I have always loved boy bands and girl bands. I was an avid Spice Girls fan and watched Spice World frequently. In fact, the VHS I had got stuck in my grandma’s
machine and I insisted that we break it open to get it out. I also was obsessed with both N*Sync and The Backstreet Boys in their heyday. I remember winning the title of "best dancer" in kindergarten after wowing the class with my moves while "It's Gonna Be Me" was playing. Here's a link to the song, in case anyone's forgotten the classic:
You could say that I was a bit of a fangirl. And now, of course I am a fan of One Direction, a "Directioner" if you will. I'm fully aware that I play into the hype, and I'm okay with that. What's intresting about One Direction in particular is that they make attempts to brand themselves as an "unconventional" boyband. Unlike the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync, the members of "1D" cannot and do not dance. This is something made apparent in their music videos, as well as their concerts. When I went to The Rose Bowl to see them perform during the Where We Are Tour, I noticed that there was a lot of running around onstage and interacting with fans, but very little choreography. It was actually refreshing. They are much more relaxed than boybands from the late '90s/early 2000s, and this is an indication that audiences want to see more natural, "unplanned" performances. Suddenly the songs become more personal.
The idea of “types” is highly ingrained into most boy/girl
bands, and this is a concept that One Direction plays into as well. Zayn Malik (who controversially just left the band) is the "mysterious" one, while Harry Styles is the heartthrob and household name. And even if they didn't consciously create these types, the fans categorize the boys themselves. It's just what fans are used to when thinking of boybands in general. There's "someone for everyone," and that's what gives them mass appeal.
And, One Direction is notorious for using renowned celebrities as guest performers onstage and in their music videos. If 1D's target audience is tweens/teens, I'd say these celebrities play more to the appeal of parents than kids. My point being that having Ronnie Wood play guitar in a live performance One Direction's new hit "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" will interest a fan's mom or dad more than the kid. In fact, my dad is a huge Stones fan and we both watched the video together.
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| Ronnie Wood performing "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" on X-Factor with One Direction |
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| Danny DeVito and Harry Styles dance together in the "Steal My Girl" music video |
Say what you will about One Direction, but I think they make fun music that's great to listen and dance to. They also seem like genuinely nice guys. I got to seem them perform live again at a taping for Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve, and they seemed like genuinely friendly and charming guys.
The notion of "types" in boybands is interesting especially in regards to the origins of these types. Certainly there's an intentionality behind making the boys distinguishable from each other, but there also must be cohesiveness. Does this come from the fan's projection onto the band or as an intentional marketing move?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I wasn't really into the types of any of these bands, though I know certain names/ faces and not others -- does this mean I have a "type" in the boy band world? Or just that the marketed types find their way into my world more easily based on my marketing demographics?
I agree with everything you talked about in this post, and I also love One Direction. It's interesting to think about how each one is is categorized as a certain type and how each member plays up that persona. Thinking about it further, it makes me wonder whether or not this was a marketing move and since I am such a fan of them, I automatically and genuinely believe that the categorizations are actual representations of their personality; or, if the fans came up with these categorizations themselves. After attending their "Where We Are" tour, as well as watching both of their movies, it seems as though they are genuine and fun guys- just like you said.
ReplyDeleteI love the way One Direction has created a new type of boy band in a way. They seem much more real and like guys you would want to hang out with, rather than the formulated boy bands of the '90's.