Hangin' Tough

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For the Waylon Jennings album, see Hangin' Tough (Waylon Jennings album).
Hangin' Tough
Studio album by New Kids on the Block
Released September 6, 1988 (1988-09-06)
Recorded 1988
Genre
Length 42:02
Label Columbia
Producer Maurice Starr
New Kids on the Block chronology

New Kids on the Block
(1986)		 Hangin' Tough
(1988)		 Merry, Merry Christmas
(1989)
Singles from Hangin' Tough
  1. "Please Don't Go Girl"
    Released: April 16, 1988 (1988-04-16)
  2. "You Got It (The Right Stuff)"
    Released: November 7, 1988 (1988-11-07)
  3. "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)"
    Released: April 10, 1989 (1989-04-10)
  4. "Hangin' Tough"
    Released: July 3, 1989 (1989-07-03)
  5. "Cover Girl"
    Released: August 22, 1989 (1989-08-22)

Hangin' Tough is the second album by American boy band New Kids on the Block, released on September 6, 1988 by Columbia Records. It is widely regarded as the breakthrough album of the group's career and has been praised by some music critics, gaining positive reviews for their musical transition from bubblegum pop to urban contemporary, blended with popular rock music. Originally the group's label had already planned to end their contract when their first album in 1986 garnered little commercial and critical attention which was nearly led to their failure. However, Maurice Starr, the group's producer, diligently persuaded the label to let them record for a sophomore album.

Hangin' Tough led the group to success due to the emergence of their music to radio airplays and creation of music videos for each released singles, showcasing the group's visual appeal. Their popularity was eventually built as they made TV appearances and embarked on promotional tours. By the end of 1989, the album topped on the US Billboard 200 charts, while peaked at number two both on Canadian Albums Chart on the same year and in the UK Albums Chart on the following year. The album also has a home-media video release entitled New Kids on the Block: Hangin' Tough which is a documented musical film about the group's biographical career which it was released in 1989.[1] It also contains a series of music videos, live performances, and exclusive interviews from the group & their fans. The album and the film itself, both were receiving few accolades: two American Music Awards and at least one Grammy Award nomination.

With sales of more than seventeen million copies worldwide to date, Hangin' Tough became the group's best-selling album so far and it was certified Diamond in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) with sales of more than one million units, while eight times Platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[2] The album spawned five commercial singles: "Please Don't Go Girl", "You Got It (The Right Stuff)", "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)", "Hangin' Tough", and "Cover Girl". All were top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, making them the first teen-act to accomplish such chart success.

Singles

Five consecutive singles were released from Hangin' Tough. The lead single "Please Don't Go Girl" was released in April 1988. The song became a major hit on radio stations nationwide and became their first top-ten single in Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number ten. The second single was "You Got It (The Right Stuff)", a worldwide hit which peaked at number three on the Billboard charts. "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)", a ballad, was the third single released and became their first number-one in Billboard Hot 100. The title track was released next and also reached number one. "Cover Girl" was the fifth released; it peaked at number two.

Other

"My Favorite Girl" was released in January 1990 as a promotional single sent to radio, but was not made commercially available at retail.

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
Amazon.com [4]
Robert Christgau C+[5]

The album received positive reviews from music critics. Reviews of Dan Heilman & Bil Carpenter of Allmusic said "Good songs collected by New Kids mastermind Maurice Starr highlight this smash, including I'll Be Loving You (Forever), You Got It (The Right Stuff), Please Don't Go Girl, and the title track. Tight, warm, even soulful harmony on the ballads."

Robert Christgau, Dean of American Critics, gave a grade of C+ to the album. He stated that: "At five million and counting, this isn't the rank offense its demographic tilt would lead you to expect-auteur Maurice Starr has positioned two exceedingly cute up-tempo hits atop two overly balladic sides. Really, why shouldn't a black svengali mastermind the safe white R&B ripoff for once? Funkier than the Osmonds or Milli Vanilli. As hip as New Edition."

Accolades

New Kids on the Block's Hangin' Tough documented montage film was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Music Film in 1990, the group's only Grammy nomination.

Hangin' Tough won two American Music Awards in January 1990—the "Favorite Pop/Rock Album" and "Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group", beating up Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl & Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel in Favorite Pop/Rock Album category, and Bon Jovi & Milli Vanilli in Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group category. The Hangin' Tough music film was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Long Form (now called Best Music Film) at the 1990 Grammy Awards, but lost to Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson, beating up Eurythmics's Savage, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, and Pink Floyd's In Concert: Delicate Sound of Thunder.

Track listing

All songs were produced by Maurice Starr.

No. TitleWriter(s)Lead vocals Length
1. "You Got It (The Right Stuff)"  Maurice Starr
 4:13
2. "Please Don't Go Girl"  Starr
 4:31
3. "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)"  StarrJordan Knight 4:28
4. "Cover Girl"  StarrDonnie Wahlberg 4:08
5. "I Need You"  StarrDanny Wood 3:38
6. "Hangin' Tough"  StarrDonnie Walhberg 4:18
7. "I Remember When"  
  • Starr
  • Eban Kelly
  • Jimmy Randolph
Joey McIntyre 4:13
8. "What'cha Gonna Do (About It)"  Starr
  • Jordan Knight
  • Donnie Wahlberg
  • Danny Wood
  • Joey McIntyre
 3:59
9. "My Favorite Girl"  
  • Starr
  • Jordan Knight
  • Donnie Wahlberg
  • Danny Wood
  • Jordan Knight
  • Danny Wood
 5:33
10. "Hold On"  StarrDanny Wood 3:39

Personnel

Production

  • Executive Producer: Cecil Holmes
  • Arrangement & Producer: Maurice Starr
  • Associate Producers: Jordan Knight, Donnie Wahlberg & Danny Wood
  • Recorded, Engineered & Mixed By Phil Greene, Richard Mendelson, Maurice Starr, Hediki Sunada & Danny Wood
  • Maurice Starr (Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Keyboards, Synthesizers, Synthesized & Electric Bass, Drum Programming)

New Kids On The Block

  • Jonathan Knight: Lead & Backing Vocals
  • Jordan Knight: Lead & Backing Vocals
  • Joey McIntyre: Lead & Backing Vocals
  • Donnie Wahlberg: Lead & Backing Vocals
  • Danny Wood: Lead & Backing Vocals, Keyboards, Programming

Charts and certifications

Chart positions

Chart (1988-1990) Peak
Position
Australian Albums Chart[6] 7
Austrian Albums Chart[7] 8
Canadian Albums Chart[8] 2
Dutch Albums Chart[9] 33
European Albums Chart[10] 7
Finnish Albums Chart[11] 2
French Albums Chart[12] 43
German Albums Chart[13] 4
Japanese Albums Chart[14] 31
New Zealand Albums Chart[15] 3
Norwegian Albums Chart[16] 6
Swiss Albums Chart[17] 19
UK Albums Chart[18] 2
US Billboard 200[19] 1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[20] 40

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Austria (IFPI Austria)[21] Gold 25,000x
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Diamond 1,000,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[23] Gold 37,386[23]
Germany (BVMI)[24] Gold 250,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[25] N/A 27,980^
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[27] 8× Platinum 8,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Certifications
U.S. U.S. R&B U.S. Dance U.S. AC AUS AUT CAN FRA GER IRE NL NOR NZ UK
1988 "Please Don't Go Girl" 10 55 — — — — — — — — — — — —
    "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" 3 28 20 — 1 12 — 17 12 2 32 — 2 1
    1989 "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" 1 12 — 3 — — — — 31 2 8 — 28 5
    • US: Gold
    "Hangin' Tough" 1 — — — 8 — 4 — 29 1 31 5 7 1
    • US: Platinum
    • CAN: Gold
    "Cover Girl" 2 — — — 22 — — — — 6 — — 17 4
    • US: Gold
    • CAN: Gold

    References

    1. ↑ '-tough/ "New Kids on the Block: Hangin' Tough (1989) - Synopsis - MSN Movies". Movies.msn.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    2. ↑ "Which albums had the highest number of worldwide sales?". Tsort.info. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    3. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r13961
    4. ↑ "Hangin' Tough: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    5. ↑ "CG: new kids on the block". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    6. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    7. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    8. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    9. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    10. ↑ http://books.google.ca/books?id=bCgEAAAAMBAJ&lr=&rview=1|title=Hits of the World - Eurochart|work=Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|date=27 January 1990
    11. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 263. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5. 
    12. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    13. ↑ '+Tough&country=de "charts.de". charts.de. 1988-03-21. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    14. ↑ "「ＮＥＷ ＫＩＤＳ、ストリート・タフ宣言」 ニュー・キッズ・オン・ザ・ブロック│オリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE". Oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    15. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    16. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    17. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    18. ↑ "New Kids On The Block | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    19. ↑ "Billboard 200 : Sep 09, 1989 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.com. 1989-09-09. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    20. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/312175/new-kids-block/chart
    21. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – New Kids on the Block – Hangin' Tough" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved July 15, 2012.  Enter New Kids on the Block in the field Interpret. Enter Hangin' Tough in the field Titel. Select album in the field Format. Click Suchen
    22. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – New Kids on the Block – Hangin' Tough". Music Canada. Retrieved July 15, 2012. 
    23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 The first web page presents the sales figures, the second presents the certification limits:
    24. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (New Kids on the Block; 'Hangin' Tough')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved July 15, 2012. 
    25. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – New Kids on the Block – Hangin' Tough" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 25 July 2012. 
    26. ↑ "British album certifications – New Kids on the Block – Hangin' Tough". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 15, 2012.  Enter Hangin' Tough in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
    27. ↑ "American album certifications – New Kids on the Block – Hangin' Tough". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 15, 2012.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
    28. ↑ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database - January 23, 2014". RIAA. Retrieved 2014-01-23. 
    29. ↑
    Preceded by
    Repeat Offender by Richard Marx    		 Billboard 200 number-one album
    September 9–22, 1989     		Succeeded by
    Girl You Know It's True by Milli Vanilli
    New Kids on the Block
    Studio albums
    Compilations
    Singles
    Tours
    Related articles
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