New Kids on the Block - I'll Be Loving You Forever

We are living through an 80’s remix at our house and it’s pretty awesome. I would consider the 90’s to be my jam but the 80’s were my childhood years. Ella is currently obsessed with a few of my favorites. She fell in love with Bon Jovi at the tender age of five and although they are still one of her favorite hair bands of all time she has moved on. Thanks to Netflix and YouTube she is watching classics like Full House and The Karate Kid. I have also introduced her to Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, and Whitney Houston but her greatest love of all is the best boy band ever- the New Kids on the Block (NKOTB).

It is funny because she thinks she is watching them in real time, so I hit the pause button to explain these peeps are my age now – they are old(er). I wanted to help her understand the past and that I was twelve once. So, I told her to buckle up, its Storytime. It was 1986 and I was in the sixth grade. Our school was participating in a county wide fundraiser called Pennies for Pride. The class who brought in the most spare change would win a ticket to the New Kids on the Block concert. Game on. I raided piggy banks, ransacked sock drawers, and shook couch cushions and our school won.

NKOTB was just getting started and the concert was in a small strip mall where they had one of those 18 and under teen clubs. I went to the concert with several of my besties but once we were inside it was every man for yourself. I was heading to the front and there was no stopping me. I threw a few elbows as I pushed through the crowd of preteen girls screaming for my man. Then there it was, a small opening the sea of crazed hormones and I took my chance. With every ounce of my body weight, I launched myself onto the stage. I missed of course but I got Joey’s ankle! Victory was mine!

I held on for dear life as he tried with all his might to shake me. I was like an alligator doing the death roll right before they drop off into the murky water. Joey may have cut me loose but I stayed afloat like a crazed lunatic in the front row. After the concert, I found my friends outside stalking the tour bus. One of my girls was invited onto the bus by a cute guy who would later be known as Marky Mark.

Ella, still puzzled, has no clue who Marky Mark is and still didn’t believe that Joey was no longer 16. I had to roll the tape. Thirty years later I went to my second NKOTB concert and the whole thing is on video. I could only show her a few clips because the concert was like my favorite boy band meets the Chippendales - now that all their fans are over forty. I point out Joey and show her that my second encounter with him is about to go down. As he moved from one stage to another, he cut through the crowd by walking right across my row. This time I didn’t throw my body weight at him because it could be considered assault with a deadly weapon, but I did scream and squeal until I lost my voice. Another great memory.

You see honey, this is what Joey looks like now. He is still cute, right? I asked her if she wanted to watch the video again. She said, “nope I’m good, I get it now. Your screaming hurts my ears”. Every morning on the way to school she sings and watches NKOTB videos . Twelve-year-old me never thought I would be belting out Hanging Tough in the carline, but here we are. And it’s the best part of my day.