TIR 45: Monte Moir Reminisces About The Time of His Life

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Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on THE ONE: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove.

Featured in TIR Episode 45 (two segments): Keyboardist-composer-producer Monte Moir, best known for being one of the original members of Prince’s dazzling protege funk band The Time. Moir, along with Morris Day, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, and Jesse and Jellybean Johnson, were the killer lineup associated with two amazing albums of the early 1980s — an eponymous debut and What Time Is It? — and then 1990’s reunion set, Pandemonium, and 2011’s Condensate using the pseudonym The Original Seven. Prince apparently blocked them from using The Time name, for what was otherwise a surprisingly terrific album that rates as one of the best funk releases this decade. Among The Time’s classic tracks are “Get It Up,” “Cool,” “Wild and Loose,” “777-9311,” “The Walk,” “Gigolos Get Lonely Too,” and without Moir “Jungle Love” and “The Bird.”

While Prince wrote and performed much of The Time’s first two records the band proved itself in performance and style as a super-tight, incredibly entertaining and funky act in its own right. And over the years the magnitude of the talent within its ranks made itself known as all members went on to great success outside the group.

Here is Moir in his Minneapolis-area home studio to discuss The Time’s glory years, how they splintered just as they were rising to superstardom, and subsequent reunions and ongoing challenges; his experiences with and perspective on Prince; his subsequent work with Jam and Lewis on big hits for the likes of Alexander O’Neal, Janet Jackson, Cherelle and others; his nearly 25 years since the 1990s back with Morris Day in The Time’s current touring lineup; and what he is up to today.

WHAT TIME IS IT? It’s time to get M-O-I-R’d!

Recorded March 2018

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Scott Goldfine

As a fervid lifelong music & film enthusiast / student, I grew up in and around the Los Angeles entertainment industry. I have worked and held many positions in various media realms, since 1998 serving as Editor-in-Chief and now Associate Publisher for Security Sales & Integration, a trade publication serving the electronic security industry. I love several genres of music & film. The former includes funk (Parliament-Funkadelic, Prince, Ohio Players, etc.); blues (Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Gales, etc.); rock (Jack White, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Young, etc.); hard rock (AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc.); jazz (Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Crusaders, etc.); R&B (Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Gil Scott-Heron, etc.); and more. I was a club disc jockey and ran a mobile DJ company (Musical Moods) for more than 15 years, which is where the name Dr. GX originates (Doctor Good Times). Fave film genres include horror (Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.); science fiction (Aliens, Terminator, 2001, etc.); action (Warriors, Road Warrior, Die Hard); westerns (Outlaw Josey Wales, Showdown at OK Corral; Wild Bunch, etc.); suspense (Jaws, Inception, Silence of the Lambs, etc.); drama (Apocalypse Now, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, etc.); and comedies (Life of Brian, Superbad, Ruthless People, etc.). I have attended many hundreds of concerts and movies (in theaters or screenings). I may as well also throw in a few favorite TV shows to give an even broader taste of my sensibilities. A handful would be Breaking Bad, Walking Dead, Lost, Justified, Fargo, Seinfeld, Sopranos, South Park, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Key & Peele, Monty Python, Inside Amy Schumer, Louie, Modern Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Last Man on Earth, Bob Newhart Show, All in the Family and The Office. Fave authors are Stephen King, Clive Barker and Michael Crichton. I am also a big sports fan and lifelong supporter of the Dallas Cowboys (NFL), Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB). Also enjoy my family of course, electronics/computers/AV gear, and animals, nature and outdoor activities. Graduate of Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica College and California State University Northridge (Radio-TV-Film, Psychology minor). Also studied at UCLA for kinesiology/psychology and earned post-grad Certificate in Accounting from Santa Monica College. Present main occupation is as Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Security Sales & Integration (SSI), which I joined in 1998. I am responsible for overseeing all editorial content in print. online, electronic, in-person and any other media or products for the electronic security industry's leading business-to-business trade publication. SSI is part of Framingham, Mass.-based Emerald Expositions.