1989 was a juggernaut year at Columbia Records for New Kids On The Block – Jon Knight (age 20 at the time), his brother Jordan (19), Donnie Wahlberg (20), Danny Wood (20), and Joey McIntyre (16). Every new single and album release brought literally millions of fans into retail stores for weeks and months on end – but never as quickly or as demographically widespread across age boundaries as when they released their first holiday album,
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS, a record that both parents and kids could listen to and share long after December 25th had passed.
Two decades later, arenas are sold-out for reunion concert events around the world, a new studio album is coming, and the hearts of twenty- and thirty-somethings have been stirred awake by thoughts of their five beloved New Kids back On The Block in 2008 and 2009. A perennial catalog staple, MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS – newly remastered for the first time since its release in 1989 – will be available once again at all physical and digital retail outlets starting October 14th through Columbia/Legacy, a division of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT.
The arrival of
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS follows up the August 12th release of Greatest Hits on Columbia/Legacy. The brand new 18-song collection commemo rates their reunion this year – with the heftiest batch of New Kids tracks (including group and solo works) ever assembled on one CD.
The original release of MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS on September 19, 1989, came right in the middle of a phenomenal 132-week chart run by the New Kids' second album, the 8-times platinum Hangin' Tough. By the time of its August 1988 release, the album already had its first single heading inside the Top 10, "Please Don't Go Girl."
With the release of "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" in November 1988, the second single from Hangin' Tough, the New Kids earthquake was underway. The single spent a solid half-year (26 weeks) on the Hot 100 chart, rose to 3, and was eventually joined in March 1989, by "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)." The signature ballad charted for another 21 weeks, including a week at 1 in June, the same month that the album title tune, "Hangin' Tough," went to radio, on its way to 1.
The music industry took note when the Hangin' Tough album and "Hangin' Tough" single simultaneously took over 1 in the Billboard of Saturday, September 9, 1989. The New Kids had become the first 'teen' group in history to notch four Top 10 hits from one album. One week later (in the September 16th issue), this incredible chart run, spanning more than 15 months, went over the top with the Hot 100 entry of the album's fifth hit single, "Cover Girl." Neither the Osmonds nor the Jackson 5 (both of whom the New Kids compared themselves to in interviews) had ever achieved such chart success from one LP.
The following Tuesday, September 19th, MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS arrived in stores. In addition to six new songs written (or co-written) by New Kids manager and mastermind producer Maurice Starr, the album also gave props to such familiar tunes as "The Little Drummer Boy," Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," and Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)." The first single pick was "This One's For the Children" (written by Starr) b/w "Funky, Funky Xmas" (written by Starr and Donnie Wahlberg).
On October 23rd, Columbia announced that profits from the sales of the single, along with artist royalties to the New Kids, would be contributed to United Cerebral Palsy. That same week, New Kids took a break from rehearsals to complete the filming for the worldwide promotional video of "This One's For the Children," which included footage already shot by director Doug Nichols in Paris, Moscow, Greece, Thailand and New York.
Adhering to the old RIAA rule of waiting 60 days for certification (which has since been discarded), MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS was certified gold on November 17th, platinum on November 28th, and double-platinum on December 13th. "This One's For the Children," which hit the Top 10, was certified gold a few weeks later, on January 9, 1990. The album reached 9 during its 18-week chart stay, and successfully re-entered the chart in November 1990, for another 10 weeks of sales.
MERRY, MERRY CHRISTMAS by NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
(Columbia/Legacy 88697 38185 1, originally issued September 19, 1989, as Columbia 45280) Selections: 1. This One's for the Children 2. Last Night I Saw Santa Claus 3. I'll Be Missin You Come Christmas (A Letter to Santa) 4. I Still Believe In Santa Claus 5. Merry, Merry Christmas 6. The Christmas Song 7. Funky, Funky Xmas 8. White Christmas 9. The Little Drummer Boy 10. This One's for the Children (Reprise).