Flyte Tyme was a funk/R&B band from Minneapolis that launched the careers of vocalists

Cynthia Johnson Cynthia Johnson (born April 22, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the band Lipps Inc. with the worldwide smash hit "Funkytown". Musical career Beginnings Prior to bec ...

Alexander O'Neal Alexander O'Neal (born November 15, 1953) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi. O'Neal came to prominence in the mid-1980s as a solo artist, with eleven Top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, three of whic ...

and producers

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most ...

. Many of the group's musicians would later work with

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 ...

. The band's name is a

sensational spelling Sensational spelling is the deliberate spelling of a word in a non-standard way for special effect. Branding Sensational spellings are common in advertising and product placement. In particular, brand names such as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (''cri ...

of the phrase "flight time."

History

Flyte Tyme began as 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 ...

funk/R&B unit, taking its name from "Flight Time", a 1973

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

song. The group was first known as "Wars of Armageddon", then "Soul Vaccination" before becoming Flyt Tyme. The spelling of the name was later changed to "Flyte Tyme." The band's members varied throughout the group's history: founder

David Eiland ''For the baseball player of the same name, see Dave Eiland'' David Eiland (born in St. Louis, Missouri) is a musician, composer, recording artist and producer. Eiland is a multi-instrumentalist playing saxophones, guitar, bass, drums, Aerophon ...

on saxophone,

on lead vocals and saxophone, Jimmie L. Anderson on saxophone, Garry "Jellybean" Johnson on drums, Tony Johnson on lead guitar,

Monte Moir Monte Moir (born September 10, 1958) is an American songwriter, producer and musician best known as the keyboardist of Morris Day's band The Time and songwriter of many notable American artists. Biography Monte Moir is the original and current ...

and Jimmy "Jam" Harris on keyboards, and Terry Lewis on bass. After Cynthia Johnson's departure,

was her replacement. Johnson later gained fame as the voice of

Lipps Inc. Lipps Inc. ( , a pun on the phrase "lip sync") was an American disco and funk group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The group is best known for the chart-topping 1980 worldwide hit single "Funkytown", which hit No. 1 in 28 countries and was cert ...

's worldwide No. 1 song, "

Funkytown "Funkytown" is a song by the American disco/funk band Lipps Inc., released in 1980 as the second single from their 1979 debut album, '' Mouth to Mouth''. It was successful globally, reaching top spots in places such as the United States, West ...

" and O'Neal later enjoyed a solo career with songs and production by Jam & Lewis. In 1981 Flyte Tyme became The Time when Prince added two members of another local group, "Enterprise," to the act, his childhood friend and drummer

Morris Day Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of The Time. Music career Morris Day is best known as the lead singer of The Time, a group associated with Prince. Day and Pri ...

and guitarist Jesse Johnson. Day became the group's frontman, replacing O'Neal. Jam & Lewis left The Time in 1983 to pursue an independent writing and producing career, resurrecting the Flyte Tyme name for their production company and later, their

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Discography

Two unreleased songs, "I Got You On My Mind" and "It's The Things That You Do", were released in 2013 on the '' Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound'' compilation.

References

External links

Official website of Cynthia JohnsonPhotos of Flyte Tyme
- Minnesota Historical Society
Purple Snow - Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound"School of Funk"
- City Pages
Photo gallery of Flyte Tyme
- cynthiajohnson.net * Flyte Time {{US-R&B-band-stub