I nearly did with a band called Five a few years ago. They had one hit in America ("When The Lights Go Out.") Then they went out to Sweden a few weeks later to record a song which they famously turned down, called "Bye Bye Bye." And it really was bye bye bye after that. That would have been the record that broke them. I would have broken that band.
Poor Five, damning themselves to obscurity like that. (Of course, had they released "Bye Bye Bye," it probably would have been an irrelevant flop, so...)
Poor Five, damning themselves to obscurity like that. (Of course, had they released "Bye Bye Bye," it probably would have been an irrelevant flop, so...)
True, and for some reason I think the video would've been cheesy, or at least just shots of them in some futuristic-looking room either doing some tired choreography or staring at the camera...
Honestly, if any irrelevant boy band deserved to have a successful track like that it was Westlife ()
The lowdown: This melancholy ballad of forgiveness served as the lead single from Black & Blue. To date, it is the Backstreet Boys' final top-ten hit on the Hot 100, debuting and peaking at a modest #9. It also reached the upper echelons of the pop, adult contemporary and airplay charts, and gave the group the last of its seven Grammy nominations. Its greatest success, however, came on TRL, where BSB's core fan base voted the song to #1 for 61 out of its 65 days on the countdown, a truly remarkable run that was never topped.
The vote: "Shape of My Heart" is the first song in the rate to receive ten 10's—one of only four to reach that milestone.
Best bit: This bon mot from Max Martin and co-writers: "Sadness is beautiful/Loneliness is tragical." And lyrics are nonsensical.
The lowdown: Following the Backstreet Boys' lead, 'N Sync first hit it big in Germany—where this debut single reached the top ten—before crossing over to the U.S. market a year later. Powered by a killer Max Martin hook, the jaunty chorus remains one of their very best. The classicoriginal music video is also a wonderful time capsule of '90s pop culture, as the group dances around a Windows 95 screensaver in tops that beg the question, "European or gay?"
The vote: For most of the voting period, "I Want You Back" held steady near the top of the countdown, receiving nothing lower than a 7. But two last-minute scores of 5 and 6 pushed it out of the top five.
Best bit: Justin Timberlake's adlibs on the final chorus, in which he seems to completely lose control of his vocal cords.
..Then again, I love all the songs left, so I'd be sad with any of their eliminations 
