Bell Biv Devoe

It wasn't commercially successful, probably because it had a harder rap sound. Multi-Instrumentalist James Arthur Payne tours with the band, fills in vocal, keyboard, guitar, and harmonica parts, and is a fan favorite. Bell Biv Devoe released their third album B.B.D. in 2001. Original drummer, Cary Bonnecaze, left the band after the release of Deluxe. Original lead guitarist, Joel Rundell, committed suicide in 1990. All three members reunited with the other members of New Edition to record and release another album in 8 years, Home Again, and went on another tour in 1996. In addition to vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin, the current members of Better Than Ezra are bass guitar player Tom Drummond and drummer Travis McNabb. Bell Biv Devoe recurred in 1993 with their second album Hootie Mack, but it was less successful than the first. Better Than Ezra's independence and survival in a business that has chewed up and spat out many bands they used to jockey for chart position with seems to indicate that the band will be around to satisfy their fans' rapacious appetite for their music for many years to come.

In the meantime,since Bivins was interested in discovering and developing new talent, he organized the "East Coast Family",which besides Bell Biv Devoe, also consists of Another Bad Creation and Boyz II Men. It is in large part due to this relentless touring schedule and the fan base it engenders that Better Than Ezra has managed to continue to produce new music, and remain extremely viable well past what many critics projected to be their shelf life. W.B.B.D.Bootcity:The Remixes cd followed in 1991 year. Many of their fans follow the band religiously and attend scores of their performances. The album's title track came in 3rd place on the r&b charts and other hit singles from it include B.B.D.(I Thought It Was Me), When Will I See You Smile Again, and Dope! . Part of the reason why is that the band has an extremely loyal fan base (who refer to themselves as "Ezralites") that have never cared whether radio plays the band or not. Compared to fellow new jack swing ensemble New Edition, Bell Biv Devoe's material has funkier rhythms, sexier lyrics and vocals and a much harder, stronger, hip-hop meets r&b flavor to it. But unlike the majority of their contemporaries, Better Than Ezra has managed to avoid dropping off of the musical map or throwing in the towel.

The first album "Poison" was released in 1990 and sold over 3 million copies. At least commercially (and in terms of mainstream radio play), the band has experienced slightly diminishing returns with each successive release. Their debut album was produced by a variety of producers, including Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Public Enemy's producers Hank and Keith Shocklee, Timmy Gatling(formerly of Guy) and several others. Like many bands in the then-burgeoning alt-rock movement of the mid-'90s, Better Than Ezra enjoyed their period of greatest chart success in the time following their debut major-label release ("Deluxe"), which spawned their highest-charting hits. It wasn't until after the tour in support of the release of New Edition's 1988 album, Heart Break, that the threesome decided to split from the two other members of the group and started their own project. Upcoming releases include a Greatest Hits collection (Warner Brothers, March 15th, 2005), and a new album entitled "Before the Robots" (Artemis Records, April 15th, 2005.). Bell Biv DeVoe is a spinoff group formed by the members of New Edition: Ricky Bell, Mike Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe. late 2004 saw the band simultaneously releasing an official live concert DVD, as well as an official live album, both entitled "Live at the House of Blues - New Orleans" (Sanctuary Records).

The band also released the B-Sides and rarities collection "artifakt" on its own "Ezra Dry Goods/Fudge" label in 2000. Subsequent album releases include "Friction, Baby" (Elektra, 1996), "How Does Your Garden Grow?" (Elektra, 1998), and "Closer", (Beyond Records, 2001). That same year, "Good" became a major pop hit, reaching the #1 position on the Billboard chart. It was released on 2 different labels, the independent Swell Records first, and later national label Elektra Records.

In 1994 they released their first album Deluxe in 1995. In 1989 the band released a cassette-only album, Surprise. By 1988 Better Than Ezra had released a demo cassette tape, Chime Street Studio Demo Tape. The band was formed in 1987 by Kevin Griffin while he and the other original members were attending college at Louisiana State University.

Better Than Ezra are an alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana. For help, see How to Edit a Page and the Style and How-to Directory. After the article has been cleaned up, you may remove this message. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.