This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is packed with nostalgia. Classic acts like Cher and Chicago performed. Additionally, Bell Biv DeVoe delivered some ‘90s kid nostalgia at the Thanksgiving Day Parade when they performed “Poison” in front of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles float. Watch the performance below.
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Bell Biv DeVoe’s new jack swing sound—a combination of R&B, swing, and hip-hop—and the Ninja Turtles are the perfect nostalgic package for ‘90s kids. “Poison” was all over the radio in the early ‘90s. At the same time, the Turtles were cowabunga-ing on television, in theaters, and every toy aisle in the country. So, seeing the two cultural touchstones come together felt like home for several parade viewers.
Bell Biv DeVoe released “Poison” as the lead single from their debut album of the same name. The single went to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Additionally, it landed at No. 1 on the publication’s Hot Black Singles chart. It stayed there for two weeks. Just months after the single’s release, it received Platinum Certification from the RIAA.
Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe formed the group after New Edition split. Former New Edition member Bobby Brown found solo success. Then, lead vocalists Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill decided to try to achieve solo success as well. This signaled the end of the group.
Bell, Bivins, and DeVoe were backup singers in the group. They were ready to go their separate ways. Then, producer Jimmy Jam talked them into making an album together, according to Songfacts.
Elliott “Dr. Freeze” Straite wrote and produced “Poison.” Initially, he pitched it to New Edition. Later, Bell Biv DeVoe recorded it. “Most of the girls out there with nice shapes, they take advantage of that and they take a lot of people’s money,” Straite said of the inspiration for the song. “They use a lot of guys and that’s why I call them ‘Poison.’ Poison might look like a piece of candy and look really good, and when you bite into it, you’re dead,” he continued.
Bell Biv DeVoe hasn’t lost a step in the intervening years. Watch them perform their hit single in the video below.
(Featured Image by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
