The first 2 The Time album covers have only 6 members.. Jerome Benton is not on the self titled album nor on What Time Is It?... He's on Ice Cream Castles.. but those aren't the original members either? Are they going by touring band or the Pandemonium line up?

prince and morris did most of the first two albums so it's obviously the touring band

When the group appeared on Soul Train performing Get It Up, Jerome is sitting in the background where he can be seen briefly, but does not participate in the interview with Don Cornelius. Patti LaBelle was the other guest on the episode.

It's not clear, but here's Jerome sitting behind the amps. You can't see him in any shots from the front.

So why is he NOT on the album sleeves?? Just kinda makes you wonder on the idea of "7" when for 2 albums they want to believe its SIX ppl playing on that wax...

sovembol said:

So why is he NOT on the album sleeves?? Just kinda makes you wonder on the idea of "7" when for 2 albums they want to believe its SIX ppl playing on that wax...

1 - Jermone Benton is Terry Lewis half brother

2 - He worked behind the scenes when THE TIME started playing live

3 - During one performance MD asked somebody to bring him a mirror.

4 - Jermone responded by ripping a mirror out of the club's restroom and bringing it on stage for MD to comb his hair.

5 - This act elevated Jerome integration into the band as a comic foil to Day, along with his dancing and providing backing vocals.

6 - From memory he is acknowledged within the thanks on What Time Is It?

Don't thank me. Next time use Wikipedia

On the early Run-DMC pictures, Jam Master Jay is not in them, although he was always part of the group. In a similar way, many people think acts like Sade, Blondie, and Jamiroquai are solo singers, when they're actually bands, because the other band members are not photographed that much or seen in the music videos.

Technically Benton wasn't a bandmember at the very begining but as xplained above he quickly became part of the live act and played a historical role in Purple Rain (at a point when 3 of the original members were gone), therefore even though it's an abuse of language to call the band The Original 7ven Jerome is considered an element of what could be considered the most classic era of the band and an essential part of its mythos. They needed him around for the O7 project and they took a shortcut when naming the band. Things like this happen, no big deal