aznightbuzz.com/stories/280567.phpArizona Daily Star
Published: 02.19.2009
'80s group still has its devotees
Bell Biv DeVoe here for 'Slow Jams Live' gig
By Gerald M. Gay
For those who grew up in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bell Biv DeVoe's performance at Sunday's "Slow Jams Live" concert is a special treat.
BBD helped usher in a new generation of R&B artists with hit songs such as "Poison," "Do Me" and "Word to the Mutha!," alongside Boyz II Men and Another Bad Creation, the other two-thirds of the "East Coast Family."
Eighties babies probably remember BBD members Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe best for their work with the powerhouse pop ensemble New Edition, with Bobby Brown.
Despite taking a back seat to the Alicia Keyses and Beyoncรฉs of the world in recent years, Bell said he can still see the effects that Bell Biv DeVoe has had on the music scene.
"To be in front of people at concerts, hearing the screams and watching them sing along to the songs is probably the highlight for me," Bell added in a phone interview last week from Los Angeles. "To be relevant 25 years later, playing 1,500-3,500-seaters is a blessing."
The group has flown under the radar for quite some time. Its last album of new material, "B.B.D.," came out in 2001 and quickly faded from the public eye.
But the group has soldiered on, focusing primarily on touring major markets like Atlanta and Los Angeles and building a strong Web presence through social-networking sites like MySpace.
"The record-buying experience is a lot of different now than it was back in the day," DeVoe said by phone from Atlanta. "Back then, you had to go and pick up the vinyl, the cassette tape, the CD. Now you can file-share with two or three friends at the same time. The amount of free material that is available through technology has definitely changed the game.
"You have to make sure that you are keeping viral and keeping in touch through e-mails or Web sites or blogs."
Earlier this month, Bell Biv DeVoe released its latest single, "Welcome to My Heart," exclusively on iTunes.
The romantic slow jam, which came out just in time for Valentine's Day, will be showcased at Sunday's concert. Bell said the group normally waits for an album to be finished to release the first single, but "once we recorded this song, we didn't want to wait."
"We figured Valentine's Day was coming up. It was the perfect song for that. Let's start letting people know that we are recording. We didn't want to lose the energy we had on it."
The track will be part of a album due out hopefully by the beginning of summer, DeVoe said. The trio has six tracks in the can and plans to knock out the rest of the release over the next few months.
As for touring, Bell said BBD will continue to travel around the country as long as people are still interested.
"We are going to ride this thing until the wheels fall off."