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Prince first offered to James Behringer to be the guitarist of the band but he declined. Prince and Morris Day formed the band in 1981 by recruiting members of two already existing Minneapolis bands : "Flyte Time" (from the Donald Byrd song), which featured Jimmy Jam and Monte Moir on keyboards, Terry Lewis on bass and Alexander O’Neal as a singer and Morris Day’s band "Enterprise Band Of Pleasure" on which he was a drummer with Jesse Johnson on guitar (O’Neal has also been the singer of "Enterprise Band Of Pleasure" and another group called "Black Market Band"). Records that allowed him to recruit and produce other artists for the label.Īllegedly inspired by the 1980 film The Idolmaker, about the life of music promoter and producer Bob Marucci (the Svengali figure behind such 50s/early 60s teen idols like Fabian and Frankie Avalon), Prince decided to put together a poppy funk group that would serve as a pet project and an outlet for further material in the vein of his own early albums, while he himself went on to explore other genres and styles in his own career.Īfter Prince used a groove by his childhood friend Morris Day to create, " Partyup", on his Dirty Mind album, he promised to give him a band with a contract in return. The band was assembled under a clause in Prince’s contract with Warner Bros.
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The band split in 1984 When Morris Day left. In 1983, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were fired from the band, after pursuing a career as producers. Vocalist Morris Day infused his cocky, swaggering personality into dance hits and the band managed to do something unique with Prince’s genre-busting innovations.īy 1982, the group had already established itself as one of the hottest bands working the live circuit. The Time is a funk and dance-pop ensemble formed in 1981 in Minneapolis from two Twin Cities funk units, Flytetyme and Enterprise. 1983 Gigolos Get Lonely Too (Warner Bros.2011 (as The Original 7ven) Condensate (Saguaro Road Records).Controversy Tour and 1999 Tour as support act.September 1981: Royal Oak, MI, USA - Royal Oak Music Theatre.
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