Dream Street - History

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. 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 Greg 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 included a tap dance number and a jazzy theme song, both of which were sacked quickly after. It also included a cover of the main song from the musical Rent "Seasons of Love."

Jesse McCartney, Greg Raposo, Matt Ballinger, Frankie Galasso, and Chris Trousdale would become the new faces of the group and were given the name "Dream Street," which 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. Their eponymous debut album was released in 2001 It was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA peaking #1 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart and at #37 on The Billboard 200. The songs, "It Happens Every Time" and "I Say Yeah" were frequently played on Radio Disney. The boys soon made appearances on various talk shows and television events. Late 2001, Dream Street made an appearance on a show that Dream Street member Jesse McCartney had a reocurring role on, ABC's All My Children. The final Dream Street release was the soundtrack album to the released 2002 film The Biggest Fan starring Dream Street member Chris Trousdale, who co-starred in this film with Kaila Amariah who played his "Biggest Fan". 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 Backstreet Boys or NSYNC. One of the big factors that contributed to this disappointment was the waning appeal and popularity of the teen pop movement around 2001/02.