This Year In History: 1994: Boyz II Men Make Love, New Kids Make War

When we found out that Boyz II Men are coming through town this week, we were all "Say what now?" because we'd forgotten those dudes existed, much less that they might still be touring. Coincidentally, a biography about another of our fave '90s bands, NKOTB, just hit shelves. This spawned a lot of rose-hued '90s nostalgia, which got us to thinking. What else had we forgotten about '94, the year the New Kids called it quits and Boyz II Men's slow jam "I'll Make Love to You" was hanging sexy at number three on the Billboard Year-End Top 100 Chart? A lot of shit, it turns out - and most of it's going to make you feel damn old.

» Ace of Base's "The Sign" was number one on that same chart.
» Bill Clinton was in office and had not yet "not had sexual relations with that woman." (Oh, for the days when a BJ on the DL was our biggest national concern.)
» Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson got hitched, and it was majorly creepy.
» Kurt Cobain committed suicide, and Tupac was gunned down. (RIP)
» Meanwhile, Justin Bieber was just leaving the womb.
» NASA confirmed the existence of black holes, blowing our minds.
» Tonya Harding enlisted a goon to take out Nancy Kerrigan's kneecap . . .
» . . . Which was in no way as bad as what OJ did to Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman. (Also, did ya'll know THIS was happening? The fuck?)
» Friends and My So-Called Life had just premiered. So good!
» The average cost of a gallon of gas was $1.09.
» And it was $4.08 for a movie ticket . . .
» . . . Which you could purchase to see The Lion King or Forrest Gump. 
» But you couldn't yet Fandango that on Netscape Navigator, which was the top web browser . . .
» . . . Which makes us feel really old, since we found most of this info using Google Chrome.

Boyz II Men are at the Wilbur, 246 Tremont St, Boston :: Oct 21 @ 8 pm :: $47.50 :: ticketmaster.com :: New Kids on the Block: Five Brothers and a Million Sisters by Nikki Van Noy :: $25 :: Touchstone Hardcover; Simon & Schuster