2gether Forever

We all remember that time during the late 90s and early 2000s when boy bands were all the rage in mainstream pop music. Not only were there hugely popular acts such as Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, the music charts were also dominated by the likes of 98 Degrees, L.F.O., O-Town, and BBMak along with a slew of copycats. Their music videos were heavily featured on music programming and the groups were front and center in publications like Rolling Stone. MTV then decided to cash in on the craze in their own peculiar way. Similar to how faux metal band, Spinal Tap, rose to prominence after the successful Rob Reiner 1984 mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap, the music channel went on to produce the same thing, only this time, poking fun at the boy band phenomenon.

The group in question was 2gether (or 2Ge+her depending on your preference) and the history of their inception was chronicled in a made for television film. In the movie we meet Bob, who manages the popular boy band, Whoa! (a parody of the 80s music duo, Wham!, whose hit single was the not so subtle “Rub It Out”). He’s suddenly dismissed from his managerial duties but sees his next meal ticket by discovering, Jerry, a young, good-looking singer showing off his impressive voice on the streets. After being denied a record deal as a solo artist, Bob recruits several members and forms, 2gether, the world’s hottest new boy band, to capitalize on the rising music trend. Each member was selected using the boy band formula that plays off different personality traits and stereotypes. We already had Jerry, the defacto leader and “heartthrob” of 2gether so accompanying him are: Doug, the “older brother”. He was portrayed by legendary comedian, Chris Farley’s younger brother, Kevin Farley, and was the standout of the film. His overweight and balding appearance made the band’s image all the more humorous. Next, we have Chad, “the shy one” who was Doug’s younger sibling. Teenager, Q.T., played (who else) “the cute one” and was substantially younger than all the other members being only 15 at the time of the movie’s premiere. Rounding out the group was “bad boy” Mickey, who had more in common with Vanilla Ice and Snow than Justin Timberlake and Nick Carter. After acquiring the components of 2gether, the rest of the film focuses on the trials and tribulations the boy band goes through before their first huge gig, opening for the very same group Bob was ousted from, Whoa!.

2gether were built around Jerry’s talents which also plays to the myth that only one member of each boy band has any raw talent while everyone around him is just there for show, playing their personas. The entire concept worked extremely well and MTV had an instant hit on their hands. The satire premiered exclusively on the music network on February 21, 2000 to huge acclaim. It even spawned a soundtrack containing the popular single, “U + Me = Us (Calculus)”, a humorous, mathematical take on the paint-by-numbers boy band track.

That same year, a television series spun off from the success of the film. All of the actors returned for the show which concentrated on the everyday, always funny predicaments that the five members go through. Yes, the singing and dancing were intact as well  Highlights included them being sued due to their music playing while a woman and her boyfriend have sex and end up becoming pregnant, Doug being replaced by a computer, the group singing “I Wanna Know Your Name” to a girl whose name they forgot, and Q.T. sneaking out of his house while grounded to attend a Mandy Moore concert. Yet another record, 2gether Again, featuring the quintet dropped and surprisingly, the series helped 2gether score a second hit with the hilariously catchy “The Hardest Part of Breaking Up (Is Getting Back Your Stuff)”. The song’s success was helped in part its music video which lampooned former popular MTV music countdown show, Total Request Live. Throughout the clip, little inserts of fans commenting on the group were inter-cut poking fun at the format of the show which had fans declaring their love for the song or artist being played.

Both of 2gether’s albums wound up going platinum and like Spinal Tap, they eventually went out on tour performing live, opening up for Britney Spears in the summer of 2000. Now that’s a novelty I’m sure most people wished they’ve witnessed.

The show was one of the most popular program on MTV during its heyday but sadly, it had to stop production halfway through season two due to the sudden death of Michael Cuccione, the actor who played Q.T. The young star passed away in 2001 from Hodgkin’s disease at the young age of 16. His condition was actually written into the show as his character suffered from the fictitious condition of biliary thrombosis. Reportedly, he had health problems all throughout the filming of the show that worsened over time.

2gether was certainly something I didn’t appreciate at the time. I was a teenager fully immersed in my heavy metal phase so anything even remotely poppy was damned to hell by yours truly. I didn’t know any better and wasn’t going to listen to a fictitious boy band over my beloved Limp Bizkit and Korn. Man, I had a real bad taste in music when I was younger. Obviously, now that I’m a lot older, I appreciate the humor in their television program and music. I even went back and caught some episodes of the series via the glorious internet and I have to say, it was pretty fun stuff.

Following the cancellation of the series, the surviving four members of the group continued to appear separately in minor roles in T.V. and film. Noah Bastian, who portrayed Chad, is currently working on a documentary about his life following 2gether and his spiral into crystal meth addiction. Fans though, have not forgotten about the mark that 2gether left on them. Don’t fret guys, a reunion was announced in 2012 and the actors all look great. Nothing has materialized as of yet but with the recent resurgence of the boy band with factions like One Direction and The Wanted, we’re all hoping a return film and album are released on the way. Even 15 years later, everyone still remembers the chorus to Calculus. Ah, 2gether, the boy band that never was.