Friday, March 29, 2024

Tanya Hart Chronices Ups and Downs of New Edition Once Again

Tanya-Hart
Tanya Hart Chronices Ups and Downs of New Edition Once Again

*Tanya Hart, TV Host, Producer, Radio Personality, had the foresight when music producer Maurice Starr, producer of New Edition, asked her to do a story about New Edition in 1982 on her popular Boston television show, WBZ-TV’s “Coming Together” where she served as host and producer.

This exposure helped launch New Edition into a 30+ year career which has yielded Bell Biv Devoe, hit records, numerous awards and now a biopic on BET entitled “The New Edition Story”.  The 3-part series premiere airdates are Tuesday, January 24 through Thursday, January 26, 2017.

The miniseries chronicles the ups and downs of legendary music group New Edition from their humble beginnings in Boston to individual solo success.  https://www.bet.com/shows/the-new-edition-story.html

Tanya Hart reveals, “Maurice came up with the idea to do a “Hollywood Talent Night”.   He and I would often share M.C. duties at the Lee School in Dorchester and since I had a weekly prime time TV show we could showcase the winners.  Boston was bursting with raw talent and getting national play with groups like “The Cars” and “Aerosmith”, so when five black kids from Roxbury appeared on my TV show everyone took notice, and the rest as they say is history.”

Maurice eventually lost New Edition to MCA Records.  He licked his wounds at Tanya and Philip Hart’s Martha’s Vineyard home one cold winter.  There he had an epiphany.

He told himself if I can find five black kids from Roxbury and make them stars then I can find five white kids and make them even bigger stars.

Maurice came back to Boston and with the help of talent scout Mary Alford found break dancer Donnie Wahlberg who brought four of his teen friends to meet Maurice.  Soon these five white teenagers from Dorchester and Jamaica Plain hit it big as New Kids on the Block.

As with New Edition, New Kids on the Block made their TV debut on Tanya Hart’s ‘Coming Together’ program.  Using what he learned from Maurice, Donnie and his younger brother Mark created Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.  Mark Wahlberg is now an A-list movie star and producer.

The men of New Edition and New Kids on the Block still appreciate and acknowledge the important role Tanya played early in their careers.  Maurice and Donnie even collaborated with Tanya in writing ‘So in Love with You’ which is on ‘Tanya Hart Sings’ available on cdbaby.com, iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming services.

Tanya went on to set up BET’s West Coast studio operations and its first program ‘Live from LA with Tanya Hart’ at the request of BET founder Bob Johnson in 1990.

Tanya continues her work as co-chair of The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors becoming the first woman and first African American to lead this influential cross guild trade organization.  Over her career Tanya has won Emmy awards, Peabody awards, Ohio State awards, and other recognition for her work in television, radio, film, music and humanitarian endeavors.

About Tanya Hart

Tanya currently hosts “Hollywood Live with Tanya Hart” a daily syndicated radio and online program distributed by American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) on more than 300 affiliate stations nationwide. Additionally, she heads up Tanya Hart Consulting, Inc. in Hollywood, a multi-media content company that recently produced the national awareness campaign Act against HIV/AIDS for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

While a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Tanya studied with Gerald Lesser the creator of PBS’s “Sesame Street”.  During that time Tanya was involved with creating the PBS program “Infinity Factory”.  Hart went on to produce several documentaries for PBS, as well as syndicated children’s programs “Call It Macaroni (NBC)” and “Rebop (PBS)”.   Tanya’s 1992 BET interview with late rapper Tupac Shakur would be used in the 2003 Oscar-nominated documentary film “Tupac: Resurrection.”  In 2000 Tanya partnered with Western Syndication to produce the popular syndicated series “Live from Hollywood” a national talent show which was the forerunner to American Idol.

Tanya has recently appeared on ABC, CNN, HLN, BBC, and “Inside Edition” talking about the film industry, diversity in Hollywood and other entertainment stories.  For more information go to  : https://www.tanya-hart.com and https://www.hartrealtyadvisors.com

 

 

 

source:
Edna Sims
[email protected]

 

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