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Biography
for|the Viz comic character|List of Viz comic stripsInfobox musical artist|name = Morris Day|image =|caption =|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Morris E. Day|alias =|birth_date = birth date and age|1957|12|13|death_date =|origin = Minneapolis, Minnesota http://www.morrisdayandthetime.com Morris Day and The Time, Richard De La Fonte Agency, Inc. Retrieved 25 February 2007.|instrument = Vocals , Drum s, Keyboard instrument|Keyboards |genre = Rock music|Rock , Pop music|pop , Rhythm and blues|R& B , Soul music|soul , Funk , funk-rock , funk metal , New Wave music|New Wave , Dance music|dance , Hip hop music|hip-hop |occupation = Musician , Singer , Drummer |years_active = 1981& ndash;present|label = Warner Bros. Records Paisley Park Records Reprise Records Hollywood Records |associated_acts = The Time (band)|The Time Flyte Tyme (band)|Flyte Tyme Prince (musician)|Prince |website = http://www.morrisdayandthetime.com Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1957) is an United States|American musician , composer and actor . He is best known as the lead singer of The Time (band)|The Time .
Musical career
1970s and 1980s
In high school, Day was in a band with Prince (musician)|Prince and André Cymone and the trio formed an early band managed by Day's mother called "Grand Central," later renamed "Champagne." Later, Prince embarked on a solo career but retained Cymone for his backing band. The two began to plan a side-group that would focus more on R& B, while Prince would continue to explore various musical styles. The Time was composed of 4 members from an earlier funk group called " Flyte Tyme (band)|Flyte Tyme ," but the lead singer had not been chosen. Charles Cobb was considered but he turned it down Sue Ann Carwell was auditioned and Alexander O'Neal nearly became The Time's lead singer, but dropped out due to payment negotiations. Day, who was now in a band called "Enterprise" allowed Prince to have a song called "Partyup" for his Dirty Mind album and Prince would soon return the favor by giving Day the job of lead singer. Day would suggest guitarist Jesse Johnson (musician)|Jesse Johnson , who completed the band's ensemble.
The Time's most prolific and visible period came in 1984, when Day played the antagonist to Prince in his feature films Purple Rain (film)|Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge (film)|Graffiti Bridge , which helped establish Day's playboy stage presence. Typically escorted by his valet, "Jerome" ( Jerome Benton ), Day won fans with his exaggerated vanity ("Jerome bring me my mirror!") and strutting bravado ("Ain't nobody bad like me!"), acting as a comic foil to Prince's romantic, sensitive lead. This persona was further exploited for comic effect on The Time's records, on songs such as "Chili Sauce" and "If the Kid Can't Make You Come" from the album Ice Cream Castle .
That album, the group's most popular, is best remembered for the infectious singles " Jungle Love (The Time song)|Jungle Love " and the Rufus Thomas influenced, " The Bird (The Time song)|The Bird ." With their palpable pop energy and catchy choruses, both songs were hits on both urban and pop radio.
In 1984, Day appeared on a duet with singer Vanity (performer)|Vanity on " Mechanical Emotion " from her debut album Wild Animal (Vanity album)|Wild Animal . With the breakup of The Time that same year, Day began his solo career. The low sales of his solo albums such as 1987's Daydreaming (Morris Day album)|Daydreaming (which spawned the single "Fishnet") and his most commercially viable solo album, Guaranteed (Morris Day album)|Guaranteed were a blow to his career.
In 1986 Morris Day married Judith Day. They were married for 22 years—until 2008. They had three children together.
1990s
It wasn't until 1990 that The Time scored a #1 R& B hit with " Jerk Out ," a Dance-funk cut from their reunited fourth album, Pandemonium (The Time album)|Pandemonium . This album also featured the original members of the band. The same year, Day formed his own girl band (not unlike Prince's Vanity 6 / Apollonia 6 ) called The Day Zs. The group's first and only album release was produced by Day and he sang on one of the tracks called "Green Acres."
From that high point, Day's success began to wane. The general decline of Prince's popularity soon after did not help and Day's public visibility, and his creative output waned considerably.
2000 to present
Day came out of his self-imposed retirement because of his fans' support. Day has remained a popular concert draw since the late 1990s, with Day fronting a revamped lineup of The Time, including originals Jellybean Johnson on drums and Monte Moir on keyboards, with which he was invited to perform on Prince's concert direct to video film "Rave Un2 The Year 2000", in December 1999.
Day has also appeared regularly in local television commercials for a Toyota dealership in the Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta area.
As of 2007, Day is band leader on the TV One (Radio One)|TV One program Baisden After Dark .
He reunited with the original members of The Time after 18 years for a performance with Rihanna at the 50th Grammy Awards show.
Morris Day and The Time performed at the 2008 HR Florida State Conference.
Acting career
Though he had continued to act in films from time to time in small parts ( Richard Pryor 's Moving (1988 film)|Moving being a brief but memorable turn), he was in the Andrew Dice Clay (1990 film) The Adventures of Ford Fairlane . Day's presence on the screen decreased until, in 2001, he returned to film in Kevin Smith 's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back , performing "Jungle Love" with The Time and dancing with the movie's stars in the movie's coda and being introduced emphatically by Jason Mewes ' character as "Morris Day and The motherfuckin' Time!".
Day also appeared on the small screen in 1990 when he portrayed the character Lamarr on ABC's short-lived sitcom New Attitude (TV series)|New Attitude . He guest starred on the sitcom Eve (TV series)|Eve as a pimp who wanted Eve's fashion boutique to design a flamboyant suit to match his witty personality, and appeared as himself in an episode on the series Moesha . Attempting to file a lawsuit against Moesha's ex boyfriend Q, who used a sample for "The Oak Tree" without permission from Day. He was also on 227 (TV series)|227 in the 80's.
He appeared opposite James Avery and Matthew Stewart in a short-lived show Heart & Soul. In one episode, Morris proclaimed, "It's Matt Stewart and the motherfuckin' Time!" before knocking him unconscious with an over-sized #1 foam finger.
Appearances in popular culture
In the 1980s and 1990s, World Wrestling Entertainment|WWF wrestler "Birdman" Koko B. Ware used "The Bird" as his entrance theme.
He appeared with The Time at the end of the movie " Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back " and was referred to as the main characters' favorite band.
In 1994, Day was featured on and provided the chorus and accompanying vocals for rapper K-Dee 's song "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" from the Ass, Gas, or Cash (No One Rides for Free) album. This song was essentially a direct sampling of a similarly named "Gigolos Get Lonely Too", recorded by The Time in the 80's.
A song called "Morris Day" appears on the album Felt, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet by the hip-hop group Felt (hip hop)|Felt .
Discography
Albums
The Time
The Time (The Time album)|The Time (Warner Bros., 1981)
What Time Is It? (album)|What Time Is It? (Warner Bros., 1982)
http://www.morrisdayandthetime.com/ Official website
IMDb name | id=0206528
The Time Persondata | NAME = Day, Morris | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1957-12-13 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Day, Morris Category:1957 births Category:African American drummers Category:African American rock musicians Category:American dance musicians Category:American drummers Category:American funk drummers Category:American funk singers Category:American pop singers Category:American soul singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Minnesota Category:People from Minneapolis, Minnesota Category:Songwriters from Minnesota Category:The Time members
pl:Morris Day sv:Morris Day
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