June 28, 1998

There's a misguided perception that music critics hate Hanson, that they're all a bunch of grumpy old guys who refuse to dig the band's buoyant pop.

Although there may be a lot of grumpy old music critics (there are), plenty of reviewers have been kind to the young band. In fact, Hanson has proved to be something of a critics' darling, landing raves for "Middle of Nowhere" and finding "MMMBop" atop countless year-end lists last December.

Critics aren't the only adults who like the group -- even if they're not quite as fanatic as Michelle Fick.

The 27-year-old mother of two is a Hanson nut. From her Port Clinton, Ohio, home, she runs Hansonology, a Web site designed especially for the elder end of Hanson's fan spectrum.

The site has attracted more than 10,000 visitors since Fick and her 31-year-old sister, Kim Janes, launched it in March. Fick teaches at a local college; Janes is about to graduate from Tiffin University with a degree in forensic psychology.

"We designed it as a place where adults feel safe, where no one's making fun of them or ostracizing them," says Fick, who will be at Pine Knob on Monday, accompanied by friends from Texas and Chicago she met through her site.

"People need to understand -- there is a big adult following."

The site features a page called "Adult Obsessions," where fans submit evidence of their Hanson hysteria.

From "Jean," who's married with two children: "You know you are an obsessed adult when you find yourself up at 2 a.m. cutting up all the pictures you downloaded 'for your daughter' to make a 6-foot-by-5-foot collage of Hanson pics."

Fick says she's attracted by the group's spotless image.

"They're great role models for our kids," she says of her daughters, ages 11 and 8. "And for us, I guess."

Her husband, meanwhile, has learned to bear the brunt of his family's Hanson fetish, including Hanson trivia games at the dinner table. It is, after all, three against one.

"He likes country," says Fick. "He'll listen to 'em, but, well, he doesn't have their CD in his vehicle."

You can find Hansonology at www.geocities.com/~hansonology