NEW EDITION
New Edition is an American R&B group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts formed in 1978. The group reached its height of popularity in the 1980s. During the group’s first experience with fame in 1983, its members were Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ronnie DeVoe, and Ralph Tresvant. Early hits included “Candy Girl”, “Cool It Now”, and “Mr. Telephone Man”. Brown was voted out of the group in 1985 and embarked on a solo career. The group continued for a time with its remaining four members, but eventually recruited singer Johnny Gill, who would be introduced on their 1988 album Heart Break. The group went on hiatus in 1990, while its various members worked on side projects, such as the group Bell Biv DeVoe. Gill and Tresvant also recorded successful solo albums. (More from Wikipedia)
Bobby Brown, Don’t be Cruel – When we went to see Tina Turner not long after her hit solo album, Private Dancer came out, someone was giving away a poster as we were leaving that had Tina on one side and New Edition, the opening act on the other side. Anyone who hung onto that poster had quite a collectible I imagine, because New Edition became one of the leading teen pop musical groups not long after that, as well as a template for numerous other groups that have come along since that time – black and white, male and female. Bobby Brown was the lead singer of New Edition, and the remaining members also had success in their later incarnation as Bell Biv DeVoe. Now infamous as the troubled husband of Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown deserves to be known as a fine performer as well, and a leader in the musical scene called new jack swing that his earlier band New Edition had pioneered. Don’t be Cruel (1988) includes the powerful hit single that I still hear on the radio a lot, “My Prerogative”; Allmusic gives the album a 5 star rating.
(December 2015)
