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June
2005
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HOWIE D WANTS TO SPEND
TIME WITH YOU!
Source:
backstreetboys.com
Grab your bowling shoes and meet Howie at the AMF Chelsea Piers in New
York City from 4:00 – 7:00 PM on Sunday, June 12, 2005. Admission to the
event is 0 with proceeds going to benefit the Dorough Lupus Foundation.
Event includes meet and greet, photo op, bowling (includes rental),
arcade, dinner and ice cream buffet. To purchase tickets please call the
Dorough Lupus Foundation at (321) 725-8599.
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THE BOYS POP THEIR BUBBLEGUM
RAP
Source: The Times US -
Calendar Live.com
By Steve Hochman, Special to The Times
Picture by (Tina Fineberg / For The Times)
With an album coming out after a five-year hiatus, the Backstreet Boys
are reinvented.
Lon Lindeland, who oversees music for the Best Buy chain, didn't even
have to hear any songs from the Backstreet Boys' upcoming album to
decide that there's still interest in the group after a nearly five-year
hiatus.
"They came by the office," he says, recounting a visit by the vocal
group a few weeks ago to the company's Minneapolis headquarters. "And I
can't tell you how many twentysomething girls who work here were going
crazy to meet them."
John Ivey, vice president of programming for Los Angeles pop radio
powerhouse KIIS-FM (102.7), saw something similar at the station's
recent Wango Tango concert at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
"The reception they got was phenomenal," he says. "This was their first
big show back together, and the crowd reaction was a tear-the-house-down
reaction."
That may not seem like a surprise — after all, with their devoted teen
audience these guys were at the top of the pop music world in the late
'90s. Their three original albums and one hit collection have sold
nearly 30 million copies in the U.S.
But historically music fans in their 20s are often embarrassed by their
adolescent pop infatuations. That's one big reason teen-pop stars
usually don't last long, and a big reason why the Backstreet Boys'
return with a new album (due out June 14) isn't a guaranteed success.
It's been five years since Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, Brian Littrell,
Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson released their last album, and four
years since their last full tour. How have things changed?
"It's the same five guys singing, so it has the Backstreet sound,"
Littrell says. "But we're a little older and we've grown."
"Never Gone," the new album, edges away from teen-pop toward a
young-adult pop-rock recalling Maroon5 and Rob Thomas. The Boys actually
started making a more rhythm-oriented album in mid-2003, à la 'N Sync
and Britney Spears, but the style didn't feel right to them.
Reconnecting with writer-producer Max Martin, who helped shape their
original sound, they instead fashioned an approach emphasizing melody
and harmony, adding more guitar. They also worked with several producers
associated with adult fare, including John Shanks (Sheryl Crow, Michelle
Branch), John Fields (Switchfoot) and Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik.
The current hit single, "Incomplete," hints at the new direction while
also echoing earlier Backstreet ballads.
The music, Littrell says, reflects real-life changes.
"My wife and I are proud parents of a 2 1/2-year-old boy," says Littrell,
at 30 one of three Backstreet Boys now at or past that age. "Nick did a
solo project and has led a life in the public eye with young ladies he's
dated and whatnot. But he's learned a lot from being a solo artist,
growing up even more.
"A.J. was working on his sobriety — two years and seven months now
sober, and we're all thankful for that. Kevin played the role of Billy
Flynn in 'Chicago' on Broadway. Howie — we call him T.J., for Trump Jr.
— because as well as working on a Spanish-English solo record, he's been
doing a lot of real estate development."
Beyond the music, the hiatus was important to the members personally,
according to Littrell: "Got a chance to breathe, spread our wings as
individuals, and the time was needed. We've all become stronger people."
In returning, they wanted to avoid contrivances such as New Kids on the
Block's comeback a decade ago with a calculatedly updated sound and a
shortened name, NKOTB, to downplay the "Kids" aspect.
"All we care about is making good music, and the whole baggage will
still be there," says Carter, the youngest member at 25. "We're not
trying to break away from it, not trying to say we're all grown up.
People were saying we should change the name to the Backstreet Men or
something. The Beach Boys never changed their name. We're not going to
change."
That's smart, say music retailers and radio programmers surveyed by The
Times.
"It doesn't seem like it's forced," says Fred Fox, executive vice
president of merchandising and marketing for Ohio-based Trans World
Entertainment, which operates the Wherehouse and other music store
chains. "It seems like a natural progression of a bunch of talented
people."
How does it fit with the natural progression of the fans and pop culture
in general?
"This is not a bad place for them to be," says Geoff Mayfield, a senior
analyst for Billboard magazine. "The music they did as teen stars was
not typical bubblegum. They had those great harmonies, and that's why
even then they had the added advantage of appealing to adults. A key
point is managed expectations. Older consumers don't necessarily run to
the record store the first week it comes out."
That fits the strategy of Jive Records, which is releasing the Boys'
recordings.
"There's an underserved pop audience around the world — 'American Idol'
shows that," says Barry Weiss, president and chief executive of Jive's
parent, the Zomba Label Group. "If we connect with 'Incomplete,' we
could have many more singles to go. We could work on a 12-month period,
revive the career and entrench them. It's really that simple."
And the Boys' attitude?
"I think our expectations are a whole lot of nothing right now," says
Littrell, who is also working on a Christian-oriented solo album. "We
made this record for ourselves and for our fans. If by chance it takes
the world by storm again and people fall in love with the Backstreet
Boys, that's a blessing."
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Press
Release: Album Release, TV and US Tour Dates
Source: Jive Records
Backstreet Boys Never Gone in Stores June 14
Buy Two Tickets Get Two Free Exclusively Through AOLCityGuide.com
Starting June 10
LOS ANGELES, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Jive Records will be releasing Never
Gone, the first studio album from the Backstreet Boys in almost 5 years,
on June 14, 2005. Never Gone will also be released as a DualDisc. The
DualDisc version will contain the "Incomplete" video, 'Making Of'
"Incomplete" video, the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound and enhanced
stereo, bonus photos and a discography. A special exclusive digital
version of the album including the "Incomplete" video and a digital
booklet will be available for download at iTunes beginning on June 14.
Upcoming television appearances include The Today Show concert series
(6/10), The View (6/14), The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (6/16) and The
CBS Early Show (6/17). VH1 will air "Backstreet Boys: Behind the Music"
starting June 13. On-line, a "Sneak Peek" full album listening party of
"Never Gone" will be available on participating Clear Channel radio
station websites from June 10-12 and on AOLMusic.com from June 13-20.
Additionally, Clear Channel Music Group is promoting their upcoming
national tour. Upcoming print features include People Magazine, Teen
People, USA Today and Associated Press.
Backstreet Boys, who are AOL Music's "Artist of the Month" for June,
will kick off their summer tour, which is also presented by AOLMusic.com,
on Friday, July 22, with a performance in West Palm Beach, FL. Through
an exclusive arrangement with AOL, from June 10-24, fans that purchase a
pair of top price tickets at AOLCityGuide.com for the upcoming
Backstreet Boys summer tour will be given a free pair of lower price
tickets to the same performance, at participating venues. Tickets on
AOLCityGuide.com will be available one week before anywhere else and,
while general tickets for the tour go on sale June 17-19, the buy two
get two free offer will continue to be available for an additional week
exclusively on AOLCityGuide.com. For more information on this special
promotion and to check out Backstreet Boys' exclusive in-studio
performance for AOL Music Sessions go to www.AOLMusic.com.
Backstreet Boys summer tour dates are:
Friday, July 22 West Palm Beach, FL Sound Advice Amphitheatre
Saturday, July 23 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
Sunday, July 24 Atlanta, GA Gwinnett Arena
Tuesday, July 26 Cleveland, OH Tower City Theater
Wednesday, July 27 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
Friday, July 29 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata Hotel Spa & Casino
Saturday, July 30 Wantagh, NY Tommy Hilfiger Jones Beach Theater
Sunday, July 31 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Wednesday, August 3 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Thursday, August 4 Buffalo, NY Darien Lakes Amphitheatre
Saturday, August 6 Washington DC Nissan Pavilion
Sunday, August 7 Saratoga Springs, NY SPAC
Tuesday, August 9 Wallingford, VT CTNow.com Theatre
Wednesday, August 10 Portland, ME Cumberland County Civic Center
Friday, August 12 Hershey, PA Star Pavilion at Hersheypark Stadium
Saturday, August 13 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
Sunday, August 14 Boston, MA Tweeter Center
Tuesday, August 16 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
Wednesday, August 17 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
Friday, August 19 Chicago, IL Lakefront Pavilion at Northerly Island
Saturday, August 20 Minneapolis, MN US Bank Theater at Target Center
Sunday, August 21 Kansas City, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Thursday, August 25 Los Angeles, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
Friday, August 26 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre
Saturday, August 27 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay
Tuesday, August 30 Concord, CA Chronicle Pavilion
Wednesday, August 31 Sacramento, CA Sleep Train Amphitheatre
Friday, September 2 Portland, OR Clark County Amphitheater
Never Gone is the 4th studio release from the group since their debut in
1997. To date they have garnered 2 Diamond albums (RIAA certification
for 10 million sold), as well as numerous multi-platinum certifications
for albums, singles and videos. In total they have sold over 73 million
albums worldwide.
National media contact: Gina Orr/Jive Records tel. 310-449-2650 Tour
media contact: Carlos Vega/Jive Records tel. 212-824-1384
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