THE BROTHERS HANSON

by David Konjoyan

Can a teen band survive idolatry?

Teen sensations Hanson captivated the notoriously short attention spans of young girls last year with their blond, homey, boy-next-door freshness and the effervescent, inescapable hit single "MMMBop". The brothers Hanson -- Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary -- have sold more than four million copies of their major-label debut Middle of Nowhere, earning two GRAMMY Nominations (Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance) as well as enough attention to inspire countless Internet love (and hate) sites.

Yes, the little girls obviously understand, but just what is it they understand? Certainly not the one thing they may care most about, at least this month: Will Hanson still matter when their braces come off next summer? Teen idols, after all, are sort of the music industry's version of planned obsolescence. It doesn't take long before beards and chest hair sprout (yechh), and voices change, and, most importantly,fans mature.

Just what separates Michael Jackson from Joey DeFranco or Stevie Wonder from Leif Garrett can be as mystifying a concept as cosmogenesis or as simple a notion as talent. Where Hanson sits on the longevity time line is anyone's guess at the moment, but Hanson does seem to be adhering to a few essential career-building credos:

• Have a Healthy Sense of History. Any teen idol who fails to at least acknowledge what came before is condemned to repeat past idols' mistakes, like wearing Bobby Sherman-style chokers or David Cassidy puka shells, or cutting a linp dance cover of a questionable rock hit like Michael Damian's "Rock On". But the Hanson boys seem to realize there was life pre-"MMMBop".
  "I feel really bad for the Beatles because they couldn't hear themselves play," says eldest Hanson Isaac, commiserating about his group's own screaming 10-something fans. Hanson also drew musical inspiration from a set of Time/Life CDs covering '60s pop, which they apparently listened to while parents Walker and Diana Hanson remodeled the bathroom.
• Play Your Own Instruments. The Fab-Four Beatles were real musicians; the pre-fab Monkees weren't. That and a short-lived farcical TV show produced by Archies creator Don Kirshner cost Davy, Mickey, Peter and Mike a lot of credibility that they have spent the rest of their lives searching for. "The cool thing about being a musician," notes Hanson guitarist Isaac, "is that you can mess around with a whole bunch of different things. In fact, I play keyboards too. I studied classical piano for, like, seven years." Mostly, of course, the cool thing is you can call yourself a musician. Strangely, in the music world, that counts for something.

• Team Up With Respected Industry Talents. The Dust Brothers, considered among the most cutting-edge producers in rock (based on their work with artists like the Beastie Boys and Beck), produced "MMMBop". And a host of quality composers, engineers, and others helped Hanson hone their sound. On the down side, even the Partridge Family and Osmond Brothers sang Carole Kind songs and had top-notch producers.
• Endear Yourself to the Critics. Unlike so many teen stars before them, from Frankie Avalon to Andy Gibb to Tiffany, Hanson has been praised by the often snobbish rock press. Virtually every year-end critics poll voted "MMMBop" among the best singles of the year, acknowledging what became one of the most memorable pop records of 1997. With its throwback Jackson 5 bubble-gum groove freshened by turntable scratching and the energetic singing of 12-year-old Zachary, "MMMBop" tasted m-m-m-good to Top 40 radio programmers and rock cognoscentialike.
• Assert Creative Control. It made Janet Jackson a mega-star when she seemed headed toward a career as a Love Boat extra. The Hanson trio writes many of their own songs and -- mother-of-all-indie-cred -- recorded and distributed two CDs on their own before hooking up with Mercury Records for the breakthrough Middle of Nowhere. "We have a large amount of say in just about everything," Isaac explains. "We are very involved in everything we do. [On each video shoot] we're right there saying, 'That's cool, that's not so cool', that kind of thing. And the record's the same way. We get more and more involved in the production process." Even Elvis spent a few miserable B-movie years just showing up to lay a vocal down between bites of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
• Avoid Burnout. All those mall tours can tax even the most hyper youth. Already the specter of being overwhelmed looms like a bad report card over the boys. "It's sad when bands get involved in [drugs]," world-weary Isaac told Rolling Stone, "but the scary thing is, you know why they do, because it is soooo stressful. People don't realize how much bands go through to promote records."
  "You've gotta pace yourself," said old-timer Zac in the same interview. "You can't just go all out."
• Keep the Right Company. In Hollywood, the most convenient way to either sell or damn something is by making comparisons; better hope you're in the right company when you find yourself compared. If that comparison is to Debbie Gibson, Heaven's Gate or Argentina in the Falkland Islands war, you're in trouble. The Beatles, the Jackson 5, Mahatma Gandhi -- These are good. (Never, however, compare yourself to Jesus Christ.) "You know, I think anybody like the Jackson 5, they were so phenomenally successful and they made such great music, we really don't feel worthy of that comparison," demurs middle Hanson Taylor. Which brings us to the next point.
• Act Humble. Even if you don't really mean it. If nothing else, it just decreases expectations.
  "[It's] an incredibly humbling experience to be onstage and see these people screaming and to hear their excitement," says Isaac with, well, humility, sounding like he took Interview 101 from some hard-working fan-favorite baseballer like Kirby Puckett or Mark McGwire. For good measure, he adds some more "aw, shucks" wisdom: "The truth is, [I'm] the same person [I was] before, and if you lose that, that's a real bummer." And "[This] is all about the people who go out and buy the record and come to the concert, because without them you can't continue to do your music."
• Ace The Follow Up. Finally, although conventional music-biz wisdom has it that you're only as good as your last hit, in the real music world, you're only as good as your next hit. And herein lies the rub for Hanson. With the brothers currently at work on a new album, will they follow Middle of Nowhere with a hits-loaded record that reflects the meaningful growth and exploration that can open them to a widening audience? Or will they simply become as extinct as the Cowsills?