Morris Day

Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1956) is an American musician, composer, and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of The Time.

This article is about the musician. For the comic character, see Morris Day (Viz). For people with a similar name, see Maurice Day (disambiguation).

Morris Day
Day in 1996
Background information
Birth nameMorris E. Day
Born (1957-12-13) December 13, 1957
Springfield, Illinois, U.S.
OriginMinneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.[1]
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • composer
  • actor
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • drums
  • keyboards
Years active1981–present
Labels
Associated acts

Music career

Morris Day is best known as the lead singer of The Time, a group associated with Prince. Day and Prince attended the same high school in Minneapolis and in 1974, as teenagers, became bandmates in the band Grand Central.[2]

Acting career

In addition to his roles in Purple Rain (1984) and Graffiti Bridge (1990), Day also appeared in small parts in films such as Richard Pryor's Moving (1988) and the Andrew Dice Clay film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990). Day's presence on the screen decreased until, in 2001, he returned to film in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, performing "Jungle Love" with The Time after being introduced emphatically by Jason Mewes' character as "Morris Day and The motherfuckin' Time!" and dancing with the movie's stars in the film's coda.

Day also appeared on the small screen in 1990 when he portrayed the character Lamarr on ABC's short-lived sitcom New Attitude. He guest-starred on the sitcom Eve as a pimp who wanted Eve's fashion boutique to design a flamboyant suit to match his witty personality, and appeared as himself in an episode on the series Moesha, attempting to file a lawsuit against Moesha's ex-boyfriend Q, who used a sample from "The Oak Tree" without permission. He also appeared on 227 in the 80s.

He appeared opposite James Avery and Matthew Stewart in a pilot called Heart & Soul produced by Quincy Jones. In 2018, Will Smith revealed that he auditioned on the spot for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with a script for a "failed Morris Day pilot" that Jones handed to him.[3]

From 1986 to 1987, WWF wrestler "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware used "The Bird" as his first entrance theme.

In 1994, Day was featured on and provided the chorus and accompanying vocals for rapper K-Dee's song "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" from the Ass, Gas, or Cash album. This song was essentially a direct sampling of the similarly named "Gigolos Get Lonely Too", recorded by The Time in the 80s.

A song called "Morris Day" appears on the album Felt, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet by the hip-hop group Felt.

Mentioned in Dirt Nasty's song 1980.

Morris Day guest starred on an episode of "Moesha" threatening to sue CPQ for stealing a song. He performed with the group in the end of the episode.

Mentioned in Kid Rock's 2000 hit "Wasting Time", "On the line I got more time than Morris Day".

Australian musician Dave Graney repeats a Morris Day quote—"As a concept—incredible! But I’m a reality!"—over and over throughout the title song from his 2009 album, 'Knock Yourself Out'.[4][5]

In the movie Superfly (2018), Scatter says that the titular character, Youngblood Priest, has a hairstyle similar to that of Morris Day.

In the comedy movie Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, the character Jay states his love for Morris Day & The Time, especially their song Jungle Love. At the end of the film The Time perform a concert and Jay & Silent Bob dance alongside Morris Day.

In the early 1990's ribald British comic Viz introduced a character, "Morris Day: Sexual Pervert", a man comically obsessed with pornography, based on Day.

Discography

Albums
Year Album Chart positions
US US
R&B
1985 Color of Success 37 7
1987 Daydreaming 41 7
1992 Guaranteed - -
2004 It's About Time 197 39

Singles
Year Single Chart positions
US[6] US
R&B[7]
1985 "The Oak Tree" 65 3
"The Color of Success" — 15
"The Character" — 34
"Love Sign" — —
1987 "Fishnet" 23 1
1988 "Love Is A Game" — 71
"Are You Ready" — —
"Daydreaming" — 26
1992 "Circle Of Love" — —
"Gimme Whatcha Got" — 77
2000 "Get A Job" — 96
2017 "Over That Rainbow" — —
"One Night Stand" (with Snoop Dogg) — —
2019 "Lil Mo Funk" (with Snoop Dogg) — —
2020 "Cooler Than Santa Claus" — —
"Headrush" (with Trinidad James) — —
2021 “Grown Man” (with Big Daddy Kane) - -

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1984 Purple Rain Himself
1988 Moving Rudy
Heart and Soul Curtis Brousseau TV Movie
1990 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane Don Cleveland
Graffiti Bridge Himself
1991 Hotel Dicks Dick 1
1997 A Woman Like That
2001 Boys Klub Marx 2
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Himself
2004 West from North Goes South Elvis Potter

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1989 227 Prince Lionel Episode: "The Prince"
1990 New Attitude Lamarr Main Cast
1997 Moesha Himself Episode: "Rhythm and Dues"
2004 Eve Rodney P Episode: "Pimps Up, DivaStyle Down"
Da Boom Crew Zorch Main Cast
2007-08 Baisden After Dark Himself/Band Leader TV Series

Books
  • On Time: A Princely Life in Funk

References
  1. Morris Day and The Time Archived January 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Richard De La Fonte Agency, Inc. Retrieved February 25, 2007.
  2. "Morris Day Tells the Full Story of 'Partyup'". Ultimate Prince.
  3. "Will Smith Says He Became The Fresh Prince of Bel Air After Getting in Trouble with the IRS". people.com. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  4. "kyo-words" on the Dave Graney website Archived February 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  5. "kyo" on the Dave Graney website Archived February 28, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Morris Day". Billboard.
  7. "Morris Day". Billboard.
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