UB Spotlight: ‘Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’ to Induct Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis + More

“The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame” Foundation has announced its 2022 Inductees, and our hometown Minneapolis favorites Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis will be inducted!

The categories of inductees include;

Performer Category
• Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo
• Duran Duran
• Eminem
• Eurythmics
• Dolly Parton
• Lionel Richie
• Carly Simon

Musical Excellence Award
• Judas Priest
• Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis

Early Influence Award
• Harry Belafonte
• Elizabeth Cotten

Ahmet Ertegun Award
• Allen Grubman
• Jimmy Iovine
• Sylvia Robinson

“This diverse group of inductees each had a profound impact on the sound of youth culture and helped change the course of rock & roll,” stated John Sykes, Chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Their music moved generations and influenced so many artists that followed.”
The Induction categories include;
• Performers: artists who have created music whose originality, impact, and influence has changed the course of rock & roll.
• Early Influence Award: artists whose music and performance style have directly influenced, inspired, and evolved rock & roll and music impacting youth culture.
• Ahmet Ertegun Award: non-performing industry professionals who have had a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock & roll and music that has impacted youth culture.
• Musical Excellence Award: given to artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence creating music have had a dramatic impact on music.

To be eligible, artists are required to have released their first record 25 years prior to Induction. Eminem, Duran Duran, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon were on the ballot for the first time. This is Eminem’s first year of eligibility. This is the first year in the Hall’s 37-year history that six female acts will be inducted in one class.

The 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 5, 2022 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California. The Induction Ceremony will air at a later date on HBO and stream on HBO Max, along with a radio simulcast on SiriusXM’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Radio channel 310 and SiriusXM’s Volume channel 106.

UB Spotlight: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

James “Jimmy Jam” Harris III and Terry Lewis are known for their studio magic, creating smooth, funky synth-laden grooves, as well as their signature style–dark sunglasses, blacksuits, and black fedora hats. Minneapolis natives, they joined forces while still in high school and
soon found themselves rocketed into the orbit of rising superstar Prince as members of the band the Time. That period exposed them to the music business and touring, and how to perfect the sound of a band on the road and in the studio. Jam & Lewis became innovators of the
Minneapolis sound, an exciting blend of jazz, soul, R&B, funk, disco, early punk, new wave, and dance. After Prince fired them for missing a gig (because they were busy producing other bands), they decided to take their production and songwriting skills and form Flyte Tyme Productions in 1982. What followed was a string of smash R&B dance floor hits for artists, including Klymaxx, Cheryl Lynn, Gladys Knight, Force M.D.’s, Cherrelle, and the S.O.S. Band.

Their musical toolkit included the boom and pop of the 808 d rum machine, scorching lead synthesizer lines, deep melodic basslines, and a total commitment to the groove of a song – a sound they referred to as the “funky bottom and the pretty top.” When Jam & Lewis next sought an artist to work with , they agreed on one name: Janet Jackson. The album Control (1986) gave them the chance to refine their songwriting and production into a killer counterpart to Janet’s lyrical and melodic mastery – and in the process they created the New Jack Swing style. What followed were over three decades of chart – topping Billboard singles and albums. Jam & Lewis created a production company, recording studio, and signature sound responsible for “making” an artist’s career – the songs and sounds that stick with fans forever.

Their work in the studio has incorporated the newest available technologies and defined how entire generations of musicians created music. They pushed artists to new levels (Mary J. Blige’s No More Drama) and gave musicians a spark that revolutionized sonic explorations (the Human League’s Crash).

They took the sound of “Minneapolis!” and made it a worldwide universal groove deeply rooted in the soul of Black music.

Selected Discography:
Klymaxx, “Wild Girls,” (1982) • S.O.S. Band, “Just Be Good to Me”(1983) • Cherrelle, “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On” (1984) • Force M.D.’s, “Tender Love” (1985) • Janet Jackson, “Control,” “Nasty” (1986), “Miss You Much,” “Love Will Never Do” (Without You)” (1989),
“That’s the Way Love Goes” (1993), “Together Again” (1997), “All for You” (2001), “No Sleeep” (2015) • The Human League, “Human” (1986) • New Edition, “If It Isn’t Love,” (1988) • The Time, “Jerk Out” (1990) • Sounds of Blackness, “Optimistic” (1991) • Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, “Scream” (1995) • Mary J. Blige, “No More Drama” (2001) • Usher, “U Remind Me” (2001) • Jam & Lewis, Volume One (2021)

Sizzle:
Pioneers of incredibly smooth and funky synth-laden grooves

Why:
Jam & Lewis created a production company, recording studio, and signature sound responsible for “making” an artist’s career–the songs and sounds that stick with fans forever. They redefined bands, pushed artists to new levels, and gave musicians a spark that revolutionized sonic explorations.

Influences:
Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, Chicago

Legacies:
Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige, Teddy Riley

R&B Bridgez: A Music Story entitled ‘Jam And Lewis’