1980s boy band New Kids On The Block is still hangin' tough

(From left) Jonathan Knight, Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight, Danny Wood and Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block attend the 2021 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on Nov 21, 2021, in Los Angeles. Photo: TNS

The New Kids On The Block members were still new kids on the block, relatively speaking, when the teenage heartthrobs hit the Palace of Auburn Hills on Dec 2, 1989, for not one but two sold-out concerts.

"Yeah we used to do matinees back then, too," says New Kid Donnie Wahlberg, who fondly recalls that chilly December day and meeting members of the Bad Boys, including Detroit Pistons coach Chuck Daly, and being pleasantly surprised that they weren't such bad guys after all (even though they'd disposed of Wahlberg's Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals the year prior).