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American Morning
'N Sync's New Album Debuts Today
Aired July 24, 2001 - 09:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us from New York to talk about the popularity of 'N Sync and other boy bands, Christopher J. Farley. He is senior writer from "Time" magazine. He covers the music industry. Christopher, you should be smiling. There's a new 'N Sync CD coming out today.
CHRISTOPHER J. FARLEY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I know. I should be very happy. My new title is boy band reporter, actually.
KAGAN: Really.
FARLEY: They changed it.
KAGAN: It suits you so well. That's just what I think of when we thought about having you on here. Have you heard the new 'N Sync CD?
FARLEY: I have heard the new 'N Sync CD. I don't think it's very good. It has been getting some kind reviews. Some reviewers have liked it. It's their attempt to grow up, and that's usually the sequence with these boy bands. I mean, the first stage is kind of acceptance that you're a boy band. The next stage is kind of like denial, that you're really a hip-hop group, you're really an R&B group. That's kind of the stage they're in now. And the next stage, the next three stages are all obscurity, so, I think they're heading for the next couple of stages pretty soon.
KAGAN: So brutal there. You know by saying those things, you risk sounding like an old fuddy-duddy, Christopher.
FARLEY: Well, the thing is there are a lot of good young groups out there, and they really kind of show up groups like 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys...
KAGAN: For instance?
FARLEY: ... because they're young and they're doing it. Like Alicia Key. She's only 20 years old, she's at the top of the charts, writes her own stuff and it's a much higher quality brand of pop than 'N Sync, and she is younger than all of them. So, if she can do it, why can't they?
KAGAN: It's kind of hard, though, to argue with some of these numbers. The last one, "No Strings Attached" for 'N Sync, it sold a million copies just in the first day. Someone's buying them.
FARLEY: Well, yes, 'N Sync's last album did sell $2.4 million copies in its first week. It was the largest first week sales in history, eclipsing even Michael Jackson, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears. No one posted first week numbers like. But in the past, groups like New Kids On the Block posted big numbers, acts like Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, and we all know what happened to them in the end.
So, the flashing numbers really can't obscure the fact that there is no substance there, and these bands start off having very young audiences. I think that the first time I saw the Backstreet Boys, I think I could have done a little stem cell research with the people around me. But their audiences grow up, they go to college, and it's not so cool to be blaring these kinds of albums when you are in a dorm room. I mean, you've got to switch to something cooler or you're going to be out in an awful hurry.
KAGAN: Kind of like it wouldn't have done us any good to be playing the Partridge Family or the Osmonds or the Jackson 5, although the Jacksons, they kind of stayed with it.
FARLEY: And the Partridge Family, they're still cool.
KAGAN: They are?
FARLEY: They're still happening.
KAGAN: Just for the record on that. So what do you think with 'N Sync? This one is the beginning for the end for them?
FARLEY: It may not be the beginning of the end, but I think it's definitely the end of the beginning. I think that the blush is off the rose here and they'll have to do something different. They'll try to do something different here. I don't think that they've proved they have the talent. They did wrote a lot of the songs themselves, but all the songs they wrote by themselves they wrote with other people. I mean, their names are attach to various songs to just sort of prove that they can actually write the material themselves, they're not just a creation of the other people.
I mean, their last one was called "No Strings Attached" because they really wanted to show hey, we can stand on our own two feet, and they continue that trend here, but I think with limited success. I think we're going to start seeing more of these acts in movies. Britney Spears is working on movie, and that's kind of another stage that these acts like to do. Remember Vanilla Ice tried to act in a movie.
That's kind of what they do. They try to show that they have other sides to their career, they're not just singers, they're not just boy bands, and we'll see whether they have any success with that.
KAGAN: We will track it and Christopher, if nothing else, thank you for letting me know that the Partridge Family is still cool.
FARLEY: Still happening. Waiting for the remixes. KAGAN: I'll sleep better tonight and I'll blare my car stereo with David Cassidy. Christopher Farley from "Time" magazine, thank you.
FARLEY: Thank you for having me.
KAGAN: And while we were talking with Chris, we were able to find that piece by Sherri Sylvester looking at boy bands and 'N Sync's new CD. Here's Sherri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRI SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 'N Sync is trying to repeat the record-breaking performance of their last album. But as they launch celebrity at a premier party in Hollywood, they admitted they have broken the rules of teen pop music.
JC CHASEZ, 'N SYNC: Great R&B, mid-tempo songs, pop -- like every song has its own unique style. Almost like a church feel on one of the last songs.
SYLVESTER: But will their young fans tune in or out?
LANCE BASS, 'N SYNC: Of course, we would love to break the record, you know, but I think that that was a fluke in history, what happened last year, with "No Strings Attached." But I believe the album will do very well. We don't know about the first week.
SYLVESTER (on camera): $2.4 million in one week is a tough act to follow. But 'N Sync seems less interested in record sales than in the effect.
('N SYNC, "POP")
SYLVESTER (voice-over): "Celebrity"'s first single, "Pop" takes aim name at the naysayers.
DAVID BROWN, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": What's interesting about 'N Sync is I actually think they've topped themselves artistically. I think "Celebrity" is probably the best of their three records.
SYLVESTER: The album's release comes two months into their Pop Odyssey tour. Usually the concerts follow the CD, but fans have gotten to hear the new songs early, and 'N Sync's concert promoter says they are selling out huge venues.
IRV ZUCKERMAN, CLEAR CHANNEL ENTERTAINMENT: We are doing 40,000 plus and many, many more in certain cases, where we are doing double stadiums on 'N Sync. So, we are very, very positive about the band.
SYLVESTER: It's a marketing strategy that seems to be working. It was midnight madness in New York's Times Square as fans snapped up the first copies of the disc.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: Bye, bye, bye. We love you, 'N Sync! SYLVESTER: NBC in Burbank became a weekend campground when word got out of an 'N Sync appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." They know their names.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Justin and JC.
SYLVESTER: They know their birthdays.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May 4, January 31, August 8.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome, 'N Sync!
SYLVESTER: In short, they love 'N Sync.
'N SYNC: Baby, I can't believe something like you happened to me
SYLVESTER: Sherri Sylvester, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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