12 November 1992
I’ve mentioned before how any list of the most influential singles of the ’90s has to include Mariah Carey’s ‘Vision Of Love’ for kicking off the power diva vocal style. I think we also should include ‘End Of The Road’ as the demon seed of the Irish boyband ballad: four or five earnest lads wailing and gurning in shirt-rending angst, gesticulating in despair, all to the incongruous soundtrack of bland R&B-lite. It may not have been the very first of these male group slowies. However, it was certainly the first to hit so hard as to make an impact crater (US number one for 13 weeks!) and raise a fallout cloud that spreads to our side of the Atlantic. These things take time to come to market: for the next few years Take That, East 17 and early Boyzone still use the New Kids On The Block template of cheeky lads with dance routines. From later Boyzone onwards, though, we see most boybands and solo boys follow the ‘End Of The Road’ style guide instead. In particular, Boyz II Men walked so that Westlife could run, or at least get up off their stools in unison for the key change.
There are two things I remembered most from ‘End Of The Road’ back in the day. First, the disgraceful sexism and machismo of the second verse. “Girl, I know you really love me / You just don’t realise” is classic male not-taking-no-for an-answer; “You’ve never been there before / It’s only your first time” is another typical lad’s move: hey everyone, just so you know, I’m a player and she still had her virginity! Second, the almost hysterical “Oh my God! Oh my God!” and other hyperventilating backing vocals from the second chorus onwards, a thoroughly ridiculous display of emotionally manipulative melodrama. Add to that the drip-drip of saccharine synths, and you really have something remarkably awful.
Boyz II Men themselves weren’t necessarily a duff proposition. They were clearly accomplished singers who harked back to the male vocal group tradition of Motown and Philly soul; their catchy debut single was even called ‘Motownphilly’. By sharp contrast, ‘End Of The Road’ is a rotten song performed appallingly but with surprisingly far-reaching consequences. Of Boyz II Men’s immediate successors, at least the Backstreet Boys had a few genuinely good Swedish-designed pop hits. Their real spiritual heirs, though, were Westlife, who we will see applying themselves with an MBA graduate’s zeal to monetising the principles of this dreadful record. Bet you can’t wait!
