The post Alexander O’Neal Revealed ‘Foul’ Way Prince Fired Him From His Group: “I Was Really Hurt” appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

https://www.facebook.com/morrisdayandthetime/photos/a.304064689732610.1073741825.304062929732786/1046291458843259/?type=3&theater

Morris Day and Prince go way back, like Ultra Sheen hair grease and du-rags. However, it’s also no secret that throughout the years, Prince and Morris Day had a longstanding beef that lasted nearly 30 years.

Thankfully, Morris Day made peace with Prince at some point before his passing…or maybe even posthumously, not quite sure- but the point is, he’s at peace with the Purple One and the love is real. On the 2nd anniversary of Prince’s untimely death, that love is evident in the flurry of online tributes the 60 year old charismatic “Oak Tree” singer has been paying to his late homie for the past 48 hours. Check out some of his many posts to Prince below…

https://www.facebook.com/morrisdayandthetime/photos/a.610593775746365.1073741832.304062929732786/1046295792176159/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/morrisdayandthetime/photos/a.610593775746365.1073741832.304062929732786/1046089155530156/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/morrisdayandthetime/videos/vb.304062929732786/751006635038411/?type=2&theater

https://www.facebook.com/morrisdayandthetime/photos/a.610593775746365.1073741832.304062929732786/1046454762160262/?type=3&theater

They Go WAAAY Back

Although many fans assumed Prince and Morris Day were cousins back in the day, the truth is they met in high school in the 1970’s, in their hometown of Minneapolis, MN. They were students at rival high schools and introduced by mutual friend and music producer, Andre Cymone:

“We hung out, and I found out (Cymone) was in a band and I went to watch them. The band was just crazy. These guys were 13, 14 years old — Andre on bass, Prince on guitar and sometimes keyboard. The band was playing Santana, and Prince was doing these solos like he was 20 years old,” [Morris Day] recalled [in a prior interview]. “It was just crazy.”

From then on, they were damn near joined at the hip, because they began working together musically and Prince ultimately created The Time band, which was originally led by Alexander O’Neal (before he was fired). Morris Day was The Time’s drummer, before Prince promoted him to lead singer and the rest is history.

Prince & Morris Day’s Decades-Long Beef: Fights, Control, Tension

https://www.facebook.com/morrisdayandthetime/photos/a.304067713065641.1073741827.304062929732786/1046291365509935/?type=3

Prince and Morris Day’s friendship started going left, due to “creative issues.” Morris reportedly grew tired of the fact that Prince controlled all of The Time’s musical direction- including their songwriting. Apparently, Prince refused to allow them to take over the creative direction of The Time and by 1984, during the “Purple Rain” movie release, which Morris Day and The Time starred alongside Prince, all hell had broken loose between the high school friends. According to an NYPost report, their ‘tension resulted in an on-set fight that was broken up by the Time’s drummer, Jellybean Johnson.’

It was also rumored that Morris Day wasn’t invited to the “Purple Rain” movie premiere. He reportedly had to rely on Pepe Willie, the founder of funk group 94 East, who was married to Prince’s cousin, to get him a ticket. Geesh!

That wasn’t all though…

Via NY POST: The tension grew more because Morris was becoming increasingly frustrated with the group’s lack of creative input. Things came to a head on the final night of the tour in Cincinnati during the Time’s set when Prince and some of his band threw eggs at their supporting act from offstage. Prince demanded no interruptions during his performance, but as soon as he left the stage, a food fight erupted. When the battle continued at the hotel, Prince made Morris Day pay for all damages, claiming that he had started the whole thing.

We report state all this to display that love is powerful and can supercede any amount of petty BS that so oftentimes destroys friendships/relationships. Morris Day’s unwavering love for his lifelong friend, Prince, is a true representation of that. May Prince continue to rest peacefully are a job well done.

The post On 2nd Anniversary Of Prince’s Death Morris Day Pays Emotional Tribute To His Life-long Friend appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

[kkgallery kid=”1557″ title=”Prince Put Morris Day In ‘The Time’ After Firing This 80s Singer”]

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The post Fired By Prince From “The Time”, This 80s Singer Responds To Prince’s Death appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Most of us knew that they had problems with each other, but many didn’t know things got THIS bad. So we had to let our family know about this because as you know, we’re ILOSM- ‘Old School news with a new point of view’ and ooh-wee, I know these dudes are glad there was no internet, or social media back in 1984 when this all went down. The two best buddies from high school had beef in the movie and in real life and they ultimately got into an all-out brawl!

Word on the Old School curb is that by the time Purple Rain was release in the summer of ’84, Morris Day and Prince were not even speaking to each other due to disagreements over “creative differences” What people also didn’t know at the time, The Time’s Jesse Johnson and Prince argued all the time according to reports.

According to NYPost:

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Although he almost stole the film with his own charismatic performance as Prince’s nemesis, Morris Day of the Time was lucky to be in it at all. Friends since high school, Prince and Day’s relationship had been souring: The Time were controlled by and had their songs written by Prince, and the arrangement came to frustrate Day. That tension resulted in an on-set fight that was broken up by the Time’s drummer Jellybean Johnson.

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It was also rumored that Morris Day wasn’t invited to the

The post Things Got Heated! See Why Prince & Morris Day Had A REAL Fist Fight! appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Back when R&B legend, Alexander O’Neal, was the lead singer for The Time (formerly called Flyte Time) -the band Prince formulated- he said he was kicked to the curb for a very biased reason. He also made no qualms about his disdain for the way he said Prince handled the situation. In addition to that, O’Neal also revealed who else reportedly betrayed him and the hurt he felt as a result of their actions. Scroll down to check out the details he gave in his interview with Blues And Soul, years prior to Prince’s passing.

He Was Too Dark Or Too Complicated?!!

According to O’Neal, he was presumably kicked outta the group for being too opionated, while others around him believe it was because Prince felt that he was too dark skinned to be the lead singer. Thus, replacing him with a lighter hued brotha, Morris Day.

Alexander’ O’Neal: “Flyte Tyme was a wonderful band, and I felt we were on our way to getting a national deal. You know, I’d been picked to be the lead singer in a group owned by Prince; we’d started recording at Prince’s house… But then I got kicked out the band before I got kicked IN! Some people said it was because I was too black in skin pigmentation. But I still think it was because I was opinionated. I’d started showing I could think and started asking questions about the financial arrangements. But, you know, to be kicked out was heart-breaking.

Why He Felt Betrayed & Didn’t Respect Prince’s Decision

O’Neal explained how hurt and betrayed he felt after learning that the other members, including legendary producer duo, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, were rehearsing presumably with the new lead singer, Morris Day, without telling him he was fired.

AO: “And the main thing I couldn’t respect about it was that Prince hadn’t been man enough to tell me. Because, all of a sudden, Flyte Tyme started rehearsing behind my back so they could become `The Time` without me! And all this time we were still doing gigs together! You know, they’d suddenly start mixing these new songs into the set and I’d be like ‘Where’s THIS coming from?’!”

Lewis eventually came clean with O’Neal:

AO:”And the only one out of all of them with the balls to tell me what was happening was Terry Lewis! But, though when I got the news I was really hurt, a lotta times good things come out of a bad situation. And that was just fuel for the fire for me!”

How Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Ultimately Saved O’Neal’s Career…After Prince Fired Them Too

According to O’Neal, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were responsible for saving his career and staying true to a promise they’d made him after they had also gotten fired by Prince.

AO: “Because I felt that, if I was good enough to even be CONSIDERED for a group by Prince, then I must be good enough for the music industry! And, when Jimmy (Jam) and Terry (Lewis) came home from LA one summer night – after THEY’D got kicked outta The Time by Prince – they came into this club I was performing at in downtown Minneapolis and were like ‘Alex, when we get our plans off the ground we’re gonna get you a record deal’. And that’s exactly what they DID!”

Wow…if Alexander O’Neal’s story is accurate, that was cold the way Prince let him go, but you never know, Prince may have had a different recollection of the way things went down. For example, O’Neal never made it a secret, that he’s battled with drug addiction for 30+ years, so could that have been a contributing factor in this scenario as well? Who knows? We certainly don’t, but it is worth mentioning. Now, if Prince simply fired him for being a dark skinned brotha, then that’s just foul. Nonetheless, we appreciate Alexander O’Neal for being so open about this and we wish him much continued success with his music.

-ILoveOldSchoolMusic, old School news with a new point of view

The post Alexander O’Neal Tells ‘Foul’ Way Prince Kicked Him Out Of Group & How Jam & Lewis Saved Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.