New Kids Sue Former Director for Defamation : Pop music: The Boston filing seeks unspecified damages and claims that Gregory McPherson’s lip-sync allegations damaged the group’s reputation.

Teen sensation New Kids on the Block sued their former music director Gregory McPherson for defamation of character on Monday in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.

The defamation suit, which seeks unspecified damages, comes less than a week after the pop quintet interrupted its Australian tour to perform live on “The Arsenio Hall Show” in Los Angeles to counter charges by McPherson that the group is primarily a lip-sync act.

The Boston-based Kids--Jordan Knight, Jonathan Knight, Joe McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood--were back on tour in Australia on Monday and could not be reached for comment.

But, in the suit, the Kids claim that lip-sync allegations made by McPherson in a Jan. 29 New York Post story damaged their “good name and business reputation.” McPherson alleged in the article that the New Kids sang no more than 20% of their music and had “played their fans for fools.”

“As the result of (McPherson’s) statements,” the suit said, “(the New Kids) have suffered humiliation and have been subject to contempt, disgrace and ridicule before the public and within the music industry.”

The flap began Jan. 24, when McPherson, a University of Massachusetts music teacher, whom the group employed as a director and producer for a year beginning December, 1988, sued the Kids’ manager Maurice Starr for creative infringement and breach of contract in Suffolk Superior Court.

McPherson, who on Monday had not been served with the defamation lawsuit, maintained his position that the photogenic quintet not only bolstered their singing in concerts with tapes, but also on records, employing “masked” voice-overs by Starr and his brother Michael Johnson. Both men deny the charges.

“What I said before is true and I still stand by it,” McPherson, whose suit seeks compensation for alleged contributions on several New Kids projects, said in a phone interview from Boston. “During the time I worked with them, I saw the New Kids lip-sync in concert and I saw Maurice and his brother sing over the Kids’ vocal lines in the studio.”

Citing McPherson’s allegations, a Chicago fan filed a $75-million class-action lawsuit against the New Kids on Feb. 4 in Cook County Circuit Court, claiming the group--which has sold more than 18 million albums in the United States since 1986--defrauded everyone who bought their music.

“Suing the New Kids is becoming a cottage industry lately,” New Kids’ attorney Leonard L. Lewin said Monday. “It’s a shame that the New Kids have to defend themselves against such unsubstantiated charges.”