SURPRISE 20-YEAR REUNION OF THE TIME SET TO BECOME PERMANENT—EVERY NOW AND AGAIN
Reaction to the newly reunited Morris Day and The Time group and their shows at the Flamingo has been phenomenal.
Among the stars there have been upcoming Flamingo headliner Donny Osmond, The Venetian comedy king Wayne Brady, former NBA star Darrell Griffith and Bette Midler’s choreographer Tony Basil, who was pulled out of the audience with some of her dancers to join the musical group on stage. Also sitting in were Flamingo late night comedy star George Wallace, afternoon magician Nathan Burton, the striking Alizma violin triplets, Mosaic and on stage with The Time were sports superstar Barry Bonds and R&B singer Johnny Gill dancing the group’s signature Bird dance! Johnny will be back this weekend with The Time and I hear that Toni will be bringing Bette Midler with her this week too.
It was the first time in 20 years that all of the original members of The Time were together on stage. The seven guys include Morris Day, Jerome Benton, Jimmy Jam, Jellybean Johnson, Jesse Johnson, Terry Lewis and Monte Moir. They’ll be playing the Flamingo through Saturday night and then return again July 29 through Aug. 2 with a third run of engagements before Donny & Marie Osmond start there in early September.
Morris and Jerome have kept the group’s 80’s dance hits alive but it was Jimmy Jam who became a top record producer and Terry Lewis that dreamed up the reunion first at this year’s Grammy’s Awards show. Said Terry, “We’d been apart for a couple of decades while we’d been producing records and when we started rehearsing together all again it just all felt so good. People have been starved for good music, musicianship and fun. We had that great feeling and decided there and then to make a new record and do the Flamingo shows showcasing some of the new tracks. We might be from the 80’s, but we’re bringing a lot of fun young stuff to the scene to make them dance in the aisles. We’re ripping it up bringing a lot of sexiness. We’re just here to have fun. We went over 30-minutes long with it one night we’re enjoying ourselves so much.
I’m told that the reunion has been a phenomenal success, far more than ever expected, and that now they are back together they intend to stay together and keep doing the concerts on a regular, but not full-time -basis. “It’s simple we just wanted to play great music together again,” Terry summed up. “We’ve tested the waters and since it’s nice and warm you can expect us for an extended stay. We’ve got a big rolodex to go through and call some guest stars to come jam with us, and don’t be surprised if Prince himself shows up unannounced and unexpected one night.”