Over on the disco thread I made the point that back in the day, teen idol acts would fade away as their fans grew older, whereas now people like Justin Bieber just get recycled for new generations of pre- and barely-pubescents.
Borracho suggesated a thread on it, noting that Westlife have been going for 15 years, whereas in the past they'd be past their sell-by date after three years.
There is, of course, also the phenomenon whereby teen acts get refurbished as an adult act to appeal to their original audience once that audience is old enough to recall the past with nostalgic sentiments (cf. Take That).
Past big teen idol acts had limited survival chances, even if they were quite good.
Herman’s Hermits lasted a while -- six years before first and last UK Top 10 hit) -- but they were more like The Beatles: teens loved them, but older people, too.
The Monkees were manufactured and lasted the allotted three years (less at the top).
David Cassidy broke in 1970 with The Partridge Family, and extended his shelf-life by a couple of years. But by 1975, his career came to a halt.
The Osmonds had a couple of years as Tiger Beat bait, before Donny and Marie became family primetime entertainment
The Bay City Rollers cornered the teen hysteria market for two and-a-half years, from early 1974 to late 1976 (a little longer in Germany).
Duran Duran had the teen market in hand from 1982 to mid-1985 (did they attract the teenies already with Girls On Film?).
The Spice Girls had a run of four years, from 1996, though the bubble was already punctured by 1999. The Backstreet Boys had a similar timeframe of exciting young teens.
However, some of Justin Bieber's first fans are now old enough to vote -- he's been having hits since 2009.
Borracho suggesated a thread on it, noting that Westlife have been going for 15 years, whereas in the past they'd be past their sell-by date after three years.
There is, of course, also the phenomenon whereby teen acts get refurbished as an adult act to appeal to their original audience once that audience is old enough to recall the past with nostalgic sentiments (cf. Take That).
Past big teen idol acts had limited survival chances, even if they were quite good.
Herman’s Hermits lasted a while -- six years before first and last UK Top 10 hit) -- but they were more like The Beatles: teens loved them, but older people, too.
The Monkees were manufactured and lasted the allotted three years (less at the top).
David Cassidy broke in 1970 with The Partridge Family, and extended his shelf-life by a couple of years. But by 1975, his career came to a halt.
The Osmonds had a couple of years as Tiger Beat bait, before Donny and Marie became family primetime entertainment
The Bay City Rollers cornered the teen hysteria market for two and-a-half years, from early 1974 to late 1976 (a little longer in Germany).
Duran Duran had the teen market in hand from 1982 to mid-1985 (did they attract the teenies already with Girls On Film?).
The Spice Girls had a run of four years, from 1996, though the bubble was already punctured by 1999. The Backstreet Boys had a similar timeframe of exciting young teens.
However, some of Justin Bieber's first fans are now old enough to vote -- he's been having hits since 2009.
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