I Mean I understand they had a little success in the 80’s with Jungle Love & The Bird ow and also 777-9311:D


But I mean it just saddens me sometimes there not as rembered as Prince is

I Have all of the Time’s albums and a few of Morris’s

What Time Is It, The Time & Ice Cream Castles are good albums really funky and Morris always has a good sense of humor(:

But the problem with those albums is they we’re to short):

From what I read a lot about The Time they make it out to be more of a Prince project then anything which I know in the beginning it kind of was but Morris, Jesse, Jerome, Jellybean, Monte etc we’re all great musicians I have seen videos of there live performances and there amazing!

I Just wish they could have made more album’s and could have had records and singles all through the 80’s and 90’s…


Does anyone know exactly why they decided to split?

this needs to be in associated artists

scriptgirl said:

This needs to be in grammar 101.

Sander said:

Because Prince controlled them, they resented it, and it blew up in their faces. Prince deliberately limited their success by not letting them play some shows in the Triple threat tour, as he realised they could upstage him and the Revolution. Also u must realise, the Time had the looks and the presence and Morris his personality (And yes they were some talented guys like Jam and Lewis and Jesse Johnson) but the music and the concept was still Princes. But in some way Morris and Jesse had moderately successful solo careers, whereas Jam and Lewis went on to be bigger than Prince

Gunsnhalen said:

They probably split the reasons why most bans split; the band members are not on the same page insofar as what their goals are.

Anyhooo, having grown up during the heyday of their popularity, I can tell you that at during that period The Time was was one of the biggest things poppin' in r&b. It may not have been a kind of crossover success that I think you may be inquiring about, but within their base community in the r&b world they were heralded, embraced, sold out their tours, and were on the radio everyday starting with "Get It Up"

Insofar as recording through the 90's, I don't think that would have been possible for them, or any other musician-based outfit in r&b. By the 90's r&b was going the way of the crooner, which eventually was diluted down to those horrible 5-part tepid pop singing boy groups that would eventually spark the misnamed "boy band" craze.

Prince wrote their material, produced it, and damn near performed all of it on record. he is rightly remembered for it. they were a vanity project and with Morris and Jerome's personalities pretty much taking over the vibe of everything they did, they're a borderline novelty act.


they're great. they're fun. they had good tunes. they had personality and live chops. but let's be real about it.


and i say this a sane, non-fammy orger....

Their first three albums were huge on R&B radio. Their third album was the only one that crossed over to pop radio and also the song "Jerk Out" several years later. But I prefer for an album to never cross over to pop because it eventually ruins the artists and they start watering their music down for the pop fans.
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[Edited 9/20/09 9:42am]

Gunsnhalen said:

Prince was focusing a whole lot more on is other projects, basically.

novabrkr said:

No,I think the reason they broke up is,there was alot of tension between Prince and Morris.They were arguing alot,not seeing eye-to-eye on things,and weren't even speaking to each other at one point in 1984.Jesse and Morris have both said that,when Jimmy and Terry were fired from the band,things weren't the same.The magic was gone.They soon began planning their solo careers.

Knowing how TL & JJ blew up after their departure,,,,I can't stop thinking about what would've happend if they stayed and produced the group instead of letting Prince grab all the strings.

Its a damn shame, with Morris handling the drums, Jesse on the guitar and TL/JJ handlling the production, they would've raised hell.

Then again, story as old as time,,,when you let somebody else take complete control over your work, you'll be out on the streets in no time.

Huggiebear said:

A bit harsh of u i know prince can b a difficult person 2 deal with but he was
behind some of the times best trax.
trax like cool the stick 7779311 get it up the walk etc can't b hits
cuz sometimes music can't b understood at the time & people would only appreciate it later. having said that the times 1st 2 albums & pandamonium r brilliant.
as 4 jam & lewis PRINCE was the man who adviced them 2 b producers.
he knew they had some amazing talent.

Huggiebear said:

I didn't see a response to the last part so I will do so now. How in the world do you figure that Jam and Lewis went on to become bigger than Prince? They are successful producers, I'll give you that. But not on Planet Earth does their musicology come anywhere near Prince. They are not as widely known, and Prince probably has more money than they do. So with that being said, how are they bigger than Prince?

kenlacam said:

for the simple fact that between 1985 and, say, 1998, they produced more mainstream hits than he's ever had in his entire career.....

not that they're better. just sayin'....

Huggiebear said:

Also you must realize that Prince was actually the Time (with Morris on vocals), as far as the albums go....lol

I have high hopes 4 JESSE JOHNSON's 5th studio album next month (OCT 27th) and I'm guessing THE TIME's 5th album will probably/possibly drop in 2010 - which would make it their first album in 20 years!!!... TYME FLYS when they're having fun...

murph said:

I do, but I realise, a group of super talented guys like The Time, would only put up with Prince's control long enough to become known, but would get more ambitious as time went on. Prince controlled everything about the group and to make it worse he limited the albums to 6 songs, which was minimal considering only 3 or 4 were any good and at least 2 were filler. That concept may work on a group of less talented minions, more eager to please Prince, but these guys knew after the second album, it was obvious that was as far as Prince would let them go. Also I think the others got sick of Morris and his drug problems. I think Jam and Lewis were more successful than Prince, because most of their acts (especially a Ms Jackson) were many times more successful than Prince's proteges. I agree though as far solo careers go though, Prince has them there. Plus the fact they got Alexander O Neal and Flyte Time productions must have angered Prince a bit.

errant said:

Great point. Prince created a Monster. The Time were talented, charismatic, great performers (even upstaging him)
And with the obvious song writing and producing talent of Jam/Lewis, they didn't even need him for that.
P was better dealing and starting acts like Vanity 6. They were not very talented and TOTALLY relied on him for music and production. The Time did not and Frankenstein had to destroy the monster he created.
Of course Morris's drug problems didn't help matters either.

And I know Prince had a lot to do with there success and played on eth albums and such but as people mentioned I have seen video of them live and there great musicians, They could have gone on without Prince’s direction I think and made some great work(:


Did Color Of Success Morris’s first solo album have a lot to do with Prince to or was it all Morris?

Because they were largely a Prince production. As a band they couldn't make the transition from under thumb to independent act. They all did far better after splitting.

crazy how Jerk Out went #1 but I still havent heard it on any r&b radio station to this day

paisleypark4 said:

Fo realz

Hell I even heard Get It Up on the radio before (I did play Jerk at a party once and it got the peoples moving!)

because prince was threatened by the thought of them actually climbing out of his shadow and making their own music.

Gunsnhalen said:

It was all Morris.He wrote and produced it himself,with no Prince involvement.

kenlacam said:

Many of the albums that they produced (such as 'Control' and 'Rhythm Nation') sold way more than Prince's albums from the same period.Prince is a legendary artist,but if we're talking about producing and having hits,Jam and Lewis definitely were bigger than Prince.They had alot more success.

errant said:

A lot of members have already responded with some factual information

Prince being controlling

Prince would put the band down -in a joking way, show his control

I remember at a 1st Avenue show he called the Time up to do some numbers and threatend them to only play rock in roll he made fun of Morris saying things like "You sound an awfull lot like me" hint hint

There was the famous food fight during and after a show where Prince made big Chick hand cuff Jesse to a pole and they taunted him

Prince said the band was Morris's band yet fired Terry & Jimmy
Morris was becoming addicted to crack, not speaking with Prince, not happy with not having the original band. Jesse wanted to be lead.

the Times break up is similar to Vanity 6 or Vanit leaving.

If Prince didn't have his ego issues UPTOWN could have been large: the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E. the Family(or whatever would have developed around Susannah)
Mazarati, Jill Jones

DesireeNevermind said:

Actually they never had the opportunity to be transition from 'under thumb' to independant act. I don't think they wanted to be an independant act. They just wanted a bit more creative freedom, and they would have remained with Prince, the same with Vanity