The boy band craze all over again

The time when ‘N Sync, the Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, 96 Degrees and other pop groups were eliciting shrieks from pubescent girls and sending record sales climbing to the roof now seems so long ago. That was the golden period for the latest batch of boy bands.

Back then, it seemed like all we would get to hear were the pop ditties dished out by those boys. And that was also the time when I went around with a little mantra I cooked up. The Beatles started out as a boy band. The Beatles started out as a boy band. The Beatles started out as a boy band….there is still hope for us.

Then the boys grew up. One was ditched by Britney. Another turned out to be gay. The others went solo, got married or simply did other things grown men were supposed to do. A few also got into drugs, booze other things cute clean-cut boys were not supposed to do. Thus the era ended and being cute came to mean looking like the boys of Green Day.

But then again, because of the years that passed, there is now a new generation of females who might be receptive to the sound of a group of young men singing about their idea of romance. And because they are not likely to get their choices from among James Blunt or Sean Paul, they are in need of new idols. So, has the time come to begin another boy band era? Seems like it and taking a step in that direction is The Click Five (C5).

Boy group were the first words that entered my mind when I saw the perky video of the new song Just the Girl by a very new group called The Click Five. The light rock tune invited strutting and was performed by five young men. The group is made up of Eric Dill on vocals and rhythm guitar; Joe Guese on lead guitar and vocals; Ethan Mentzer on bass and vocals; Ben Romans in keyboards and vocals and Joey Zehr on drums and vocals.

The members of The Click Five are all in their early 20s and very good-looking. They dress in matching sharply tailored suits and sport well-groomed hairstyles that echo ‘60s mop heads. They all seem to be nice and wholesome. Best of all, after years spent with assorted bands while in high school, they have learned how to make engaging pop tunes by borrowing the best of everything and making a new whole that is all their very own. Now, that is just like what the Beatles did and what every boy band who ever had the chance to be seen and heard has done over the years. Reaction to Just the Girl has been very positive and there might be other hits in the offing.

The fun and wholesome, if at times little-boy-naughty sound of The Click Five can be found in the album titled Greetings from Imrie House. It is all-formula stuff where you hear echoes of the Beach Boys, the Beatles and down to other groups through the ages like, who else, the Backstreet Boys. But although C5 does not really have anything new to offer by way of music, the whole package is a charmer. The album is great to listen to with infectious beats and solid five-part harmonies.

Aside from Just the Girl, Greetings from Imrie House also includes Good Day, which has the makings of a great single, Catch Your Wave, I’ll Take My Chances, Friday Night, Angel to You (Devil to Me), Resign, Pop Princess, Time Machine, Lies and Say Goodnight.

Sama-Sama sa Musika

Calling graduates of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music. You are invited to Sama-Sama sa Musika, the grand alumni homecoming which will be held at the Conservatory of Music Recital Hall II on Friday, April 7 at 6 p.m. This will be a good opportunity to get together again and remember the good old days, then win raffle prizes and elect the officers of the Conservatory of Music Alumni Association Inc. for the biennium 2006-2008. Entrance fee, which entitles the bearer to dinner and a raffle stub, is P600. Tickets will be available at the entrance.