Vintage 1991 New Kids on the Block Earrings — Yellow Variant — Original ButtonUp Card 🎤 NOS

When Did New Kids on the Block Out-Earn Michael Jackson? The Year New Kids on the Block Out-Earned Michael Jackson 🎤

Size: 1" x 1/2"

In 1991 Forbes put five young men from Boston at the top of its list of the highest-paid entertainers, ahead of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince and Bill Cosby. That same year the group's merchandise sales reached US$400 million. These earrings are a small, bright piece of that year: a pair of yellow NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK logo charms, still hooked through their black Button•Up display card, never worn, new old stock from 1991.

🏷️ What Is on the Card

• Charms: two yellow plastic cut-outs of the group's stacked logo, NEW KIDS / ON THE / BLOCK, the letters outlined in dark green and the O in BLOCK drawn as a wide oval
• Hardware: silver-tone fishhook ear wires with a coiled wrap and a small ball above each charm
• Card: black display card with Button•Up in gold foil script across the top
• Back: plain black, the ends of both ear wires pushed through the card, with a folded top edge
• Printed date, city or license line: none on the card
• Condition: new old stock, unworn and still on the original card

🎶 Five Kids from Dorchester

Maurice Starr, born Larry Curtis Johnson in DeLand, Florida, had already discovered New Edition on his talent show and co-written and co-produced their debut album, the one with "Candy Girl." In 1984, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, he put together a new vocal group. He built it on the same formula as New Edition, a group whose very name was meant as a new edition of the Jackson 5, so these five kids came down a line that runs straight back to Motown. One newspaper summed Starr up as a cross between Berry Gordy and P.T. Barnum, and I can't think of a better description. They were first called Nynuk; the story goes that the name New Kids on the Block came from a rap song Donnie Wahlberg had written and arranged for their first album. Mark Wahlberg was in the group for only a few months and Jamie Kelly left early, and Joey McIntyre joined at the age of 12. The five who made the logo famous were Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight and Joey McIntyre.

Starr ran more than the music. He handled the production, the songwriting and the marketing of the merchandise, and he played the part of "the General," in quasi-military uniforms hung with medals he admitted he had not earned in any service. Hangin' Tough, released in September 1988, reached number one on the Billboard 200 and went eight times platinum. MTV had a big hand in that. The album's second single, "You Got It (The Right Stuff)," came out at the end of 1988, MTV put the video in regular rotation, Club MTV included, and by early 1989 the song had cracked the top five. "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" went all the way to number one that June. My favorite part: in 1988 they had been the opening act on Tiffany's tour, and by the next go-round the tables had turned and Tiffany wound up opening for them. By 1989 the group was the fastest-rising act in the United States. Step by Step followed in May 1990, was certified triple platinum and sold close to 20 million copies worldwide.

💰 The Merchandise Wave

With Starr marketing the merchandise, the stacked logo went onto everything a fan could buy. He handled the posters and T-shirts too, and if you ever taped a New Kids poster inside your locker door, you know exactly how far that logo got around. A Saturday morning cartoon about the group was developed by Pangea Corporation, the fans took a name of their own, Blockheads, and in 1991 the band's merchandise earned four hundred million dollars in a single year. Fan jewelry like this pair was one small way into that world: a logo you could buy on a card and wear out the door the same afternoon.

🏙️ Dorchester, Massachusetts

The neighborhood that produced the group goes back to 1630. On June 17 of that year a boat carrying eight men from the ship Mary and John landed on the Dorchester shore, and Dorchester stayed a town of its own until it officially became part of Boston on January 3, 1870. The Battle of Dorchester Heights in 1776 led to the British evacuation of Boston, and America's first chocolate mill and factory opened there in 1765. In the early twentieth century its three-decker apartment buildings housed industrial workers, and today Dorchester covers more than six square miles as Boston's largest neighborhood by far.

🎤 After the Mania

The peak did not last. In 1992 the group admitted to using a backing track during live performances and said Starr had sung harmony on some background vocals. They shortened the name to NKOTB in 1993 and disbanded in 1994. The Blockheads stayed loyal: New Kids on the Block reunited in 2008, and on October 9, 2014 they received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

🖼️ Display and Wear

Left on the card, the pair shows exactly as it hung for sale, the yellow logos standing out against the black. Taken off, they are ordinary fishhook ear wires for pierced ears.

• A shadow box with a Hangin' Tough cassette or a concert ticket stub
• A boy band or teen idol memorabilia collection
• A gift for a lifelong Blockhead
• A themed party or a reunion show

❓ Questions People Ask

What year are these New Kids on the Block earrings from?

They date to 1991, the year the group topped Forbes' list of highest-paid entertainers.

Who made them?

The display card is printed Button•Up in gold script. It names no city.

Have they been worn?

No. They are new old stock, still hooked through their original card.

Are they for pierced ears?

Yes. Each charm hangs from a fishhook ear wire.

Who were the members of New Kids on the Block?

Jordan and Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood.

Did New Kids on the Block break up?

They disbanded in 1994 and got back together in 2008.