Telephone Man soundtracked skating rinks on Saturdays, and was the type of music designed for hand-holding and first time slow-dancing. New Edition’s Candy Girl, Popcorn Love, and Mr. They were the teen idols who made black girls born in the ’70s rip pages from magazines like Right On! and tape them to their bedroom walls. ![]() To add to the disarray and disappointment: Back taxes were stressing out Bell, DeVoe, Bivins and Tresvant - and they weren’t even 20. But the group’s fourth effort, 1986’s Under The Blue Moon, was a collection of doo-wop covers that barely went gold. New Edition had experienced multiplatinum success with its second effort, 1984’s self-titled album, and 1985’s platinum-selling All For Love secured its space as the signature teen group of the mid-’80s. Bobby Brown had been voted out of the group in 1985 due to his on-and-off stage antics, and he was prepping for his second solo album, the instantly classic Don’t Be Cruel. New Edition, founded in the Orchard Park Projects in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood in 1978, was down to four members: Ricky Bell, Ronnie DeVoe, Michael Bivins, and lead singer Ralph Tresvant. Busby, who began his career at Stax Records and became president of Motown, was then president of black music at MCA Records. The all-male singing collective from Boston housing projects was on its way to becoming a true supergroup - but only if its remaining members could convene and create the album that Jheryl Busby knew they had in them. Heart Break is available on all streaming platforms.It was 1986, and New Edition needed a slam dunk. My only gripe with Heart Break is that I did not get to see the tour back in 1988. Heart Break is not only New Edition’s magnum opus, and its perfection in any music genre. Tresvant leads the song while Johnny Gill and Ricky Bell both show out on the songs as well. However, the one that takes the cake for me and is easily one of my favorite New Edition songs is track #14, “I’m Comin Home.” Eloquently produced by Jam & Lewis, “I’m Comin Home” is reminiscent of the work the duo did for Alexander O’Neal. “Competition” and “Boys to Men” are also strong ballads on the project. ![]() Ricky Bell displays his vocals on the track, while Tresvant comes across smoother than an aged cognac.įollowing “Superlady,” the group hits us with one of its most well-known ballads, “Can You Stand the Rain.” The song highlights Gill’s powerhouse vocals, but its message is also a timeless one. unleashes their pen game once again on the album’s first ballad, “Superlady,” which features lush production by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Finally, New Edition closes out the up-tempo portion of Heart Break with a personal favorite, “You’re Not My Kind of Girl.” Each of the songs gives us a different look at the facets of affection. Heart Break,” “Crucial,” and You’re Not My Kind of Girl” is R&B perfection. Quite honestly, the four-song run of “If It Isn’t Love,” “N.E. Starting with “Where It All Started,” New Edition erases any of the bubblegum sounds that were once their bread and butter. From there, producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis take us on a musical journey, as New Edition becomes men. Next, Jellybean Johnson handles the production of the first official song on the album “That’s the Way We’re Livin.” Although the group themselves wrote the song, it is a great start to the project that perfectly puts us in a concert-like atmosphere. Heart Break opens with an introduction where all of the members reintroduce themselves to the public. reunited with producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, whom they worked a year prior on the lovely ballad “Helplessly in Love.” Every member in the group was over age 18 (sans Gill, who was already of legal age) during the project recording. ![]() Thirty-three years ago today, the Boston-based R&B group released their fifth album, which featured new member, Washington D.C.-born crooner Johnny Gill. An R&B masterpiece that I have listened to from start to finish hundreds of times, and that is New Edition’s, Heart Break. The album I want to highlight is one I know backward and forwards. I wanted to change it up for my third article of Second Listen Sundays.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |