The Candy Girl Tour was a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

by the

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

New Edition New Edition is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B/Pop music, pop group from the Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by singer/rapper Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a new edition of the Jackson ...

, launched to support their first album '' Candy Girl''.

Background

New edition dropped their first single '' candy Girl'' in february 1983. The song was played by local radio stations around

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and later became a smash hit, this marked an opportunity for them to perform professionally. In the beginning, they started doing track dates in

nightclubs A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...

and Skating rink parties in the Northeastern region on weekends performing few minute sets on a pre-recorded tape. When summer came, they performed at some festivals, the

Indiana Black Expo Indiana Black Expo is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. It is responsible for overseeing two of the state's largest cultural events: the Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration, and the Circle City Classic. Hi ...

and by august became an opening act for

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

on his four month '' Cold Blooded Tour''. On this tour, Rick James thought it would be better for them perform their set with a live band, and provide them with his own musicians, the Stone City Band. August also marked their first trip oversea, as the group appeared on TV Show performing live version of their hits " Popcorn Love" and " Candy Girl" on ''Switch'' in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and ''Vorsicht, Musik!'' on August 15th in Germany lip-synching "Candy Girl". During the trip in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, they shot the videos for Popcorn Love and "She Gives Me a Bang" on the same day. Coming back to the Unite States, New edition recived their first royalty check for an amount of $1.87 each. Frustrated by this situation, they acquired new management in september and parted ways with Streetwise by November. Two months later, they crossed paths with Jerhyl Busby who signed them on

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. They spent the rest of the year opening for Rick James and other other R&B acts like

the Gap Band The Gap Band was an American Contemporary R&B, R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie Wilson (musician), Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it wa ...

and

Stacy Lattisaw Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States. Career When she was 11 years old, singer/songwriter Frederick Knight attempted to sign Lattisaw to his production ...

. In 1984, the group was headlining 45-minute concert backed by the Q-Band in theaters around the country and even in

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. While there, Jheryl Busby invited

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song for the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters'' and also sounds from the animated series '' The ...

to attend one of their concert, Parker met the group members who explained to him that they were already including the cover of " Mr. Telephone Man" by

Junior Tucker Leslie Tucker, known as Junior Tucker (born 23 September 1966 in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica), is a Jamaican reggae singer, who started his career in secular music but who now sings Christian music. His hits included "Happy" and his own compo ...

on their show and wanted to record a studio version of it. In the spring, New Edition were part of the line-up of the "Kool Jazz Festival" with

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

, and others artists.

Setlist

''Songs are not in order'': ;December 1983 - 1984 * Popcorn Love * Should Have Never Told Me * Jealous Girl *

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

Medley:

I Want You Back "I Want You Back" is the first national single by the Jackson 5. It was released by Motown on October 7, 1969, and became the first number-one hit for the band on January 31, 1970. It was performed on the band's first television appearances, on ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

The Love You Save "The Love You Save" is a song recorded by the Jackson 5 for Motown Records. It was released as a single on May 13, 1970, and held the number-one spot on the soul singles chart in the US for six weeks and the number-one position on the ''Billboard ...

* Mr. Telephone Man ( by Junior Tucker) * Is This the End *

Just Once "Just Once" is a 1981 single released from Quincy Jones' album '' The Dude'' on A&M Records. The song features James Ingram on vocals, and reached number 17 on the ''Billboard'' chart in the summer of 1981. Ingram's singing was nominated for Best ...

(by James Ingram) * Pass the Beat * Candy Girl

Personnel

;Musicians The Q-Band (Questarr Band): *Drexel "BOOTS" Anderson – guitar *Robert "Suave Bob" Cepeda – percussions *Ralph "The Phunky Drumma" Vargas – drums *Anthony "T-Bone" McEwan – bass and keyboards *Carl T. "The Smooth" Smith – keyboards *John Steiner – keyboards *Rick Roberts – band manager

Tour dates

;1984

References

{{New Edition 1983 concert tours 1984 concert tours New Edition