Boy Band Image

I think that can be several types of boyband, and these clear differences between the types of artist reflect hugely on their audience.

For example, there can be the clean-cut, good guys look for a boyband such as Westlife. In the original group there were 5 straight young men with a strong Irish background, with this also giving connotations of a Christian upbringing. Furthermore, they did not swear in their songs and were rarely photographed by the media falling out of nightclubs and starting fights. As a result of their image, the band appealed to the younger generation, often referred to as "teenyboppers". These teenyboppers or pre-teens, were often girls of the age of 11 or younger, who aspired to be like the older teens they knew. The 'clean' image presented by the band also appealed to housewives and women over 50 as their innocent behaviour and lyrical content detracted away from the 'foul mouthed youth of today'. Some parents would also see the members of the boyband as a positive role model for their own children, especially their sons, as their good behaviour and attitudes towards charities for example were seen as very moral and just.


Another example of a type of boyband is the more grungy, laidback punk rockers, for example Busted. Busted consisted of 3 teenagers, with spiky hair, sometimes dyed in rebellious colours, who wore baggy trousers together with ripped and tatty clothes. The chains they wore, as well as the guitars they played created a more unruly image for the band, yet their lyrical content and overall behaviour was still deemed as innocent. This is perhaps most prominent in the video for their single "What I Go To School For"; although the video is set during a sex education class, we see videos from wildlife documentaries, therefore not directly dealing with the more controversial issue. Not only did they attract teenage girls with their looks, teenage boys were also able to idolise their behaviour towards school and positions of authority.

One of the less common types of boy band is the grittier, more 'street' boyband. For example, East-17 were named after their hometown postcode in order to appear more working class and realistic. They used a rapping style in some of their songs which also connotes violence and drugs due to the American Gangster culture seen at the time. Furthermore, one member, Brain Harvey, was involved in a drug controversy when he said it was "cool to take drugs". The 'badboy' image the band had created for themselves allowed more working class males to become fans, as they could relate to members of the band or the style of music more. Furthermore, their total opposition to the conventional clean cut genre meant that it was not embarrassing to like the band, this often being the case with groups like 'Take That'.

I feel that if we are to go ahead with the boyband idea, it is important for us to realise these different types of boyband, and how an audience will respond to them. As we have decided to use "EN3" as a band name, we have gone down a similar route to that of East17. HOwever, we do not want the negative image the band recieved due to their drug problems, so we would have to find a balance between some of the aspects of each type of boyband.