European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Return of the classic soul Man by Hillel Italie associated press Obby Brown had completed recording sessions in los Angeles for his second Solo album but Felt something was missing. Seeking inspiration he and producer Gene Griffin headed for new York. The result was my prerogative a no. 1 smash off the million Selling Don t be cruel. I Felt my album was lacking a Strong aggressive song and i thought where better than new York to come up with it " said Brown an original member of new edition one of the hottest groups of the 1980s. A lot of things had been said about Bobby Brown Why was he doing this a Solo career. It s my Way of expressing to people it s your prerogative to do As you want but make sure what you do is the right  Brown has erased any doubts about his decision to leave new edition in 1987. Although he had originally planned to return to the group after one album the Success of Don t be Crue and his first Solo record King of stage have established him As a major Star. None of these songs could have come by new edition Brown said. I wanted to express More of me. In a group you re limited. You have different roles Brown grew up in the same Boston ghetto of Roxbury As fellow new edition members Ralph Tresvant Michael Bivins Ricky Bell and Ronnie Devoe. They began singing together in 1981 when Brown was just 13, and made their debut in a matinee performance at Boston s High hat club. We Sang a Jackson five number Brown recalled. It was the Start of something big. We enjoyed performing together and we used to go around to the matinee clubs. We were the ones out of the neighbourhood who took the time to try and do something better for  the Jackson five would loom Large in the Early Days of new edition. Not Only were they both five Man vocal groups barely into their teens but new edition s breakthrough hit in 1983, Candy girl had an uncanny resemblance to Jackson five songs such As Abc and the love you save. There were further hit records and sold out shows but new edition would run into Legal problems when producer Maurice Starr filed suit claiming he had Legal rights to the group s name. Although a Boston judge ruled in new edition s favor Brown decided in 1987 to go out on his own. It was time for a direction change Brown said. I loved the group and we will be friends forever but i would catch myself going into my own thing at times on stage. I have a real energetic Type of personality. They were going for ail american boys so to speak. I wanted to express More to my  but Brown admitted that the decision took its toll emotionally. Yeah it was Tough. It took a lot of going Over a lot of getting used to. It was t an easy decision by no Means. They took it As Well As could be expected. We left in Good  his first Solo album came out in 1987 and contained the single girl Friend which topped the re charts. But on stage at least some adjusting was necessary. I went on a tour with ready for the world. I got up there and i was going through a new edition song like or. Telephone Man and i would Start anticipating that Ralph would come in for his part he said. It did t take me a real Long time to get Over that  Don t be cruel a mixture of uptempo tracks and ballads has established Brown As a major crossover artist at a time that new edition s latest album is also Topping the charts. The Singer s desire to let people see the real Bobby Brown was tested by the title track. The people in the studio had seen a girl i had brought to the rehearsals Brown said. They got a feeling that she was being cruel to me. The song was devised around that. I knew it was a Good  but Brown did t anticipate the song reaching the top 5 or the album becoming one of the year s biggest Sellers. To Tell you the truth i was hoping for a single Platinum. That would have been a feat that i would have loved to have attained. Now being Multi Platinum is inconceivable. I m still overwhelmed at the  by Peter Watrous new York times Obby Brown Short and thin and Boyish comes out in front of the sold out Madison Square Garden audience wearing a Bowler and smoking a Cigar. The audience which has been chanting Bobby Bobby in anticipation goes wild screaming and Rushing the stage. Brown Breaks into his hit Don t be cruel his Lithe hard body moving almost impossibly fast and surrounded by his two male dancers All three of them look too Young to drink he goes into a furious intricate dance taken directly from a rap club full of abrupt Arm movements hip gyrations and pumping Knees. For the next hour he puts on a bravado performance that harks Back to the glory Days of the Apollo theater where soul acts used to tear up the place. He shows off dance Steps telling the audience that this is my special walk which drives them wild. He takes off his shirt which drives them wild. He brings a girl up from the audience and demonstrates the proper seduction techniques. He sings his hoarse limited voice giving the sound of a Man reduced to pleading. The huge Success of Brown the 20-year-old performer who has sold 3.5 million copies of his album Don t be cruel is an indication that a new school of singers who mix classic soul singing with the beats and attitude of rap is on its Way to becoming an integral part of mainstream music. Brown s concert audience and those buying his records Are both Black and White. His Success is a Milestone for Blacks in pop. The music he makes is the first to fully incorporate rap s beats rhythms and hard Street attitudes into a pop music format. The mixture works and accompanied by Brown s rap influenced dancing and his rap attitude it is startlingly new. Brown has had the stage set for him by rap which has reached a More limited but still sizable mainstream audience. Rap has introduced contemporary Black musical culture to White America in a Way that has t been done since the last Golden age of Black popular music in the 60s and Early 70s, the time of motown and aretha Franklin. And rap with its Lack of sonic or political Compromise has changed the rules in popular music. The history of Black music and White audiences in America is largely the history of racial mediation where a Benny Goodman translates the music of Fletcher Henderson for the Benefit of a bigger audience or the Beattie boys use heavy Metal and add a disarming cartoonish Ness to hip hop. By contrast Brown does t offer a hint of Compromise for a White audience. A Friend recently asked me after i had seen Brown perform whether he was As Good As Michael Jackson. I was stumped by the question because they represent such radically different sensibilities from such different traditions they mean entirely different things. Brown presents himself As the kid next door the Black kid next door. Jackson is e.t., the creator of an otherworldly More intricate set of images. And while some Black artists notably Prince and Jackson have crossed Over to reach a White audience the references behind their ambiguous eccentric facades Are to Joni Mitchell and Gene Kelly. Brown s context is the jazz tinged Black pop of Donny Hathaway and Stevie wonder. Jackson is substantially More Complex in both the image he s built and in his showmanship. If you put him on stage next to Brown he d seem gifted but from a different age. Jackson s image Bank is Hollywood Brown s is the Black music of the last two decades. Pop music always finds a Way to Combine styles that work from country Rock to pop jazz. In the combination of rap rhythm and pop Melody Brown covers the current marketplace. His songs each armed with a solid melodic Hook and a Catchy title Don t be cruel my prerogative and thunderous rap beats sound As much at Home on a mainstream station As they do mixed into Wols s rap attack radio show. His music has All the necessary dance Power but it is pop in a More traditional sense As Well there Are obvious melodies it is Sung not spoken though he raps on one Tun and the music is played by instruments not electronically sampled or taken from a record. Brown is the return of the classic soul Man. His stamina is a teen Echo of James Brown s Energy. His Success in t a Complete Surprise. Twenty years after the soul Man s commercial demise the White world has absorbed the image thoroughly through bar bands racist parodies the blues Brothers and an appreciation of the music. Wednesday february 22, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 17