The 10 best boy band songs,
Boy bands aren’t really bands. It just has a better ring than “boy groups.”
When we think of “bands,” we think of self-contained units that play all their own instruments — like the Beatles … or Hanson, to use them in the same sentence — and don’t have three or four of the core members dancing at a mic.
Although the boy groups often feel prefabricated with slick, packaged songs geared to the right-now, some of the tunes have held up over decades.
The list starts with the best boy band of all — The Jackson 5 — which had two members playing instruments (sometimes), and at least three dancing. Because the Jacksons could take up at least half the slots here, the rule is a maximum of three songs by one group.
1) The Jackson 5, “I Want You Back” (1969): Co-written by Motown founder Berry Gordy, it’s not just a great boy band song, it’s one of the most vibrant pop songs ever. It has it all: scratch-funk guitar, snaky Motown bassline, boogie piano, tasteful strings, soulful backing vocals and young Michael doing his best Diana Ross.
2) The Jackson 5, “ABC” (1970): The Jacksons went back to the same formula a year later, and simple as do-remi, it was another infectious classic.
3) The Jackson 5, “I’ll Be There” (1970): After three rockers, including “The Love You Save” (which would also be on this list), Mr. Gordy wrote the Jacksons a ballad, and it’s a timeless beauty, sung by boy-ish Michael and warmer-voiced brother Jermaine.
4) Boyz II Men, “End of the Road” (1992): This ballad co-written and produced by Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds for the “Boomerang” soundtrack is a heartbreaker, dripping with emotion, desperation and echoes of classic Motown soul. Midway through, we get a Barry White-style voiceover with a rare sentiment: “I’m not out to go out and cheat on you all night/Just like you did, baby, but that’s all right/Hey, I love you anyway.”
5) ’N Sync, “Bye Bye Bye” (2000): This banger from “No Strings Attached” — another Swedish import — might still be used as a breakup line to this day. This is about as angry as JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake get, perhaps channeling their aggression at manager Lou Pearlman, whom they were suing for lost profits at the time.
6) Backstreet Boys, “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” (1999): The saddest, loneliest boy-band song of them all is a beauty, with Latin guitar, distant finger pops, pretty orchestral touches and the most melancholy of minor-key choruses. Of course, Max Martin has his hands on it.
7) Boyz II Men, “I’ll Make Love to You” (1994): They’re way beyond boyz on this chart-topping bedroom ballad by Babyface. It’s safe to say there are plenty of 20-year-olds running around right now who were conceived to this one.
8) Backstreet Boys, “I Want It That Way” (1999): During an awkward phase in the ’00s, Rolling Stone ranked this No. 10 on the list of “The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of All Time.” That was insanity. But the pop ballad from the Max Martin factory is catchy and likable, even if the lyrics make no sense.
9) One Direction, “Story of My Life” (2013): You can almost picture Mumford & Sons doing an angrier version of this song, but really it’s One Direction showing a little maturity on the second album with a folk-pop tune that opens into a gorgeous chorus.
10) ’N Sync, “It’s Gonna Be Me” (2000): You can argue with someone (likely someone in their early 20s) all day about the second-best ’N Sync song. This one, with its hip-hop beat, has Timberlake sounding tender while also flashing some bravado as he tells a brokenhearted girl that when she’s ready to try it again, it’s gonna be him.