WILL “ILL WILL” LAVIN

JAM & LEWIS REDEFINED R&B AND POP, WORKING WITH JANET JACKSON, MARIAH CAREY, GEORGE MICHAEL AND A HOST OF OTHER GREATS. NOW, THEY’RE FINALLY MAKING THEIR OWN ALBUM AS ARTISTS. IN A RARE INTERVIEW, THEY TELL US ABOUT ACCIDENTALLY LAUNCHING JANET INTO MEGASTARDOM, OFFENDING THE HUMAN LEAGUE AND WHY THEY’VE NEVER HAD AN ARGUMENT.

JAM & LEWIS

After 40 years of producing magic for others, the long wait for a debut album by production greats Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis is finally over. The Minneapolis duo’s first artist record, Jam & Lewis Volume One, will feature many of the icons they’ve made hits with including Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey, Usher, Boyz II Men, Babyface and Toni Braxton.

“We finally decided to get selfish,” laughs Jimmy. Speaking to Classic Pop via Zoom from their respective homes, the pair – wearing their trademark trilbies and shades – explain part of the delay was down to being a little too good at their job. “Over the years, as we’d work with certain artists, we’d ask if they’d do something for our album,” Jimmy explains. “But what would happen is, once the song for our album was done, the artists would decide to keep the record for themselves.”

A victim of their own success, it’s not hard to see why this happened. Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriting and production duos of all time, the pair met in the same 70s Minneapolis music scene that produced Prince. Responsible for ushering in a new wave of Black music in the 80s, they blended R&B, funk and pop, using lucid synths and punchy 808 drum patterns to create their intoxicating soundscapes.

Joining forces in Flyte Tyme, which morphed into The Time, Jam & Lewis’ break came when the band, featuring frontman Morris Day, opened for Prince on his Controversy Tour in 1981. Tensions later emerged, climaxing in March 1983 when Jam & Lewis – working with The SOS Band – were grounded in Atlanta because of a blizzard. Failing to make the San Antonio stop on the 1999 Tour, Prince fired them.

For most, being fired by a legend would kill a career. For Jam & Lewis, it proved to be a blessing in disguise.

“Prince didn’t fire us, he freed us to pursue our destiny,” says Terry. “The fact we ended up working, getting in a snowstorm and getting fired for it was apropos – because it was bound to happen. So at that point, Prince freed us, the same night we were mixing The SOS Band’s Just Be Good To Me.”

A FRESH CHAPTER

That hit marked the beginning of a very successful second act for Jam & Lewis. Working on classics by Janet Jackson, Alexander O’Neal, Karyn White and George Michael, Jam & Lewis are rightly celebrated. But they’re now fully focused on their own music.