The Time were a funky dance pop group from the 80s that most people remember from Prince's hit film, Purple Rain. Led by Morris Day, the group featured a boatload of talent that included Jesse Johnson and Jellybean, as well as Jimmy "Jam" Harris and Terry Lewis (who wrote many hits for others including Janet Jackson). Despite this unusual concentration of talent, The Time only scored a few chart hits, including "Jungle Love" (#20), "The Bird" (#36), both of which were featured in Purple Rain, and "Jerk-Out" (#9) in 1990. "Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody" captures that early 80s Minneapolis funk sound and could easily be mistaken for a lost Prince track. It comes from their 1982 album, "What Time Is It?"
You may not know his name, but Nuno Bettencourt is no stranger to chart success. One of the greatest guitar gods around today, he is best known for his work in Extreme. But Nuno has also played with a wide range of musicians from Janet Jackson to Rihanna, Dweezil Zappa to Tantric. Nuno has formed a number of side projects outside of Extreme that included Mourning Widows, Population 1, and DramaGods. But I think his greatest work was on his 1997 solo record, "Schizophonic." This is his most consistent effort -- Nuno likes to incorporate experimental music into the mix, but on this record it was never at expense of a good melody. Nuno proves to be a more than competent singer, and has great instincts for harmony vocals. "Swollen Princess" is fantastic and should have made him a household name, but nearly every track is great.
There isn't much from Janet Jackson's impressive catalogue that wasn't a well-known hit; she is ranked the 9th best chart performing artist of all-time, and the 2nd best of the 1990s. Most people caught onto her talents in 1986 when she released "Control," her third album, which spawned huge hits like "What Have You Done For Me Lately" (#4), "Nasty" (#3), "When I Think Of You" (#1), "Control" (#5), "Let's Wait Awhile" (#2), and "The Pleasure Principle" (#14). Yes, all of those are from a single record, and her follow-up, 1989's "Rhythm Nation 1814" did even better. Many people are not aware that Janet Jackson had two albums prior to her breakout success. "Young Love" was her very first single from 1982, but it stalled at #64. Who else misses that early 80s funk?
