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Soulblitz Allstars Ricky Bell & Johnny Gill
Two of the most influential R&B artists of the '80s and '90s, Ricky Bell and Johnny Gill both owe a large portion of their success to their membership in the teen pop/R&B act New Edition. Coming together under the tutelage of teen pop Svengali Maurice Starr in the early '80s, Bell and bandmates Michael Bivins, Ronald Devoe, Bobby Brown, and Ralph Tresvant were barely teenagers when their Jackson Five-like first single, "Candy Girl," struck gold on both pop and R&B radio. New Edition remained successful throughout the mid-'80s, with hits like "Cool It Now" and "Mr. Telephone Man" keeping their profile high, but following their third album, 1985's All For Love, lead singer Brown left the group for what would be (for a time) a very successful solo career.

Brown's replacement in New Edition was Gill, who'd already experienced some solo success after being discovered by R&B singer Stacy Lattislaw, while singing with his family's group, Wings Of Faith. Before joining New Edition, Gill already had two Top 30 R&B singles, including 1984's Top 10 duet with Lattisaw, "Perfect Combination." Gill proved a good fit with New Edition, and remained with them through what would be their final album before disbanding at the end of the '80s, 1989's Heart Break.

After New Edition split, each member went on to a successful solo career. Gill's self-titled 1990 album went platinum, topping the R&B charts and hitting the pop Top 10, and the follow-up, 1993's Provocative, went gold. Perhaps more interesting, though, was the project undertaken by Bell, Bivens, and Devoe. Taking the name Bell Biv Devoe, the trio married R&B grooves to hip hop beats, rhymes, and a sexier attitude, pioneering a sound that would become known as New Jack Swing. The sound was an immediate hit, and the group's 1990 debut, Poison, went triple platinum, and spawned Top 3 pop hits including "Do Me" and the title track. More importantly, it spawned a slew of like-minded artists that essentially moving R&B into a new direction. Indeed, the influence of Bell Biv Devoe is still felt today.

Interestingly, though, Bell Biv Devoe would only release one more album, 1993's Hootie Mack, before its members reunited with New Edition. 1996's Home Again brought all of the band's former members (including both Brown and Gill) back together for an extremely successful album and tour. Following Home Again, the members of New Edition resumed their solo careers, Gill with his late 1996 album Let's Get the Mood Right, and Bell concentrating on production and song-writing, as well as work on a solo album. Recently, Bell and Gill again joined forces to record "Acoustic Struggle," a new song available exclusively at MUSICBLITZ.


Soulblitz Allstars Ricky Bell & Johnny Gill	Acoustic Struggle	MP3,WinMedia	R&B
A far cry from the days of "Do Me," Ricky Bell & Johnny Gill's new MUSICBLITZ Exclusive, "Acoustic Struggle," is a straight-up taste of New Jack Swing for the year 2000!