Dream Street

Dream Street
Background information
Origin	New York, USA
Genres	Teen pop, Dance pop
Years active	1999-2002
Labels	Atlantic Records
Former members
Jesse McCartney Gregory Raposo Matt Ballinger Frankie J. Galasso Chris Trousdale

Dream Street was an American pop boy band that was formed in mid 1999 and broke up in 2002.

History

The group was initially put together by producers Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow and titled 'Boy Wonder' (a name borrowed from the nickname of comic book character Robin from the Batman comics and films). The band featured several boys aged 11–14 from the New York Broadway/Acting scene.^[1] Baldonieri and Lukow hoped to make an impact on the pop music industry by introducing a group of teenagers to the scene, all of whom had prior stage-singing experience. Among these original members were Gregory Raposo and Chris Trousdale, who would continue on into the remade group in 2001.

The lineup was changed not long after they debuted the show in front of several talent agents and record label reps. Their debut involved among other things a tap dance number, and a jazzy theme song... both of which were sacked quickly after, as well as a cover of the main song from the musical Rent "Seasons of Love."

Jesse McCartney, Gregory Raposo, Davis Knight, Frankie Galasso, and Chris Trousdale would become the new faces of the group, and were given the name "Dream Street" (which incidentally was the name of Lukow and Baldonieri's recording studio in New York City). The only original song they kept was titled "Jennifer Goodbye", which was initially written as a folk-pop ballad, then was changed into its modern incarnation months later. Davis Knight later quit the group and Matt Ballinger replaced him.

Their eponymous debut album was released in 2001 It was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA peaking #1 on Top Independent Albums and at #37 on The Billboard 200^[2]. The final Dream Street release was the soundtrack album to the released 2002 film The Biggest Fan starring former Dream Street member Chris Trousdale. He co-starred in this film with Kaila Amariah.

Despite achieving gold status overall sales for the album were disappointing for producers who had hoped that the group would become another multiplatinum success like The Backstreet Boys or the amazing NSYNC. One of the big factors that contributed was the waning appeal and popularity of the teen pop movement around 2001/02.

Breakup

In 2002, the band broke up over a legal dispute between the group members and their parents. The producers wanted the boys to quit school and focus solely on their boy band occupation. The parents filed a lawsuit against the producers, but Chris Trousdale took the producers' side. The other Dream Street member and their parents won the lawsuit, but the decision had an unanticipated result: as per the settlement, the boys were never allowed to perform as a group together again.

Discography

Albums

• Dream Street (2001)
• The Biggest Fan (2002)

Singles

• With All My Heart (2002)
• Sugar Rush (Limited Edition) (2002)
• I Say Yeah (2001)
• It Happens Every Time (2001)
• They Don't Understand. (2000)
• Matter Of Time. (2001)
• Gotta Get the Girl
• Jennifer Goodbye

Compilations

• Radio Disney Jams Vol.5 (2002)
• The Biggest Fan Soundtrack Album (2002)
• Radio Disney Jams Vol.4 (2001)
• The Little Vampire Soundtrack (2000)
• Pokémon 2000 Soundtrack (2000)

Videos

• Dream Street LIVE [Video/DVD] (2001)
• Dream Street Live at Criterion Theatre [Video/DVD] (2000)

References

External links

• Jesse McCartney's Website
• Chris Trousdale's Official Website
• Raposo's Official Website
• http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Dream_Street
• Chris Trousdale Interview