Pandemonium The Time album

Reprise Records

We had proven ourselves to Prince that we could make hit records too.

After disbanding in the fallout in the wake of their previous album Ice Cream Castle, in 1985 Morris Day and Jerome Benton from The Time had splintered off to work on a new project titled Corporate World which was again entirely written by Prince and planned for release under Warner Bros Records on 14 November 1989.

The label put a hold on Corporate World and insisted The Time reunite as the original lineup as a condition for financing Prince’s third feature movie Graffiti Bridge. The reunion of the band’s original seven members notably saw also the return of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis back into the fold having been sacked by Prince in 1983 following a disagreement over their own commitments producing for other artists. The new album they recorded was titled Pandemonium and their fourth and final project with Prince as the ‘original seven’. Indeed, the opening track Dreamland comprises the recording of band’s introduction to their one-off reunion show for the Minnesota Black Musician Awards staged at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St Paul, on 2 October 1987.

Unlike The Time’s three previous LPs, Pandemonium features performances and contributions by the actual members from band. They perform on a total of five Prince songs plus four others which they co-wrote without his input. Four additional songs, those intended for Corporate World, were transferred and comprise The Time’s contribution for the Graffiti Bridge soundtrack: Release It, Shake!, The Latest Fashion and Love Machine. Of the five Prince produced tracks on Pandemonium the standout is Jerk Out which Prince wrote for The Time and recorded at Sunset Sound back in 1982 intended for Ice Cream Castle. It was reworked at Paisley Park in 1989 and although is featured in the final cut of the Graffiti Bridge movie it was omitted from the OST but released as single. Consequently Jerk Out was the band’s most successful single, hitting the top spot on Billboard’s R&B chart it was certified Gold by RIAA on 19 September 1990. The track was yet another hit almost gifted to Mazarati in 1985.

The Time’s contribution to Pandemonium was recorded at Paisley Park Studios throughout 1989 and into 1990. The songs are all credited to The Time and make no mention of Prince’s input. In result Pandemonium is longer than The Time’s previous LPs and is also their only one released under Prince’s Warner Bros imprint label Paisley Park Records, its distribution being handled by Warner’s Reprise Records.

A track which gained particular interest since 2016 is Donald Trump (Black Version), which Prince wrote in 1989 and performed many of its instruments. It is a song about an egotistical rich black male who buys and objectifies women. As it turns out, Donald Trump was a Prince fan and attended a concert on the Welcome 2 America Tour performed at New York’s Madison Square Gardens on 18 January 2011, as well as a much earlier gig staged at Paisley Park. The three other Prince written tracks featured on Pandemonium are Chocolate and My Summertime Thang both originating from 1983 and laid down at Sunset Sound specifically for Ice Cream Castle. The third, Data Bank was first laid down at the Washington Avenue warehouse studio in 1986 and like the others was re-recorded at Paisley Park during 1989 performed by The Time.

Pandemonium was certified Gold by RIAA on 10 July 1990 and peaked at number 9 in Billboard’s R&B albums chart. The Time’s reunion was short-lived and the group disbanded soon after the album’s release. The original lineup once again briefly reunited in 2011, albeit renamed The Original 7ven because Prince still owned the rights to The Time; releasing their sixth album, titled Condensate. It received no Prince input.

Cover story

For the cover photo shot by Jeff Katz, the band is actually stood inside a gigantic frying pan – it was pre Photoshop and was not superimposed in afterwards as might appear.

The Time

Vocals

Morris Day

Drums

Jellybean Johnson

Guitar

Jesse Johnson

Bass Guitar

Terry Lewis

Keyboards

Jimmy Jam

Monte Moir

Percussion

Jerome Benton

Performers

Vocals

Morris Day

All instruments

Prince ^{Jerk Out, Donald Trump (Black Version), Chocolate, Data Bank and My Summertime Thang}

Drums

Jellybean Johnson

Guitar

Jesse Johnson

Wendy Melvoin ^Chocolate

Bass Guitar

Terry Lewis

Keyboards

Jimmy Jam

Monte Moir

Percussion

Jerome Benton

Saxophone

Candy Dulfer

Data

Producers

Prince and The Time

Label

Paisley Park Records

Distribution

Reprise Records

Cover/Design

Jeff Katz and Deborah Norcross

Released

36 years ago on 10 July 1990

Running Time

65:28

US Chart Peak

66

US R&B Peak

9

UK Chart Peak

18

Orig. Formats

Singles from Pandemonium

Jerk Out

Paisley Park Records

Released

28 June 1990

Distribution

Reprise Records

US Chart Peak

9

UK Chart Peak

No release

Formats

1. Jerk Out [Sexy Mix] (8:51)
2. Jerk Out [Sexy Edit] (4:32)
3. Jerk Out [A Cappella] (2:23)
4. Jerk Out [Sexy Dub] (7:09)
5. Jerk Out [Sexy Instrumental] (7:01)

Chocolate

Paisley Park Records

Released

1 October 1990

Distribution

Reprise Records

US Chart Peak

Did not chart

UK Chart Peak

No release

Formats

1. Chocolate [7" Remix / Edit] (4:33)
2. Chocolate [12" Remix] (7:56)
3. Chocolate [Tootsie Roll Club Mix] (6:09)
4. Chocolate [Instrumental] (7:27)
5. Chocolate [Percapella] (7:19)
6. My Drawers (4:04)