Thursday, June 23, 2011

Completely Biased List of The Top 30 Music Videos Of All Time - Number 26- "Step By Step" by The New Kids On The Block



Number 26 is definitely a odd choice, I'll give you that...but wait until the end before you pass judgment.

The New Kids On The Block were THE boy band of the late 80's and early 90's. While African-Americans had New Edition, white people had NKTOB. I'll admit I liked a few of their more up tempo songs like "Step By Step" and "The Right Stuff" but I also despised their ballads like "Please Don't Go Girl" and "I'll Be Loving You Forever". In the middle you had pretty bad 80's songs like "Hanging Tough" and "Cover Girl". Anyway, "Step By Step" seems to have (baaaarely) stood the test of time and is the one song that could come out today and maybe crack the top 100.

"Step By Step" tells the story about a guy trying to gain the attention of a girl (just about the plot of 90% of all songs). In the middle of it though, there is one of the greatest breakdowns in music history where the New Kids tell the girl there are five steps to fall in love. They seem pretty straight forward.

Step 1.) Indicate to her that they can have some fun.
Step 2.) Reinforce that there is much they can do together
Step 3.) Remind her that its just the guy and the girl together...no annoying parents to interefere.
Step 4.) The guy can give her more than any other guy
Step 5.) The time is now for them to fall in love

That seems pretty simple.... However, I came up with five step to kill yourself after hearing this song for the first time. Match it up to the music...its perfect.

Step ONE....you can take a gun.
Step TWO....point it at you
Step THREE...scream out "I HATE MEEEEE!!!!"
Step FOUR...blow your brains out on the floor
Step FIVE...don't you know you're no longer aliiiiive
"Huuuuh"

Anyway, let's take a look at this video...



0:00 - 0:16 Ah yes, the old "behind the scenes at the video shoot" and "tour video diary" type video. You know, the one where there are quick cuts, the band is laughing, and everybody is yukking it up for the camera. We begin with some acapella and slow motion shots of the band. My favorite is the one Donnie Wahlberg jumping over the drum set...not sure what he's trying to prove there.

0:17 - 0:24 I like the stairwell shot because dancing on a stairwell is very practical.

0:25 - 0:33 The dance move that swelled a million teenage girls hearts. Yes, its terrible, but if I could whip those moves out at a wedding, I'd be the star of the night.

0:34- 0:47 - A little bit of freestyling dance moves and some slight posing take us to...

0:48 - 1:03 - The first verse. Again, more behind the scenes shots (Donnie Wahlberg on a motorcycle...Ooooo dangerous!) and more quick shots of the band on a sound stage.

1:03-1:04 - Did the New Kids originate the "Running Man" dance move? I can't remember how that started. With the entire band doing it, they should call it the "Running Men" or "Running Kids".

1:05-1:34 - More quick shots of Danny Wood pumping iron and does Jordan Knight imitate Michael Jackson at every opportunity in this video?

1:36 - Joey McIntyre did not just do the sprinkler head did he?

1:42 - The "I'm trying to jog forward but its so windy out" dance move.

2:22 - "And the Grammy for best special effect goes to...." Love how one New Kid is in color and the other is in black and white. Cutting edge.

2:29 - Alright Donnie, now you're just showing off. The drum set and the random guitar player?

2:39 - Not sure what kind of workout move this is. This what I do with my 3 Wood on the first tee to stretch my back out to play golf.

2:46 - The greatest voice in rock history...Danny Wood! Listen to the vibrato, the silky smoothness, the way he enunciates "fun". Yes Danny, we CAN have lots of fun...

2:52 - You can hear Donnie's vocal range max out on the word "much" when his voice gets a little raspy.

2:55 - Oh boy...

2:59 - You sure gave them more Joey...you sure did.

3:03 - Yes! The shy, quiet, gay New Kid gets involved.

3:07 - Overalls and violins in the same shot. Other than "Come On Eileen", you will never see this in a music video again.

3:12 - 3:18 Dance solo?

3:28 - More stairwell dancing...love it.

3:39 - Now multiple New Kids are black and white and Donnie is in color. What was the budget for this video?

4:11 - The classic being serious and then breaking out laughing shot. Janet Jackson mastered these.

4:19 - How many times can Joe just spin around in a tuxedo in the entire video. You see a quick shot of him almost looking pissed at the camera at the end of that last spin. "YOUR SOUL IS MINE JOEY MCINTYRE!!!" laughs Satan.

4:26 - The most random shot to end a boy band video. Donnie eating an apple...

I'm off tomorrow...more to come next week. Enjoy the weekend.

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