What do you get when you combine music acts New Kids on the Block, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Salt-N-Pepa and Naughty By Nature?
The MixTape Tour of course. The five 80s iconic pop acts will all share the stage for the first time in a 53-date mega concert, cross-crossing North America beginning May next year. Their Toronto date is set for June 19, 2019, at the Scotiabank Arena.
New Kids On The Block, the multi-platinum selling pop group, will headline the show. They are most known for their hits “Hangin’ Tough,” “You Got It (The Right Stuff)”, “I’ll Be Loving You (Forever),” and “Step By Step”. Original bandmates (and brothers) Donnie and Mark Wahlberg would later become two of Hollywood’s most known and biggest grossing leading men.
Salt-N-Pepa enjoyed hits as “Get Up Everybody (Get Up)”, “Twist and Shout”, “Push It” and “Let’s Talk About Sex”.
Naughty By Nature, a Grammy-award winning hip-hop trio, made it big with “O.P.P.” The song reached number six on Billboard’s Hot 100 and became one of the most successful crossover rap songs in music history. That song also went on to be referenced or played in film and television, including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Malibu’s Most Wanted, My Wife and Kids, Monk, and The Office. Another hit, “Everything’s Gonna Be All Right,” was a take on Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry”.
Tiffany hit number one with her self-titled debut album in 1987 with “Could’ve Been,” “I Think We’re Alone Now,” – a cover of the Tommy James and the Shondells 1967 tune – and “I Saw Him Standing There,” a Beatles cover.
Debbie Gibson (who is now also referred to as Deborah Gibson), who at age 16 wrote, played and co-produced her first album Out of the Blue in 1986, enjoyed top ten hits as “Shake Your Love,” “Only in My Dreams,” “Foolish Beat,” and “Staying Together.” Later hits would include “Electric Youth” and “Shock Your Mama.” In recent years, the trained pianist and vocalist also appeared in several B-movies, as well as TV’s Celebrity Apprentice.
To mark the collaboration, New Kids on the Block released, “80s Baby”, a song featuring some vocals of their new touring partners. The video, which can be viewed and streamed on YouTube, shows computer graphics from the era the bands peaked in popularity, while the lyrics reminisce on nostalgic events.
Together, the five acts have sold in excess of 100 million records globally. Tickets have already begun to be sold through Ticketmaster.
Pictured, New Kids on the Block circa 1988
