THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701180085
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 72 lines
NEW EDITION didn't have it in mind to refute novelist Thomas Wolfe when they picked ``Home Again'' for the title of their reunion album. Nonetheless, the facts speak for themselves.
After amicably disbanding in 1990, Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe and Johnny Gill (who replaced Brown in '87) reunited last year - without missing a beat.
The album, a mix of the romantic ballads and R&B with an edge that first put the guys in the national limelight, reached the top spot on the Billboard 200; 16 weeks after its release, it's a healthy No. 25. ``I'm Still in Love With You,'' the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis-penned single, is No. 7.
While everyone enjoyed solid careers out-side New Edition, getting back together has been part of the plan. They opened the reunion tour Dec. 27 on their Boston home turf. The triple-threat bill - roadmates Blackstreet and Keith Sweat have hit albums and Top 10 singles, too - comes to Hampton Coliseum Monday evening.
``Ever since Bobby left the group we've always talked about coming back,'' DeVoe, one third of Bell Biv DeVoe, said last week from snowy Milwaukee. ``We were fortunate to be as successful as we were as individuals - that's one reason it took so long. And why not? It adds that much more to the story.''
The timing, though, was out of their hands.
``It was God's plan, basically,'' said DeVoe, 29. ``We had nothing to do with it. We wanted everything to happen at a much faster pace, but it just happened the way it did. You can't rush creativity.''
In those cities where the shows haven't sold out, the houses have run about 85 percent capacity, he added. The first leg of the tour runs to mid-March, then shifts overseas. DeVoe is hoping it picks up again in the States this summer with a round of outdoor venues.
There's more to ``Home Again,'' however, than New Edition simply repeating its sales chart and box office magic. The group returns with the industry in woeful financial straits. CD sales and concert attendance nose-dived in 1996. An insider since 1983, DeVoe has a pretty good fix as to why.
``You have record companies now that are more focused on getting a big record as opposed to having a hit group that has longevity. It's taken away from the industry all around. A group sells 2 million singles, but when it's time to go on stage and perform in front of people, (the group) knows nothing about performing. That tends to discourage people from coming out.
``The focus is directed differently than it was in the past. The Jackson 5, The Temptations, Gladys & the Pips - those were groups that knew how to put on a show. The entertainment business is built on entertainment.''
Just like the G-rated . . . OK, PG-rated New Edition/Blackstreet/ Keith Sweat tour. And it couldn't come at a better time, either, DeVoe said.
``I don't want it to be a thing where people are nervous about coming out,'' he said. ``Hip-hop has gotten a bad name, and since it's become part of the mainstream, R&B has a cloud over it. People are afraid the shows will be violent because there's violence in the records.
``That's definitely a statement we want to make - that this is a show families can come out to see, from grandmothers to mothers and grandchildren. Home again. That's what it's all about, taking it back to the realness. In albums to come, I'd really like to take it back to where the whole group is in the studio playing live.''
When it is time to cut another album, DeVoe will share the feedback he's gotten from fans of New Edition. Ron DeVoe's Private Line - (818) 340-2300 - goes right to his home in California.
Since establishing it, he's heard from people across the country and around the world.
``Some of them want to marry different members of the group or get an autographed picture,'' he said. ``But I get insight into the group. I hear what they have to say about what's going on with us. They've been saying since 1983 that they like what we're doing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Keith Sweat