An alarming return! A.K.A. not exactly new, but...

I speak not of myself here, recovering from the world of the unemployed and now sitting comfortable at State Farm insurance.

Nor do I reference this post, and my return to the blogosphere after a long first week of aforementioned j-o-business.

And NO, it has NOTHING to do with politics (breathe a sigh of relief, at least for now).

No, I have come back to alert you all of a most shocking return to the world of pop music! Not a place I usually visit, and in fact wasn't even intending to when I flipped open YouTube tonight. But there they were, a promoted video: the flipping New Kids on the Block!

Many of you will scoff (especially those of you who grew up in a cool place like Grand Rapids, who lived and breathed rap and r&b before I even knew who New Edition was), but sadly this is one of the boy groups we favored out in lake country, good ol' Minnesnowta.

Yep, my sister Lea's first concert was NKOTB, on the fourth of July when I was nine years old. I was so jealous but I would never tell her that, not even to this day. Declaring the group stupid and her devotion to them a flash in the pan, I had to listen to them in secret behind my sister's back. I scoffed at her "Donnie's Girl" homemade t-shirt and practiced my early dance moves to Hangin' Tough playing oh-so softly on the boombox in our basement.

So, in honor of this group who has obviously soured (their new single is called "Single" for crying out loud), and to continue my quest to let you all in on my little secret childhood (I am in no way cool, never have been, never will be, and let this post be a lesson to it!)... here's a look back on one of their better ones, "Please Don't Go, Girl" from 1989.

For fun, count how many times they clench their fists in effigy. I think I got up to 37.