New Edition! Need I say more? Why not? New Edition is the 80’s babies Jackson 5. Our Hip-Hop generations Temptations. Hit’s for years and classic shit too. Not just one timers, club shit. Naymeen!?! Peep the bio and get your research on people if you don’t know. FLAMMMMMM!!!!!
Bio:
New Edition’s original members were Michael Bivins, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Ralph Tresvant, and Ronnie DeVoe. Bobby and Ralph knew each other since they were little kids. When they got older, they would DJ at local parties and were known as Click and Clack. Their best known appearance was at the Dealborn Middle School’s Halloween party.
Ricky and Ralph met on a basketball team called the “Celtics” that was organized by the Orchard Park Community Center. The first time they performed together was in a middle school play called “Death After School.” Ralph got stabbed after school by Ricky, who played the villain. Not long after “Death After School”, they joined the drill team together. It was when they were singing a capella of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” that the drill team captain asked them if they wanted to make a record. Of course they did want to, but they never actually made a record. Ralph one said that they also used to do book reports together, and they were known as the Double R Connection.
Ricky was in a group, founded by Brooke Payne, who picked the name “New Edition” out of a hat. Mike Bivins once said that they formed the group because “We wanted to do things that we didn’t have money for like going to the movies or just spending spare change. So, we figured we would go out and work together as a group and get it.”
The original members of New Edition were Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Bobby Brown. The three performed around Boston from 1978-79, but they never really got anywhere with it. One day 1980, Ralph and Ricky were playing basketball together when Bobby and Mike came and told Ricky that there would be a practice the next day. Ralph asked him what the practice was for, and Ricky told him about New Edition. He said that they were looking for a fourth member, so they invited Ralph to join. The four sang “Holding On” by LTD at a talent show held at Bobby’s sister’s house and won first prize of $10.
Ronnie DeVoe, Brooke Payne’s nephew, was already in a group called the Dramatics and was recruited to the group in 1980. Together, Ronnie, Ricky, Mike, Ralph, and Bobby performed around Boston.
New Edition’s first professional debut was at the Strand Theatre’s Hollywood Talent Night in Boston. They sang “The Love You Save” by the Jackson Five. They came in second place, but producer Maurice Starr liked them, so he signed them to his independent label, Streetwise Records. The first song they recorded, “Candy Girl”, took two years to produce. But major record companies complained about their voices and thought it was not well made. However, it was released on Streetwise Records, and came out in March 1983. Even though the other record companies didn’t like it, the fans, especially girls, sure did!! It topped the charts in the UK and Canada!! Therefore, they had to record a whole album. The album, titled Candy Girl, featured hits like “Is This The End”, “Popcorn Love”, “Jealous Girl”, “She Gives Me A Bang”, and of course, “Candy Girl.”
In 1984, New Edition left Streetwise Records and signed with MCA Records. It took three months to record New Edition. NE wrote two songs called “Kinda Girls We Like” and “I’m Leaving You Again” on the album. This album had hits such as “Mr. Telephone Man”, “My Secret”, “Lost In Love”, and the #1 hit “Cool It Now.” The “My Secret” video had special sports footage with the Lakers and NBA. It was also the first video to use pro sports footage specifically for the video.
That same year, Maurice Starr sued New Edition for their name. He felt betrayed by New Edition for leaving Streetwise for MCA Records, and in a recent Jordan Knight (a former member of New Kids On The Block, who were also discovered by Maurice Starr) biography, he said that he thought he would never trust another group again after what New Edition did but that he did trust New Kids On The Block. Later in the book, he also said that he did not want revenge for New Edition. He did say, however, that he could not listen to New Edition whenever they were on the radio, especially when they were #1 on the charts and doing better than New Kids On The Block.
New Edition must have made the right choice by leaving Streetwise because they lasted a lot longer than New Kids On The Block. New Edition obviously won the case and kept their name. On March 23, 1984 the magistrate, Robert Collins, rejected the argument that the “New Edition” trademark represents a type of ” ’80s black bubblegum music” conceived by Maurice Starr. He said, “The primary significance of the mark ‘New Edition’ is not the music but the group. The songs may be written and orchestrated in a unique style, and that unique style may have a name, but it is hard to envision a set of facts where the name would be a mark which belongs to the writer and cannot be used by anyone else.”
1985 was a year of photo shoots and a concert tour promoting the self-titled album. However, during this year, New Edition recorded an album called All For Love. Although, their voices were changing that year, the album produced hits such as “Count Me Out”, “With You All The Way”, and the #1 hit “A Little Bit Of Love (Is All It Takes).” However, “Count Me Out” was the only video released from that album.
Later that year, NE also recorded Christmas All Over The World. Ralph and Ricky penned “The Joy Of Christmas” together, and Ronnie and Mike wrote “Sing Merry Christmas” together on the album. They also remade the Jackson Five’s “Give Love On Christmas Day.”
They were in two successful Coke commercials, too, which really widened New Edition and Coke’s audiences. NE also sang “My Secret” in the movie “Krush Groove.”
In 1986, Bobby left the group to pursue a successful solo career. He was known as one of the biggest entertainers in R&B music. During that year, Ronnie, Ralph, Mike, and Ricky recorded Under The Blue Moon which was a collection of cover tunes.
After the Under The Blue Moon album, NE looked for a member to fill Bobby’s place. But they didn’t want anybody from the streets. They wanted someone with some status. They were friends with Johnny Gill, who had a few albums on his own already. On the “Past and Present” video, Ralph said that they had always joked that if Johnny could hit a certain dance step right, he could join the group. This time, however, he really did join the group.
Heart Break, New Edition’s first album with Johnny, was released in 1988. It spawned hits such as “N.E. Heart Break”, “You’re Not My Kind Of Girl”, “If It Isn’t Love”, “Crucial”, and “Can You Stand The Rain.” They also made appearances on shows such as Soul Train and The Arsenio Hall Show. They had a very successful tour with opening acts Bobby Brown and Al B. Sure! But in 1989-1990, they decided to go their separate ways. History is about to be made……(More Here).
(That’s Not All Either!)
