FEATURE
1980 ’ s with hits such as ' Candy Girl ', ' Cool it Now ' and ' Mr Telephone Man '.
THE
NEW
EDITION
' The New Edition Story ', a threepart mini series biopic , was aired on BET in America at the end of January . The show which casts Luke James , Elijah Kelley , Keith Powers , Woody McClain , Algee Smith and Bryshere Y . Gray as the New Edition members has turned attention to the feuds ,
fame , turmoil and legacy of the RnB boy-band that has spanned almost four decades . New Edition first formed in 1978 and stole our hearts in the early eighties . Bobby Brown , Ralph Tresvant , Mike Bivins , Ronnie Devoe and Ricky Bell reached the height of their success in the
Dubbed the next Jackson Five by local manager and choreographer Brooke Payne , who gave them their name , entered them into a local talent show , which they won , and led to them being signed to writer and producer Maurice Starr ’ s label Streetwise . After the success of their first album ' Candy Girl ', the group fired Maurice and signed with MCA . After the departure of Bobby Brown , Johnny Gill , a friend of the group , became his replacement and they recorded and released the 1989 album ' Heartbreak ' with the no . 1 smash ' Can you Stand the Rain '.
After the success of ' Heartbreak ', the group split to work on their individual solo projects . Lead singer Ralph Tresvant was last to release his solo work but it paid off with his self-titled debut album which went platinum . The album ' s lead song ' Sensitivity ' went to no . 1 on the RnB and no . 4 on the pop billboard charts . Johnny Gill ’ s self titled album saw the successful chart toppers ' My , My , MY ', ' Rub You The Right Way ' and ' Wrap You Tight '. The remaining members : Ricky Bell , Mike Bivins and Ronnie Devoe formed the group Bell Biv Devoe ( BBD ), which saw them release the smash hit ' Poison ' showcasing the new jack swing genre that had been made popular by Bobby Brown and the RnB groupGuy .
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