happens to alot of acts
both 90's and 80's
the average shelflife for an artist is about 7 years
then they become OLD

didn't the one with the deep voice get sick with some kind of muscle disorder and couldn't sit or stand for long periods of time? I heard something like there were conflicts about that because he wasn't able to do the dance steps anymore.

I also think the surfacing of P. Diddy and his proteges (all the younger boy bands he created under his label) may have led to the decline in BIIM's popularity....

for some reason, i thought that they were declining before the boy bands came out....

Someone above said they were "too clean" and I agree with that. They had a nice sound, but many people today want controversy or someone swearing at them or calling them a bitch and a ho. They want good dance moves and don't really care about the persons voice or real talent. It's too bad, but that's the way it is right now.

I think because there is no such thing as R&B anymore. can you really name a popluar R&B group now that had the popularity of boyz to men? There are no more Guy, Jodeci, Dru Hill, Silk, H-Town or any groups like that anymore. The Male R&B group is a rare thing even Jagged Edge and 112 aren't as hot as in the late 90's.

I think they should change their name to Men II Geezers.

I don't care if a band is getting older, but to call yourselves "Boys II Men" so many years later is just ridiculous. Their sound was never all that great to begin with. Tepid soul, to say the least.

JediMaster said:

That reminds me of when New Kids On The Block chnaged their name to NKOTB.

Record Company Politics

sosgemini said:

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It is not age. You would have explain U2's success or Prince who sold out 20,000.00 seat venues at 46.

Boys II Men were replaced by the music industry with a bunch of non-singing Ken dolls. Now the boy band thing is over and the best vocal group has got to start over again.

This typical of the music industry. If you are not white you are going to have a hard road to travel and you must continue to work.

Soulchild82 said:

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True, We just are not allowed to have RnB groups that can really sing or play instrutments. Rap really tore a hole in RnB music.

laurarichardson said:

i was teasing... gee!!

OdysseyMiles said:

Me three! Shirt, tie, jeans and all! Shit, me and my girls wanted to do the street-corner-doo-wop-meets-early-90s thing so bad, if only we could sing! We used to write that long-ass alexvanderpooliawhateverthingy all over our notebooks and shit.

laurarichardson said:

Again?!?!??

laurarichardson said:

I remember back in the day, one of the boy bands said that they would get a lot more respect if they were black.

The grass is always greener...

I think it's just the nature of the pop beast. It seems inevitable that a large mass of people (millions) will get tired of you and constantly look for something new (not better). Now I was never a huge fan of Boys II Men and never really got their appeal to begin with and was only surprised in that they were so popular. I'm not surprised Toni Braxon fell off because she could never sing. TLC's albums were never strong except their last one which was coincidentally their best yet worst selling.

Music on a somewhat smaller scale seems to stick around a lot longer. People diss Broadway but where else can music remain in demand for years? "A Chorus Line" stayed in production for I believe 13 years! "Rent" and "The Lion King" and others are still going strong. Cole Porter and Gershwin never seem to go out of style.

And don't make me mention Beetoven(sp) and Mozart, who have been popular for hundreds of years. Sarah Vahgan had a 50 year career! No one ever made jokes about her working at McDonalds. Miles Davis is still going strong. None of these people are in the fake top 10. You don't hear this music played for an audience of 100 million+ a week. But yet these musical forms seem to go on anyway.

The pop music landscape is just too cutthroat and dependant on luck. Mainstays like Madonna and Cher and Janet are like a needle in a haystack, and the radio doesn't really play any of them anymore, as if they'd gone ahead and made an album of gregorian chants. I never thought I'd see madonna or Mariah flop on the charts against my better judgement, yet they have. It happens and will happen to everybody. yet it seems that in the pop field you have to have that radio smash and number one debut to remain relavent.

eldog98 said:

What he and I said. I agree with you guys on the state of the music industry thing, but that is not it. As also said there are also groups out there that tour around and they are in their 40's and 50's and are still pulling in crowds. But as I said before, they are done.

PS They DID play the county fair a couple of years ago! They had on cowboy gear and everything! Too funny!

Mutts

When Babyface fell off he took them with him.

Do you guys remember the group Shai? It's too bad they faded away after their first album.I liked them much better than Boys II Men.Songs like "If I Ever Fall In Love (remix)" and "Baby I'm Yours" sound much more heartfelt and inspired than the glossy,commercial stuff that Boys II Men specialized in.

DavidEye said:

You better stay in that box!
Shai, was aiight, but they didn't have the harmonic chops that Boyz II Men had, IMO. They sounded good on record, but BIIM sounded good anywhere, even standin' in yo momma's livin' room. Shai actually did a couple more albums, but they were way under the radar.

OdysseyMiles said:

Boyz II Men did a whole Throwback album of ol skool covers. Thats how bad they go it.

They recently had a concert date in Houston along with En Vogue, but the show was cancelled. I'm not sure why but I am assuming low ticket sales.

I believe it's the nature of the beast but also, I think it's the predominance of Hip Hop. For quite a while now most R&B music has been laced in Hip Hop and the end result is we have a generation that knows nothing else besides Hip Hop and can't seem to appreciate anything else. This is not meant as an attack on Hip Hop, but it has really taken a toll and not just on R & B.

Just yesterday, Scarface called in to a local radio station and he is seriously considering dropping out of the music industry. He was talking about how much the industry has changed and how much rap music has changed. Even he was talking about the lack of fun in music today. He said, "Rap is one big sample now", and he was really discouraged. They have gone through almost everybody's records, TV shows, commericals, music from other parts of the world, and the total dependance on the "sample" has put them in a vulnerable situation to where even Hip Hop artist themeselves are frustrated with the lack of innovation. I sense a wave of change is coming but maybe not in time to revive Boys II Men, particularly if the "fallout" from a negative Record Company experience.

so thats y they probably cancelled that damn show

sextonseven said:

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One of the Backstreet Boys made that statement and it is true. If the Backstreet Boys were black they would have gotten more respect. However, their careers would have been shorter.

OdysseyMiles said:

Well Take 6 has to start over as well (LOL)

i hste take 6 4 some reason they just dont fill in my void

laurarichardson said:

If they were black they'd sing, look and dance differently so it wouldn't be them. If they just mean the color of their skin well they'd get laughed off of stage if they were black. Blacks make fun of other blacks that dance and sound like they're white. Sometimes unfairly I might add.
[Edited 12/4/04 10:24am]

Listen to their 2000 album "NathanMichaelShawnWanya" and tell me what you think. Their fall (artistically) didn't truly occur until after this album.... In fact, this was their best album, imo.

yep but i loved that 1st single from the album b4