -- and write more than 100 songs -- before lady luck struck during a visit to the annual music shindig South by Southwest in 1994. It was there that, at long last, the Hansons bagged a manager. But it wasn't until 1996 -- and stacks of rejection notices later -- that Hanson finally landed a six-album deal with Mercury Records. The brothers immediately took off for Los Angeles for six months to record their major-label debut, Middle of Nowhere,which was released in May 1997. With its simple, cheerful lyrics and catchy, if trite, tunes, Hanson's album was in direct contrast to the gloomy, self-absorbed grunge music that dominated the '90s. And the cute, slightly grubby, long-haired Hansons catered to a demographic eager for an updated taste of the old New Kids on the Block magic. "For a while, there was that alternative thing, and it was huge," Taylor told Entertainment Weekly in 1997. "And now it's coming back to music being fun. Not corny, but enjoyable. Not down-and-out 'I hate my life.'" Boosted by positive reviews in Spin, Rolling Stone Time, and MTV's near-constant airing of the band's videos, audiences lapped up the album, elevating it to multi-platinum status. Middle of Nowhere went on to garner three Grammy nominations. In the spring of 1998, Hanson released Three Car Garage: The Independent Recordings '95-'96, which culled material from MMMBop,one of their pre-Mercury Records independent releases. And their most recent album, Live from Albertane,was recorded in Seattle during their summer 1998 tour and released later that year, partly to help satiate fans hungry for new Hanson material. The band is currently working on a new album, but things have been notably quiet on the Hanson front of late. And rumors abound that with 17-year-old Isaac considering college, the platinum Hanson partnership could fall apart. "Music is something we've always wanted to do. But our parents have always stressed the value of a good education," Isaac told Entertainment Weekly in 1998. "I wouldn't be going to college to get another career. What better job is there than what we're doing now?" -- DONNA FREYDKIN from www.people.com
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