From the introduction of 98° to the last track, 98° is obviously not your ordinary group. First of all, look at them. Really look at them. Then glance at their record company, Motown Records. You know, Johnny Gill, Stevie Wonder, BOYZ II MEN. Now look at 98° again. Not your typical group a'tall. When I glance at their cd I can't help but remember the story that my local radio deejay told on how they originally got the song. See, there are people that are supposed to promote the songs and ask the deejays to play them on the radio. Well, this particular promoter stressed to this particular deejay that the song was really good. That the band is on Motown Records but they're WHITE. That they don't sound white but they are........ Amazing that this day and age that that's even a factor, the deejay later commented on the radio. The song is fantastic! Who cares what they look like?
The song I am talking about, of course, is their first release off their self-titled album "Invisible Man". Wanna hear a clip of it? Go to Motown's page. "Invisible Man" is only one of the many awesome songs on their album. Their ballads are to die for, but then again, so are their upbeat songs. The four all have deep, rich voices that seem to touch something in you. A very helpful person told me that the low voice in the intro is Justin. He's got the one of the most desirable voices I've ever heard. There are three things that really attract me to a man: eyes, smile, and voice. Justin's definitely got all three, especially the voice! I could listen to him for hours, honest. They harmonize (is that a word?) well, their voices blending to sound wonderful to any listener. If you're into groups like Boyz II Men then you'll definitely like 98°.
Alright, let's introduce these four handsome men. We have 25-yr-old Jeffrey (Jeff) Brandon Timmons, 24-yr-old Nicholas (Nick) Scott Lachey (pronounced La-shay; thanks for the info, Shaniah!), 22-yr-old Andrew (Drew) John Lachey, and 24-yr-old Justin Paul Jeffre. Jeff was the original one trying to start a band. A former bandmate recommended Nick to him. Nick brought in Justin and when their fourth bandmember quit, Nick gave Drew a ring. After getting together they finally got a spot to sing the national anthem at a pro baseball game (Dodgers vs. Reds) by singing in the corporate offices' lobby. Then a while later they got a record contract with Motown after singing their way backstage at a Boyz II Men concert. They never did get to meet Boyz II Men that night. =)
And did you know that the original name of the group WASN'T 98° ? When they first formed they had named themselves JustUs. The four changed their name to 98° because, of course, 98° is HOT and numbers stick better in the mind than letters do. Kudos on your part, guys, because 98° is a much better name! And now you get the words attached to you like hot, steaming, smokin', and such. For some reason I keep wanting to add sexy in there, too. Don't ask me why..... Anyways, they now reside in NY. I thought they lived in L.A. Silly me. Along with some of the inane things you learn in the teen magazines, sometimes you'll find stuff that's actually pretty kewl. Hehe Another fountain of information *heavy sarcasm* is their first edition fan club newsletter (which I received 2 of; what the heck is up with that?!) and NO package thingy! (But no complaining about that right now) There you'll find all the things that you can read at their official website, or rather their former official website. A couple of things that were interesting was their majors after high school. Jeff was majoring in psychology in college (one class I actually truely loved) while Justin was majoring in History. Pre-98°, Nick was pursuing a Sports Medicine degree.......go figure. *more sarcasm* Drew was an EMT in Brooklyn, which everyone knows, but I also heard something about the Army? So that's where ya got the great bod! Hahaha Ya coulda chosen better, Lachey! Air Force uniforms look way cooler! Not to mention if you would have kept up a military career that Mountain Home Air Force Base is in Idaho! You're probably much better suited for a singing career anyways! Every fangirl seems to think so! LOL
Now how did I come about with some of this information such as age and middle names? Humiliating story for me, I'm sure. =) You don't want to know how I spent part of my day crouched at the magazine section leafing through mags such as Tiger Beat, BB (formally known as The Big Bopper; heck yeah I remember that!), Bop, and such, do you? LOL Be assured, I quickly made my way back to the computer gaming and fantasy novel sections each time a person walked by. *grins* After all, I AM a 20-yr-old female. I should have outgrown those sort of magazines, right? *grins again* Hmm, maybe not. =) If they'd only appear in some other magazines, sheesh. The teen magazines remind me too much of, well, my early teens. And really, do I want to remember those years? Not especially. Alright, I amend that. I don't want to remember the music I listened to! LOL I loved the rest of it, school and all. But the music I listen to now is much better. ;)
Did I mention that they have the looks too? Take a look at any of them (especially Nick Lachey, LOL). Nick's got the hair, the lips, the eyes, the voice. He looks good in a regular shirt, he looks good in flannel. He's deadly in a leather jacket. Not that I'm attracted to Nick. You probably don't believe me after all that but I'm not! Alright, maybe a little, but just that! He's very nice looking and all but.........well, my tastes run more to his brother, Drew. Hazel eyes, brown hair, dresses nice as far as I can tell, ve-ery kissable-looking lips, and there's just that certain SOMETHING about him that makes a girl like me sigh dreamily. And did I mention the killer smile Drew has? He's got the looks but there's the question of heighth. 5'6" (which is NOT wrong, or else the fan club newsletter is wrong, not to mention all the teen mags)?! Ouch! Nick, at 5'11", barely makes the cut for my heighth. Maybe I should amend my thoughts on having a man that's over 6'...... They say good things come in small packages right? Wait......I promised myself this page wouldn't become a worship somebody-rather page. =) So enough talk about Drew Lachey *sighs dreamily*. Listen to the 98° cd, it's one of my favs. =D Hmmmmmm, I just had a thought. I wonder if they (98° ) ever look at the fan pages. I hope not. =) It's always been my luck to end up in situations that are most embarrassing (i.e. "Hey, I've seen your page!"). Yep, that's exactly what I need, I swear. LOL Then again, why should I care? =) I happen to love their music and did so even before I knew what they looked like. I consider fan pages a.........um, a tribute to some truly great groups (or comics, games, novels, etc).
And now I have to amend what I wondered. They do, infact, look at the fan pages! So all my work isn't for just a crazy liking to a group! Whoo hoo! Wanna know the first thing I did when I got the e-mail from Jeff Timmons? I immediately hit my head on my desk! Not in the I'm-so-excited way, but the oh-goddesses-I-remember-what-I-wrote way. It WOULD have to be the one group member I kinda (and I really stress that word) made fun of about liking orange and blue, wouldn't it? Not that I minded the e-mail, a'tall! But still..........sheesh. I swear, if Jeff makes good on his comment ("I'll tell the guyz about your site" - minus the extra L that Jeff put on I'll; nice typing, Jeff, I'm sure) I'm just gonna..........heck, I don't even know WHAT I'll do. Do I really need Drew to know what I think of him, eh? LOL Not that I'll change that paragraph! What's the chances that I'll ever be in that situation again?