There are those who say the golden era of boy bands is over,
swept away by a flood of lawsuits, solo ambitions and changing teen
tastes.

“You’ll never see trading cards and cute boys in
matchy-matchy outfits doing fancy choreography again,” said
Zena Burns, music editor for Teen People. “It’s morphed
into boys who play their own instruments in bands like Good
Charlotte and Simple Plan.”

But if the boy band is extinct, somebody forgot to tell the
boys.

Don’t Call it a Comeback

“Penny & Me,” from a forthcoming CD by Tulsa's
sibling sensations Hanson, just debuted in the No. 2 position on
the Billboard Hot 100 singles-sales chart.

Former New Kids on the Block singer Jordan Knight has a new set
of NKOTB material, including remixes of 1980s hits such as
“Step by Step” and “Cover Girl.”

And another New Kids alumnus, heartthrob Joey McIntyre, is set
to release his album “8:09” on April 27.

After a four-year layoff and endless litigation, the Backstreet
Boys are back in the studio.

And despite the solo careers of J.C. Chasez and Justin
Timberlake—and occasional film roles by Joey Fatone and space
boy Lance Bass’ work on “Hollywood
Squares”—the ‘N Sync guys say they’ll begin
writing songs for a new CD this summer.

The hurdle all these groups face is that it's exceedingly
difficult for pop performers who had teen appeal to reconnect with
their audiences.

Generation Gap

“The typical Backstreet Boys fan was 12 years old in 2000.
Now, they’re 16,” notes Tom Vickers, a music consultant
and former Capitol and Mercury Records executive. “Are they
going to have the same reaction? ‘Oh, Brian [Littrell] is so
cute!’ No. Now they’re into the Strokes or the White
Stripes.”

The hope, of course, is that maturing fans will see that their
old faves have matured, too.

The Hansons will release their new disc,
“Underneath,” on April 20 on their own 3CG Records.

“We played an acoustic show a few days ago, getting ready
for the full tour this summer,” said lead singer and middle
brother, Taylor, now 21, married and the father of a 16-month-old
son.

“It’s been four years since our last album and seven
since our first one, and the fans are different than they were ...
They’re in college and getting on with their lives. But
they’re still singing along and waving their
hands.”

The Henry Ford of boy bands is Lou Pearlman, a former air
charter owner and cousin of Art Garfunkel.

The formula is rudimentary, Pearlman says: “You need
someone with dark hair, someone with light hair, someone with
medium hair. You need at least three strong lead singers. And they
have to be young and clean-cut, parent-friendly.”

Good Riddance

If the makeup of these bands is predictable, so is their shelf
life.

“It’s a five-year run, on average," Pearlman says.
“The bands get to the point where they have a lot of money
and they become more independent, or else there’s a falling
out and someone wants to go solo.”
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