Alright, Mr. Jimmy Jam, you've already informed the crew on your thoughts on Gerald Busby,
so I might as well not go there, so let me get a quick update on what's going on with
you and Terry.
Flight time.
Flight time.
Well, we're in the studio right now, putting the finishing touches on a brand new time
album.
Excuse me?
A brand new time album.
It's about time.
About time.
We're having a great time, we're getting along, which is amazing.
We actually got back together about a little less than a year ago to do the Grammys, and
we had so much fun doing that that that led us to do some shows in Vegas during the summer,
which were a lot of fun, very successful, which then led us to, well, everybody's still
getting along, yeah, we're all still getting along.
Well, why don't we try putting an album together, so that's what we're doing, and we're having
a great time doing it, and hopefully the beginning of the year you'll hear some brand new time
music.
Wow, that is fantastic, fantastic.
What's the biggest challenge in doing an album, how long has it been?
Well, the Panemonium album was the last album with the original members, and that was 18
years ago.
So, what's the challenge at this point?
Well, the biggest challenge was kind of getting everybody together initially.
There had to be something that was, you know, it's kind of like, it wasn't that we weren't
getting along with each other, but it's kind of like when you see somebody, you go, hey,
we should get together and have dinner, but if you don't actually set the date, it never
gets done, and what happened was when we were asked to play the Grammys, that all of a sudden
became that date, and it was either we're going to do this or we're not going to do
it, and if we're not going to do it, then we're really not serious about getting this
thing back together, because that's a great opportunity.
When everybody signed on to do the Grammys then, that all of a sudden became that point
where we started talking about maybe we should do an album, maybe we should do some shows,
and everybody, I think, had to get to the point of their life that they felt like that
was a priority was to do that, and I think, honestly, I probably had the most reservations
about doing it, because first of all, I love producing records, I love writing, but I also
love my family, and I was trying to not do things to take me away from them, but the
Vegas during the summer was great because our families all got to come, and it was just
like old times, except that all of our families were there, you know?
So that made it so that it worked, and then that led, like I say, into let's do an album,
so we're just really enjoying it, and it's just, and I think it's something that not
only we need just spiritually to do, but I think it's something that the industry needs
is to see, first of all, a band, and to see that, you know, like the Rolling Stones and
Aerosmith and those guys, and some of the great rock bands that seemed to never break
up, that, you know, we have something really important.
I'm always hard to see, you know, New Edition get back together, and because a lot of times
that doesn't happen.
So I feel like we have an opportunity to do that, and we're going to do it.
We're going to have a good time doing it.
Great.
I like to hear that, because in spite of almost every member being a producer, so no conflicts
there, are you and Terry in charge, or is it working?
I wouldn't say we're in charge.
I mean, Terry has always been sort of the unofficial leader of the band, even Morris
will tell you that, that Terry is kind of the band leader, because back in the early
days when we were called Flight Time and we were first beginning, Terry was sort of the
band leader, so he has always been that.
But no, the nice thing about being in the time is that I don't have to be a producer.
I'm just a keyboard player, you know, Terry's just a bass player, but you know you're playing
with the best musicians around, because people always say, why don't you guys put another
band together, and I've already been in the best band I could possibly be with.
So I mean, I'm not going to play with a guitar player better than Jesse Johnson, first of
all.
But to have Jesse over there inspires me as a keyboard player, I don't have to worry
about producing.
I just play my stuff and it all just works.
Well, before you go, I've got to ask you about Janet, what do you hear, I mean have you
talked to her?
You know, Terry talked to her a couple of days ago, I'm going to probably talk to her
over the weekend, I'm trying to get her to come out, my son is actually playing a football
tournament and he's in there in the playoffs and stuff, and she keeps wanting to come and
see either a football game with my younger son or a basketball game with my older son,
because that's what they both do, and she's actually the godmother of my older son, Tyler.
So, but I'm trying to get her to come out to watch some games and just hang out.
I think she's doing fine.
I think she's involved with a lot of television stuff, kind of behind the scenes and putting
some shows together like that.
But I think she's also anxious to do some work, and we are planning on, or at least
I'll say on my end, we are planning on working together on some upcoming music, and from
what I hear she's expressed that same thing, so we'll get together and have some fun.
Well, I think it's what she needs to do, I think she's learned from her four-way away
from you guys, and it's not, it hasn't quite worked, so I think she needs to come home.
Personally, I think a lot of people do the same way.
She needs to do something more, quote-unquote, adult, because she's not the young Janet from
20 years ago.
Yeah, you know, I think...
She needs somebody like you.
We see you, God.
I mean, Barack Black.
We see you.
We love you.
We love you.
He's doing a new album for me.
I can't wait.
We're in production right now.
We're going to have it out around February, Valentine's album.
Thank you, Barack Black.
Oh, my God.
That's hilarious.
Well, you know what?
It's interesting because I don't, you know, first of all, I don't think Janet needs to
do anything.
I mean, Janet can do whatever Janet wants to do, but the point is, well, but it doesn't
matter though, because see, here's the thing.
It doesn't mean that, well, listen, we all don't, we're not perfect.
We don't always make the right decisions.
We've done records in our time that, luckily, not too many, but we've done some that probably
weren't the best records to do.
We went into all of the records with good intentions, though.
You know, you don't go into it and go, oh, I'm going to make a bad record.
You go in to make a great record.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
We had made records together for 20 years.
She decided to go a different direction on the record.
I applaud her for it because before the business were friends, and I want to see it.
See her successful in whatever she does, and if somebody asked me about the concert, and
I said, well, wait, are you going to go to the concert because you didn't work on the
new album?
And I said, well, yeah, I'm going to go to the concert because 90% of the song she's
going to do, I wrote them.
Me and Terry wrote them.
So of course I'm going to go, and I'm going to support.
I think it's more of a want.
And just like I was telling you about getting the time, getting back together, we're back
together because we want to be together, not because we need to be together, because we
want to be.
If we collaborate with Janet again, and by the way, I never thought that we wouldn't
collaborate again because I don't think that just because you work with some other producer
or you decide to go a different way, that that closes the door on the possibility of
us working together.
I think we're too mature for that and too old to let that be any sort of petty type
of thing.
It never was that.
So I think there's a want.
We want to work with her.
I think she wants to work with us.
And if that all happens, then that's what we're going to do.
Glad to hear that.
Yeah.
I think millions of fans or girls and hers are glad to hear that also.
Good.
I think it's something that needs to happen, so I'm glad to hear that.
Do you think it was the one I had before I let you go?
Nope.
I'm glad to.
I'm glad to see it.
I won't say it.
No, I'm glad to see it.
I'll just say it.
I'm glad to see us still around and one of the, you know, we talk about, you know, Gerald,
we're obviously here on an occasion of some sadness and it's always bittersweet when somebody
passes.
But you know, the sweet part is that the people that get a chance to get together and I haven't
probably seen you or talked to you.
I probably haven't done an interview with you for a few years, probably a little more
than that.
So first of all, it's wonderful, the fact that we're both still around, you know, me
to be interviewed and you to interview me and you're still around doing your thing.
So that's a wonderful thing and you look around and you see all the people here and you realize
all the lives that Gerald touched and it's a wonderful thing and of course one of the,
you know, if you're in the memorial, one of the things was Janet read a letter or Janet,
you know, gave a letter to be read, which I thought was cool.
So you know, we're, listen, we're all connected and we're going to make some great music in
the future and it's going to be music that Gerald's going to be very proud of.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, ma'am.
God bless.
Thank you, baby.
Mr. Jimmy Jant.
