Quoting myself:

Duran Duran

There's a huge gap in Boy Bands between the Rollers and New Edition. In between (from a teen pop/Top 40 perspective), you've got the Disco era and the early MTV groups of the '80s. Disco gives us nothing Boy Band. Well, the Village People might qualify as a Boy Band on Christopher Street, but the Bee Gees were far too old and hairy and dentally intimidating to play the brother act for pre-teens. While neither a Boy Band nor particularly bubblegum, Duran Duran did efficiently plug this gap in the pop cultural psyche. They made danceable hits, the boys were cute (and distinct enough to allow a variety of favorites -- a staple of Boy Band dynamics) and young girls had to be hosed down after their concerts. Further, Duran Duran's avowed ambition to cross the Sex Pistols with Chic differs little from the formula advanced by the Backstreet Boys of grafting Boys II Men harmonies onto Gap Band grooves. It's a Pop Funk thang. One further fascinating but tenuous connection between Duran Duran and bubblegum involves the men who directed their early revolutionary videos, Godley and Creme ("Girls on Film," "Hungry Like The Wolf"). When Graham Gouldman contracted with bubblegum kings Kasenetz and Katz, he recruited his buddies Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, with Eric Stewart, to record one of the last Ohio Express singles, "Sausalito." Whatever happened to those guys? They formed 10cc, of course.

My parents always had this holiday party, and they would put in videos for the kids. Whatever year it was, they figured my peers and I were too old for cartoons, so got some pop music.... Duran Duran, Girls On Film. Oops. A little too dirty for a family party!

A little too dirty for a family party!

Did they have "The Chauffeur" on that tape?

Oh yeah, probably. I don't even know.

Edit: It must have been this: [link]

Well, that one is super porny.

I didn't know until my ex-GF (your age, and a Duran Duran fan) talked about discovering it on a video rental as a teen.

I was an equal opportunity NE/NKOTB enjoyer, but I did feel a little embarrassed about liking New Kids. Loved NE right up through my college days. Heartbreak was maybe their best album and that dropped 1988: If It Isn't Love, You're Not My Kind of Girl, NE Heartbreak, the original version of Can You Stand the Rain (although the Boyz II Men version is superior). Oh man, New Edition was the good times.

although the Boyz II Men version is superior

Yeah, those guys could sing a bit.

I graduated high school in 1985, so we were a little ahead of the boy band thing, I guess.

Yep. This was me, too. Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Def Leppard, U2 were all huge as were Bruce and John Mellencamp. We also loved Level 42 & Simple Minds as well. (Desperately wanted "Don't You Forget About Me" as our class song, but the stiffs in charge of Student Gov't thought "We've Only Just Begun" would be an oh-so-apropos choice. *gag*)

And Pink Floyd, The Who, and Yes were also huge, since they'd do whole album laser light shows at the Planetarium on Friday and Saturday nights.

(although the Boyz II Men version is superior).

I don't know about all that! That song KILLS ME. Man, what is better than pubescent pop music? I'm going to say nothing.

Some Keith Sweat came up on my iPod earlier when I was walking around, and I almost had to sit down.

I never liked boy bands much, but I was addicted to Monkees reruns on television.

My first boy band was Menudo. There was also some New Edition time in there.

My neighborhood was not down with the NKOTB.