Joey McIntyre is back on the block

Former New Kids' kid steps up to take his own shot

Teen music idols don't always fade away. Often they return slightly reinvented.

Thus two members of New Kids On The Block are releasing solo albums in 1999 -- within two months of each other.

The first Kid back on the block is Joey McIntyre, previously known as Joe, the youngest member of the '80s boy band phenoms from Boston, who was in town yesterday promoting his recently released solo debut, Stay The Same.

"I can't kill myself trying to convince people that I'm not a teen idol again," said McIntyre, 26, in a Toronto hotel room. "I mean, what is a teen idol? Does a teen idol mean you have to have lots of merchandising and T-shirts and posters and key chains and always smile?

"I don't know. I know I'm doing music and if young people like my music, well that's fine."

His intensely blue eyes narrow when asked about the cynical suggestion he may have added the "y" to his first name to appear younger and cash in on the current teen market of Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync.

"That's going to wrap it right up -- I tell you that's what I'm looking for," said McIntyre, with a chuckle. "People call me Joey. People call me Joe. My mother calls me Joseph. But I like the way Joey looks graphically."

Regardless of the way McIntyre is being marketed, or his more grown-up sound -- the first single and title track is an ultra-smooth, gospel-tinged take on R&B -- the major thing he's got going for him is a built-in fan base.

Boston radio fans of the New Kids are responsible, he claimed, for the huge response to his solo album after it was initially released on the Internet.

"They're definitely New Kids fans," said McIntyre, who co-wrote several songs on Stay The Same with former Kids Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. "I don't have all this support coming out of nowhere. They've been there for us in the past and they're a big reason why I'm here today."

Stay The Same is No. 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and McIntyre has a solo tour that begins in June with an Aug. 7 date at The Warehouse.

The next Kid up for inspection is Jordan Knight, whose self-titled solo debut hits record stores on May 25 with the first single, Give It To You, also getting some major buzz.

"He's a talented guy," said McIntyre. "Thoughts go through my head and all the competition stuff, but I have fun with it. It's ironic but it's funny.

"Actually, we're working on a project to do this remake of a gospel tune (Everybody Wins) -- sort of a We Are The World, for Kosovo. It's scary and you just want to do something."

Which leads us to: What has McIntyre been doing for the last five years since NKOTB's last album, Face The Music, followed by an amicable split?

There was an attempt at an acting career, including a role in an unreleased 1995 film adaptation of the off-Broadway play, The Fantasticks.

"I was more like a professional auditioner," admitted McIntyre.

"My heart wasn't in it, and that was a reflection of where I was in my life. I really didn't know what I wanted to do, and I guess that could have been a reaction from being with the New Kids and being on this train and all of the sudden you get off and you're like, 'Okay, where am I?' "

McIntyre said he found his way back to music through the sounds of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, which he has listened to as a child via his father.

But it was Wahlberg who suggested the pop world may want him back.

Even if the record companies weren't initially interested.

"This has been a lesson in patience because I had all this music and I was ready to release it and the record companies weren't taking it and I was like, 'Aw, man,' " said McIntyre.

"And I was sticking to the way I wanted to do it. But that was a hard lesson."

Maybe so, but McIntyre had the luxury of not having to worry about money for the last five years while he -- and the major labels -- figured things out.

"I have the luxury of 50 years actually," he said with a smile. "And I had the luxury to finance this whole album."