Considering Prince's control issues and ego, do you think he should have been the frontman/lead singer for The Time? As he's admitted they were the only band he's ever feared and by doing this he could have reinforced the fact that he wrote many of their songs and showed off his multi-faceted skills with both The Time and The Revolution, expressing himself differently with each band. I believe he did this a few years ago with 3rd Eye Girl and The NPG so why not then? He could have relegated Morris to the drums as he was/is a pretty good on the skins but could Prince have pulled off Morris' 'pimp' act with Jerome to such comic effect? Would he have had to change his clothes as well, since the purple trenchcoat of the 1999 wouldn't really have matched The Time's style?

Thanks! If I remember correctly, didn't P promise Morris that he could lead The Time in exchange for Morris' song 'Partyup'? So maybe there was some loyalty there or possibly Warner Brothers wouldn't allow it as they wanted him to develop in a more singular way as an artist.

great question.

i think Morris played the role better then Prince would have.

With that said, hearing The Time songs with Prince vocals is a wet dream of mine. Primarily these 3 tracks. Gigolos get lonely too, I don't want to leave and Donald Trump(black version).

I feel like Prince answered that question for us when he attempted to sing The Bird during his Welcome2America Tour. His vocals just aren't as powerful as Morris's. Add to that, Prince is kind of feminine in his mannerisms and fashion choices and, well, The Time is a totally different band with Prince as the lead. I don't think it works out well.

no

if he did we would not have had the wonderful era of 1982-1983 Prince & the noituloveR the Time & Vanity 6

that is where things failed in 1987 Prince(SOTT) & Madhouse, Madhouse could not succeed because Prince (Dr Fink Eric Leeds Levi Seacer jr) were in 2 bands at the same time, Dale Alexander on the drums was a step in the right direction

No. As good as Prince is he is not as cool as Morris Day. Only Morris can pull that persona off between the two. With Prince it just would not be the same . Morris is the coolest persona and pulls it off like no one else. Prince tries at times but it seems fake to me when he tries. Morris was the perfect frontman for The Time at least in my opinion.

[Edited 1/16/16 21:01pm]

trax said:

No. As good as Prince is he is not as cool as Morris Day. Only Morris can pull that persona off between the two. With Prince it just would not be the same . Morris is the coolest persona and pulls it off like no one else. Prince tries at times but it seems fake to me when he tries. Morris was the perfect frontman for The Time at least in my opinion.

[Edited 1/16/16 21:01pm]

Agreed. Morris was/is perfect for that role.

homesquid said:

sovembol said:

sovembol said:

Don't forget... Originally Alexander O'Neal was to be the lead singer.

He did not look like Prince, so he had 2 go

OldFriends4Sale said:

hell no

kenkamken said:

homesquid said:

Agreed. Morris was/is perfect for that role.

Yeah, it's like asking "what if Prince fronted Vanity 6?" It just wouldn't have worked. Morris played that role, although Prince was the director.

Perfect reply. It would be too hard for Prince to play so many roles, so it makes sense that he became Director and hired people specifically tailored for certain roles/images/fantasies of his.

And he wouldn't have time anyway, as Morris' role was supposed to be loud/cool/confident, whereas Prince's image at the time was dark, mysterious, that shy brooding type. Cool in completely different ways.

funksterr said:

I feel like Prince answered that question for us when he attempted to sing The Bird during his Welcome2America Tour. His vocals just aren't as powerful as Morris's. Add to that, Prince is kind of feminine in his mannerisms and fashion choices and, well, The Time is a totally different band with Prince as the lead. I don't think it works out well.

does it ever occur to anyone that the time would not exist without morris? .. the songs the music the image

y'all give prince way too much credit .. like he envisioned all this time swagger and just hired morris to fit the part ..

no .. p played off of what morris already brought to the table, embellished it, produced it, polished it, drove it, but morris was the spark .. the inspiration, his personality, his way of talking shit or goofing off .. p copied that, as well as the music morris and friends came up with .. p lifted that and molded it .. but in no fucking way in hell did p just come up with this shit all by himself .. and no fucking way he can ever recreate without those people present and participating

same with other band members .. p lifted the basis of those songs and added his own thing but he was not the spark .. the people around him were

prince is an excellent mimic ... p can play anything he hears ... and did so when coming up with many of his songs including his work on the time albums .. that doesn't mean he wrote it all .. that doesn't mean prince could have had a hit with Jungle Love had he sung it .. he would not have .. just look at nothing compares to you .. prince version blows chunks .. sinead knocked that shit out of the park ..

TrevorAyer said:

does it ever occur to anyone that the time would not exist without morris? .. the songs the music the image

y'all give prince way too much credit .. like he envisioned all this time swagger and just hired morris to fit the part ..

no .. p played off of what morris already brought to the table, embellished it, produced it, polished it, drove it, but morris was the spark .. the inspiration, his personality, his way of talking shit or goofing off .. p copied that, as well as the music morris and friends came up with .. p lifted that and molded it .. but in no fucking way in hell did p just come up with this shit all by himself .. and no fucking way he can ever recreate without those people present and participating

same with other band members .. p lifted the basis of those songs and added his own thing but he was not the spark .. the people around him were

prince is an excellent mimic ... p can play anything he hears ... and did so when coming up with many of his songs including his work on the time albums .. that doesn't mean he wrote it all .. that doesn't mean prince could have had a hit with Jungle Love had he sung it .. he would not have .. just look at nothing compares to you .. prince version blows chunks .. sinead knocked that shit out of the park ..

Good point. Many people (including myself) tend to give Prince associates less credit than they deserve

TrevorAyer said:

paulludvig said:

i'm assuming you know all these people personally or is this just your opinion? you people give the associates too much credit

TrevorAyer said:

does it ever occur to anyone that the time would not exist without morris? .. the songs the music the image

y'all give prince way too much credit .. like he envisioned all this time swagger and just hired morris to fit the part ..

no .. p played off of what morris already brought to the table, embellished it, produced it, polished it, drove it, but morris was the spark .. the inspiration, his personality, his way of talking shit or goofing off .. p copied that, as well as the music morris and friends came up with .. p lifted that and molded it .. but in no fucking way in hell did p just come up with this shit all by himself .. and no fucking way he can ever recreate without those people present and participating

same with other band members .. p lifted the basis of those songs and added his own thing but he was not the spark .. the people around him were

prince is an excellent mimic ... p can play anything he hears ... and did so when coming up with many of his songs including his work on the time albums .. that doesn't mean he wrote it all .. that doesn't mean prince could have had a hit with Jungle Love had he sung it .. he would not have .. just look at nothing compares to you .. prince version blows chunks .. sinead knocked that shit out of the park ..