<P> In the early 1980s, Maurice Starr discovered R&B / pop quintet New Edition, and guided their early success . After breaking ties with them, Starr and his business partner, Mary Alford, sought to create a white counterpart act . Fifteen - year - old Donnie Wahlberg immediately impressed Starr and Alford with his rapping skills, dancing ability and showmanship, becoming the group's first member . Wahlberg assisted in helping to recruit other members . Among them were his younger brother Mark including his best friends Danny Wood and Jamie Kelly . He also coaxed one - time schoolmate Jordan Knight - who sang an exceptional falsetto - into auditioning for Starr as well . Upon Knight's passing the audition, his older brother Jonathan was accepted into the group as well . </P> <P> As the group began to take shape, Mark Wahlberg left and was briefly replaced by Jamie Kelly . When a search was made to find a Michael Jackson-esque singer to fill the role, Starr replaced Mark with 12 - year - old Joey McIntyre, whom the other members initially resented for being the one to replace their friend . With the final line - up in place, Starr rehearsed the boys diligently, after school and on weekends, and eventually secured the group (Nynuk) a recording contract at Columbia Records . However, the label demanded Starr change the name of the group . Subsequently, they settled on New Kids on the Block, after a rap song that Donnie Wahlberg had written and arranged for their first album . </P> <P> In April 1986, Columbia Records released the group's self - titled debut album . The album, almost exclusively written and produced by Maurice Starr, featured mid 80s bubblegum pop material . The first single, "Be My Girl", received minor airplay around the group's native Boston, but failed to capture nationwide attention . The album's second single, "Stop It Girl", fared even worse . The New Kids went on tour around the New England states, singing wherever Starr could book them: in bars, school dances, and clubs . Nevertheless, Starr remained diligent and persuaded the label to allow the group to record a second album . </P> <P> After the failure of the first album, Starr had the group back in the studio for most of 1987 and 1988 recording their second album . Dissatisfied with the excessively bubblegum sound of their first album, the group wanted to have more input on their look, direction and song material . As a result, Wahlberg, Wood and Jordan Knight received associate producer credit on the final product . The album's first single was "Please Don't Go Girl", a ballad released in the spring of 1988 . Failure seemed destined a second time when the song became another that went unnoticed by the listening public, and Columbia Records made plans to drop the New Kids from the label . At the eleventh hour, however, a radio station in Florida began playing the song . Scoring listener approval, it soon became the most requested song on their play list . When Columbia caught wind of the positive response, they decided to keep the group on its roster and put more effort into promoting the single . Columbia decided to re-shoot a music video for "Please Don't Go Girl", hiring director Doug Nichol, and sent the video to thousands of radio stations across the country to show the group's visual appeal . National attention soon followed and "Please Don't Go Girl" eventually climbed to No. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart--becoming the group's first hit . </P>

When did new kids on the block come out