Part Two of this interview with Jimmy Jam gets better as he discusses the story behind Graffiti Bridge, working with Janet and Michael Jackson and the possibility of producing Prince...

http://www.themortonrepor...-part-two/

Here's the edited portion about Prince

Let’s look back to 1990 and the Graffiti Bridge movie. How did the original seven members of The Time come to be involved with that project?

Let me try to clarify a little bit. There might be a misconception that we got back together to do the Graffiti Bridge movie. That’s absolutely not the case. What happened, Morris [Day] was working on a project with Prince. It was basically going to be more of a solo project. Prince was going to do the bulk of the writing and playing. I think it was going to be called Corporate World, but there were a few different names floating around at that point. Around that same time period, we had also been working with Morris on different projects and things. We thought, let’s get The Time back together and just make a record. So we got back together and started making an album. This was with Prince’s blessing, by the way. And we had our own idea for a film.

What kind of film did you guys have in mind?

It was basically based on our own true story, rather than a fictional story. Purple Rain was a fictional story based in some truth, the whole backdrop of Minneapolis and the competition of the bands. The way that worked was very true and very well done in that movie. But we really wanted to make a film about our exploits on the road and some of the things that went on, because we had a great time on the road.

How far did you guys get with this project?

We actually brought in someone to write a screenplay. We sat and talked with a couple of screenwriters, telling them the stories we thought were funny, letting them weave a storyline around it. We were in talks with Warner Bros. to do it. The next thing you know, literally out of the blue, Prince called us for a meeting at Paisley Park. And I remember we walked in thinking it was going to be about the movie — the movie we thought we were going to do. All of sudden it turned into Graffiti Bridge, and we were like, “What’s Graffiti Bridge?” Prince was like, “This is my movie.” And it was, you know, this girl and a feather. [laughs] It was like, “No, no, no — we’ve got our own ideas for a movie.”

The Time still made a very successful album though, which includes some songs that were in the movie.

That’s the reason that, when everything was done, Pandemonium came out, which was basically our album. Then the Graffiti Bridge soundtrack came out, which had four of our songs on it. Just one soundtrack album probably would’ve made more sense. But it was because we were already doing our other things. We were like, “Okay, we’ll do your movie, Prince, but we’re still going to do our own album.” We were already on the path to do that.

How did the same basic track from “My Summertime Thang” on Pandemonium end up being reused for “The Latest Fashion,” which was part of Graffiti Bridge?

The origin of “My Summertime Thang” came about around Ice Cream Castle [1984], right around when me and Terry got fired from The Time. We always loved the song, so that was one of the ones we asked Prince for. We said, “Hey Prince, ‘My Summertime Thang,’ can we have that? That was our song from back in the day.” And he said, “Yeah, you can have it. But you know what, I changed the words. It’s called ‘The Latest Fashion’ now.” And we’re like, “No, no, no, no.” So that was sort of a compromise. He wanted it as “The Latest Fashion” because it worked in the movie for the scene. But we wanted it as “My Summertime Thang” because that’s what it was back when we had it. There was a lot of that kind of thing going on, which is why I make the distinction that we didn’t get back together specifically for Graffiti Bridge. We were already on our own path, doing our own thing. We kind of reached a compromise to do it.

What did you think of the finished movie?

I thought the music in Graffiti Bridge was great. I didn’t particularly like the movie. [laughs] But I thought the musical scenes were a lot of fun. We were sort of an afterthought anyway. Literally when we would shoot scenes, they would put makeup on us in the morning, and then we’d have to sit around all day in our suits. Then at the end of the day, after everything else was done, they’d go, “Oh, we have to shoot these other scenes.” There was no continuity, everybody looked different. There’s one scene, I swear to God, I have dark glasses on in one shot and regular glasses on in the next shot. There was absolutely no continuity in the movie whatsoever.

Do you think Prince was in over his head, wearing too many hats as writer, director, and star?

Well, I think the downfall of the movie was that it didn’t have a real director. I think that Prince was so accustomed to making music on his own, because he could be the engineer, the producer, the writer, the keyboard player, the guitar player. He could do it all himself without ever really having to communicate to anybody. And he’s a genius at doing that. Movie making is a whole different medium.

What was Prince’s directorial style like during production?

I remember the first day on the set, Prince walked out and said, “Okay, we’re going to shoot this scene.” And about five people standing around him start asking questions. The camera guy asked, “How do you want this shot framed?” And Prince goes, “What?”

He didn’t want to hear any of that stuff. It was more like, “Just shoot it.” He had in his head what it was supposed to be. But to make a movie, you have to communicate what’s in your head to other people. And that was not Prince’s strong suit. I think the movie suffered because of that. It didn’t allow everybody to do their best work. That’s why I say, to me, the best thing about the movie is the music.

The Time wasn’t involved in Under the Cherry Moon (1986), but of course Jerome Benton co-starred with Prince. That film, with Prince directing, was so much more technically accomplished.

That movie had a great look and was very creative. But that was shot on location in France and was a different kind of thing. Graffiti Bridge was all on a sound stage with sets and had a very claustrophobic feel. You weren’t filming at First Avenue, like in Purple Rain, which was already a real club with the vibe of a real club. You were shooting on a sound stage in a kind of fictitious set-up.

Graffiti Bridge almost has a fantasy look to it, like a slightly surreal fantasy.

You know, it’s interesting because now, with Glee and people being more used to seeing characters breaking into song, I think something like Graffiti Bridge could work really well. I’d love to see Prince do that now. I know he could make a great musical and I think it would work better now because people are seeing it more often on television. Who knows, he probably is going to do something like that. The way he writes his songs I think lends itself to that type of treatment.

While we’re talking about Prince, have you and Terry every talked about producing him?

We’d love to do it. And he knows it. We’ve talked about it over the years. When we were in Minneapolis, and had our studio up there, he came by and visited one day and fell in love with Studio A, the design for which was based on a studio called Westlake. It just was a great, big, comfortable room.

And we asked him at one point, “Could we ever go through your vault and just pick out some songs and maybe mix them or do something like that?” And he said, “Yeah that’d be great. I’ll let you guys have ten songs and you can do with them what you want.” So we’ve talked about that. We’ve talked about us producing him. We’ve talked about him using our studio to record. And I think Terry might have had a conversation with him in the last couple months where some of those same things came up. So you never know. I don’t even know whether that’s something that would be successful or not, but I’d love to try it. At the end of the day, I’m probably one of the biggest Prince fans ever.

i like when producers and artists give us a behind the scences glimps of historical moments in pop history.

Thank you.

“How do you want this shot framed?” And Prince goes, “What?”

Hi-larious!

wow, what a great short read. i enjoyed that! jimmy jam's one of my favorite ppl. would love to meet him, the fact that he's worked with prince AND janet (my once future baby mama) further cements him as a quality guy. i REALLY hope they hold prince to that verbal agreement to give them 10 songs, and they produce 2-3 originals!

Thanks! I was looking forward to part 2.

Good interview, thanks for posting.

Wish Prince would be more open to talking like this in interviews.

Jesus, that Time movie sounds like it could have been a hit.

It sounds positively fun.

Graffiti Bridge

fascinating interview

Funklov said:

And we asked him at one point, “Could we ever go through your vault and just pick out some songs and maybe mix them or do something like that?” And he said, “Yeah that’d be great. I’ll let you guys have ten songs and you can do with them what you want.” So we’ve talked about that.

[Edited 4/20/12 17:16pm]

File under "Shit That Will Never Happen - Item #4655"

Thanks for posting.

Funklov said:

While we’re talking about Prince, have you and Terry every talked about producing him?

We’d love to do it. And he knows it. We’ve talked about it over the years. When we were in Minneapolis, and had our studio up there, he came by and visited one day and fell in love with Studio A, the design for which was based on a studio called Westlake. It just was a great, big, comfortable room.

And we asked him at one point, “Could we ever go through your vault and just pick out some songs and maybe mix them or do something like that?” And he said, “Yeah that’d be great. I’ll let you guys have ten songs and you can do with them what you want.” So we’ve talked about that. We’ve talked about us producing him. We’ve talked about him using our studio to record. And I think Terry might have had a conversation with him in the last couple months where some of those same things came up. So you never know. I don’t even know whether that’s something that would be successful or not, but I’d love to try it. At the end of the day, I’m probably one of the biggest Prince fans ever.

[Edited 4/20/12 17:16pm]

Thanx 4 posting. Great insite.

I've always wanted Jam, Lewis, and Prince to collab. That'd be heaven.

If any of this happens I will eat my shoes.

TheDigitalGardener said:

If any of this happens I will eat my shoes.

..and I will eat your socks

lawd I hope you don't have Frito's feet if it happens

rdhull said:

TheDigitalGardener said:

If any of this happens I will eat my shoes.

..and I will eat your socks

lawd I hope you don't have Frito's feet if it happens

My feet are glorious.

TheDigitalGardener said:

rdhull said:

..and I will eat your socks

lawd I hope you don't have Frito's feet if it happens

My feet are glorious.

^^..........and small.

herb4 said:

Funklov said:

If Prince lets Jam and Lewis produce him then he's desperate because those two sold out in the 1990s and have had a generic sound just like everyone else.

As for getting songs out of the vault and re-recording them, that's how Prince fucks up himself when he does that so Jam and Lewis would fuck the songs up even worse. Release the stuff from the vault as it was originally recorded during the era it was recorded and it will sound great. Changing the sound to adapt to today's sound is exactly what I don't want.

.

.

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[Edited 4/22/12 10:10am]

vainandy said:

If Prince lets Jam and Lewis produce him then he's desperate because those two sold out in the 1990s and have had a generic sound just like everyone else.

As for getting songs out of the vault and re-recording them, that's how Prince fucks up himself when he does that so Jam and Lewis would fuck the songs up even worse. Release the stuff from the vault as it was originally recorded during the era it was recorded and it will sound great. Changing the sound to adapt to today's sound is exactly what I don't want.

meh. the O7Ven cd sounds old but awesome and funky. So who knows what they would do? If P gave O7ven some funky songs to rerecord I believe it would work.

The songs he lets them have will be the worst of the lot; you can believe that.

SuperFurryAnimal said:

vainandy said:

If Prince lets Jam and Lewis produce him then he's desperate because those two sold out in the 1990s and have had a generic sound just like everyone else.

As for getting songs out of the vault and re-recording them, that's how Prince fucks up himself when he does that so Jam and Lewis would fuck the songs up even worse. Release the stuff from the vault as it was originally recorded during the era it was recorded and it will sound great. Changing the sound to adapt to today's sound is exactly what I don't want.

meh. the O7Ven cd sounds old but awesome and funky. So who knows what they would do? If P gave O7ven some funky songs to rerecord I believe it would work.

I agree. Especially if they record it as a "band."

sfinky1 said:

Funklov said:

And it was, you know, this girl and a feather.

[laughs] It was like, “No, no, no — we’ve got our own ideas for a movie.”

Yep thats a pretty accurate summation of Graffiti Bridge I'd say..

Is it? I still haven't seen it - I'm afraid to.

My fear is heightened by the way JJ politely two-steps around saying it's utter crap.

artist76 said:

sfinky1 said:

Funklov said: Yep thats a pretty accurate summation of Graffiti Bridge I'd say..

Is it? I still haven't seen it - I'm afraid to.

My fear is heightened by the way JJ politely two-steps around saying it's utter crap.

Why are you afraid to see it?

Is the acting bad?...yes

Is the story bad? ....not really...just a Prince story. If you've seen 3 Chains O' Gold, then you will get a general idea of what Prince's story telling is like.

To me, I liked a lot of the music numbers in the movie. A few were strange, but still watchable. I still think it's a movie that anyone that remotely likes Prince should see.

I wonder if Jam & Lewis are producing New Edition's entire album or just a few songs.

Interesting, I've always been interested in hearing how Prince would sound if someone produced him. It wont happen tho, but it would have been pretty interesting from a musical perspective.

I wish

While we’re talking about Prince, have you and Terry every talked about producing him?

We’d love to do it. And he knows it. We’ve talked about it over the years. When we were in Minneapolis, and had our studio up there, he came by and visited one day and fell in love with Studio A, the design for which was based on a studio called Westlake. It just was a great, big, comfortable room.

And we asked him at one point, “Could we ever go through your vault and just pick out some songs and maybe mix them or do something like that?” And he said, “Yeah that’d be great. I’ll let you guys have ten songs and you can do with them what you want.” So we’ve talked about that. We’ve talked about us producing him. We’ve talked about him using our studio to record. And I think Terry might have had a conversation with him in the last couple months where some of those same things came up. So you never know. I don’t even know whether that’s something that would be successful or not, but I’d love to try it. At the end of the day, I’m probably one of the biggest Prince fans ever.

Yep ... I'd love that too ...