The Small Fries

Three cute British guys, acoustic guitars, and beautiful harmonies. No, I’m not talking about One Direction’s new opening act. I’m talking about BBMak, the brilliant but overlooked band from the early 2000s. Anyone who watched Princess Diaries or Even Stevens might be familiar with their music. However, beyond the kids who grew up listening to Radio Disney, many people don’t know who they are today. And that’s a shame.

By the early 2000s, the teen pop scene was dying down. Both the Backstreet Boys and  NSYNC were releasing their last albums and Britney Spears was trying to market herself to a  slightly older demographic. However, the music industry was in stasis. Record labels were trying  to replicate the golden days of mid-to-late 90s pop, so they were rolling out boy bands such as Dream Street and girl groups such as Play to attempt to fill that gap. The trio of Mark Barry, Christian Burns, and Stephen McNally were attempting to break into the music business at the same time.

Once crossing over to a United States audience, BBMak had songs featured on soundtracks for The Princess Diaries, Treasure Planet, and On the Line. Their debut single “Back Here” reached number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, by the time of their peak popularity, record labels started to give up on recreating successful boy bands. Between a lack of publicity and their unique sound, BBMak called it quits in 2003 after two albums.

I would venture to guess that if BBMak had become popular just a few years later than they did, they would have been much more successful. Their guitar and vocal based sound was slightly ahead of their time. You can hear remnants of their sound in the Jonas Brother a few years later, and even the acoustic-folk pop that is popular today. By no means did BBMak invent the wheel, but they were definitely a predecessor for some of today’s popular music.

--Julie