While we’re waiting, ever so patiently…yes patiently for the new single? I thought I’d bring us back to the last time BSB dominated. And while they are in my opinion absolutely on their rise to the top once more? I have to admit that the two years of 1999 and 2000 were like none other in the Backstreet Boys fandom. They just weren’t. Any fan who was around back then will tell you these were the glory days. And man were they. I’ve hinted at this time period before, with my older Backstreet Project post referring to Nick’s comic and subsequent web series. At the time I just wanted my parents to keep taking me to Burger King on our Fast Food Night (Fridays). It didn’t occur to me at thirteen that this was a pretty damn big deal. This campaign was all over the place.
Like for example…the Backstreet Project, as I linked above. How many boybands had their own comic book? They had these epic toy figures too in their Kids Meals from said comic book. They were just great. Because I’ve gone into detail on this before, I’ll leave that for you to read if you’d like. (And watch the web-series cause seriously, they’re amazingly cheesy.)
There were CDs you could buy if you bought the Value Meal. And this was a pretty big deal. For our younger fans who may not have been around then, you have to remember – we didn’t have itunes. No Spotify. No YouTube. These were the primitive days of the internet, in the old age of Dial Up. So the fact that they were selling CDs with live tracks from their Millennium Tour and exclusive tracks from the upcoming album? This was holy shit worthy. And most parents wouldn’t buy you all of them at once. (Mine wouldn’t.) Which meant I had to keep going back. It was easier than trying to find it on LimeWire, honestly and besides that I wanted to support BSB! Obviously.
Each one had different live tracks, the Black and Blue preview was It’s True of all songs. But for those unlike me who didn’t have the copies of their non-US albums also got treated to That’s What She Said. My personal favorite from these albums to this day is the All I Have To Give a capella. It’s a beautiful rendition of it and a major why to this day I’d still demand an a capella album from the Boys. (That and a Christmas album but I digress.) I went and dug it up on YouTube for you, so you can be treated to this wonderful ear candy. Cause as I learned recently with my All I Have To Give Conversation Mix post, not all fans are as ridiculously hard core as I am and know every single song they have out there.
Beautiful, am I right? And then on top of all this, don’t think I forgot the commercials. Because of course I didn’t. The first one, which was the original one, is very much my favorite. I’m not sure if you remember the “Burger Wars” but basically McDonalds got wind of this campaign and rushed one out a week ahead with Britney Spears and NSYNC in theirs. But what I liked about the Burger King one was that they knew this was cheesy so they just embraced the cheese. Which to me, made them more memorable. Embracing the cheese is everything. Honestly I feel like it’s one of my life mottos at this point. EMBRACE. THE. CHEESE.
But one thing that Burger King did do, that McDonalds didn’t (cause I remember them having CDs available too for their campaign) was release a video. And it’s actually a pretty great video. This was back when you got things like this or concert DVDs as a major way to promote the artist. I miss this. I freaking LOVE concert DVDs. They still happen obviously but aren’t nearly as common. Ugh. Bring them back Boys!
Now if you don’t have the tape…
No worries. It’s not uploaded on YouTube – well, it was but they made us pull it. But that’s okay. I uploaded this little clip I thought was fitting. And since it’s not like you can buy this outside of Amazon (and none of us have VCRs anymore), this tape is uploaded to our Media Archive in the 2000 folder. I really suggest you give it a watch. It’s actually rather cute and a time capsule of sorts now. You get to follow the Boys around, you get to relive the nostalgia of Millennium and the live performances are solid. So take that trip down memory lane with us! It’s a great way to spend some time before the new era begins!
And now, I leave you…with end-credits since I think it’s a fitting way to end the post. Enjoy!
As Kevin says, does anyone out there have a request? if there’s something you’d like to see me blog about, let me know on twitter or in the comments below! I’d love to know what you think!
The Dark Side 