My mother and my sister were doing I don’t know what, but the point is they found a fan letter I wrote to the Backstreet Boys–or ‘The BSB’ as us diehards liked to call them–when I was 11-years-old hidden in an old typewriter at my grandmother’s house! Envelope and all!
What great blog entry fodder, I thought, for someone who has spent the last week writing in their sparkly pink housecoat and not brushing their hair!
So those who have been reading this blog for a while know of my fan history with the Backstreet Boys on account of my blogging about it once before. Not only did I firmly believe the BSB would outlast the hell out of N*SYNC (I still don’t understand how it all went wrong), I also went to great lengths to teach myself the As Long As You Love Me Chair Dance and I was freaking AWESOME at it if I do say so myself, even though I can’t do it anymore because my joints aren’t what they used to be get off my lawn. Brian was my favourite. That’s What She Said.
Anyway, this letter was trip down memory lane, sigh.
LOOK at that. Work of art. I totally forgot I used to like to draw that peace sign on everything back in the day. My school books, my desk. Envelopes addressed to the Backstreet Boys. I was a damn hippie child, I guess. You will note that I blurred out the whole letter because I sort of feel mildly guilty for making a mockery of the girl I used to be.
Making fun of BSB fans is like shooting fish in a barrel.
I bet you guys could use this fan letter as a model for all fan letters. First I open with an introduction, and then I go on to say that I am a big fan of theirs but NOT their #1 fan. I said I WISHED I was their #1 fan, but I had met girls who would go to any lengths to touch their hand and I’d be scared to (you know what? This remains true after all these years!). But then I added that I did consider myself a PRETTY BIG fan. I thought I was being coyly self-deprecating. Probably I’d heard Backstreet Boys ate that stuff up. Because I was a PRETTY BIG fan and knew these things.
But not their #1 fan.
BUT, even though I was a pretty big fan, I wanted them to know it was “before I discovered what majorly hunky good-looking guys” they were and thought they “ought to know it was music before looks!!” Really, this part of the letter served two purposes: to show that I was different from all those other hand-touching whores and let them know in as few words as possible, how I could see into their pop star souls, or something. That I wasn’t SHALLOW.
But if I am being completely honest, when I said they were hunks I just meant Brian. I don’t know WTF I was supposed to make of the other members of the group. Nick had a BOWL CUT, you guys. Bowl cuts are never cool. Not even when you are an 11-year-old fangirl.
I then went on to tell them that I ordered their CD from BMG and was eagerly awaiting it in the mail. I did this so they would know I was funding their celebrity lifestyles. I used this to segue into an autographed photo request because how could they turn me down when I made them what they are today?
EXACTLY.
SEALED WITH A KISS Y’ALL.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find a stamp.
*sigh* BBS ,you will always have a place in my heart that can never be replaced by N*Sync or New Kids on the Block (ewwww!!). *bats eyes*
Really, could N*Sync even BE where they are today without having stepped all over the BSB first?
EXACTLY.
I saw them in concert last year.
It was a WELL STRANGE EXPERIENCE.
Everyone who was there was either in their late twenties or early teens. And there were a lot of men there, which is not something I would have considered whilst dancing the ‘Backstreets Back’ dance in the locker bay in year ten.
I was more about the 5ive boys than BSB, but I did own three albums. And I can sing I’ll Never Break Your Heart in Spanish. Well, I can say Nunca Te Hare Lloar, which is IMPORTANT.
Ah memories…can you tell I’m currently avoiding doing work?
I have tears in my eyes. And you can take that any way you like. :D
AHAHAHA, that is adorable. (I was an NSYNC girl myself, but never very hard core about it; I admire all adamant PRETTY BIG fans, regardless of band affiliation.)
LOL! Puffy !’s and .’s
True 11-year old style!
What, no <3's over the i's?
(Was lie #2 "Love y'all" when you really only meant Brian?)
MY EYES! IT BURNS US, IT BURNS US!
<3 My favourite part is how you love them for their minds. <3
You were an incredibly deep 11 year old.
hahahahahhaha how cute! I was an Nsync girl though. So I may have to fight you. It’s okay, I’ll let it go for now. Well how come you didn’t send it?! Or did you?
This note is just too precious. 11 year old Courtney must have been so cute.
I hope your family finds more fan letters. THERE HAS TO BE MORE.
Also, what do you think your fan letter to Lady Gaga would say?
Oh wow. I’m reading this in bed on my phone and just LOL’d so hard I was crying. I read it aloud to sean.
I also tried to appeal to my celeb crushes by suggesting I was different because I WAS INTO THEIR ART NOT HOTNESS.
You were like,”I love you but I don’t NEED you.”
Love you even more now.
When I was 11, my fave band was Trooper. Can’t say that I ever embraced the whole BSB thing, lol. (Can I say that here and not get banished from your blog?);)
Briony: I love your comment. I read it out loud to my sister, hee. I forgot 5ive even existed! It made me think of 98 degrees! Oh my God, Boy Bands of Days Past! What happened to them all?
Trish: ;)
Rebecca: TRUE. All PRETTY BIG fans deserve a hat tip, no matter the fandom!
Tiffany: I was ~totally~ 11. And that was totally lie #2. Hee.
Anthony: OH PSHAW. ;)
HB: I have no doubt my deepness would’ve scored me an autographed photo, if only I’d sent it. ;)
Summer: No fights! Let us make peace with our differences. ;) I don’t know why I didn’t send it! Probably because I wasn’t a big enough fan. Just a PRETTY BIG one!
Khy: Oh my God, I hope for my sake they don’t. They can only get worse. And oh goodness, my fan letter to Lady Gaga? I would beg her to let me be in her entourage. With my Ray-bans. That I have yet to get.
Whitney: if I’d had more self-confidence, I would have told them THEY NEEDED ME. <3
Shari: YOU ARE FOREVER BANISHED. ;) jk jk.
Hey Courtney,
Don’t know whether or not you’ve seen this, but I thought you would enjoy it.
http://blip.tv/file/2261825/
It’s what might happen should Edward Cullen meet Buffy the Vampire Slayer. :)
Jen
OMG. “Y’all.” Too funny! I will ignore the fact that Your Blog Is Making Me Feel Ancient Again and tell you that I have written similar and worse, much worse . . . no fan letters at age 11 but TV scripts at age 13. Still have them. Will I ever be brave enough to share?
OMG- thanks for the huge snort of suppressed laughter you just induced! Since I’ve been welding all day, breathing in basically black air, I now no doubt look like a firecracker just went off in my face, so– must go wash up. (am still laughing though– you’re awesome!)
… Nick totally had an undercut not a bowl cut… seriously it was a sexy undercut and I won’t hear anything else! :D
I never realised anyone actually loved Brian you know. He was kinda like the Steve (from 90210) of BSB for me. You have opened my eyes :)
Back Street Boys? Forget it – the real comeback kings are Take That! And I’m not just bigging them because I’m British…well, maybe I am a little.
;-)
BB, I AM A REALLY BIG FAN of yours…
And I thought you’d want to know, it was WORDS before LOOKS – your ~*sparkles*~ did not woo mine eyes!
SWAK,
~*E*~
Being approximately one hundred years older than you, it was New Kids On The Block in my day. I remember (vaguely) writing them a fan letter once. But it must have been lost because 1) I don’t have it, and 2) I didn’t get a response, so it obviously wasn’t mailed. (I mean, RIGHT?) Or possibly I just thought about writing it and didn’t actually do it. I mean, that does sound like me.
Jennifer: I did see that! It’s so great, isn’t it? My favourite part is when she drop kicks him out the window. Hee!
Sandmore: Canadians. Noted for their use of “y’all.” And if you do share, I am SO THERE.
Pseudosu: Aww, no YOU.
Kalliste: omg. BRIAN THE STEVE OF 90210?! That’s… wow. I. I have to think about this for a minute. AJ and Kevin were totally my BSB Steve, hee. An undercut, you say? Hee. ~*The more I know*~
Michael: Take That WERE pretty awesome, I’ll give you that. :)
EMILY: ~*SQUEE*~
Annika: … I HOPE ONE DAY THIS LETTER RE-EMERGES. AND THEN YOU SCAN IT. Just sayin’. omg.
that is amazing.
I thank you. :)
I dig that peace sign and like HB am very impressed with how deep you were for an 11 year old. I hope that scored you the coveted autographed photo!
I remember my friend and I writing Loverboy a fan letter (for awhile there before I discovered Duran Duran I loved Mike Reno beyond reason). But I think any evidence of it has been lost to the sands of time.
I bet it would’ve if I’d had the courage to send it! I need to get on that now. It’s never too late, right?
And awww. If you ever find it, you should consider blogging it. ;)