PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS… RALPH TRESVANT
New Edition singer Ralph Tresvant talks comeback.
Presented by Electronic Urban Report.
RALPH TRESVANT, BOBBY BROWN AND JOHNNY GILL: New Edition Leads become Heads of State.
New Edition isn’t so new anymore. The 1980s R&B boy band is now entering the realm of ‘classic’ and ‘celebrated’. In fact, the group was honored by ASCAP this summer at its 21st Annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, celebrating the group’s 25th anniversary. But while the group is being remembered for their music history, the members are still making new moves.
The boys from Boston – Ralph Tresvant, Bobby Brown, Michael Bivins, Ricky Bell, and Ronnie Devoe – became “Right On” cover staples as hits like “Candy Girl,” “Is This the End,” “Jealous Girl,” “Cool it Now,” “Count Me Out,” “A Little Bit of Love,” and many, many more raced up the charts in the ‘80s. They maintained their soul status into the early ‘90s with “If it Isn’t Love,” “Can You Stand the Rain,” with a switch of players – Johnny Gill for Bobby Brown, who’d soon release a solo album.
New Edition went on hiatus to pursue side projects away from the group in the mid-90s and spawned solo hits from Tresvant and Gill and multi-platinum status from the remaining three as the group Bell Biv Devoe. So 25 years after their first hit, the six-man quintet was honored among rumors of a reunion album and tour.
“It was fun,” Tresvant said of the honor earlier this year. “It was one of those things that you don’t think you’re gonna live to see the day. New Edition used to sit back and say, ‘Man, where is our star; where is our or that.’ No one seemed to notice what we’d been doing. Just when you get to the point where you’re not really trippin’ on that anymore, here comes ASCAP recognizing 25 years of very hard work. It felt very, very good.”
Tresvant told EUR’s Gerald Radford that while the regrouping hasn’t come to fruition, the fellas certainly keep in touch.
“We’re great friends,” he said. “We’re brothers. We’re as close as brothers get. I don’t talk…
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