Loving boy bands is rite of passage
Conversation in the newsroom turned to boy bands this week when our entertainment editor mentioned she was doing a story on Stadium 14's new 3-D movie format. But to do that, she'd have to sit through "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience."
Anyone who has teen or preteen girls knows more than they care to about the Jonas Brothers, the good-looking family trio - Joe, Kevin and Nick - who rose to their current fame through the Disney Channel. They're the boy band of the moment and they're everywhere.
I raised two girls so I know a little bit about young girls and their infatuations with handsome young boys and their guitars. This is where I confess that I still remember the lyrics to Hanson's 1997 hit, "MMMbop." Its chorus goes like this:
"MMMbop tick a ta ba do ba
dubi da ba do ba
tick a ta ba doo
yeah eh yeah
MMMbop tick a ta ba do ba
dubi da ba do ba
tick a ta ba doo
yeah eh yeah."
Pretty thought-provoking lyrics, huh?
My youngest daughter - yes, the one now planning the wedding in the hay field - was obsessed with Hanson, which much like the Jonas Brothers was a trio of brothers - Isaac, Taylor and Zac. Hanson took the world by storm and then almost as quickly faded from sight. She was 10 at the time, and Zac's drum playing inspired her to take up drumming. When Zac fashioned his hair into corn-row braids, so did she.
She and a friend went to Hanson concerts in Seattle, then later became obsessed with N'Sync and followed the concert circuit during that boy band's heyday. (There's a Justin Timberlake doll tucked away in her closet.)
I'm proud to say she eventually outgrew her need to swoon over young boys and their on-stage antics, although every December it's become a tradition to play the Hanson Christmas CD and rock out to "Merry Christmas, Baby" as we make sugar cookies. We just can't help ourselves.
It must be a rite of passage, falling for young musicians. I had my own love affair with The Monkees, the pop singing quartet that had its own TV show in the late 1960s when I was on the verge of becoming a teenager. One week I'd be in love with Davy Jones and his sexy British accent, the next week I'd profess my undying love for Michael Nesmith, the quiet tall one who always wore a stocking cap.
Can it be that as long as there have been young male musicians there have been an equal number of crushes played out by young women?
Did young girls attending a Mozart concert in the 1700s whisper to one another: "Ach, du Lieber, ist Herr Mozart nicht eine schoene Mensch?" Translation: "Isn't that Mozart a hottie?"
My mother had a big crush on Perry Como, the handsome soloist who crooned his way into her heart in the 1940s with hits such as "Till the End of Time." Como had a
No. 1 single, "No Other Love," in 1953, the year my parents got married.
Even my grandmother had musicians I'm sure she fantasized about - famous bandleader Lawrence Welk and his accordion-playing standout Myron Floren for starters.
I remember one particular trip to my grandparents' house in Port Wing, Wis., in 1968 (the Monkees were rocking my world right about then). I was 12 and we were forced to watch the Lawrence Welk Show with the entire family. I distinctly remember rolling my eyes as my grandfather waltzed grandma around the living room as the band played on.
Someone, somewhere probably has analyzed this boy-band phenomenon (for lack of a better description) for a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation. If not, they should. They could use my family for inspiration.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com