Dream Street

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Dream Street was an American pop boy band that was formed in early 1999 and broke up in 2002.

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 graphic novels and films). The band featured several 11-14 year old boys 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 Jordan Knight (of SNL's young church lady fame), Billy Kennedy (starred in Kindergarten Cop), Cory Austin (who left due to a contractual disagreement before the debut), and members Greg Raposo and Chris Trousdale, who would continue on into the remade group in 1998.

The lineup was changed not long after they debuted the show in front of several talent agents and record label reps. Their debut involved among other things a tap dance number, and a jazzy theme song... both of which were sacked quickly after, as well as a cover of the main song from the musical Rent "Season's of Love."

Jesse McCartney, Gregory Raposo, Matt Ballinger, Frankie Galasso, and Chris Trousdale would become the new faces of the group, and were given the name "Dream Street" (which incidentally 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 and was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA. The final Dream Street release was the soundtrack album to the released 2002 film The Biggest Fan starring former Dream Street member Chris Trousdale.

Despite the album going gold the group failed to become more popular than preteen market stars like NSYNC and The Backstreet Boys before them. One of the big factors that contributed was the waning appeal and popularity of the teen pop movement around 2001/02.

In early 2002, four of the members and their parents (McCartney, Raposo, Ballinger, and Gallasso) filed suit against Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow to revoke their prior approval of their initial production agreement. The members ultimately won the lawsuit, but it effectively put an end to the group, and the members splintered off to various solo projects. Chris Trousdale chose to stay with Baldonieri and Lukow, and continues to record under their guidance.

[edit] New Beginnings

Soon after Dream Street disbanded, the group began following different entertainment paths:

At 17, Greg released a self-titled debut album of pop/rock songs, which debuted on the Billboard Independent Albums chart at #40. He came out as a force on Radio Disney, a popular preteen/teen station. He recorded and released a self-titled album, and released his first single "Take Me Back Home", which was soon a staple on Radio Disney. He currently fronts the New York based band "Raposo", which changed its name to "Stereopath" in 2007. As of Summer 2007, Greg was working on a second album at this time. In August 2007, he performed in the finals at Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Matt Ballinger joined a high school band named Last Chance for a short time before personal issues led to their falling out. He then later formed "The Juice", a band based in Massachusetts, where Matt attends Tufts University. Currently Matt goes to trendy New York City hot spots and brings a bag with him a change of clothes to put on the next day. The tabloids have started giving Matt the nickname "Dirty Sanchez" because he always has a huge backpack with him.

Frankie Galasso ventured into film and got a role in the movies A Tale of Two Pizzas and "Soltaire" due out in 2007. Frankie has also taken time to attend college and has begun working on a solo music career, featuring snippets of songs on his MySpace account.

Chris Trousdale, with the support of Lukow and Baldonieri, finished The Biggest Fan alongside Kaila Amariah, which was not released until summer 2005, after legal proceedings were finished. Soon after finishing his movie Chris began recording and collecting songs for his new album, yet to be named/released.

Jesse McCartney recorded Beautiful Soul in 2004, which immediately became a hit on Radio Disney and Platinum, and is a teen heartrob. Jesse then signed with Hollywood Records, owned by Disney, and began recording an album. In the meantime, he landed a starring role on the hit WB teen show Summerland, which soon became one of the most popular shows in the WB history. When he decided to re-release "Beautiful Soul," it became a major Top 4, on TRL. He then toured through the United States and Australia, making him an even bigger star. His next album "Right Where You Want Me" was released on September 9, 2006. He also starred in the movie Keith, which has yet to be widely released.He has a new moive Alvin and the chipmunks as Theodore released December 14,2007. In 2005, Jesse McCartney participated in "Come Together Now",[9] a charity single to benefit the victims of the 2004 Asian Tsunami and the 2005 Hurricane Katrina. He also signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock,[10] a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the US.

Also, in 2005, Greg Raposo and Matt Ballinger teamed up with Stevie Brock to do the re-make of a classic Disney song Three Is a Magic Number which was featured in Disney's The Three Musketeers.

[edit] Discography

Albums

• Biggest Fan(2002)
• It Happens Every Time(2000)
• DreamStreet(2000)

Singles

• With All My Heart(2002)
• I Say Yeah(2001)
• It Happens Every Time(2000)

Videos

• DreamStreet: Live [Video/DVD](2001)

[edit] External links

• Dream Street Official Page
• Jesse McCartney's Website
• Frankie Galasso's myspace account
• Chris Trousdale's Official Website
• The Juice's myspace account
• Raposo's Official Website
• http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Dream_Streetda:Dream Street

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