#23 Into the world of boy bands
December 6, 2022•361 words
Until 15, I knew only two English songs. One was a ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson song that came along with our home stereo system to test its sound effects and another one was ‘Rock DJ’ by Robbie Williams (Please don’t watch the video) which I accidentally stumbled upon while switching radio channels. I liked it so much, the second time I heard that song I recorded it on an empty cassette and kept listening. I didn’t have a cable connection at home, so no access to MTV or Vh1.
Since we had Doordarshan, the only music non-Tamil music we heard was from a bunch of sad guys playing shehnai or sitar which was very depressing.
My love for Western music started when I moved to a new school for higher secondary education. I observed that a lot of people in my school listened to English songs. I asked someone in my class to give me something to listen to and the guy gave me a CD containing songs by Back Street Boys.
It opened the world for me. I liked the beats and the synchronized singing. It was nice to listen to. And, I felt cool and hip. I kept singing “Everybody..rock you body” on the way to the grocery store and in the men’s room to show off.
Later, I started sourcing more songs from my friends and I stumbled upon a ton of boy bands and pop artists like Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Blue, A1, N sync, and Westlife.
I had a CD with music videos of Britney’s ‘One more time’, ‘Lucky’, and ‘Overprotected’ which I saw a thousand times, and Westlife’s ‘Uptown Girl’ and ‘Bop Bop Baby’ became my all-time favorites.
I never got to Linkin Park, Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, or Bon Jovi until college, I stuck to boy bands. It had a formula - good-sounding music that hooked you quickly and made you tap your feet. And, it never disappointed me.
It was the equivalent of going to your favorite restaurant for a meal. You don’t have to think too much. You go in, order something, sit back and relax. You’ll definitely have a good time.