The History of Boy Bands

Katherine Luna 

Research Project: The History of Boy Bands

While it was interesting to learn about the development and unique characteristics of the male bands in the 1960s such as The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Rolling Stones among others, it’s important to take a look and understand the transition, development, connections and possible differences that helped the formation of modern male bands and their label of “boy bands”. 

So what exactly is a boy band? And can these bands I mentioned, The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Rolling Stones, be considered one too? As mentioned in NPR Podcast’s series All Things to Consider, they defined boy bands as an “all male vocal group, usually in their teens or their twenties who can be a trio, quintet or anything as such and they generally perform cross over pop material to a largely teen or preteen demographic” (“The History and Meaning of Boy Bands”). Additionally, boy bands have interchangeable members, they perform bubble gum pop music and for the most part don’t write any of their own songs (“The History and Meaning of Boy Bands”). The podcast also discussed and provided a great deal of information and even a spotify playlist of the old and new boy bands which I find very interesting to listen to the development and success that each band had. Very quickly we can see the difference between this description and bands like the The Beatles and Rolling Stones in comparison to more modern ones such as One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer and BTS. It is even commonly argued by many audience the consideration and labeling of The Beatles as a boy band. The reason is that The Beatles had more control of their own success since they were not factory produced meaning that they did not have a CEO or someone casting the members or in charge of their songs, looks and sound directly but instead it was all a decision made by The Beatle members themselves. However, they are sometimes viewed as a template of what later becomes the term boy bands. Ultimately, to really understand the evolution of boy band history it is important to take a look at when it is that we start to find early traces of boy bands without an official recognition of the term boy band and the transition of it becoming a major part of the music industry as years go by. 

The first group to be considered a boy band was the Jackson 5 which was formed in 1965. They were initially known as the “Jackson Family” or the “Jackson Brothers” but it was not until their first performance at a children’s fashion show that they got the name “The Jackson 5”. Within two years, during 1967, they jump started their career by performing at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and were later invited back and paid for their performances. Influenced by previously known groups such as the Supremes, the Jackson 5 tried their best to be as interactive as they could by dancing throughout their performances and having all members of the band sing (“The History of Boy Bands”). This characteristic made this band be considered a boy band very early on due to their organization of performing but also the very heavy young and female audience gushing over their looks.

Skipping ahead a few years into the late 80’s, we find a more official label of boy band for the band called New Kids On The Block. The New Kids on the Block became quick success with the help of producer Maurice Starr. He was able to give them the opportunity to sign a contract with Columbia Records and performed as a group for the first time in 1986. This group is particularly interesting under the term boy band because at this point in time of the beginning careers they were very young, with the oldest group member being 16 years of age and the youngest 12 years of age. As I previously mentioned a characteristics of boy bands is the use of bubble gum pop music and New Kids on the Block very much lived up to this style with the release of the songs “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” and “Hanging Tough”. These songs successfully peaked at number one on billboard listings.

Moving into the early 2000’s is when we see more presence and formations of a variety of boy bands. One specific boy band that I can reflect and relate to being an audience of is the Jonas Bothers. Formed in 2005, the Jonas Brothers signed with Columbia Records and very similar to the New Kids on the Block, the bothers were very young ranging from ages 12 to 17. Not only did they make performances and connections within the music industry but also the television network Disney Channel. Their career as a boy band peaked when they starred in movies such as Camp Rock and performed song covers that would be later features in shows such as Zoey 101, American Dragon. 

Almost a decade later, in 2009, we see a short lived but still very popular boy band called the Wanted. The Wanted quickly rose to fame after their Battleground Album, especially with their song “Glad You Came” which hit records and was listened to by many young females. By this time, the band had also signed with Def Jam Records. However, what makes this boy band a little different and where we see this transition of your typical fan girl audience representation is in their style of music. The wanted did make some music that was appealing to the typical teenage girl but it was also greatly heard by more older adults and even at night clubs. During an interview with the band, they discuss their initial image and how that was later transformed by mentioning that “When we first started recording and getting to know each other, we all knew this wasn’t going to be the typical boy band. Our image initially was to be clean-cut, but how can you control five lads who just want to party and have a wonderful time? So we kind of just rolled with the party/bad boy image. However, none of us are really bad boys” (Weatherby). This shows the how the evolution of boy bands slowly start to become their own unique image as the boy bands continue to rise. While they are and know themselves to be considered a boy band, they try their best to create a new pathway and representation of boy bands. I think this is super important and shows the transition of the term boy band not being one specific thing but almost as an umbrella term for the many bands that are able to fit and represent boy bands. 

Following the success of the Wanted, we see an extremely popular and in some way the face of boy bands with One Direction. Their biggest and most successful career started from the very beginning after finishing The X Factor and signing with Syco Records in 2010. Their first release of the song “What Makes You Beautiful” quickly hit high on the billboard and sold over 176,000 copies within the first week (“One Direction: Biography & History”). Their later singles “Live While We’re Young”, “Little Things” also hit number one. One Direction very much follows the characteristics of boy bands as they were given written songs to perform and had an extremely wide audience of young, pre teen and teen audience. What makes One Direction unique in their representation of boy bands is the increase use and development of social media, they are known to have one of the strongest and largest fandoms especially on Twitter. I think the use and improvement of social media pays a great role in the differences between old bands and the formation and connection of boy bands. They are able to form deeper connections and support long term career decisions for the members of these bands. While One Direction did not stay together, their solo careers are still very much followed and supported by long term fans.  Lastly, one boy band that has contributed to the transition and representation of boy bands as a whole is the most recent called BTS. Although BTS was formed in 2010, their career and success jumpstarted in 2013 after their first album. According to Oprah Daily, “They are the first K-pop band to top the U.S. album charts and became the first Korean act to perform at the Grammys when they lent their star power to the awards show in January 2020, joining Lil Nas X for a performance of “Old Town Road.” I think this creates an even great pathway and representation for boy bands as there is more racial diversity and language. While characteristics such as performances, music style and audience may stay within the same range, the face of boy bands expands and creates a greater change within the music industry. Similar to One Direction, they have also had much success within social media engagement which has allowed them to increase their views and reach a wider audience. Overall, we can see the importance of boy bands and their transition within representation as a crucial part of the music industry and audience.

Bibliography:

Ari Shapiro, Mallory Yu. “A New Book Traces The History Of Boy Bands, The Pop Phenomenon ‘Larger Than Life’.” New Hampshire Public Radio, http://www.nhpr.org/post/new-book-traces-history-boy-bands-pop-phenomenon-larger-life#stream/0. 

“Boy Bands Through the Years.” Boy Bands Through The Years, webpage.pace.edu/eh57156n/Boybandsthroughouttheyears.html 

Chon, Monica. “Here’s What You Need to Know About the Chart-Topping Boy Band, BTS.” Oprah Daily, Oprah Daily, 30 Mar. 2021, http://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/a27338485/who-is-bts/. 

“Jonas Brothers: Biography & History.” AllMusic, http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jonas-brothers-mn0000548397/biography. 

“New Kids on the Block: Biography & History.” AllMusic, http://www.allmusic.com/artist/new-kids-on-the-block-mn0000390477/biography. 

“One Direction: Biography & History.” AllMusic, http://www.allmusic.com/artist/one-direction-mn0002766592/biography. 

Weatherby, Taylor. “The Wanted Look Back on Breaking the Boy Band Sound, Taking on One Direction & a Possible Reunion.” Billboard, 26 Apr. 2018, http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8388711/the-wanted-interview-boy-band-one-direction-reunion/. 

Staff, NPR. “The History And Meaning Of Boy Bands.” NPR, NPR, 11 July 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/07/11/330685429/the-history-and-meaning-of-boy-bands. 

Link to Spotify playlist of old and new boy bands: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4H2r2rsoothoo6konR4y6J 

Link to 7 Minute Discussion between NPR’s Frannie Kelley and Jason King on Boy Band Evolution: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/330685429