Good Morning POU!
Ralph, Bobby, Ricky, Mike, Ron and Johnny! New Edition are icons, and although the BET mini-series touched on the behind the scenes fights, it was even more chaotic than that according to the guys.
In talking about the mini-series and how it came to be, the guys described even more than we saw on screen.
Ronnie DeVoe explains that the creation of The New Edition Story began with a 2005 BET Awards appearance. The Boston, Massachusetts group felt connected to the network for their success in the first place. “BET was the right place.” DeVoe says that in 2013, BET acquired the rights to Bobby Brown’s life story, allowing the complete group’s biography to be authorized. “When we look at the history of New Edition, from Video Soul and a lot of the stuff that allowed us to be seen across America and even across the world, initially, and the magnitude of success that we had, that was BET. They had a footprint on our success. So there was no better place, especially when they were talking about three nights. We just felt like we could get deeper into our story.”
Yes that fight on stage in Oakland really happened #NewEditionBet
— Ricky Bell (@MrRickyBell) January 26, 2017
The part they left out was the scissors! I snapped and they left me in a hotel room for 2weeks ….luv @kingbobbybrown #NewEditionBET
— Mike Biv (@617MikeBiv) January 26, 2017
Michael Bivins says that the producers’ method for getting a true script affected the group greatly. “They seemed like they had the Jedi mind trick the best. Because, the only reason the movie happened is because we told all the shit that we kept [to ourselves]. So the way they approached us getting the stories out of us actually was clever. Because there’s no way to write the script unless you get all of the information. They came at us all and sat with us individually, so they made everybody feel comfortable to open up. That was the process that we all thought was the hard part.” Biv’ says that when the six all-time New Edition members came as one at a destination, things got even harder. “The toughest part was…we went away to a resort. We went away to read the script. You are actually reading what the next man thought about you. We locked ourselves in the room, for what [turning to Ricky Bell] 10 hours? That was the most craziest shit ever, man.”
Elaborating on his earlier remark that N.E. and B.B.D. each have inner-turmoils today, Ricky Bell details, “It’s just like a marriage [or family]. There’s conflict, but I don’t think we’ve come to the point where we have a healthy conflict resolution yet, between all of us. But somehow, the three of us seem to agree on a lot. Somehow, the three of us always end up havin’ each other’s back through whatever. We’ve just learned to deal with each other. But there’s egos, there’s hangovers from unresolved situations, there’s still some resentments going on.” Michael Bivins adds, “To get six votes is the hardest thing sometimes.” This perhaps explains New Edition’s lack of an album since 2004, despite a clear demand in the market.
Remember This Hella Tense Video Soul Interview?
The worst days appear behind the group though. Michael Bivins points to New Edition’s only run as a sextet as the bottom. In late 1996, the six men released Home Again on MCA Records. The album went to #1 as a multi-platinum success, eight years removed from the group’s last LP. “The worst tour ever…this is some real shit…’96, this is Home Again. This is ‘the big reunion’,” states Biv. “We had a month and a half’s worth of rehearsal [time]. Our first [full] fuckin’ practice was on the Wooster Arena, on stage.” While there were rehearsals, the six men never practiced together once. “Our first show was a dress rehearsal in front of 20,000 people.” Bobby Brown was unable to complete the show in the return to the group that fired him in 1988. “Bob conked out that night. He needed the oxygen; something was going on with him.”
Ricky Bell echoes Biv’s sentiments. “It was the worst tour of my life in all 33 years. It was the most horrific experience I had.” He continues, “Understand this, leading up to that, all we did was perform. That’s why we entered the music business. That was our motivation. That was our inspiration. Get on stage, make the girls scream. That was it. Everything up to the Heartbreak Tour, we’d have full dress rehearsals. We’d video tape ’em, watch ’em, critique it, pull stuff in and out, whatever, make adjustments.” Bell too, says that Bobby Brown was one of the challenges for the comeback shows. “Bobby showed up to maybe two rehearsals; he didn’t know any of the routines. So we had to base the whole show around [his lack of knowing] and make it look like we were on stage, together. So we’re trying to make it look like we put this together.” To make matters worse, Ralph Tresvant—who also achieved solo success—was allegedly no longer willing to take the stage. “It’s the end of the tour, and our main man tanks out on us. Ralph said, ‘Fuck it. I ain’t doin’ no more shows.’ Ralph would sit on his tour bus in the parking lot, and we’d go do shows. Imagine a concert without your man. So he was gone. We was gone. Johnny [Gill] was on the bus by himself; he was gone.” The men recall getting booed in Detroit, for the first time in a career that began almost 20 years prior.
Through it all, the group always finds it way back together. On January 24–26, 2017, BET aired the biopic miniseries The New Edition Story which chronicles the band members life from their childhood in Boston into Hollywood fame as adults. It was directed by Chris Robinson and executive produced by Jessie Collins. The group served as co-producers. The miniseries brought in 28.4 million viewers to BET, through the initial run and subsequent encores over the week of the premiere.