I Never Wanna Hear You Say: The Story of Backstreet Boys' 'I Want It That Way'

Welcome to Season SEVEN of Encore with brand new host,
Ruby Carr!


Boy bands - they really don’t get much cred for being musicians,
performers, and entertainers, am i right? From the Jackson 5 in
the mid-1960s to the current global phenomenon that is K-pop, boy
bands have been a big moneymaker in music for decades now. But at
the same time, they have also been subjected to plenty of
ridicule, disparagement and even hatred while girl groups like
Destiny’s Child, Spice Girls and TLC have earned respect and
admiration for their empowering and inspirational music. 


Some even say that the 'Boy Band' was essentially a music
industry creation with the sole purpose of capitalizing on the
love and devotion of young girls and their allowances. The boys
in these bands were almost always reduced to being puppets to
just sing and dance to music that was mostly written, recorded
and - to use a dirty industry term - “manufactured” by
professional songwriters and musicians. This music was designed
to be a perfect product that girls of the tween and teen variety
couldn’t resist.


HOWEVER… there is one song that goes against the grain, that
breaks all the rules, and for the past quarter century that has
been an exception to everything I just said. It is a song that
had the likes of grown men like Adam Sandler, Paul Rudd, Jerry
Seinfeld and Jon Hamm singing along to it on live television like
true stans when it was performed at the Saturday Night Live 50th
anniversary concert this past February. It has been used
countless times in movies and TV shows, covered, sampled and
parodied to no end.


Let's face it, because you can’t deny it, it is the one true boy
band song that virtually everyone on Earth gives a pass to - Even
more so, it’s a song that everyone flat out loves - whether they
will admit it or not. That song is “I Want It That
Way” by Backstreet Boys.


With Newly Unearthed audio from the Backstreet Boys & a NEW
Interview with Howie D!


Written by Cam Lindsay for iHeartRadio Canada