TDS Exclusive: Backstreet Beginnings – The Demos

I love being able to say that we have another REAL exclusive for you guys. This isn’t video or medley of songs that we put together ourselves. Nope. While those sort of things are cool…this is better. It’s something we managed to get our hands on thanks to one awesome fan in particular. Some of you might already have these from when they were first uploaded last year. But, I never saw these make it to YouTube. Shocking, right? Which means they’re not as widespread as we might have thought. A blog reaches more people than a forum so here’s hoping you guys WILL make sure the fandom can enjoy these classic demos, going all the way back to 1993. Yes. I’m not kidding. A fan on our forum, Hayley, bought the tapes from the online Ebay auction of Lou Pearlman’s stuff and shared them with us for your enjoyment.

It’s really interesting too. On some, you can really hear just why the Boys eventually got the record deal with Jive. I’d immediately point at Everytime I Close My Eyes, a cover that was fine tuned enough and rerecorded so that it would eventually make the Red Album. And then others you bet even money Lou Pearlman wrote (such as Tell Me That I’m Dreaming that we know for a FACT he wrote), like Do The Right Thing. Why he thought it was a good idea for Howie to rap I’m not entirely sure. Love the guy but he just can’t pull it off like AJ can. The acappella of Tell Me That I’m Dreaming is a great one. Probably my favorite of all the gems.

Another thing to take note of is that this was back when Howie was still a major lead in the group. These are from the days when they didn’t have Denniz Pop or Max Martin. We’re going to send you back to a time where prepubescent Nick was on the scene so while his voice was still young and hadn’t matured just yet, you could see the potential of what was to come. Despite the cheesy songs there was something magical that shone through the demos. A magic that Jive records would spot and decide to sign on a group that would become our faves and the biggest selling boyband in history.

You can listen for yourselves.

I’ll leave you listening to the first song while reading my running commentary of Do The Right Thing…because I can’t help myself. You’ll see why when you first click on the playlist. Trust me.

20 seconds in – Okay…interesting music.
35 seconds – Baby Nick! Now I feel like a pedophile. Bad way to start.
40 seconds – Sing it Brian!
1 min – I think this is one of the songs where Brian starts dominating.
1:30 – Not sure if I can take you seriously.
1:40 – No offense but I’d want some space guys, lol.
2:20 – You got a jamming thang Howie? Okay interesting mental images!
2:30 – Okay AJ I can believe you…
2:40 – is Howie trying to sound badass?
2:42 – How can it be smooth and have a twist? Did lyrics that make no sense go back THIS far?
2:50 – No you definitely can NOT hip-hop to this guys!
2:55 – Are all five of you stalking this girl? Maybe being with you is the WRONG thing…
3:22 – You guys are pretty pushy about this
4 mins – That was entertaining. Never let Howie rap again. If you ever think about it, remember this. REMEMBER THIS.

The tracks are downloadable from soundcloud and once again, thank you to the fan that uploaded these from the demo tapes! Once again the fat bastard getting arrested did end up good for something.