Hangin’ Tough: A Conversation with Jordan Knight

CONFESSIONS OF A POP CULTURE ADDICT PRESENTS 

HANGIN’ TOUGH:

A CONVERSATION WITH JORDAN KNIGHT

Candace and I followed the attractive blonde woman up the dark staircase to the Trasheteria’s Blue Room. Within the next hour the Blue Room was to be the location of a “meet and greet” between former New Kid on the Block Jordan Knight and his fans who had shelled out a fifty dollar cover fee. However, by contacting the right people weeks before, Candace and I had managed to skip the cover fee and were on our way to talk with a pop industry survivor. As the noise from the bar below grew more distant I realized that it seemed awfully quiet. Much more quiet than I would expect. I was surprised when we entered the Blue Room to see that it was nearly empty except for four men – Jordan Knight, his manager, his opening act and a bartender. I had assumed the meet and greet had begun and had no idea just how exclusive this interview was going to be. As we stood in the doorway all four swung around.

“Who are these two?” Jordan’s manager said abruptly to Tracy.

“These are the people who contacted us from that web company to talk to Jordan but things got cancelled and messed up,” Tracy said handing the manager my business card. Jordan’s manager read the card and relaxed. He came over, shook our hands and introduced us around the room, finishing with Jordan Knight for the final introduction. All this time Jordan was pouring himself a drink at the bar. Jordan approached us warmly and shook our hands.

“Thanks for giving us some of your time tonight,” I said to Jordan, “it was a really great show tonight. It was a lot of fun.”

“Thanks,” Jordan said. I noticed his thick Boston accent which didn’t seem evident when he was on stage right away.

I took a few minutes to tell Jordan about the website as he propped himself up on a bar stool across from me and concentrated on every word. I wasn’t always sure if he knew what I meant when I was talking about “pop culture’s journey” and “modern collective subconscious” so I decided not to waste any more time and just cut to the chase. “I have some questions prepared and I was hoping we could just talk for a bit,” I said.

“Yeah, sure. How about we go over there,” Jordan said, gesturing to a small three-seater table in the shadows of the dark room. Candace, Jordan and I moved to a table away from the rest of the room and I dove my hand into my pocket to retrieve my crumpled up sheet of notes. I took a minute to realize just how surreal it was to be sitting at a local bar with a man who was an idol of millions of girls in the late 1980′s. I mean, I’ve had celebrity encounters before, but this was genuinely unique.

“So you’re doing a cross-Canada tour right now,” I began, “You were in Vancouver two weeks ago and are moving right across to the east coast next week. How are you traveling?”

“By bus, thank god” Jordan said.

“You don’t like flying?” I asked.

“No. I mean, you go from one plane to a hotel room to a plane and a hotel room. No. I like traveling by bus. You get to see the country that way too,” Jordan replied.

“So you have a new album out – ‘The Fix”. How’s it selling?”

“Good. It’s doin’ good.” Jordan said, “But I got a new project I’m gonna start recording soon. An album of love songs.”

I was intrigued. This was a real scoop.

“Really? When are you recording it?”

“I start next week. In Orlando.”

“So is it going to be old songs? New songs? What’s going to be on it?”

Jordan smiled. “Ya know. Some old songs… some new songs… I’ve been composing.”

“Okay. Confessions time Jordan,” I said. “So when you were with the New Kids you wrote the song ‘I’ll Be Your Everything’ but Maurice Starr didn’t want you guys recording your own songs so you gave the song to Tommy Page and it was a hit. Well when I was a kid I loved that song but I was too afraid to tell my pals because I thought they’d beat me up.”

Jordan let out a little chuckle. Thank god he had a sense of humor.

“Anyways,” I continued, “Will this album be a chance for you to finally record a version of ‘I’ll Be Your Everything’?”

Jordan looked blankly for a moment as if he was trying to remember the song. Then, in his soprano voice, he began to sing:

“I’ll Be Your Everything! I’ll Be All That You Want. All That You Need.” Jordan stopped singing. “That’s a pretty good song. Uh – I don’t know, maybe.”

It was time to bring this interview back on track. “Okay. So you’re playing small venues on this tour. Do you like it? How is it different from the giant venues from years back?”

“Yeah, I like it,” Jordan said, “I was scared at first. Ya know, I mean in the stadiums there was a sort of wall between us and the audience which was kind of comfortable. But now you can really reach out to the audience. You can get their reactions, make jokes with them and can just let go. It’s a more revealing experience.” Jordan had something there. His show was definitely human. His interaction with the audience really did make the whole night.

“Okay. So as a pioneer of the boy band phenomena, what did you make of the oversaturation of boy bands in the music industry a few years back?” I asked.

“Well you know, music goes through waves. Well, not just music but everything – music, culture, fashion. I mean a few years ago there was gangster rap and then everything was garage and the whole Seattle thing. I mean it just goes through waves. Cycles.” Jordan replied.

“So did you like any of the boy bands?” Candace asked.

“Well yeah. I mean when N’SYNC came out with (and at this point Jordan began to sing again) ‘You’re gone. You’re gone. Baby you’re gone,” I was thinking that that’s a great song. When the Backstreet Boys sang, ‘I Want it That Way’ that was a great song. I mean, I don’t feel any animosity or anything.”

At this point Tracy approached the table. “I’m really sorry but we’re going to have to wrap things up here Sam. We’re going to start the meet and greet soon.” I looked over my page of questions I didn’t get to yet. Questions dealing with the reality of the New Kids on the Block, Jordan’s stint on “The Surreal Life” and the reality of teen idolism. So many questions yet to ask and so little time. However I knew that just getting this half an hour was a lot to have asked. I was thankful for the time I had been slotted.

“Well thanks for everything Jordan. Uh – would you mind if we get some pictures and I get you to sign a picture for me?”

“Sure. No problem,” Jordan said. I pulled out an old teen magazine pin up of Jordan from the late eighties. Jordan’s manager looked over at it.

“Damn. That’s old school!” he laughed. Jordan signed the picture and then we had our picture taken together.

I took the camera from Candace and then went to take a picture of the two of them. That’s when Candace suddenly turned into a thirteen year old girl again.

“I just wanted to tell you Jordan that when I was little had your Barbie doll. I think I still have it somewhere.”

“Awwww… don’t call them Barbies. They aren’t Barbies…” Jordan said with a grin.

“I’m sorry. I mean ‘action figures’,” Candace corrected herself with a snort.

We shook Jordan’s hand one more time, said goodbye to everyone in the Blue Room and then pushed our way past the gaggle of girls that had been let upstairs and were waiting at the door for us to finish with Jordan. As we descended the dark stairway the Blue Room was much nosier. More what I expected when we last were in that staircase.

You know, it would be easy to ridicule an entertainer like Jordan Knight. It would be simple to look at the fact that a man who as a teenager played stadiums is now playing small gigs in small cities. A faded teen idol looking for that last blast of fame. Well let me tell you what my final impressions of Jordan Knight were. He was a nice guy. Far nicer than I would expect from a former teen idol. I didn’t see a shred of arrogance or any hint of ego from him. He was down to earth and genuine. He seems to be realistic about who he is and his role in our pop culture journey. When he was on stage performing, he seemed to be in love with what he was doing and you could see he believed in his music, even if he realized that the critics may not be as kind. Final thought – Jordan Knight is possibly one of the nicest celebrities I’ve had the opportunity to talk with. I only wish there had been a bit more time.