New Kids on the Block Cruise: They're Baaack

Startling proof that all is chaos and the center does not hold, the not so new New Kids on the Block, or NKOTB, have returned, sort of. The boy band of the eighties and nineties (now middle aged man band?) have announced that they have a concert planned upon the deck of a cruise ship charted for the Bahamas over the course of a cruise from May 15 to May 18, 2009. They will both be performing live as well as socializing with the passengers of the ship. Tickets for the ship will be going on sale as soon as this Wednesday, January 14, 2009. The New Kids on the Block cruise is in anticipation of a full tour coming this summer. Interest in the cruise was high enough upon release of the info that the New Kids on the Block website became temporarily unavailable.

"Our manager tells us this is not a cheesy thing, this is not a step back," says band member Joey McIntyre in an interview with People magazine.

According to The Times of the Internet, the boat sets sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on May 15 to cruise the Bahamas with all five original members in tow. Ticket holders will not only be treated with a live show, the band members will also be schmoozing personally with the passengers.

The New Kids on the Block was formed in 1984 and there first, self titled album was released two years later. The boy band was created by residents of Boston, Massachusetts and consisted of Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg (brother to Mark Wahlberg), and Danny Wood. It's fair to say that the band peaked with the success of their second album in the late eighties, Hangin' Tough, followed by Step by Step in the early nineties. The group was haunted by allegations of lip syncing in their later years following the Milli Vanilli debacle and their success began to fall as they attempted to urbanize their style to keep with the times. The band split in 1995 and the members largely moved on with their lives until deciding on a reunion in 2008. Fourteen years after their split, their new music has actually been met with marked success in a music industry that has returned to the bubble gum pop genre so popular during their peak. Their new album, The Block, was released last September.

SOURCES:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/2009/01/13/2009-01-13_new_kids_on_the_block_announce_cruise_sh.html

http://www.nkotb.com

http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/36854.html

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20251844,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Kids_On_The_Block