Rendered has-beens by the cruel passage of time, New Kids on the Block and New Edition, despite a rumored beef (who knew?) have come together to record a song for the new NKOTB album. The producer says it's really good. Of course he does. Also, Ralph Tresvant sets the record straight on their supposed feud, which had more to do with NKOTB's first-class treatment than any beef between the band members. Phew! There also could have been some Halle Berry-related hate involved in there somewhere, but that's just a wild, unsubstantiated guess. And an excuse to bring up Halle's New Kid romance.

In a recent chat with PEOPLE, New Edition frontman [Ralph] Tresvant addressed the rumors that the two bands have been feuding for years. "The thing people were going back and forth with was we'd been doing what we were doing for the longest [but] we couldn't get cartoons and things that the white guys were getting. It was like, 'wow,' " he said. "But the guys themselves, we have mad love."

Remember when boy bands used to be good? I don't either, but that's why I thank the spirits of the Internet for YouTube. Without YouTube, this New Edition video for "My Secret" may have withered away into obscurity before I had ever laid my excited eyes on it. And what a shame that would have been.

But it's a double-edged sword. While seeing this video is wonderful, it also makes me realize how very terrible pop music has gotten, simultaneously making me depressed and desperate to hear another cheery pop song from the 80s. Such is the vicious cycle of YouTube.

Enjoy "My Secret," and remember to look for the Magic Johnson cameo.

I caught a bit of MTV's Making the Band 4 marathon this weekend (the more I watch it, the more I love it). New Edition's "Can You Stand The Rain", a logical choice by judge Michael Bivens, was one of their earlier try-out songs, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. Althoug when I finally got the video on YouTube, my focus shifted from the song to Johnny Gill's jeans. And hair. Not even Eddie Murphy would approve.

Today, it's hard to imagine that, once upon a time, these guys (this guy in particular) set the hearts of an entire generation of pre-pubescent brown girls' a-twitter. But here's the evidence, in the form of New Edition's boy-bandy hit, 1983's "Candy Girl." I was very young when it came out, but somehow I know all of the words to this song, and, embarrassingly, some of the dance moves in the video — a sign of a true classic.

It's hard to look at Bobby Brown as a pre-teen innocent and think that he would later be the downfall of one of our most treasured R&B divas. I would discuss the rest of New Edition's current tabloid exploits, but they are all blissfully low key. Bobby might think it's a good thing that he's still on the tip of everyone's tongue while the rest of New Edition flies under the gossip radar. I doubt Michael, Ricky, Ralph, Ronnie, or Johnny* agree.

*Although he just can't shake those Eddie Murphy rumors.