94 East was a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

-based

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

group formed in December 1975 by Pepe Willie, the former husband of

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

's cousin. Willie was one of the people responsible for getting Prince's career up and running, and soon enlisted the talents of a teenage Prince and his childhood best friend,

André Cymone André Cymone (born Andre Simon Anderson; June 27, 1958) is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for Prince's touring band, pre-Revolution. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance El ...

. Prince also composed one song for them, "Just Another Sucker". 94 East was fronted by

Colonel Abrams Colonel Abrams (May 25, 1949 – November 24, 2016) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. Early life Colonel Abrams (his real name) was born in Detroit, Michigan. His family later moved to East 13 Street, in Manhattan's ...

, one of the dance music's early pioneers, who went on to a short solo career with a cluster of big hits. The band disbanded when Prince became a star in his own right. The 94 East recordings were recorded between December 1975 and February 1979. The band was named after

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

, which runs through Minneapolis, and which, when it was constructed, destroyed a vibrant African American community known as the

Rondo Neighborhood St. Paul's Rondo Neighborhood was the center of the black community in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region for much of the 20th century. The intact Rondo neighborhood was socially and economically active, as well as self-supportive. The core of Ro ...

Discography

All albums are variations and comprehensive versions of ''Minneapolis Genius''.Discogs: 94 East
/ref> *''Minneapolis Genius'' or ''Minneapolis Genius - The Historic 1977 Recordings'' (credited as 94 East featuring Prince) (released in 1985 on vinyl and 1987 on CD). *''Symbolic Beginning'' (credited as 94 East featuring Prince) (released in 1995, double CD) *''One Man Jam'' (credited as Prince and 94 East) (released in 2000, double CD) *''Just Another Sucker'' (credited as 94 East) (released in 2004, double CD)

Notes

External links

Symbolic Beginning
at Pepe Willie's official site Musical groups established in 1977 American funk musical groups Musical groups from Minnesota Musical groups from the Twin Cities Prince (musician) {{US-band-stub

Discography

See also

Notes

External links