If you don't know about The Time, I don't have the uh time to inform you. Way, way back in 2010 and 2011, Mike Duquette, the founder of The Second Disc, imagined what it would be like if the first two albums by The Time received the reissue treatment in his recurring Reissue Theory feature. Mike also dreamed up a greatest hits compilation of the band's singles. Thanks to the meticulous vinyl archival efforts of my good buddy DJ Richie Powell over at Fun With Vinyl, lucky fans willing to put in a little time now can turn those dreams into pristine quality reality.
See Mike's original vision of The Time's All-Time Greatest Hits HERE. It's a fairly comprehensive collection of the band's singles, including the actual 45 edits of The Time's much longer album cuts. I've taken the liberty of adding five tracks that Mike must have overlooked in an effort to provide a longer running time (over an hour) and better consumer value. This is where DJ Richie P comes in most handy - click on song titles below to see what I mean:
| ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS | 1:05:53 | R&B | Pop | Dance | ||
| 1981 | Get It Up (Single Edit) | 03:01 | 6 | 16 | ||
| 1981 | After High School (Single Edit) | 02:48 | ||||
| 1981 | Cool (Part I) | 03:12 | 7 | 90 | 16 | |
| 1981 | Cool (Part II) | 03:06 | ||||
| 1981 | Girl (Single Edit) | 03:40 | 49 | |||
| 1981 | The Stick (Single Edit) | 03:06 | ||||
| 1982 | 777-9311 (Single Edit) | 03:28 | 2 | 88 | 42 | |
| 1982 | Grace (B-Side) | 02:37 | ||||
| 1982 | The Walk (Single Edit) | 03:24 | 24 | 104 | 42 | |
| 1982 | Gigolos Get Lonely Too (Single Edit) | 04:42 | 77 | |||
| 1982 | I Don't Wanna Leave You (Single Edit) | 02:45 | ||||
| 1984 | Ice Cream Castles (Single Edit) | 03:37 | 11 | 106 | 70 | |
| 1984 | Tricky (B-Side) | 03:12 | ||||
| 1984 | Jungle Love (Single Edit) | 03:24 | 6 | 20 | 9 | |
| 1984 | The Bird (Single Edit) | 03:41 | 33 | 36 | 6 | |
| 1984 | My Drawers (Single Edit) | 03:42 | ||||
| 1990 | Jerk Out (Edit) | 03:54 | 1 | 9 | 6 | |
| 1990 | Chocolate (7″ Remix) | 04:23 | 44 | |||
| 1989 | Murph Drag (unreleased) | 04:11 |
HERC's M!X of The Time would feature the actual album length jams - other than "Jungle Love" or "The Bird", I never had the pleasure of hearing the band's 45s on the radio so those single edits sound awkward to my ears. As a personal preference, I would also leave off any singles from 1990's Pandemonium or the unreleased Corporate World albums. As much as I like those albums, they don't have that classic, early Minneapolis pop-funk sound I associate with Prince and I guess the same could be said for the group's tracks on Graffiti Bridge as well. Nothing fancy - just my three favorite songs each from the first two albums and four from Ice Cream Castle. Something for people who have never heard of The Time or only want to buy one of their albums. Your own compilation, like Mike's, may differ. I call my compilation Keepers:
*in another head-scratching moment, the Spotify version of this album is missing track 6, "The Stick"
What, no Morris Day solo hits thrown in there? If I'm under no time constraints, I'd definitely add 1985's very Time-sounding "The Oak Tree" into the mix, as well as 1988's more Alexander O'Neal-sounding "Fishnet" (Obviously, owing a debt to their production work with him, Janet, Cherrelle, etc. around that time). "Jerk Out" also gots ta' be on any Time mix for me to properly "Dirk Out" to... CANNOT leave that one off! Although everything else from "Pandemonium" should feel free to not let the door hit it on its way out.
ReplyDelete...And by "their production work", I'm of course referring to Jam & Lewis (mind gettin' ahead of my typin' digits)!
ReplyDeleteHaving gotten the pleasure to see Morris and the (current) Time, I strongly recommend seeing them if you get a chance. Yes, some of the key players are missing from their hey-day but if you think about it only Morris and Prince were the ones the created those first two albums. The band came together when Prince wanted the Time to open for him on tour, so he put together the group and taught them the licks. You will hear all the classics when you see them live. Good time!
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