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Arrested Development

If there's any question about whether younger generations have an awareness of early rock and roll, take a seat at most any shopping mall on a Saturday and make note of the passing concert T-shirts referencing the 1970s. With hip-hop well into its third decade, there are signs that young fans of that music are beginning to dig back as well, even if that genre's period-specific trappings aren't nearly as ubiquitous as Led Zeppelin apparel.

Arrested Development , the group whose melodic hip-hop took them several times into the upper reaches of the Top 40 singles chart in 1992, is seeing tangible evidence of a new generation's interest in their earlier work.

"It's amazing, because we even have people remaking our songs," said rapper/singer Speech , speaking from his Fayetteville, Georgia home. "The rock group called New Found Glory just did 'Tennessee'. We have Musiq Soulchild, which is a younger neo-soul act, who just did 'People Everyday'. There'll probably be more people that will do some of our other songs that were album cuts."

And these new fans are turning up in unexpected places.

"The following in Japan is our number one market right now. Of course, United States is number two. But we've been able to really capture the imagination of a new generation, throughout Europe, throughout Australia, certain countries in Africa.

"We've even been to the Middle East, and our records are starting to sell in all of these places now, and it's because of this new generation that did not know about our previous material so much, and now they're learning about the new stuff and the previous."

The group got its start in 1987, when Speech headed to Atlanta from Milwaukee to attend school at the Art Institute of Atlanta, where he posted a flyer to reach out to anyone interested in forming a group. The first to respond was a DJ named Headliner, and when he and Speech began doing shows it didn't take long for their group to expand.

"Me and him used to go to clubs and do shows, but because it was just us two we would allow a lot of people to come onstage and add things to the show, so it might be percussionists, singers, dancers, even artists, like visual artists, would come onstage and start to add to it, and that's where the whole concept of Arrested Development started to happen, where it became a bigger group by nature."

The group's lineup was rounded out by new members that were attracted by the live performances and Arrested Development named their first album "3 years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of…" as a reference to the length of time it took them to get signed. The album spawned Top 10 hits with "Tennessee," "Mr. Wendal" and "People Everyday." Theirs was an upbeat, positive vibe that was warmly embraced by the music-buying public, though Speech feels that their achievements may have led to mixed feelings from the hip-hop community.

"I think that they mistakenly took our pop success as we were a pop group," said Speech. "The Backstreet Boys would be legitimately called a pop group. They had pop success but they also were a pop group in and of their creation. That's what they were out to accomplish.

"For us, it was totally the opposite, probably. We were out to accomplish stretching the boundaries of hip-hop. I don't want to say that we sounded like every other hip-hop group, because that's definitely not true. We were more melodic. We still are more melodic. Our lyrical content was very much different, and our clothing styles.

"I think what was mistaken is that people took it as we're leaving the genre, or we're not even part of that genre, and we do consider ourselves, to this day, as part of that genre, but purposefully trying to push the boundaries a little further."

Arrested Development released one more studio album and an "Unplugged" live set before splitting in 1996. They reunited in 2000 without Headliner, and with new members aboard the group resumed touring and releasing new music, the most recent being the 2006 album "Since The Last Time." Now numbering eight members, including four original and four ten-year members, the group is now a fully functioning live band, reducing the need for sampled music.

Plans are underway for new recordings, and Speech is enthusiastic about bringing new fans as well as longtime followers up to date with Arrested Development's latest creative bursts.

"I just spoke at a middle school two days ago, and at this middle school I mentioned that my record came out in the Nineties. None of them were born, so it's a totally new generation that is learning about this group called Arrested Development and what we're doing now and what we've done.

"It's exciting. The group is at a great space. We have the energy to do some damage, and it just feels like a good time for us."

When: Friday, 5/30, 6:30 Where: Brown's Island; main entrance at 7th and Tredegar Streets Cost: Free Details: www.venturerichmond.com or (804) 788-6466