New Kids on the Block blame lousy ticket sales on recession

The New Kids on the Block were preparing for a set of Australia shows as part of their comeback tour, but apparently that won't be happening.

In a staccato blog post on the Web site of the reunited 1980s boy band, Donnie Wahlberg announced the bad news: "However -- we are, in fact, in the middle of a worldwide recession and we just cannot make it work. . . We can only assure you that when the recession's stranglehold on the world's economies eases up a bit -- we will find a way to make this work."

Without saying it outright, the NKOTB seem to be acknowledging that weak ticket sales are hurting their tour efforts. But is that really the recession, or is it possible that the band's comeback just hasn't been very good?

Exclaim commented that "That truth, of course, probably translates to low ticket sales. We're not saying that the guys don't have the right stuff but would like to point out that last year's "comeback album" The Block does feature grown men singing about being 'your boyfriend.' And now concert dates are being canceled. Not that the two are related."

On the album sales front though, the comeback effort appears to have been well-received. The band's first studio album in 14 years debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 late last year and actually became the band's first number one album in Canada. Of course the album fell off both charts pretty quickly after the die-hard's pre-orders were filled.