Hangin' Tough

Hangin' Tough
Studio album by New Kids on the Block
Released	September 6, 1988
Recorded	1988 Mission Control, Westford, MA The House Of Hits, Boston, MA Normandy Recording Studio, Providence, RI
Genre	Pop R&B dance-pop pop rock
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
"Please Don't Go Girl" Released: April 16, 1988 "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" Released: November 7, 1988 "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" Released: April 10, 1989 "Hangin' Tough" Released: July 3, 1989 "Cover Girl" Released: August 22, 1989

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 second 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 single, 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 and 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 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 U.S. 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 gain such chart success.

Singles

Five 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, 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

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.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"You Got It (The Right Stuff)"	Maurice Starr	Jordan Knight Donnie Wahlberg	4:13
2.	"Please Don't Go Girl"	Starr	Joey McIntyre Jordan Knight	4:31
3.	"I'll Be Loving You (Forever)"	Starr	Jordan Knight	4:28
4.	"Cover Girl"	Starr	Donnie Wahlberg	4:08
5.	"I Need You"	Starr	Donnie Wahlberg	3:38
6.	"Hangin' Tough"	Starr	Donnie 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"	Starr	Danny 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 Spanish Albums Chart[17] 27 Swiss Albums Chart[18] 19 UK Albums Chart[19] 2 US Billboard 200[20] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[21] 40 Year-end charts Chart (1989) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[22] 28 Canadian Albums Chart[23] 11 UK Albums Chart[24] 69 US Albums Chart[25] 2 Chart (1990) Peak position Canadian Albums Chart[26] 17 French Albums Chart[27] 60 New Zealand Albums Chart[28] 22 Norwegian Albums Chart (Skoleslutt Period)[29] 7 UK Albums Chart[30] 21 US Albums Chart[31] 13

Sales and certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[32] Platinum 70,000 Austria (IFPI Austria)[33] Gold 25,000 Canada (Music Canada)[34] Diamond 1,000,000 Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[35] Gold 37,386[35] Germany (BVMI)[36] Gold 250,000 Japan (RIAJ)[37] N/A 27,980 New Zealand (RMNZ)[38] Platinum 15,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[39] 2× Platinum 600,000 United States (RIAA)[40] 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	US: Gold[41] UK: Gold[42]
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

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3. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r13961
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42. Archived May 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.