Articles and Interviews
 
Say "wassup" to the new kids on the block: 1998 song-and-dance pinups the Backstreet Boys. Their young fans absolutely adore them, but, Maureen Callahan wonders, is thefeeling entirely mutual?
 
IN BED WITH...THE BACKSTREET BOYS
 
Tiffany is, like, shaking. She has just smelled a Backstreet Boy. "He was wearing cologne!" she shrieks, as she pogos outside Disney World's House of Blues. The venue itself, where the Backstreet Boys will later perform to a sellout crowd whose average age is 12, is more than apt: An antiseptic franchise inspired by similarly successful ventures, it's practically a metaphor for the Boys themselves. But to the girls who swarm around Tiffany on this bright Florida afternoon, Backstreet inspire nothing less than reverence. "I was close to Nick once," says a solemn 15-year-old named Jana. "But I was so shocked I couldn't say anything."
Having borrowed liberally not just from now-defunct, sexually
nonthreatening Euro boy bands such as Take That and East 17 but also from the American daddy of them all-New Kids on the Block --
the Backstreet Boys have emerged as the teenybopper band of the moment. "I've tried everything to meet them," says a shy, chubby fan named Katie, who would really rather worship from afar; she's
happy to sit with her copy of Hangin' With the Backstreet Boys: An
Unauthorized Biography, and reread factoids about Nick. "We have a lot in common," she says, readjusting her wire-rimmed glasses. "We both like to play Nintendo, and we both like sports, and...ooooh, he's fine!"
    Eighteen-year-old Nick Carter is by far the most popular Boy -- he's the youngest and looks a lot like Leonardo DiCaprio. Then there's 20-year-old A.J. "Bone" McLean, who-with his three tattoos, wacky facial hair, and 200 pairs of tinted sunglasses-is either a cliche or
kinda dangerous, depending on your age. Howie Dorough, 24, answers to Howie D. or Sweet D. He lives at home, and aside from a Corvette Stingray, his most extravagant post-fame purchase has been central heat and AC. Howie hooked up with Nick and A.J. back in 1993, when they were all auditioning for TV shows here in their native Orlando. Kevin Richardson, now 27, responded to an ad placed by a talent
agency; he then called his cousin, Brian Littrell. Unlike the others, who
were looking to get famous any way they could, 23-year-old Brian had nursed dreams of singing professionally. In fact, back in high school, he'd wander the halls crooning New Kids tunes. "People looked
at me like it was a sissy thing," Brian says, "but I didn't care. I would've given anything to do what they were doing." Today, thanks to their manager, Johnny Wright, he is. Wright had just come off four years as the New Kids' road manager, working under uber-Svengali Maurice Starr, when, in 1993, he heard about a quintet of pretty white boys who could harmonize like an R&B group.  He immediately saw the possibilities. "It was all hip-hop and alternative music then," says
Wright, "but I knew that the girls who had been New Kids fans had little sisters."  Though they may be five men who dress alike, pop-and-lock in sync, and routinely dodge stuffed animals onstage, the Backstreet Boys-and Wright- predictably run from any and all comparisons to
NKOTB. Still, while creating and refining their image, Wright called ex-New Kid Donnie Wahlberg and asked him to give Backstreet advice. Wahlberg passed. "Johnny Wright learned a lot from us," Wahlberg says ruefully. Now 28 years old and cobbling together an acting
career, Wahlberg understands all too well the ups and downs of being a teen heartthrob. "If there's any resistance to the Backstreet Boys," he says, "it's probably because of us." Three hours before the show, the House of Blues opens its doors to 17-year-old Leslie, who is
confined to a wheelchair. The band's tour publicist, Denise (who is also
A.J.'s mom), had mentioned the Boys would be busy entertaining "a little handicapped girl" before the concert, but Leslie isn't the
one. She doesn't care; it's her birthday, and she's just spotted Nick
roaming the hall. She's so rattled she inadvertently crumples her Backstreet Boys calendar. As Nick perfunctorily wishes Leslie a
happy birthday, he spies two able-bodied girls lurking not five feet away, and he's off. Later, as he passes Leslie on his way backstage, she goes for it again: "Nick! Nick!" she implores, hands clawing air. Nick, who possesses a finely calibrated sense of detachment,
pretends not to hear her.  "Oh," Leslie whispers to herself. "Bye."
Back in the dressing room, Nick and the others huddle with Wright. It was Wright who devised the plan of attack that broke Backstreet: While the alt-rock revolution was raging in the States, Wright took them to Europe and slapped them on every boy-band bill he could,
exploiting their all-American wholesomeness. ("At one point I had them run across the stage with the American flag," he says proudly.)
At home, Wright was forced to go the direct-market route, quietly
dispatching the Boys to theme parks and junior highs across the nation. "Teenage male vocal groups were not going to meet with
acceptance in America," says Jeff Fenster, VP of A&R at their record label, Jive. "So the idea was to make a record that would appeal to the global marketplace." Fenster hired Swedish writing/producing duo Denniz PoP and Max Martin, who had penned hits for Robyn, and produced Ace of Base and Ireland's version of Backstreet, Boyzone. The Euro strategy worked: Backstreet's self-titled debut album, a slick collection of New Jack posturings, went on to sell 12 million copies
overseas. Eventually, pop groups such as Hanson and the Spice Girls eased Backstreet's reentry Stateside (their album is now quadruple platinum here); likewise, their success has spawned a slew of harmonizing teen hopefuls, such as 'N Sync, Five, No Authority, and
911-none of which have yet to register with the kids. As the Boys can testify, winning over the jaded youth of America can be a bitch. "Those were the most intimidating, cruelest crowds," says Kevin of the band's days on the junior-high circuit. "Little teenage dudes coming up to us saying, 'Backstreet Boys? Who are you?'" Though Wright maintains that the Boys are "very much in control of what they do," both Kevin and Howie have flinched over Wright's tactics. "We don't wanna be in a certain situation," says Howie, gently alluding to the New Kids' career trajectory, "but we have links to certain situations." After making the video for "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)," Kevin, aghast at
the sight of himself bare-chested and wet, demanded a reshoot. The record company shooed him away. After their album was finally released here last August, Kevin called the president of Jive and griped that all the merchandising-Sweet Valley High inserts, throw pillows, bandannas, key chains-was out of hand. He was told to suck it up. "There's always gonna be a market of little girls who wanna hang cute
boys on their walls," says Dave McPherson, Jive's assistant VP of A&R, who signed the Boys in May 1994. Wahlberg is even less tolerant of such whining: "Look, if you're lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, you're gonna tap into a frenzied marketplace," he says. "Teenage girls have an insatiable appetite."
 
Despite the short shelf life of most boy bands, Backstreet plan on a
long-term career. They're all learning to write and play instruments, and McPherson says they have a shot. His major issue is with
their lyrics, which are pure Hallmark. Only one line on their album remotely smacks of do-me abandon ("Am I sexual?"), and when they deliver it in Orlando, the girls roar and pound the floorboards so violently two roadies rush to secure the speakers. Still, the real highlight of any show comes during "I'll Never Break Your Heart," when Howie, Kevin, and Nick-in a move conceived by Wright-serenade three lucky fans, pre-plucked by security. As the girls tremble under spotlights, the Boys, swathed in white, gallantly seat each at a small table, then fall to their knees like lovesick troubadours. Tonight, Howie and Kevin pull it off with aplomb; Nick, however, is laughing so hard
he's reduced to lip-synching. He gives his girl a buddy pat on the back;
she shoots him a quizzical look, but he keeps his head bowed. He's still laughing. That's when Liz Arana passes out -- not at this show, but at this same moment. "Oh, that is so beautiful when they sing to the girls," she gasps. Liz is a soft-spoken 15-year-old who, with her
sloped eyelids and slight heft, seems like the kind of girl who yearns
silently from her Long Island bedroom. But at last year's New York City Backstreet Boys show, her first ever, she was drunk with adrenaline. "Okay," she begins. "I pushed my way to the front of the stage, and there was some 12-year-old standing in front of me on a crate!" So: Liz knocked the girl down, climbed onto the crate, ripped off her bra and threw it at Nick, and then completely lost it. "When they sang 'I'll Never
Break Your Heart,' I just burst out crying, and then I passed out." Liz,
who bursts out crying whenever she sees anything of theirs for the first time-a video, a photograph, a TV appearance-says it was awful.  "I missed three songs!" Liz spends suburban afternoons watching her compilation tape of Backstreet appearances, or pasting photos into her Backstreet scrapbook, or staring at her walls, which are plastered with
Backstreet pinups. The walls, she says, are a problem. "My mom just painted them," she says, "and she wants the posters down. So does my boyfriend." Robbie, whom Liz has been dating for a month ("He's my first serious, serious boyfriend"), loathes the Backstreet Boys. "He says they're faggots and they can't sing," she says. "I'm like, 'Your point is...?'"  This is the first time Liz has ever been so enthralled with a band-she says she has spent more than $1,000 on Boys merchandise-and she, like millions of other girls before, is slightly embarrassed by the depths of her passion. She only feels comfortable talking about it with other girls, girls who, like her, are beginning to date real boys but who feel safer longing for the unattainable ones-the Nick
Carters. She cradles a slip of memo paper and reads a quote of Nick's that she copied: "Everyone wants a girl with a perfect personality; it doesn't really matter how they look." Does she believe boys
when they say stuff like that? "Not all boys," she answers softly. "But
Nick, I would believe."  A couple of days after the House of Blues gig, the Boys are in New York City for a photo shoot.  They hug-they perform this ritual constantly, even after only a half-hour apart-then circle a gaggle of models as though they've encountered unidentified life forms. Johnny Wright says that during the junior-high tour, he made sure that the kids knew that "A.J. loves cars, Howie loves clothes, and Nick, Brian, and Kevin love sports. We wanted to show that these are regular guys" -- i.e., not gay.  The courtship of teen girls dictates that the Boys remain publicly unattached, and this makes them
sensitive to the notion they are anything but heterosexual. Howie
understands it's "not macho" to be into Backstreet, but says if the band were black, they'd get compared to Boyz II Men or Shai, and boys would be down. Here, too, Donnie Wahlberg can empathize. "But instead of worrying about who's not paying attention to them," Wahlberg says, "they should worry about who is. Because once
these girls get older and start drinking beer and piercing their noses," he says, "theys are going away."  While the others chat up the models, Brian stands off in the back. He's the only Boy who's not really
comfortable schmoozing or even accepting compliments; by nature, he's quiet and reserved. (While the rest of the Boys went clubbing after the Orlando show, Brian hung with his 50-year-old dad, who was visiting from Kentucky.) Right now, he can't get his mind off the
"little handicapped girl" A.J.'s mom brought backstage in Orlando; she's actually battling two forms of cancer. "I didn't know how to approach her," says Brian, whose most vivid childhood memory is of
doctors strapping him to his hospital bed and beating his chest till he was in tears, hoping to break up a staph infection that went straight to his heart. (About a year ago, Brian's heart began leaking blood, and he
underwent surgery last month.) "I wanted to say, 'Listen, I'm getting ready to have an operation, too.' So I went over to her mother and told her that, and her mother said, 'Oh, my daughter could tell you a lot of things.'" His eyes widen. "Can you imagine?"  The next morning, the Boys are on Regis & Kathie Lee, performing "As Long as You Love Me," a sparkly ode to unconditional love. Nick shares lead vocals with Brian and sings to his own image in the monitor. During the Q&A, Kathie Lee, eyes dewy, offers to set Brian up with her niece, who's
also had heart surgery. As soon as the segment is completed, they clamber into a waiting van. The garage door shimmies open, and girls begin crawling all over the van, smushing their faces up against
the glass. Nick turns to Brian. "You know, if we don't go out there," he
says wearily, "we're gonna look like real pricks." Having fulfilled all obligations, Nick and Brian head to the nearest Blimpie. Nick orders a tuna fish hero and, as he blithely stares at himself in the mirror, tries to discern the nature of teen girl fandom. He comes up empty: "It's real hard to put yourself in their shoes," he says finally. But Nick's
obviously amused by the frenzied adulation-for instance, he could barely contain himself onstage just four nights ago. "The joke was on Howie," says Brian, who explains that security likes to play "little
pranks" to break up the monotony. Nick bounces with delight, like a baby in a high chair. "Howie ended up with a not-so-pretty girl," he says, wiping errant chunks of tuna from his chin. "Do you
remember her? Do you?" Oh, sure-she was one of the heavier ones, right?  "Aaaahhhh, yeah," Nick says, with strained diplomacy. "I got my girl, Kevin got his girl, and the last girl was Howie's. He got
stuck, and he made this face like, 'I'm gonna kill somebody.'" He shrugs.  "It was funny." On the way back to the hotel, Nick and Brian are intercepted by yet more fans. They pose for pictures and hurriedly scrawl autographs; a couple of girls hang back and speak in hushed tones. "You know, I saw Nick sign an autograph for one girl and then he threw it back at her. I want to know why he's like that."  "You know what I wonder?" says her friend. "I want to know if he would
ever date a fan."
 
Here is an interview with A.J. from Teen Beat
 
Have You Ever Said Something Hurtful To The Others You've Regretted?
 
    I don't think I've ever said anything horrible, but me and Nick got into a physical fight once. We were at Kev's apartment and Nick kept making fun of me and at the time I couldn't cope it, so I got one of his special comic books and lit a match to it. We got into a fight over it and ended up not speaking. Then about a week later we were in the studio recording I'll Never Break Your Heart and I went into another room to write some lyrics and Nick was also writing in there and we ended up doing a song together.
It's the one that we played on the MTV special.
 
 
Have You Ever Made Eyes At A Girl In The Audience?
 

    Well, there've been a couple of times when I've seen a real pretty girl I wanted to talk to. So, if she kept looking at me through most of the show I'd get one if the security guys to tell her which hotel we're staying in.  Then when she arrived I'd come down to meet her. I wouldn't let her come up because I'm not into that having girls in your room thing. We'd go somewhere quiet and chat. That's if it's a country where I don't understand what they're saying! Sometimes it can get pretty frustrating when they're chatting in a foreign language.
 

 Have You Ever Snogged To A BSB Record?
 

    When we were in Germany recently, my ex-girlfriend came over to visit and we were talking with the album playing when Get Down came on and we kissed, for no reason. Now whenever it comes up we laugh-it's kinda funny that of all the freakin' slow songs there are, we ended up kissing to that one!
 
 

An article on Nick from Superstars Magazine
NICK, THE YOUNGEST BACKSTREET BABE!
BOY, HAS HE CHANGED!
 
 

    As the first born child of Jane and Robert Carter of Jamestown, NY, little Nick Carter was the happiest event of their lives. When Nicky was four, the Carter family began to expand. First sister Bobbie Jean was born, then Lesley and next fraternal twins Aaron and Angel. The family had long since moved to Tampa, Florida, and little Nicky grew happily into his role of bib brother. And another facet of his personality grew too----he was becoming quite a performer! He played the drums and the guitar and sang up a storm! Of course, that was exactly what made him the perfect match with Kevin Richardson, A.J. McLean, Brian Litrell and Howie Dorough when they eventually became the Backstreet Boys.

NICK IN THE SPOTLIGHT
 

    Well, Nick may have gone from the big brother at home to babe of the Backstreet Boys, but nothing has stopped him from turning into a total hunk! He just celebrated his 17th birthday this past January 28th. He's packed away his PacMan and more mature pastimes interest him----well, at least Nick's Nintendo require more skill! And what does 17-year-old Nick like to do on a date? "Just have fun," he says. "Since we're always on the go and never  around one place too long, I like to make the most of the time together with a date."

GIRL WATCH:

    When 18-year-old Nick first began dating, he had a thing for people with brown hair. Now, he says, "It doesn't really matter to me as long as they have a good personality and they're really nice."
 

A GROWING BOY'S APPETITE:

    When Nick first joined BSB, it was deluxe cheeseburgers and a side of fries or pizza with everything. Now Nick still loves pizza, but says, "Hold the anchovies!"

TV TIME:

    Now that "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" has gone into reruns, Nick has flipped the remote to "The X-Files"!

SPORTS NUT:

    Nick has always been fascinated with scuba diving, but now he's finally stated certified. "That means I'm not restricted and I can dive in deep water," he says.

THE PRICE OF FAME:

    When BSB's first single, "We've Got It Goin' On," was released, Nick says it amazed him to walk into a store and see your single on a shelf; you can't believe it's you sitting next to all these artists." Now, with the release of their self titled album and their brand new single, Nick can't walk into a record store without being mobbed! "It's surprising, but really cool." admits Nick!
 

FACTS ON THE BSB
 
 

1. Nick and Brian usually share a hotel room when they're on the road.

2. AJ still doesn't have a drivers' license. He's on the road to much and hasn't gone back to take the written test
again

3. Kevin takes an envelope full of pictures of his family where ever he goes.

4. In March 1997, AJ sprained his ankle when he was caught in a crush of fans at Musique Plus . He managed to
perform that night and later allowed a Montreal radio station to auction off the cast.

5. According to an informal poll of the Boys, Brian keeps his room the messiest, while Howie is Mr. Neat.

6. Howie is the one who on many occasions arrived at his destination with only the clothes on his back because he's
lost his luggage

7. Nick says, "I like to do anything I can think of to these guys".

8. The 2 BSB most likely get into a friendly argument are Kevin and Nick.

9. Everyone thinks that Brian is most likely to get married first.

10. All the boys agree that they ALL want to Harmonize with "Boyz II Men".

11. AJ admits he spends alot of time on the phone

12. Howie loves to go clubbing.

13. AJ still gets nervous before starting every new song in concert.

14. Howie never goes to bed without doing his push-ups and stomach crunches.

15. On the most recent tour, Nick plays drums, Kevin keyboard and Howie Bass Guitar.

16. Howie runs around video taping all of their tours and shoots.

17. The Boys have been banned from 3 hotels in Europe because of out of control fans.

18. AJ carries a travel diary with him, but rarely writes in it.

19. Nick's fave cars are Stingray's and Cameras.

20. Kevin's secret nick-names are Pumpkin and Boo.

21. Howie admits that he's something of a perfectionist.

22. When you hear someone hitting those high notes, that's Howie.

23. AJ admits he's the biggest worry-wart of the group

24. Halloween is Nick's fave. holiday.

25. Kevin hates people who are arrogant

26. Kevin would love to star in a movie someday.

27. Nick's dad had to put up a fence around their yard because fans were picking the flowers

28. Brian's worst habit is biting his nails.

29. Nick says that he'd definitely date a fan.

30. AJ collects hats.

An article from Billboard Magazine in 1997
BACKSTREET BOYS RIDING A WAVE
            Canadian Success Begins In Quebec By Larry LeBlanc

TORONTO - While Backstreet Boys have become chart favorites globally, few territories have expressed as much enthusiasm for the Jive Records pop act as Canada.

    The band's current album, "Backstreet's Back", released August 12, was No. 8 on Soundscan's top retail album chart in Canada for the week ending Nov.23. The group's debut "Backstreet Boys", released Oct.9, 1996, is No.34 on the same chart. Additionally, the track "As Long As You Love Me" is No. 5 on Broadcast Data Systems' contemporary hit radio chart here and was No. 43 on its pop adult radio chart for the week ending Nov.25.

    According to BMG Music Canada, the band's debut has sold 832,082 units to date, while the follow-up album has chalked up sales of $529,139. Expected to further increase the band's Canadian profile is a tour here this month. It includes dates in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Dec 27), Quebec City (Dec 29 and Jan 7) and Montreal (Dec 30 - Jan 1 and Jan 5-6) and Ottawa (Jan 2).

    "In sales, the Backstreet Boys are our No.1 act," says Lisa Zbitnew, GM of BMG Music Canada. "They are now building a career in America, and they are big in Europe and Southeast Asia, but Canada is probably their top
territory."

    "Canada is definitely our leading market," says Backstreet Boys' Kevin Richardson. "We can't believe how incredible it's been there. Canadians were way ahead of the [U.S.] curve [in accepting the band]. The [Canadian breakthrough] initially came in Quebec from France."

    Quebec has led the way in sales of Backstreet Boys in Canada. According to BMG Music Canada, more than 45% of national sales of "Backstreet Boys" and 40% of sales of "Backstreet's Back" have originated from the mostly French speaking province.

    Says Richardson, "We were really surprised the first time we went to Quebec [in February '96 prior to the debut album's release] and played at the [Place Vertu] mall in Montreal. Over 3,000 people showed up. The next time we performed in Quebec [in August '96 at the Festival des Montgolsieres in St. Jean sur Richelieu, outside Montreal], 65 000 people showed up. Amazing."

    The act has been "very much a phenomenon in Quebec," says Bill MacEwen, co-GM of Sam the Record Man in downtown Montreal. "How soon the bubble will burst nobody knows. A lot of people give these [pop] bands two to four years tops, but who's to say? Perhaps one of these kids has true talent and can be promoted as a solo [act]."

    Richardson disagrees with MacEwen's harsh assessment. "In no way is this bubble gum music. As long as we focus on the music and keep making good music, we'll have no problem sustaining a nice career. It will probably take a while to prove ourselves to the media and to the critics," he says.
 

An article from the Ottawa Sun
BACKSTREET BOYS FANS UP FRONT WITH THEIR ADORATION
By Zachary Houle
 
    OTTAWA - Fifteen-year-old Magda Moczulski was hopping up and down at the front of a mob of teenage girls outside the National Press Club building on Wellington Street across from the Parliament Hill.

    It seemed that the butterflies in her stomach were beginning to flutter wildly, just moments before members of her favorite singing group were expected to enter the building.

    "When I see the Backstreet Boys I'm going to faint," she said excitedly. "I've had nothing to eat for the last 24 hours".

    "You're going to have a puking girl here pretty soon."

    She was just one of 200 or so crowded around the building hoping to descend on the Boys as they were to enter the building for a press conference early yesterday afternoon, before their show at the Corel Centre last night.

    Compared to the mass pandemonium that ensued the last time the boys showed up publicly in Ottawa, however, this
crowd seemed like loose change.

    Some 5,000 fans, mainly young girls, crowded into the Rideau Centre last March hoping to get up close and personal with the popular Florida based singing group.

    One thing was for sure about the smaller group of teens who were tipped off to the press conference by TV and radio outlets, though. They were the crème de la crème of die-hard Backstreet Boys fans.

    Take Ms. Moczulski for instance. Aside from not eating, she'd been awake for a day and a half, spending most of the night camped out in front of a downtown hotel trying to catch a glimpse of her idols (who in fact were in Montreal on Thursday night for a show at the Molson Centre).

    As if that weren't enough, she had filled a small handbag with Christmas gifts to belatedly give to Nick Carter, one of the young singing sensations.

    She bought Mr. Carter two T-shirts, Christmas cards, and a small fluorescent yellow-and-black Nerf football to show her gratitude just for meeting him.

    "The last time they were here, I didn't get to meet them. I nearly cried," she said while blushing, almost on the verge of tears.

    Then there was the informal fan club of eight young women in their late teens and early 20s who had traveled together from Montreal to snap more pictures for their collection.

    Fans since before the release of the Backstreet Boys' debut album in October 1996, they had collectively collected more than 800 still photographs and 36 hours of concert footage on videotape from all over the world.

    One of them, 19-year-old Genevieve Champagne, said she had seen every one of the shows with her pals in Ottawa and Montreal over the past year - about seven at her estimate.

    "Because of the Backstreet Boys, we have a lot of new friends," said Ms. Champagne. "That's how we met," she added, gesturing to her friends around her.

    Most of the young women (average age, about 15) screamed every time a car slowed past the Press Club building.

    When the big moment finally arrived shortly after 1.30 pm, the entire throng rushed to a black van with tinted windows that slowly pulled up at the building's Sparks Street entrance.

    Where the Boys emerged from the van, the moment between fans and the singing sensations was brief and relatively uneventful. That is, unless you were one of the lucky few who got to touch Mr. Carter's hand or get an autograph.

    "They were so nice," said Claire Greenwell, 14, of Ottawa. "They just sort of walked by and held my hand. Then I sorta kinda grabbed Kevin (Richardson) by the arm and I was, like, crying."

    Ottawa-Carleton and Ontario Provincial Police officers had no trouble dealing with the generally polite crowd, aside from the odd mass of crying girls rushing up to Mr. Carter (hands down, the most in demand Boy) or to get an
autograph.

    Sgt. Doug Kirkland of the Ottawa-Carleton police reported that the 15 officers at the event had no problems. Well, maybe just a little one.

    "I didn't bring ear plugs," he quipped.