What’s a Boy Band?

In Morning Report (July 10), you refer to the Backstreet Boys as a “boy band.” Am I the only person who cringes every time I hear the media’s misuse of the word “band” in reference to vocal groups such as ‘N Sync and Backstreet Boys?

When, exactly, do they play their instruments? I guess the male vocalists of my day--the Temptations, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles--must have been “boy bands” as well. The latest affront is the reference to Destiny’s Child as a “girl band.” Would the Supremes be considered a girl band as well?

This is not to take away from those groups. They excel where some of us who played our own instruments could not--namely in their vocal stylings. However, this blatant mislabeling could lead to further abuses, such as referring to hip-hop artists as singers.

LARRY TAMBLYN

The Standells (formerly referred to as a band), Glendale