I don't know what Joe's thoughts were, as I can't recall ever hearing or reading him commenting on NE or any other 80s boy bands. I have to point out though, that by the time NE came along, the Jacksons as a group were far removed from their bubblegum stage and I can't imagine that Joe, or the fellas themselves, saw NE as competition. Besides at that point, MJ was blowin up on his own. The group was barely existing anyway.
As a Jacksons' fan, I wouldn't call any of their musical attempts "weird". It's unfortunate that Rebbie's one major hit single [[which my mother purchased) is such a nonsensical novelty record, as Rebbie really had some chops. [[A lot of people don't know that she won the Roosevelt Talent Contest before her brothers did.) She cut some nice stuff. Randy also suffered a cruel musical fate when he couldn't find success outside of his family. His Randy and the Gypsys music was really good and his vocal skills are sadly underrated. 3T apparently was huge overseas, but didn't do much over here outside of "Anything For You", which is a song I still play regularly. They cut some other good stuff also, though much of it sounds a bit dated. Jackie's first solo album in the 70s was very good. I still don't understand why it wasn't well received like Michael and Jermaine's first solo gos.
I stand corrected. Latoya's "Gonna Get Rocked" was weird. I still remember where I was the first time I heard it.
I don't know what Papa Joe thought about NE, Menudo, or New Kids, or any others, but I imagine he didn't think any of them could hold a candle to his kids.
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