20th Century Masters - The Best of New Edition: The DVD Collection
This cluster of five music videos provides a capsule history of New Edition, originally a 1980s R&B-bubblegum; phenomenon created by producer-songwriter Maurice Starr, who later went on to create New Kids on the Block. A boyish Bobby Brown and fellow Boston teens Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe, and Ralph Tresvant--some of whom went on to become major solo stars--can all be seen here in smartly crafted, early videos for such Starr-penned hits as "Cool It Now" and "Mr. Telephone Man." (The latter finds the boys pleading with two confused repairmen because they can't call their girls.) Remaining videos reflect changes in New Edition: Johnny Gill replaces Brown on "If It Isn't Love," which focuses on sweaty rehearsals, and "Can You Stand the Rain," perhaps NE's first manly ballad. The suave "I'm Still in Love with You," possibly set in Venice, was shot during a 1996 reunion of original members plus Gill.--Tom Keogh