Morris Day & The Time Biography

Morris Day & the Time was created as a funk group for Prince, to perform some of his own music while he sought new and different sounds for himself. Prince discovered an already existing band, Flyte Time, with members Jimmy Jam, Jellybean Johnson, and Monte Moir in 1981. After adding Jesse Johnson and Morris Day, Prince had the lineup he was looking for, and the Time moved forward.

Morris Day & the Time released four main albums and scored a number of hits, including “The Walk,” “Get it Up,” “777-9311,” “The Bird,” “Cool,” “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” and of course the smash “Jungle Love” with which they are mostly associated. Few may realize that Morris Day & the Time did not record any actual music; Prince did all of that, and also directed Morris Day himself on nearly every note he sang. The Time toured with Prince in 1982, but dissatisfaction and frustration began to greatly affect the relationship between Prince and the Time’s members, until everything came to a head by the mid-1980’s.

Prince changed the lineup, keeping Morris Day, and it was the new lineup that appeared in his film Purple Rain.  The songs most prominently featured in the film (“The Bird” and “Jungle Love”) became instant smash hits. But tensions mounted between Prince and Day, and the band disassembled shortly after the film. The original members did reunite in 1990 for Graffiti Bridge, and for a new album, Pandemonium, which spawned another smash hit, “Jerk Out.”

In the mid 1990’s, the Time regrouped and the current lineup has remained together since. Morris Day and the Time is featured in the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and they continue to perform and record together, with plans for potential albums in the future.