I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and while the “boy band” was certainly not new at that point,  the screaming infatuation and desperate need to own everything possible with a particular band’s logo seemed to have passed me by. For the purposes of this post, I’m defining “boy bands” as an all-male group of more than three singers, where the age of the singers is teenager to mid-20s. And I can only speak to the bands on my radar. For example, I heard of Menudo and Take That…but not until I was in my late 20s and 30s. Long after their popularity waned.

My mom often played the “Golden Oldies” in our house, and even The Beatles earned little more than “meh” from me. (I’ve since gained an appreciation for their music, but I still don’t feel compelled to own all their albums.). The Jackson 5, Monkees, Herman’s Hermits, and others had plenty of songs I liked, but none that had me squealing when they came on the radio.

Fast-forward to the 80s. Friends of mine owned New Kids on the Block board games, action figures (aka, dolls), bed sheets, curtains, and, of course, albums. (Albums? Did they have more than one? I honestly don’t know.). NKOTB was the first contemporary boy band I can remember. Were their songs catchy? Sure. I *might* have even had a single or two on cassette or a song I taped off the radio. For those of you born after CDs (or, God forbid, iPods) arrived on scene, cassettes were a way of buying/listening to music. Either way, I didn’t cry when NKOTB disappeared from the Top 40.

Enter the 90s, where boy bands seemed to blow up. ‘NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees, and O-Town are just some I remember. Oh, and Hanson, though the fact that only ONE Of their members was over the age of 10 when they hit big probably disqualifies them. (I kid. I don’t know how old they were. They just annoyed me). Still, not much reaction from me. I can barely keep the fact that Justin Timberlake was in ‘NSYNC straight. At least, I think it was ‘NSYNC. He’ll always be a Mouseketeer to me.

Now I’m in my 30s, and past the gooey, gushy, screaming fan stage. My six-year-old watches Big Time Rush, which is a modern-day version of the Monkees (band formed for a TV Show, who then become a real band), complete with slapstick comedy. They have a few songs I like.

I thought I was immune to boy bands. Everything in my history suggests it. If I wasn’t the type to go ga-ga over them in my hormone-drenched teen years, I should be safe in my 30s, right?

Enter One Direction.

My appreciation for their music is in the early stages, but their songs make me smile. I’ll probably never know all their names. All the words to their songs, on the other hand…

So, were you a screaming fan girl of boy bands? Are you still? Did I miss out on some childhood experience?

Thing 1 and I sing this one at the top of our lungs while we dance around.