モーリス・デイ (Morris Day)

Morris Day
Morris Day (born December 13, 1957, in Springfield, Illinois) is an American musician and composer. Although a gifted drummer and artist, he is best known as the charismatic lead singer of The Time, a band that also launched the careers of famous producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Day was a high-school classmate of both 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," but the lead singer had not been chosen. 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 (according to common but unverified rumors) and Prince would soon return the favor by giving Day the job of lead singer. Day would suggest guitarist 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 film Purple Rain, 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" and "The Bird." With their palpable pop energy and catchy choruses, both songs were huge hits on both urban and pop radio.

In 1984, Day contributed backing vocals on "Mechanical Emotion" from Vanity's surprising debut album entitled Wild Animal. With the breakup of The Time that same year, Day began his solo career. The modest to mediocre sales of his solo albums such as 1987's Daydreaming (which spawned the hit "Fishnet") and his most commercially viable solo album, Guaranteed were a terrible blow to his career. Morris Day's real name is Eugene Wright...
(Wikipedia: Morris Day)