"A Little Bit of Love (Is All It Takes)" by New Edition

Song#:  2630
Date:  02/22/1986
Debut:  94
Peak:  38
Weeks:  15
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  New Edition's third album, All for Love, got started with the #2 R&B hit "Count Me Out." While that was a solid showing at R&B, the song fizzled at Pop getting only halfway up the chart (#51). This was a disappointment considering that their previous LP featured three Pop Top 40 singles including the #4 "Cool It Now." They needed this next single to do better and it did, but not by a lot. The song made it inside the Pop Top 40 before fading away. The track was another winner at R&B reaching #3 and it also got to #16 at Dance. It would help the album reach platinum status, but that was half of what their previous one sold.

ReduxReview:  The guys go for a cooler groove here than on their previous bubblegum single, which was just a rehash of "Cool It Now." The song and production are a bit more mature and it fit them well. They should have been advancing their sound as they were quickly moving from boys to men. The song was a good choice for them and it probably should have been the first single. Had it been, it might have been done better than a Top 40 showing at Pop. While it's not a fantastic song, it did show that the group could handle something better than the candy-coated material they were getting.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  This song was co-written by Christine Perrin and Richard Wyatt, Jr. Under her maiden name of Yarian, Perrin co-wrote several songs in the 70s and 80s for artists like The Jackson 5, The Miracles, and Tavaras. A couple of these songs she co-wrote with her husband Freddie Perrin. While Freddie Perrin's name may not be as recognizable as writers like the Holland-Dozier-Holland team, Perrin supplied Motown with several major hits, some of which launched The Jackson 5 into stardom. As part of the writing team known as "The Corporation," Perrin co-wrote the Jackson's first three hit songs - "I Want You Back," "ABC," and "The Love You Save." All reached #1 at Pop and R&B. After Perrin left Motown, he scored more hits including "Boogie Fever" by The Sylvers, "Shake Your Groove Thing" and "Reunited" by Peaches & Herb, and most famously, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor. That song would earn Perrin a Grammy. The biggest song Freddie and Christine would write together wouldn't become a hit until 16 years after it was first recorded. The Perrin's wrote "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" for the 1975 film Cooley High. It was recorded by singer G.C. Cameron. It was issued out as a single, but only got to #38 at R&B. Later in 1991 when a new vocal group named Boyz II Men were recording their debut album CooleyHighHarmony (yes, named after the film and the actual school), they covered this tune in an a cappella version. They released it as their second single and it hit #1 R&B and #2 Pop.

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