THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

236-New Edition-Hit Me Off.

1996-Number 20 single.

Best Bit-At 0.05. The band were named ‘New Edition’ to promote them as the next edition of ‘The Jackson 5.’ They were forerunners of the ‘Boy Band’ craze of the 1980’s and 1990’s.

‘New Edition’ was founded in 1981 by 12 year old Bobby Brown, (see also best songs 694) and his childhood friends Michael Bivins, and Ricky Bell, Ralph Tresvant who knew Bell was soon asked to join. In 1982 they became a quintet when their manager Brooke Payne (who had named them New Edition) insisted that his nephew Ronnie DeVoe should also join the group, all five members were from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Payne entered the group in a local talent contest at Boston’s ‘Strand Theatre’ and although they only finished second the music producer Maurice Starr was impressed enough to offer them a recording contract.

New Edition would stay with Starr through until 1984 when disputes of money brought about a parting of the ways, Starr would later go on to mould ‘New Kids on the Block’ as a white version of New Edition. In 1985 Bobby Brown was voted out of the group for behavioural problems, and the band remained a quartet until Johnny Gill was drafted in, in 1987. Inspired by the success Bobby Brown was having as a solo artist New Edition went on hiatus in 1990, Bell, Bivins, and DeVoe, formed the trio ‘Bell Biv DeVoe,’ and Tresvant, and Gill both released solo Albums. In total New Edition released seven studio Albums between 1983-2004, and 27 singles during the same time period. In America on Billboard, eight of their singles reached the top 40, with this track being the most successful peaking at Number 3, while in the UK four of their songs have charted, with the bands debut single ‘Candy Girl’ reaching Number 1, incidentally ‘Candy Girl’ only reached Number 45 in America.

By 1996 all six members had achieved greater success with their side projects than they had done as New Edition, but as they were still under contract with ‘MCA Records’ to record one more Album, all six members joined forces to record ‘Home Again’ the bands first new Album in eight years. The Album would become the bands best seller, but the subsequent tour to promote it was fraught with in fighting, leading to Brown and Bivens leaving, and the other four completing the dates as a quartet. All six members have re-grouped on occasions over the years to perform together, and they released their final studio Album ‘One Love’ in 2004, without Brown. As of 2022 the band still tour, with all six artists officially still ‘New Edition’ members

‘Hit Me Off’ was the first single released from New Edition’s sixth studio Album ‘Home Again’ from 1996. The song was co-written by the bands producers Philip ‘Silky’ White, Dinky Bingham, and Jeff Dyson, along with DeVoe, and Bivins. The other writer credited is the American Jazz musician Bob James, as his composition ‘Storm King’ is heavily sampled. Another song that is sampled, although not credited is ‘I Got Cha Opin’ from the New York early 1990’s Hip-Hop group ‘Black Moon.’

‘She’s the finest thing I’ve ever seen, looking like a natural queen. I said let me take you for a ride umm baby, to the other side. We can do just what you like girl.’