1990-1991

By early 1990, New Kids on the Block had become one of the most popular acts in the world. The following May, they followed up Hangin' Tough with Step by Step, which featured some of the songs co-written by the members themselves. The first single, the title track, raced to #1 on the Hot 100 Singles Chart and became their biggest selling single. It was followed up with the top ten Tonight, which extended the consecutive top ten singles chart run to an amazing nine records. The album was eventually certified triple platinum, selling close to twenty million copies worldwide.

The group performed an estimated two hundred concerts a year, with an extravagant worldwide concert tour that summer, called The Magic Summer Tour, sponsored by Coke. Their pay-per-view special was the biggest in cable-TV history to that date. During this time, the group became heavily merchandised; more than one hundred and forty products that were licensed with NKOTB trademarks. These included lunch boxes, packing trunks, sleeping bags, pillow cases, T-shirts, comic books, dolls, and even a Saturday morning cartoon in their likeness. That series was on ABC from 1990-91 (with reruns the following year on Disney Channel). Though the band appeared in live action clips, the voices of the New Kids were done by other voice actors (two of them also did Captain Planet). A video game based on the group was set to be introduced for the Nintendo Entertainment System, but was never released.

New Kids on the Block's official fan club had a membership of over one hundred thousand names, and received thirty-thousand letters a day. Approximately one hundred thousand calls per week were dialed to 1-900-909-5KIDS, the Official NKOTB Hotline, as well. The group topped Forbes list of highest paid entertainers of 1990, beating out the likes of Michael Jackson and Madonna. Further capitalizing on the fame, at year's end, Columbia Records released No More Games/The Remix Album—a compilation of the group's biggest hits remixed.

By 1991, the group had become very over-exposed, and public and commercial backlash started to form. Sensing that it was time to give the American market a break, the group released no new material that year, but continued to tour throughout Europe and Asia. That summer, Danny and Donnie co-wrote and produced the debut album from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch—headed by former group member Mark—which scored a #1 hit with Good Vibration, and a platinum album.