"Released 1986." A little iTunes staff humor there?

Today marks the official release of New Kids on the Block's inevitable cash-pig The Block, an 18-tune mackterpiece of castrato-cooed Ooohs, iPhoned-in cameos (Pussycat Dolls, Teddy Riley, Ne-Yo on the John Appleseed ID), and aging-playah double entendres―if the Akon-guesting "Put it on My Tab" isn't adult-contemp's "I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper)," then I'm Mike Jones. But lost among the nostalgic rat-tail shots (best one ever is Danny Wood with Halle Berry) is this unforgettably classic moment of NKOTB history, a little Boston Globe article titled "Hanging With Jordan Knight."

Back in January 2006, a female reporter named Meredith Goldstein spent an early evening out in the city's North End with the younger of the two brothers. That night, the nearly-two-years-married Knight got completely hammered (drinking "eight double vodkas and beers"), kept posing for the accompanying photographer even when unasked ("[Knight] yells from the bathroom, 'Heeeeeey. Heeeey,' loud enough for other patrons to hear, and I get up to help. Turns out he wants the photographer to take pictures of him by the bathroom"), and then invited the reporter to go home with him. Priceless.

I'm hugging Jordan Knight, a former member of New Kids on the Block, in front of Strega in the North End. It's a little after 9 p.m., and I'm pretty sure he's had way too much to drink (about eight double vodkas and beers, according to our bill).

He looks at the cab that's pulled over to take him home, and he whispers in my ear, ''Want to come?"

Suffice to say, the younger Knight wasn't in one of those fashionable open relationships, given his embarrassingly shitty response to the question of how he knew he wanted to marry his wife. "He answers, 'You . . . want a wife . . . who is not . . . cheat-ful. . .'"

The whole piece is worth reading, if you're that sort of person.

Amusingly, a few weeks later, the Voice got Jordan on the line to ask about Valentine's Day. Dude seemed to be trying to earn his way out of the doghouse.

What was the most romantic gift you ever gave or received?

Simple things like a card every once in a while to show that special person they are on your mind; keep the romance going all year long.

Are you in love right now?

Yes, very much so.

Knight and his wife have since had a second son.

Because you care, Jordan and his NKOTB bros will be at the Best Buy on Fifth Avenue tonight, celebrating the release of The Block. Maybe Jordan will do this:

"Hanging With Jordan Knight" [Boston Globe]
"Are You in Love?: Jordan Knight" [Voice]