People // Joe S. // Blog

I lived in Minneapolis during "Flyte Time" rise to fame. The songwriter/ producer team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were in The Time and had begun producing some major acts. Their sound became synonymous with the "pow pow bang" beat of the 80's.

The pair met in high school in Minneapolis and formed a band called Flyte Tyme which evolved into The Time. In 1981, they were joined by Morris Day and toured with Prince as his opening act.

As members of The Time they recorded three of the group's four albums (The Time, What Time Is It?, and Pandemonium. The first two albums are said to have shaped early eighties R&B music (featuring "Cool","Get It Up", "The Walk", "777-9311", and "Gigolos Get Lonely Too"). The pair were fired from the tour because a blizzard left them unable to rejoin after a short break to produce The SOS Band. However, one of the tracks they were producing, "Just Be Good to Me", became a big hit and made their reputation, as well that of the SOS Band.

After working with other artists like The SOS Band, Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal, Jam and Lewis were introduced to Janet Jackson and produced her breakthrough album Control in 1986, for which the duo won a Grammy Award. Their collaboration on her next album, 1989's Rhythm Nation 1814, was even more successful.

Since then they have produced hits for Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stephani and Boyz II Men to name only a few.

This video set features The S.O.S. Band's "Just Be Good To Me", Human League's "Human", and an instrumental of Usher's "U Remind Me", all Flyte Time productions. I've also included a cool radio interview of a very casual Jam and Lewis on The Amie Jo Show.

Enjoy.