UB Soul Friday: Celebrating the Multifaceted Morris Day

This weeks “UB Soul Friday” spotlights a triple threat performer of Stage, Screen, and Television, not to mention he’s also an accomplished drummer, Morris Day.

His cool attitude and comedic antics helped make The Time a household name.

Morris Day merged his talents with the creativity and vision of Prince to create a new sound that fused soul, funk, dance, rock and roll, and what came to be known as the ‘Minneapolis sound.’

UB‘s home of Minneapolis in the ’80s, ushered in a new era for funk and urban disco, and The Time was in the center of it all.

Morris Day also released two 80s solo albums, that included Billboard #1 dance and urban hits.

His debut solo album release “Color of Success” will celebrate it’s 40th Anniversary this year. Originally released September 11th, 1985.

“UB Soul Friday,” spotlighting artists, albums, singles and videos that left a mark in R&B and Soul music!

Morris Day always had a flair for fashion.

Inspired by photographs of his grandpa in zoot suits, a true fashionista was formed!

Originally from Springfield, Illinois, Morris Day moved to Minneapolis with his family when he was eight years old.

Morris learned to play a variety of instruments including saxophone and set his sights on drums.

He practiced informally on furniture and cookware until his mother bought him a department-store drum kit.

In his teens, Morris Day played in a series of bands, including one with fellow drummer Jellybean Johnson.

Morris Day, along with bassist André Cymone and guitarist Prince, formed Grand Central in high-school.

The band was managed by Morris Day‘s mother. The trio later was renamed to Champagne.

When Prince‘s solo career took off, Morris Day was hired by Prince to be tour his videographer.

One perk was that Morris could use Prince‘s studio to work on material.

Morris Day went to school with the late great Prince Rogers Nelson.

This led to him writing the song that became “Partyup,” the finale of Prince‘s “Dirty Mind.”

In exchange for “Partyup,” Prince offered Morris a choice: payment or a record deal?

Morris Day took the latter, enabling Prince to utilize a clause in his Warner Bros. contract that allowed him to sign and produce other acts.

As for when it came to The Time; “It was put together by me as a serious band that could groove on stage. The Time was not created as a comic foil to Prince’s thing. He just had the hookup to get us a record deal,” stated Morris.

The Time was assembled by Morris Day and Prince from Minneapolis‘ competitive music scene. Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Monte Moir, and Alexander O’Neal were pulled from Flyte Tyme, and Morris Day brought Jesse Johnson and Jerome Benton from Enterprise.

The Time was to be seen as the cool, street-wise funk band, contrasting Prince’s more soulful R&B sound.

The Time originally delighted millions as the opening act for Prince‘s “1999 Tour” with their unique mix of funk, rock, slick stage choreography and a humorously sexy swag.

Before their first note, the band was momentarily left without a singer when Prince was unwilling to accommodate Alexander O’Neal‘s financial demands.

Morris Day, who had occasionally sung lead with Grand Central — on covers of songs such as Billy Preston‘s “Will It Go Round in Circles” and Major Harris‘ “Love Won’t Let Me Wait,” reluctantly slid into the role with Flyte Tyme‘s Jellybean Johnson installed as drummer.

The final line-up would be with; guitarist Jesse Johnson, bassist Terry Lewis, keyboardists James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, keyboardist Monte Moir, and drummer “Jellybean” Johnson.

Soon after, Morris Day and the Time were cast in the blockbuster classic “Purple Rain,” which captured the exploding Minneapolis music scene at its peak!

Morris Day burst onto the public scene with the group’s self-titled album, which included “Get It Up,” “Cool,” and “Girl.”

The album was written, produced, and arranged almost entirely by Prince under the pseudonym Jamie Starr.

The group’s next album the gold “What Time Is It?,” came in the summer of 1982. Featuring the hits “777-9311,” “Wild and Loose,” “Walk,” and “Gigolos Get Lonely Too.”

“Ice Cream Castle,” followed in 1984 and included the hit “Jungle Love,” from “Purple Rain.”

Prior to the filming of “Purple Rain,” Prince dismissed Jam and Lewis from the band do to the duo missing a gig. So they’re not in the film.

Shortly thereafter, the band’s situation deteriorated even further and, following the release of “Ice Cream Castles,” The Time folded.

“Ice Cream Castles” is the only platinum album from the group.

In the ensuing years, the various band members all went on to enjoy successful solo careers of their own, both as musicians and producers.

After the three albums from The Time, Morris Day launched his solo career.

“It was such an innocent time,” Morris Day once reminisced to an industry trade in 1985. “We were just doing our thing, talking the way we talked and dressing the way we dressed. Bringing our personalities to the record. It was us being us. I’m proud of where I came from musically and the things we’ve done, but I’m here with another project. I’m looking forward to the ride again. That’s what I’m focusing on now.”

When asked, where have you been? “I’ve been waiting for just the right time to launch a new project. I felt that Hip Hop has had such a strong hold on the industry the timing needed to be perfect. I’ve continued to record over 100 songs and to tour. With new artists sampling old-school music, my phone started ringing off the hook. I knew it was the right time.”

The flamboyant and funny ex–Time lead vocalist released the hit single “The Oak Tree,” 40 years ago in the winter of 1985.

The debut album “The Color Of Success,” was a distinctive update of Time-style funk with a little additional pop appeal.

Reaching #7 on the Billboard R&B chart.

A six-song collection highlighted Morris‘ well-documented sense of humor.

The single, “The Oak Tree,” introduced a new dance, while the title track and “The Character” played upon his playboy image.

Morris Day stated his highly autobiographical debut album album “Color of Success,” took him “six months to record, but the songs didn’t take that long to write.”

“When I record a song, the vocal is easy. The most difficult part is the phrasing and to make sure the words make sense. Some words make sense, but I don’t necessarily sound right singing them. I didn’t want to use any of the old guys,” stated Morris at the time, “because everybody was expecting me to, and not just as a safety maneuver. I didn’t want anybody back home to know what I was doing. I wanted it to be a surprise. So I used new people I’d met in Los Angeles and kept it to myself.”

The playing credits on his debut album was with Los Angeles session aces Howie Rice, Greg Phillinganes and ex-Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Larry Dunn.

Unlike the work of other ex-Prince acts, Morris Day‘s album didn’t sound like an extension of the Minneapolis sound, though he noted, “A lot of people think it still has the Midwestern sound, as opposed to the Los Angeles stuff. It sounds a little different, a little L.A.-ish. This is the first time I really had a chance to do the music the way I see fit. It was the first time I produced a record, so I was standing around the kitchen.“

Morris Day went on to say; “When I first got to the studio, scratching my head saying, ‘Damn, what do I do first ?,’ I went in there and things worked out cool.”

The title track, one of several on the album that commented on his hectic previous year of activity, humorously answering his critics. “I was getting a lot of fan mail like ‘Why did you leave Prince?’ and ‘Who do you think you are?,’ a lot of stuff like that,” stated Morris to an industry trade. “There was a rumor from what I understand that members of my old band thought I left them hanging. I didn’t understand that. It wasn’t like I was directing it to them, but the song came to me like that. It was like briefly taking a look at ‘Maybe there’s a real side to this person.’ These were the statements I wanted to make.”

In 1988 Morris Day followed up his debut release and wrote and produced the hit “Fishnet,” with fellow alums Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

Bill Parker directed the humorous video, with Karolyn Ali producing.

In the video, which hit #1 on BET‘s Video Soul countdown for weeks (at the time that was our TRL).

Morris reunited with former Time-mates , Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Jellybean Johnson.

The band is in a luxurious cabin of their 60-foot yacht, with a uniquely choreographed performance.

“Fishnet” topped the Billboard R&B chart and went Top 40 pop.

Like his debut, “Daydreaming” went to #7 on the R&B album chart.

Also that year, Morris Day was in the Richard Pryor film, “Moving,” his first on-screen appearance since his scene-stealing comedic antics in Prince‘s “Purple Rain.”

In 1989, Morris Day and Prince, recorded what was intended to be the fourth The Time album entitled “Corporate World.”

Warner Bros. blocked the album from release, being not all of the members were involved. A proper Time reunion occurred for the filming of 1990‘s “Graffiti Bridge,” the sequel to “Purple Rain.”

The “Graffiti Bridge” soundtrack was released in support of the film, which also co-starred The Time.

Four tracks from The Time were included; “Love Machine” was a duet with Morris and Elisa Fiorillo with saxophone by Candy Dulfer. “Shake!,” “Release It” & “The Latest Fashion” featuring Prince.

Followed by the band’s related fourth album, “Pandemonium.”

“Pandemonium” generated the hit “Jerk Out.”

The same year, Morris Day and Rickey “Freeze” Smith wrote and produced the self-titled album by Day‘s all-women vocal group, the Day Zs. The ladies release the single “Certainly” on Reprise/Warner.

In 1990, Morris Day starred on the Friday night ABC series “New Attitudes,” also starring Larenz Tate and legendary Sheryl Lee Ralph.

In 1992 Morris returned with the album “Guaranteed,” a new jack swing-oriented set dominated by serious lyrical content.

Within a few years, Morris Day touring with a new lineup of the Time, billed as Morris Day & the Time.

Performing “Jungle Love” in Kevin Smith‘s 2001 film “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

In 2003, Morris Day performed for South Park‘s 100th episode celebration.

He finally returned in 2004 with the album “It’s About Time” a mostly live album with some studio joints.

Through out the decades regardless of line-up changes and fall outs, one thing that has remained the same..is the bond between Morris Day and Jerome Benton.

The story goes …

Once during a club rehearsal, Morris shouted, “Somebody bring me a mirror,” Jerome improvised by pulling one off the wall, and the fellas decided to leave it in the act.

“We hit it off from the beginning. He was always around, even before he was in the group, doing helpful things,” stated Morris to an industry trade.

“He started working with the group as a valet (once in charge of 86 pieces of baggage belonging to Prince, The Revolution, The Time and Vanity 6)! Later, he got into the group, and we kept taking it a step further.”

The Time reunited at the 50th Grammy Awards on February 10th, 2008, performing a medley that included Rihanna and featured “Jungle Love.”

In 2011, The Time announced the name change to the Original 7ven and a new album release “Condensate.”

Prince had legally owned the name and wouldn’t allow for it to be used. As of now per the estate of Prince, the name is available to use for Morris Day.

Following Prince‘s death in 2016, Morris Day and The Time reconvened to play a handful of tributes to their musical brother.

2017, the original lineup played a two-song set at the Grammy Awards, as apart of a tribute to Prince. The Time‘s appearance was followed by a performance by Bruno Mars.

Morris released new solo music as well, with “Over That Rainbow” and “One Night Stand” with Snoop Dogg.

Morris Day published an amazing memoir “On Time: A Princely Life in Funk” in 2019.

A page-turner and great read from a Minneapolis legend!

That same year, Morris Day reunited with Snoop Dogg on “Lil Mo Funk.”

In 2022 Morris returned with his final solo album “Last Call.”

That holiday season, he released the single and video “Cooler Than Santa Claus.”

Tonight, Minneapolis fans can catch Morris Day and The Time, Jesse Johnson, The Family, and Johnny Venus, at the Prince Celebration 2025.

Morris Day’s solo and The Time sales are an excess of over 10 million units.

Take A Trip Down Memory Lane with Morris Day!

R&B Bridgez: THE TIME