listen and subscribe
Choose your preferred player:
Please enable JavaScript to get the Slate Plus feed.
Get the Slate Plus Podcast
If you can't access your feed, please contact customer support.
Listen on your computer:
Apple Podcasts only works on MacOS operating systems starting with Catalina. Android apps on desktop are not supported at this time.
Listen on your device:Recommendation
These links only work if you're using a device to listen to podcasts.
episode notes
What do you imagine when you hear the word “boy band”? Is he five people with precise dance moves? A song written by a top 40 pop machine? Is Svengalis pulling the puppet strings? A horde of screaming girls?
After all, not all boy bands fit these signifiers. (Well…except for the screaming girls, they're forever.) Some boy bands danced, some didn't dance…boy bands that relied entirely on outside songwriters, and big hits. There are many boy bands that have been put together by managers and producers, as well as those that have started their own.
From Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers to New Kids on the Block, from the Monkees to the Jonas Brothers, from Boyz II Men to BTS, from New Edition to One Direction, and…yes, of course, Buck. From Street Boys to *N Sync, boy bands have been incredibly diverse over the years. (In a sense, the Fab Four of the 1960s also started out as a boy band.)
Join Chris Molanphy as he attempts to define the indescribable qualities of boy band-ness, tracing decades of shrieking and chilling pop history, from “I Want You Back” to “I Want You Back.”・Want It That Way” and “Bye Bye Bye” to “Dynamite.” Help him “start the fire to light the night.”
The podcast was produced by Kevin Bendis.
