"Count Me Out" by New Edition

Song#:  2516
Date:  11/02/1985
Debut:  88
Peak:  51
Weeks:  15
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  This Boston vocal group were riding high thanks to their crossover hit "Cool It Now" (#4 Pop, #1 R&B), which led to their second album going double platinum. However, they also found themselves in debt to MCA after the label dug the boys out of a bad deal they had with a production company. Because of that, they had to do what they could to work off the debt and a step towards that was this third album. Hoping for another big hit, they released this first single. While it was another winner at R&B getting to #2, it didn't do as well at Pop and it faltered just shy of the halfway point on the chart. Still, their popularity along with a couple more R&B Top 10's pushed the album to platinum. It was a significant drop from their previous album and wouldn't be enough to get the boys out of hock with MCA just yet.

ReduxReview:  I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This song was by the same writers as "Cool It Now" and it basically sounds like a retread of that tune. It's like "Cool It Now, Pt. 2." Pop listeners weren't buying into it and the song fizzled. The song is just as good as "Cool It Now," but since it offered absolutely nothing new from the group (except maybe deeper voices), it played like a knock-off. It was a move that cost the band a chunk of their audience, but they still remained popular enough to get a platinum LP.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  It was around this time that group member Bobby Brown was ousted from the group. A number of factors played a role in the decision including Brown not getting the lead vocal parts (the label preferred Ralph Tresvant leading the group), breaking out into his own dancing at shows, overtaking lead vocals from other members, missing plane flights, and feeling that the band was not making any money. There were arguments within the group and soon the label and their management decided to step in and force the other members to vote Brown out because he wasn't fitting in and was harming the image of the group. There are various stories on how this all happened, but in the end Brown left and went on to start a solo career. By the time the video for this song was being made, Brown was gone. He doesn't appear in the video and any featured parts he sang were lip synced by Ricky Bell. Brown would later rejoin the group in 1996 and then again in 2005.

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