In the summer of 1989,Prince began producing a new album for the Time.Morris Day and Jerome Benton were the only Time members involved with this project,but that didn't stop Prince from writing and producing a whole album's worth of material.By the fall of '89,the album was finished.It was titled 'Corporate World' and was scheduled to be relased on November 14.The song "9 Lives" was picked as the first single.Here's the full tracklist...


THE TIME 'CORPORATE WORLD' (planned release date: November 14,1989)

"Murph Drag"
"9 Lives" (first single)
"Donald Trump (Black Version)"
"Love Machine"
"Data Bank"
"Shake!"
"Corporate World"
"The Latest Fashion"
"Release It"
"My Summertime Thang"


The album was put on hold when the other members finally decided to get involved.The reunited band recorded many more songs,resulting in the 1990 'Pandemonium' album.Most of the 'Corporate World' tracks survived and appeared on Prince's 'Graffiti Bridge' soundtrack,and their own 'Pandemonium' project.Three tracks remain unreleased: "Murph Drag","9 Lives" and the title track.

Even though 'Corporate World' doesn't contain "Jerkout" (a strong,catchy song which ultimately became their comeback hit),it is,without a doubt,a stronger,more focused album than 'Pandemonium'.Prince wrote and produced all the tracks and let's face it,nobody can produce a Time album the way he can.The planned first single "9 Lives" is excellent.Interestingly,this album contained four tracks that later wound up on Prince's 'Graffiti Bridge' soundtrack.If this album had been released as planned in November 1989,it's likely that Prince would have written several more new Time songs for inclusion in the movie.


Any thoughts/opinions on this project?

I wonder whose choice it was to get rid of Murph Drag, but keep My Summertime Thang...

DarrenMawbey said:

"Murph Drag" rocks!! I wish they had kept that song.And "9 Lives" is great too.

DavidEye said:

I totally agree... They cut out two excellent tracks and then instead filled the album full of all that filler rubbish (e.g. "yaunt"). Pity.

yes, definitely.

Songs like 'chocolate', 'data bank'(even though it was supposed to be on 'corporate'), 'yount' (if the last one can even be considered a song) kill 'pandemonium'. I really wish 'release it' would've been on 'pandemonium'.

'Corporate World' is/would've been a MUCH better album.

Though I would leave 'shake!' and 'data bank'(unless they did a better version of this song) off that album. Those two songs tend to make me cringe.
[This message was edited Fri Jun 27 18:55:47 PDT 2003 by lovebizzare]
[This message was edited Sat Jun 28 1:01:47 PDT 2003 by lovebizzare]

Actually,I think that if you removed the weak songs "Data Bank" and "The Latest Fashion" and replaced them with better songs like "Jerkout" and "Chocolate",the 'Corporate World' album would have been their strongest effort since 1982's 'What Time Is It'.

DavidEye said:

true

oh, the possibilities...

DarrenMawbey said:

Yeah, i'd sure like to meet the genius who did this

It's worth noting that,the version of "The Latest Fashion" that appears on 'Corporate World' is much different from the version that appears on 'Graffit Bridge'.On the original version,Morris is singing to a lover,trying to explain why he has been unfaithful.The 'GB' version,as you know, is a duet with Prince,and the lyrics have been changed substantially.The music is similiar to the early version,but it doesn't have all those "go Morris,go Morris" chants and isn't as "busy" as the latter version.

Wasn't Jerk Out originally intended for Mazerati?

squirrelgrease said:

"Jerk Out" was composed in 1982 and yes,it was offered to Mazarati in 1985 for their debut album.They turned it down because they didn't really like the explicit lyrics.

DavidEye said:

you're right on d-eye. in another thread (the one about
pandemonium ) i added they got pissed off a bit cuz
prince supposedly kept their backing vocals on the time's
version!

one thing i was wondering...i knew about prince starting
the original project (c-world) with morris & jerome...do
U recall what made the other original members come into
the fold? was it cuz they saw money in g-bridge?

one tidbit d-eye...i like SHAKE a lot...but U can listen to
it and tell its not really a TIME tune.
the female vocal in it (jana anderson) changes the song's
style to me. love the cheesy organ,though.
(96 tears...that's where p got the organ riff!)

LOL...looks like the two of us are going back and forth on these Time threads.I just added a comment to your post on the other thread!

youngca said:

I'm betting that it was Warner Bros. who insisted that all the original members come back.They wanted it to be a REAL reunion,with the super-hot Jam and Lewis involved in the project.Also,by the fall of '89,Prince's 'Graffiti Bridge' project had been given the green light by Warners and I think they wanted the release of the Time album to coincide with the movie's release.So,from their standpoint,it made more sense to postpone the Time album,have the original members create some more strong songs,and release it around the time of the movie's release.

Another thing is...I think in 1989,the time was finally right for a full-fledged Time reunion.The members had been planning and discussing a reunion since 1986.In fact,around that time,there were temporary plans for a Time movie co-starring Janet Jackson! But everyone always seemed to be busy with other projects.By the late 80s,Morris and Jesse's careers had slowed down trememdously,so a reunion was inevitable.

DavidEye said:

man...d-eye this is fun U and i are bouncing back and forth
with this TIME stuff! i LOVE it man! dig your info U know
yo time details my man...oh you got me with the proposed
Time movie with JANET. i didn't know about that!

that would have been a cool flick. Janet was HOt then and
well imagine MORRIS trying to make a play on her ala the way
he went after apples in p-RAIN. that would have been COld.

a quick question (since you seem to know thangs on the group
i don't know!..well details anyway!)

didn't jesse to some work with janet before she hooked up
with jam & lewis?
i thought "fast girls" was the song they did. am i right or
wrong?

youngca "chili sauce...jerome bring me a mirror!"

DavidEye said:

SO IF A AM CORRECT THAT MEANS THAT MAZARATI TURNED DOWN 2 SONGS, KISS & JERKOUT, NO WONDER THEY DIDN'T LAST LONG!!

eldog98 said:

Prince took Kiss back from Mazarati. I have the verson of Jerk Out that Mazarati did and its nowhere near as good as the Time's

eldog98 said:

I've heard their versions of these songs and they're not that great.

youngca said:

Yes,Jesse worked with Janet in 1984.He produced two songs for her 'Dream Street' album.One of these songs "Fast Girls" was released as the second single.The other song was called "Pretty Boy",if I'm not mistaken.Alot of people don't know this,but Jesse also wrote and produced a song for the 'Control' album,but it was left off the album.The song is called "You Stole My Heart" and it's a very sad, personal song that deals with Janet's painful annulment from her husband James DeBarge.

lovebizzare said:

I agree.Mazarati's version of "JerkOut"(1985) sounds kinda flat compared to the superior Time version that came out in 1990.

DavidEye said:

thanks DE. again U da man. i didn't know about jesse doing
"stole my heart" an outtake from Control. i trying to remember,,,the dream street album didn't get too good of
reviews. wasn't it out when she was playing character in
the TV series FAME?

i often wonder where her career would have went-if JAM & LEWis didn't do COntrol with her?

she might not be the star she is today!

"does anybody remember the videos she did with herb alpert
& jerome for his album?" (youngca)

Janet sang vocals on two tracks from Herb Alpert's 1987 album 'Keep Your Eyes On Me' (I think that's the album title?).Much of that album was produced by Jam and Lewis.The two songs featuring Janet are "Makin' Love In The Rain" and "Diamonds",both released as singles.If I remember correctly,Janet makes a cameo in the "Diamonds" video with Jerome,but you never see her face,so it's hard to tell if it's really her or a look-alike.

DavidEye said:

I've always thought it was a lookalike.

DavidEye said:

Uhm... It's the same track. That's Mazarati in the background.

BartVanHemelen said:

Bart, you are slipping.

Sure The drum machine, bass and guitar are the same in both versions, but thats about it.

For a start, the Mazarati version doesn't have a chorus, until the end build up. Rather important when comparing versions I think.

As for Mazarati doing the backing vocals. On the Mazarati version, its quite obvious Prince is doing the backing vocals. Are you claiming Mazarati re-recorded backing vocals for The Time?

To try and claim its the same track is rubbish. The Time version is different (and in my and many opinions, far superior), due to the inclusion of a chorus, Morris' vocals and then end mix.

BartVanHemelen said:

No,it doesn't sound quite the same to my ears.The Mazarati version from 1985 is less "polished" than the Time version from 1990.It sounds more like a "work-in-progress" and not as busy as the Time version.

DavidEye said:

And yet they still blew it.

With Jam and Lewis on board The Time had the chance to blow our minds with 'Pandemonium'. Instead, the album was largely an unispired and insipid damp squib.

Can anybody answer why The Time's version of 'Chocolate' still features Wendy's guitar part from the original Prince demo instead of Jesse's if he was reputedly actively involved in the selection of the songs that ended up on 'Pandemonium'? Why didn't Jesse Johnson replace Wendy's guitar part with his own licks?

The truth is that by 1989 The Time were a spent force, still unable to dictate their position in the scheme of things, and had become less than the sum of their parts.

.
[This message was edited Tue Jul 15 6:37:32 PDT 2003 by giotto]