New Edition is an American
R&B
male music group formed in Boston,
Massachusetts
in 1978, that was most popular during the
1980s. Their success led to the creation of late-1980s and
1990s
boy bands like
New Kids on the Block and
Boyz II Men.
History
Formation
Guided by
producer Maurice Starr, the group was formed by
Bobby Brown,
Michael Bivins and
Ricky Bell in 1978, while living at the
Orchard Park housing projects (or what the group and residents of
the area calls them popularly as “The Bricks”). Bell and Brown soon
brought their best friend
Ralph
Tresvant in on the act, who quickly became their lead singer.
They would soon meet a young local group manager named Travis
Gresham and choreographer Brooke Payne, who would give them the
name, ‘New Edition.’ . After getting second place in their
community talent show in 1980, Payne rounded out the line-up by
bringing in his nephew,
Ronnie DeVoe
who use to be one of the members from
The
Dramatics.
Music
1982-1985: Beginnings
The group would perform all around Massachusetts and would
eventually land a spot at a talent show which was run by Maurice
Starr. The first prize was $500.00 and a recording contract. Though
New Edition came in 2nd place, Starr decided to bring the group to
his studio the following day to record what would become their
debut album,
Candy Girl.
Recorded in late 1982 and released in 1983 on Starr’s Streetwise
Records, the album featured the hits: “
Is This The End,” “
Popcorn Love,” “
Jealous
Girl” and the
title
track, which went to number one on both the American R&B
singles chart and the UK singles chart.
Returning from their first major concert tour, the boys were
dropped back off to their homes in the projects and were given a
check in the amount of $1.87 a piece for their efforts. Tour budget
and expenses were given as the explanation as to why they were not
paid more. Due to financial reasons, New Edition parted company
with Starr in 1984 (Starr responded by promptly creating the group
New Kids on the Block;
essentially formatted after New Edition, but with white teenagers.)
The group, meanwhile, went on to sign a major label deal with
MCA Records, which released their self
titled
second album the same
year. Eclipsing their debut album,
New Edition spun off
the top five hit “
Cool It Now” and the
top twenty “
Mr. Telephone Man,”
and went on to be certified double platinum in the United
States.
Following the success of the
New Edition album, the group
was dismayed to learn that while they believed they were signed to
MCA Records, in truth, they had actually
been misled into signing a deal with an outside production
company—which had its own deal with MCA. Each group member borrowed
five hundred thousand dollars from MCA in order to disentangle
themselves from that deal, which would allow them to continue to
record for MCA directly. This, however, put the group into
liability with the label, and would force them to continually
record simply to get out of debt.
New Edition’s third album,
All
for Love, was released in the latter half of 1985. While
not duplicating the success of its predecessor, the album was
certified platinum, and spawned the hits: “
Count Me Out,” “
A Little Bit Of Love
,” and “
With You All The Way.”
The growing popularity of the group led to a guest appearance (as
themselves) in the 1985 film
Krush
Groove, performing "My Secret.”
Toward years end,
Christmas All Over The
World, a holiday EP, was released.
1986: The departure of Bobby Brown
In December 1985, under pressure from MCA and their management, the
group was forced to vote Bobby Brown out, due to behavioral
problems. Brown embarked on a solo career in 1986, while New
Edition continued to promote
All for Love as a quartet. In
spite of their financial and internal conflicts, New Edition
continued to peak. During this era of the group’s evolution, the
group (sans Brown) appeared in the episode of
Knight Rider titled
'Knight Song', performing “Count Me Out.” As 1986 wound to a close,
they recorded a cover of
The Penguins
1954 hit, “
Earth Angel” for the
soundtrack to
The Karate
Kid, Part II. The song peaked at #21, and inspired the
group to record
Under the Blue
Moon, an album of
doo-wop
covers.
1987-1989: The introduction of Johnny Gill
After having already lost a member when Bobby Brown was terminated
from the group, New Edition’s future became more uncertain when
murmurings began to surface that lead singer Ralph Tresvant was
eyeing a solo career as well. To pad his potential departure,
singer
Johnny Gill was voted into the
group by Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell and Ron DeVoe in 1987, despite
Tresvant ultimately deciding to remain in place.
A native of Washington, DC
, Johnny Gill is the only non-Boston native among
the group’s six members. According to
IMDB:
New Edition’s fifth studio release,
Heart Break—which also featured Gill as the
co-lead vocalist—was released in the summer of 1988. Primarily
produced by the production team of
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, the
album was a departure from the group's previous
bubblegum sound, and instead took on a
smoother, stronger, and more adult resonance. Spinning off five hit
singles: “
If It Isn't Love,”
“
You're Not My Kind of
Girl,” “
Can You Stand The
Rain,” “
Crucial” and “
N.E. Heartbreak”;
Heart Break
became New Edition’s most commercially successful album up to that
point, certified double platinum in the United States, with
worldwide sales of close to four million. The success of
Heart
Break would launch the group on a very successful concert tour
as well in the closing months of 1988; with former member
Bobby Brown, and
Al
B. Sure!, as their opening
acts.
1990-1995: Solo projects and adding Tony MC and Bobby Brown
(again)
Inspired by the substantial success Bobby Brown was having with his
multi-platinum 1988 breakthrough album,
Don’t Be Cruel, after the run of
Heart Break, New Edition added Bobby Brown again and went
on hiatus to pursue side projects away from the group. At the
suggestion of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis—Bell, Bivins and
DeVoe formed a trio,
Bell Biv DeVoe.
Their 1990 debut album,
Poison, went triple platinum. The
same year, lead singers Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill (who had
already recorded as a solo act prior to joining New Edition) also
released self-titled solo albums, which too also achieved
multi-platinum success. Later that year, the group (including Bobby
Brown) had a semi-reunion of sorts when they performed at the 1990
MTV Video Music Awards. In
1991, all six members recorded a remix of the
Bell Biv DeVoe track “Word To The Mutha!,”
Brown, Gill, and Tresvant also appeared in the music video. Prior
to this, Brown also appeared in the music videos for Bell Biv
Devoe's "BBD (I Thought It Was Me)" video, as well as Tresvant's
“Stone Cold Gentleman” and “Sensitivity” Remix videos. In 1995 they
added Tony MC
1996-1997: Home Again reunion
By 1996, the members of New Edition had arguably achieved greater
commercial success with their own side projects than the group had
during its run. However, after having promised fans that there
would be a reunion—and still contractually owing MCA Records
another New Edition album—the group (with Bobby Brown) reunited to
record
Home
Again, their first new album in eight years. The album
debuted at number one on both
The
Billboard 200 and R&B Albums chart, and became the most
commercially successful album of the groups career; selling over
four million copies worldwide.
Home Again, meanwhile,
produced several hits, including: the top ten pop hits: “
Hit Me Off” and “
I'm Still In Love
With You.” The ensuing 1997
Home Again Tour, however,
would prove disastrous for the group. Despite not having toured
together in close to a decade (and over ten years for Brown), old
rivalries repeated themselves as egos clashed. By the middle leg of
the tour, both Bobby Brown and Mike Bivins left, resulting in its
ultimately ending early. Each of the group members again went their
separate ways, this time on more hostile terms than ever—resulting
in an indefinite hiatus that appeared to be the swan song for New
Edition.
2002-2004: New Edition under Bad Boy and adding Bel Biv
DeVoe
After their second wave of solo pursuits proved less than
successful, New Edition (sans Bobby Brown) reunited once more and
began touring clubs, casinos, and small arenas in 2002, including
appearing on
The Tom Joyner Sky
Show. After having caught the attention of
Sean Combs, who was present at one of their
shows, he signed the group to his
Bad
Boy Records label, after their long term contract with MCA
Records finally expired.
In the fall of 2004, New Edition’s seventh studio album and Bad Boy
debut,
One
Love, was released. Though the album debuted at number
twelve on
The Billboard 200, it
had a steady descent from the chart. The leadoff single, “Hot
2Nite,” underperformed—peaking at number thirty-five R&B and
number eighty-seven Pop. The group soon had a falling out with
Combs. In an interview, Ricky Bell said that he had refused to pay
long time producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for a track that the
group wanted on the album. Reportedly, Combs told the group they
were over budget, despite having used many of Bad Boy's in-house
team of producers on the album. Ultimately, the group asked to be
released from their Bad Boy contract. Despite the messy divorce
with Bad Boy, New Edition soldiered on, touring with other recently
reunited groups like
Guy,
BLACKstreet and
SWV
throughout 2005. In 2002 New Edition added Producer Joe Johnson and
Bel Biv Devoe
2005-present: New beginnings
In the fall of 2005, New Edition performed a medley of hits at
BET’s 25th Anniversary Special. During their set, they brought
Bobby Brown out onstage for an impromptu rendition of their 1985
hit “Mr. Telephone Man.” It was later announced on BET and
Access Hollywood that
Brown has reconciled with New Edition and rejoined the group and
will be on the next New Edition album. By January 2006, New Edition
announced that the group would launch a new album and tour in
2009.
On August
26, 2006, New Edition filmed a concert at the University of
South Carolina
's Koger Center in Columbia
set for a future DVD release, the concert was
billed as “Spend the Night with New Edition,” a BET special presented by
Lincoln whom the group has done
advertising with, Bobby Brown also made an appearance at the
show.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
are expected to handle 90% of the album's production and writing
duties. Also in the works are a bio-book and a
biopic about the group. In an interview with
NJS4ever.com, Bobby Brown also mentioned that both he and Johnny
Gill are scheduled to release albums in 2008. He spoke about the
group's release also. The group (minus Brown) had recorded a new
song with
New Kids on the
Block called, “Full Service” for their latest album,
The Block. Meanwhile,
Brown, Tresvant and Gill have formed a new group called
The
Summit which had several touring dates scheduled for 2008.
According to Gill, their group name "is inspired by the original
name for the
The Rat Pack called "The
Summit" or "The Heads of State". It might be possible that this new
group is also an alteration of Tresvant's original plan for a group
called "Triple Threat" consisting of himself, Bobby Brown and Ricky
Bell.
Apparently, New Edition is not going to tour as a sextet for their
25th anniversary; Bell Biv Devoe is preparing an album to be
released in 2009, and the remaining members are touring as
Heads Of State.
On June 28, 2009 the group performed a medley of Jackson 5 hits in
tribute to Michael Jackson on the BET Awards. Led by Ralph
Tresvant, Ricky Bell and Bobby Brown, New Edition sang and danced
through classics such as "I Want You Back", "ABC" and "The Love You
Save".
Ronnie DeVoe teased on
Twitter the
possibility of NE doing a tour next summer with
New Kids on the Block.
Discography
Studio albums
See also
References
- New Edition Biography
- Bobby Brown | View the Music Artists Biography
Online | VH1.com
- Billboard.com - Biography - Bobby Brown
- Ticketmaster results for 'The Summit'
-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bbOw2X7nxc&feature=related
- Ralph Tresvant Bio on IMDB
- [1]
- [2]
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Misc
Search