Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone, and happy holidays. Welcome back to Crash
Speaker 1: Course Pot. I'm your host, ash Tony, and we're tackling
Speaker 1: the titans of the late nineties pop explosion. Five guys,
Speaker 1: over one hundred million records sold, and a vocal harmony
Speaker 1: that defined a generation.
Speaker 2: We're talking about the Backstreet Boys.
Speaker 1: Now. It's easy to look back at the matching white
Speaker 1: outfits and the choreographed moves and think teen idols, but
Speaker 1: Backstreet Boys is a fascinating case study.
Speaker 2: In the music industry.
Speaker 1: How did a group put together by a suspicious Ponzi
Speaker 1: scheme mobile in Orlando, Florida become the biggest band in
Speaker 1: the world, And more importantly, how are they still selling
Speaker 1: out arenas thirty years later when so many of their
Speaker 1: peers faded away.
Speaker 2: Let's dive in so a little bit of history on
Speaker 2: this episode.
Speaker 1: I did an episode already on boy bands.
Speaker 2: It was a two part episode actually earlier in this.
Speaker 1: Season of Crash Course Pod, and.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we kind of covered Backstreet Boys briefly.
Speaker 1: However, since that time, specifically maybe a week ago now,
Speaker 1: maybe ten days. I don't know specific numbers, but my
Speaker 1: love for the Backstreet Boys has been reopened they re
Speaker 1: released I want it that way. What is the name,
Speaker 1: because anyone us I want it that way. I think
Speaker 1: that's what it is, But they re released I want
Speaker 1: it that way vertical. I talk all about it on
Speaker 1: my actual podcast, The Journey into Creating People Life Media.
Speaker 1: The links are below if you want to hear that
Speaker 1: episode where I break down my whole fascination and the.
Speaker 2: Reawakening of the nostalgia for Backstreet Voice. But anyways, for
Speaker 2: this quick little tidbit of back history on this episode.
Speaker 1: Saw the music video, went down memory lane for every
Speaker 1: song they ever produced, watched nearly every interview, and I've
Speaker 1: just been so obsessed with the Backstreet Boys lately, not
Speaker 1: to mention, they're a hot topic literally on social media.
Speaker 2: Everyone's talking about the Backstreet Voice. They're just making their
Speaker 2: second round or third round on the internet again, and
Speaker 2: I feel like it's what better time or what better
Speaker 2: person to talk about group than the Backstreet Voice.
Speaker 1: So that's what we are in this that's where we
Speaker 1: are in this rather, so let's talk about their origin story. Understand,
Speaker 1: the Backstree Boys. We have to go back to nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety three in Orlando. I was two years old by
Speaker 1: the way, and I didn't know that their group went
Speaker 1: back that far. I literally thought they came out in
Speaker 1: ninety eight, but apparently they've been out since ninety three.
Speaker 2: So the group was the brainchild of Lou Pearlman.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I know everyone has their thoughts on Lou Pearlman, but
Speaker 1: we're gonna keep it strictly music this episode.
Speaker 2: If you want the tea on Lou Pearlman, there's plenty
Speaker 2: of T channels that dissect it.
Speaker 1: We're gonna skip past the shadiness of everything and stick
Speaker 1: straight to the music. And like I said, Lou is
Speaker 1: a name that comes up a lot in music history,
Speaker 1: often for the wrong reasons.
Speaker 2: But he had a vision for a new edition style
Speaker 2: group with the Florida Twist.
Speaker 1: He found aj McLean first, my Favorite, then Howie Dereaux
Speaker 1: and Nick Carter. Eventually Kevin Richardson joined and he brought
Speaker 1: his cousin from Kentucky, Brian Latreux, to round out the sound.
Speaker 1: They weren't just faces, they were vocalists and if you
Speaker 1: hear them live today, definitely can stamp that vocalism.
Speaker 2: I don't know if that's a word, but that vocalism
Speaker 2: in their voice.
Speaker 1: They spent their early days, singing a cappella at high
Speaker 1: schools and shopping mass But.
Speaker 2: Here's the twist.
Speaker 1: America wasn't buying it yet, Grunge was still king, so
Speaker 1: their management made a bold move, the European Pivot. They
Speaker 1: sent the boys to Germany and the UK, and while
Speaker 1: the US was still listening to Nirvana, No Shade I
Speaker 1: Love Nirvana, Europe was falling in love with these.
Speaker 2: Five guys from Florida.
Speaker 1: By the time they released their self titled International debut
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety six, they were already superstars Abroad. Now
Speaker 1: released in nineteen ninety five, While it was part of
Speaker 1: the ninety six album, it was technically their debut single.
Speaker 1: So fun fact We've Got It Going On flopped in
Speaker 1: the US, peaking at number sixty nine, but it was
Speaker 1: a top ten hit in Germany and Switzerland, which is
Speaker 1: actually what triggered the European pivot that I mentioned. So
Speaker 1: Yeah released in ninety five, but it was part of
Speaker 1: the ninety six album.
Speaker 2: To make that clear. The Imperial phase, I would say was.
Speaker 1: Between nineteen ninety seven and two thousand and one. By
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven, the US finally caught on why are
Speaker 1: we the.
Speaker 2: Last to catch you on to gold.
Speaker 1: Anyways, this is what I call the Imperial phase because
Speaker 1: Bakshi Boys wasn't just on the charts, they were the charts,
Speaker 1: and a huge part of that.
Speaker 2: Was the Marx Max Martin sound.
Speaker 1: If you're a regular listener of this podcast, I'm sure
Speaker 1: you know that Max Martin is the.
Speaker 2: Architect of modern pop.
Speaker 1: I think we talked about him in last week's Stojakat
Speaker 1: episode if I'm not mistaken. He used what we call
Speaker 1: mathematical pop, focusing on phonetic sounds and melodic math over
Speaker 1: literal lyrical meaning think about quit playing Games with my heart,
Speaker 1: or Everybody Backstreets Back, and on Everybody Backstreets Back. It
Speaker 1: was actually co produced by his mentor, Dennis Pop. Anyway,
Speaker 1: These songs were designed to be stuck in your head
Speaker 1: before the first chorus.
Speaker 2: Even ends so quickly.
Speaker 1: I want to play this clip that I saw on
Speaker 1: YouTube because I feel like it efficiently describes what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about now. This strictly is about the percussion, but
Speaker 1: I feel like the engineering of the sound and the
Speaker 1: beasts go hand in hand with the lyrics being one
Speaker 1: of those things that gets stuck in your head and
Speaker 1: gets you hyped before the chorus. So this clip says,
Speaker 1: ever noticed Backstreet Voice used the same percussion in all
Speaker 1: of these songs, so let's hit it. So you see
Speaker 1: what I mean, very catchy sounds that just gets you moving.
Speaker 1: They solved the mathematical equation with that percussion. So the
Speaker 1: factory where this sound was born was Kran Studios in Stockholm.
Speaker 2: I hope I'm saying it right. Karn Studios.
Speaker 1: Anyways, nineteen ninety nine millennium, this album was a juggernaut.
Speaker 2: I was eight at this time.
Speaker 1: It sold one point one three million copies in its
Speaker 1: first week, and at that time, this was the highest
Speaker 1: first week sales total since sound Scan started tracking in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one. It held that record until n Sync
Speaker 1: broke it a year later with no strings attached. Fun fact,
Speaker 1: I'm sure all of us fans know this, but n
Speaker 1: Sync and Backstreet Boys were literally both ran by Lou Pearlman,
Speaker 1: so it's giving Kendrick versus the other artist and which
Speaker 1: literally played for the same team, but the media pits
Speaker 1: them against each other to boot boost sales. Anyways, en
Speaker 1: Sync broke that a year later with no strings attached,
Speaker 1: So think about that in today's streaming terms. With them
Speaker 1: selling one point one three million copies in its first week,
Speaker 1: It's almost unfathomable.
Speaker 2: This was also the.
Speaker 1: Era of the great divine backsheet boys versus N Sync.
Speaker 1: It was like the Beatles versus the Stones of the
Speaker 1: Y two K era.
Speaker 2: You had to pick a side. So that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: It's giving that same.
Speaker 1: Energy and literally under the same label, under the same manager.
Speaker 1: So yeah, that is Hella numbers one point one three
Speaker 1: million copies in its first week.
Speaker 2: They were an.
Speaker 1: Icon on you guys, I'm telling you, I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: so I want it that way.
Speaker 2: Let's pause on this track. Why does I want it
Speaker 2: that way? Still work?
Speaker 1: You know? Rumor has it that the lyrics famously make
Speaker 1: no sense. Even Chrissy Teagan has questioned the meaning, to
Speaker 1: which the band offered a cryptic response, AJ MacLean stated,
Speaker 1: it means whatever each individual's interpretation is. So there was
Speaker 1: a leaked, alternative, alternate version of this song, and it
Speaker 1: features the opposite message.
Speaker 2: I love it when I hear you say I wan
Speaker 2: it that way, and I added to the confusion to
Speaker 2: be honest.
Speaker 1: The song's opening guitar riff was inspired by Metallica's Nothing
Speaker 1: Else Matters.
Speaker 2: And weirdly, I Want It that Way was.
Speaker 1: Banned in China and twenty eleven for bypassing a mandatory screening.
Speaker 2: Process, So.
Speaker 1: The confusion behind the song is hilarious because the song's
Speaker 1: lyrics were initially considered too abstract by both the band
Speaker 1: and the record company.
Speaker 2: I want to go through these lyrics with you, guys.
Speaker 2: I hope I have enough time to have about like
Speaker 2: two minutes.
Speaker 1: So you are my fire, the one these I believe
Speaker 1: when I say, ah wan.
Speaker 2: That way, we are to the world depart.
Speaker 1: Can't read to your hot when you say that I
Speaker 1: want it that way.
Speaker 3: Tell me why ain't nothing but a heartache? Tell me
Speaker 3: why ain't nothing but a mistake? Tell me why I
Speaker 3: never want to hear you say I want it that way?
Speaker 2: Am I your fire? Your one deeps higher?
Speaker 3: Your son? No, it's too late, but I want it
Speaker 3: that way. Tell me why ain't nothing but a heartache?
Speaker 3: Tell me why I ain't nothing about a mistake? Tell
Speaker 3: me why I never want to hear say I want
Speaker 3: it that way. Now I can see that we falling
Speaker 3: apart from the way lady used to be. Yah, No
Speaker 3: matter the distance won't you know that deep down inside me,
Speaker 3: you are my fire, the one deep desier you.
Speaker 2: Are, you are, you are, you are. Don't want to say,
Speaker 2: ain nothing but.
Speaker 3: A hertay, ain nothing but a mistake.
Speaker 2: I never want to.
Speaker 3: Hear you say I wanted dad way. Tell me why
Speaker 3: ain't nothing about hot? Tell me why ain't nothing about
Speaker 3: a mistake? Tell me why I never want to hear
Speaker 3: say I wanted it that way?
Speaker 2: And then it repeats.
Speaker 1: Can we get a round of applause for that? I, honestly,
Speaker 1: in my little child eight year old mind or maybe
Speaker 1: nine year old mind, thought that the song was about
Speaker 1: a breakup, like maybe a cheating scandal and a breakup,
Speaker 1: or maybe like there was a breakup and they want
Speaker 1: to get back together. That's what I always thought it was,
Speaker 1: until everyone said the lyrics are too cryptic, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I always thought I understood exactly.
Speaker 2: What it meant.
Speaker 1: But now that everyone's confused, maybe I'm confused too. Regardless,
Speaker 1: the lyrics famously make no sense, but the chorus contradicts itself.
Speaker 1: But the melody is scientifically perfect, as we heard with
Speaker 1: the percussion, It's the gold standard of the era. It's
Speaker 1: a masterclass on how a song can feel emotionally resonant
Speaker 1: even if the logic isn't there. And then, like I said,
Speaker 1: they actually recorded a logical version of the.
Speaker 2: Song, which with different.
Speaker 1: Lyrics, but they were because they were worried about the contradiction.
Speaker 1: But they decided the nonsensical version sound better and apparently
Speaker 1: it has billions of views on YouTube. So behind the
Speaker 1: scenes things went dark. The group discovered that Lou Pearlman
Speaker 1: had been skimming millions off the top. He was essentially
Speaker 1: their sixth member when it came to the paycheck, but
Speaker 1: he wasn't doing the work. And so then there was
Speaker 1: a whole lawsuit which fueled the turning point and the
Speaker 1: loss of innocence for the band, or realization that the
Speaker 1: industry can be as predatory as glamorous.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So, after some personal hurdles and health scares, they
Speaker 2: took a hiatus and in the early two thousands a
Speaker 2: lot of critics wrote them off.
Speaker 1: But in two thousand and five they did something interesting
Speaker 1: and released Never Gone. This was their rock light era,
Speaker 1: and they traded the dance routines for live instruments and
Speaker 1: a more organic sound.
Speaker 2: Honestly, they were growing up and.
Speaker 1: Were determined to take their audience with them rather than
Speaker 1: chasing the next trend. So if you guys liked this conversation,
Speaker 1: join me on the next episode where I finished this
Speaker 1: conversation and we round out Part two of The Backstreet Voice.
Speaker 1: For more information and for ways to click my other
Speaker 1: links for entertainment, all of the details are down below.
Speaker 2: Thanks for tuning in.