What Time Is It? CD

Live Recording

The Time: Morris Day (vocals); Jesse Johnson (guitar, vocals, drums); Jimmy Jam, Monte Moir (keyboards, vocals); Stacy Adams, Terry Lewis (bass, background vocals); Jellybean Johnson (drums, percussion).
The Time's second album, What Time Is It?, is similar in many ways to The Time (1981), except better all-around, boasting three extended synth-funk jams ("Wild and Loose," "777-9311," "The Walk") that surpass those on the preceding album, plus a humorously wonderful ballad, "Gigolos Get Lonely Too," that tops any of those on the band's eponymous debut. In terms of similarities, both What Time Is It? and The Time are largely the work of Prince with the exception of the vocals, which are sung instead by Morris Day. Jesse Johnson (guitar), Terry Lewis (bass), Jimmy Jam (keyboards), Monte Moir (keyboards), and Jellybean Johnson (drums) are again listed as bandmembers, and though they certainly performed this material live in-concert as Prince's opening act, it's questionable how much musical input they had in the recording studio. Prince reportedly performed every note of music heard here except the vocals, though there's no evidence of that in the liner notes (at least not on the initial edition), as the only sign of his involvement is a production credit for Jamie Starr, one of his pseudonyms. Another similarity between What Time Is It? and The Time is the slim song offerings -- only six songs on each album, and though half the songs approach ten minutes in length, there are slight offerings on each album, "Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody" thankfully the only inconsequential song here. Any way you measure it, What Time Is It? is undoubtedly the better of the two albums, and the Time's most fully developed album overall, if not their flat-out best. Sure, there are only six songs, but five of them are fantastic, especially "777-9311," and the album itself sounds much more fully produced than its predecessor. Any fan of Prince's early-'80s work, particularly 1999 (1983), will find much to enjoy on What Time Is It? ~ Jason Birchmeier
"What time is it?" shouts Morris Day to kick off the album of the same name. "Time to get Wild And Loose!" is the resounding response he gets from The Time, the often unjustly overshadowed funk outfit from Minneapolis.
This album oozes attitude. From its opening "Wild And Loose," Morris never quits with his rantings ("Ain't nobody cool but me"). But his real talent, aside from his alleged sexual prowess, is his ability to get the most out of his band. What makes these grooves timeless are the immensely musical and tight players Mr. Day gathered. "777-9311," for instance, features some super cymbal work from Jellybean Johnson, and a frenzied guitar solo from Jesse Johnson. This is funk, early eighties style, with a certain Prince-ly flavor and plenty of humor. "Somebody get me a mirror!"