Maurice Starr

A Boston entrepreneur who masterminded both New Edition and New Kids On The Block, Starr earned a newspaper profile likening him to ‘a cross between Berry Gordy and P.T. Barnum’. After an unsuccessful stint as an R&B vocalist, he chose instead to write, assemble, and oversee an entire performing group that would interpret his own material. In 1982 he formed New Edition by personally selecting its five Black teenage members; the quintet soon scored multiple Top 10 R&B singles in the United States, one of which, ‘Cool It Now’, also reached the pop Top 5, before principal departures—including Bobby Brown’s move into a thriving solo career— splintered the lineup. Starr replicated the blueprint in 1984 with another five teenagers, this time white, and by 1989 New Kids On The Block had become the fastest-rising act in the country. He additionally directed the group’s profitable sideline sales of posters, T-shirts, and related merchandise. Subsequent efforts to duplicate that achievement centered on Rick Wes, Perfect Gentlemen, Homework, the Superiors, Tommy Page, and Ana.