How I became a Blockhead

I don't remember what song began my love for the New Kids. I just remember that I loved all their music & would buy all the tapes& singles, Big Bopper & Tiger Beat magazines (and anything else that had pics of the guys) I could get my hands on. It was 1989 & I was 15 years old which was a couple years older than the girls from my church who were also Blockheads. I did have one friend that was my age that was a fan so I was not completely alone in my love for the guys. My first concert was at Blossom Music Center in July 1990. I wore my NKOTB shirt & a pair of cut off jean shorts that I puffy painted all the guys names on. I still have the shirt & shorts. The second concert that came to the Cleveland area was at the Richfield Coliseum in November 1990. My friend Kelly's mom had agreed to take us to the ticketmaster at Sears on a Friday evening & even sleep outside in line if necessary since the tickets went on sale Saturday morning. By the time we got there all the wristbands were gone so she drove us right up to the Coliseum to spend the night for tickets. When we got there a long line had already formed so we grabbed our sleeping bags, got in line & slept under the stars. When morning came everyone got up & the line began to slowly move. We were getting closer & closer & the worst possible thing happened. The show was sold out! We all stood there stunned!! How could this happen? We just spent the night on the ground!! For some reason not very many people got out of line. We all just stood there some on the verge of tears, others already crying. Then the best news of all!!!! They were adding a second show for the next night!!!! We were now about 20-25 people back in line so our seats were much better than we could have hoped for. The night was awesome! Danny has always been my favorite & I had the collector cards of the guys (still have them!!) & in one of them he was wearing a white long sleeve shirt & black pants so I copied the outfit to wear for the concert that night hoping he would notice me!! I am convinced he did make eye contact with me & no one is going to tell me otherwise.
One summer on a family vacation to Myrtle Beach, we all (my family) went to a mall & because I am such a bibliophile I went in to check out the bookstore & there was the Holy Grail of New Kids stuff. It was a book called Our Story: The New Kids On The Block written by the guys. I had to have it so I begged my mom & she asked me "Are you sure that is what you want?" Well of course it was so the book was now mine. I spent the rest of the time when we weren't at the beach or doing family things learning all I could about the five guys from Beantown!!!

Well life went on & I grew up & so did the guys. I still loved them, but they kind of became part of my past. I still kept all my NKOTB stuff. the posters, tapes, newspaper articles. Sometime in 2007 my mom found a VHS tape of Step By Step & bought it for me. :) My mom is so cool!!! I thought about them now & then & would pop in a tape occasionally, but never really thought much about a reunion. Again, I can't remember what led me to my knowledge of the reunion this year. Someone told me they were going to be on the Today Show May 16. I was working that morning so I watched it online Saturday morning. It was like I had never left the block. I was jumping up & down going crazy right in my living room. I went online & started looking for any info I could find about the reunion. I scoured through my old tapes to see which ones I had & if there was one I did not have I immediately downloaded it from ITunes. I also downloaded Danny Wood's CD Coming Home. It was a very fun way to spend a Saturday. But on to the more pressing issue. Would there be a tour? Would they come to Cleveland? Who did I know that would go to the concert with me? I found the official NKOTB website & the concert date for Cleveland. Now I just had to find a fellow Blockhead to go with me. I volunteer weekly at a youth center called First Glance & that Sunday evening we had a leaders meeting for the volunteers. I was sitting next to Sarah who I had only known for a few months & thought I should ask her if she likes NKOTB realizing that if she did not she would think I was a little silly. So I asked & she said yes she did!!!! From that moment on we were 15 again & making plans to go to the concert!!!!

I am enjoying the new music & the trip down memory lane with the older songs. It is great to see the guys again & to see them really put their heart & soul into the new music. I still think Danny is amazing & I would love to meet them all.

So there it is my NKOTB story. It seems much longer than I thought it would be, but I guess when it comes to the five guys who were/are such a big part of my (& all their fans) life. I guess there is much to say!

Original post date 10/9/2009

The Search for The Block

I had to wait till payday (today) to purchase my copy of The Block so I headed to Walmart to buy the deluxe edition which was 1. not there or 2. sold out. So I headed to Target & boy am I glad I did. I got the deluxe version w/the bonus DVD which is so much fun!! It still seems surreal that the guys are back & in a little less than a month I get to see them in concert. Although I am pretty sure someone is going to have to throw cold water on e afterward. This CD is HOT!!!!!! Boy we have ALL grown up!

Original post date 9/5/2008

NKOTB dreams

Last night I had a dream that I met NKOTB. It began with me at Target buying the new CD & then I walked to this little coffee house where they were signing autographs. It was set up kind of like a stage & I was able to go up & talk to each of them. I remember that I commented on Danny's arms & had the chance to hug them all. Oh what a wonderful dream. I hope it comes true. I want to meet them all!!! I really did not want to wake up today.

Original post date 9/14/2008