By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
July 7, 2000
Before No Authority, there was “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.”
For Ricky G., anyhow.
The 19-year-old member of the boy band No Authority had an acting career going for him before he decided to concentrate solely on the group. Under the stage name Ricky Felix (his mother’s maiden name), Ricky G. danced opposite Mike Myers in “Austin Powers” and appeared in Natalie Portman’s film “Anywhere But Here.”
“I enjoy acting very much, but I don’t really miss it when I’m not doing it,” says Ricky G., whose full last name is Godinez. “What I really enjoy is performing for people. That’s my No. 1 thing. If I couldn’t do that, then I think I’d be in trouble.”
Currently touring as one of Britney Spears’s opening acts, No Authority will perform tonight at the New World Music Theatre. The group also includes singers Danny Zavatsky, 18, Eric Stretch, 20, and Tommy McCarthy, 20.
The band formed in late 1996, but the singers knew of each other from way back when.
“I was 11 years old when I first ran into the guys,” Ricky G. says, phoning from his New York hotel room. “We were always showing up at the same auditions for music videos, acting and singing jobs. Eventually we just approached each other and decided to form a group.”
Of course this was near the tail end of the mania surrounding the New Kids on the Block, but years before the craze for boy bands hit a phenomenal level.
“We were shameless self promoters and got a manager,” he continues. “But we got turned down by a lot of people before being signed to Atlantic Records for a few minutes. Eventually Michael Jackson came along and got us signed to Maverick Records.”
So what words of wisdom did the King of Pop give to the four young boys?
“He said that girlfriends are what ruined a lot of groups,” Ricky G. says.
Oh, dear. Surely No Authority doesn’t sit around dateless on Friday nights.
“No,” Ricky G. says, laughing. “We’re all single, but we date.”
Ricky G. sounds like he’s got a plan up his sleeves for getting even more dates.
“When we do our own tour, I hope we can get some dancers,” he says. “Female dancers. And male, too, I suppose. No, only female dancers! I think that would make me feel a lot better.”
While their more popular colleagues ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, as well as Spears, are signed to Jive Records, the boys are signed to Maverick, which was founded by Madonna and made famous by the success of Alanis Morissette’s hits.
This association lends the group a hip cachet that helps in the much coveted boy band credibility department.
Ricky G. stresses that unlike other boy bands, they write their own music and play their instruments.
This may be, but only one of their original songs appears on their self-titled second album–which will be in stores July 18.
Still, Ricky G. is optimistic. On this tour with Spears, they’re playing to a lot of people who aren’t familiar with their music. The positive side, he says, is that the young female fans don’t scream as much during their sets. The negative is that they are allowed just 15 minutes of performing time at each show.
“One time we decided to add an extra song to our set and [Britney’s management] flipped out,” he says. “They were watching and timing us. But I take it as a compliment because it meant they cared enough to sit there and watch our set.”
