Jackson promised the group more control over their second album, but there wasn't much to be done about their first, released four months earlier in the same wave of teen-pop success that brought the Backstreet Boys their first hit, "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)." Though a nonstarter on the album charts, 98*'s eponymous debut produced one hit single, "Invisible Man." But then, says Drew, "there wasn't another single, no plan, nothing."
Disappointed, the group headed to Asia and Europe to peddle 98* to the lucrative international market, and recorded the Grammy-nominated hit "True to Your Heart" with Stevie Wonder for Disney's Mulan soundtrack. Early in '98, work began on 98* and Rising, an album they coproduced and for which they cowrote five songs (although not the disc's three hit singles "I do," "Because of You," and "Hardest Thing"). Since the album's October '98 release, 98* have gotten caught in the same corporate merger -- the marriage of the PolyGram and Universal music groups -- that has left so many recording artists either label-less or deeply discontented. Helped by Rising's success, the group smoothly slide-stepped from Motown -- which was owned by PolyGram -- to Universal Records. "Motown was entering the third management change in three years," says Harrell. "98* took advantage of the merger to get with a system that was more organized."
That "organization" is evident when 98* land in Houston, mid-way through
their cross-country concert trek. The group that only recently drove in an RV
to low-paying gigs at cheerleading camps arrives in top 10 touring style :
From two luxe buses, replete with sleeping bunks, spill forth five backup-band
members, a security team (headed by a friend from high school), two dancers
(one of whom, another friend from high school, is the group's choreographer),
a road manager, and enough costume changes to make Menudo jealous. The fans
who are paying for it all flank the buses, banging on the windows; these are
the girls who take 98* at their word when they gush from the stage,
"We love each and every one of you."
Sure, roll your eyes, But remember : The guys spouting these sappy sentiments
still make decisions by playing rock-paper-scissors, they get dizzily starstruck
by Jennifer Lopez and Bruce Willis, and they thank God -- literally -- for their
good fortune. Though they admit to being homesick after two years on the road,
they're not ready to return to Ohio just yet. Standing backstage in his boxers
as a wardrobe woman steams his fatigues -- the kind of pampering he would not
necessarily get at home -- Jeffre knows it's no time for 98* to chill. "The
record company came to us and said 'Slow down,' because they don't want us to
have a nervous breakdown. But it's been a long time leading up to this point.
Now is our time, and we realize it."