Monte Moir | |
---|---|
Birth name | Monte Moir |
Born | September 10, 1958 |
Origin | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) | Keyboards |
Years active | 1981–present |
Labels | |
Member of | The Time |
Website | montemoir |
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.
Monte Moir is the original and current keyboardist for The Time, as well as a songwriter and producer for Janet Jackson, Alexander O'Neal, Gladys Knight, as well as the duo Deja (Curt Jones & Starleana Young). He is also credited for working with Prince, Vanity 6, Deniece Williams, Thelma Houston, Steven Dante, Lolly Pop, Precious Wilson and various other artists.
Some of his greatest writing successes were writing the first side of Alexander O'Neal's solo debut – including the quiet storm classic "If You Were Here Tonight" – and "The Pleasure Principle' [1] by Janet Jackson. Patti Austin and Thelma Houston are other notable artists he wrote classics for as part of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis's 'The Secret'. Monte is something of a cult writing figure in the world of soulful music. "In My Life" by Ruby Turner as well as Steven Dante's "It's Only Love" are key examples of his songwriting.
He left The Time soon after Jam and Lewis were released by Prince, following conflicting writing interests with the S.O.S. Band and failing to make a concert. However, he rejoined The Time for their Pandemonium album and Prince's film Graffiti Bridge , in the late 1980s when the original Time members reunited.
Moir continues to compose his own material and produce for various artists. He was credited on Rihanna's 2016 Billboard number one hit "Work" [2] and most recently surfaced at the 2020 Grammy Award Salute to Prince . [3]
The 36th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 1, 1994. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Whitney Houston was the Big Winner winning 3 awards including Record of the Year and Album of the Year while opening the show with "I Will Always Love You".
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi.
David Frank Paich is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist, and secondary vocalist of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the band's three most popular songs: "Hold the Line", "Rosanna", and "Africa". With Toto, Paich has contributed to 17 albums and sold over 40 million records. He and guitarist and singer Steve Lukather are the only members to appear on every studio album.
Control is the third studio album by American singer Janet Jackson, released on February 4, 1986, by A&M Records. Her collaborations with the songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis resulted in an unconventional sound: a fusion of rhythm and blues, rap vocals, funk, disco, and synthesized percussion that established Jackson, Jam and Lewis as the leading innovators of contemporary R&B. The distinctive triplet swing beat utilized on the record is also considered to be a precursor to the new jack swing genre. The album became Jackson's commercial breakthrough and enabled her to transition into the popular music market, with Control becoming one of the foremost albums of the 1980s and contemporary music.
Tabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. It focused on R&B and funk.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with various artists, most extensively Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US. In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.
"The Pleasure Principle" is a song recorded by American singer Janet Jackson for her third studio album, Control (1986). A&M Records released it as the sixth single from Control on May 12, 1987. Written and produced by Monte Moir, with co-production by Jackson and Steve Wiese, the song is an "independent woman" anthem about taking control of a personal relationship by refusing to settle for loveless materialism. Musically, "The Pleasure Principle" is an R&B song built around a dance-pop beat. The photograph for the single cover was shot by David LaChapelle. The song has been included in two of Jackson's greatest hits albums, Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995) and Number Ones (2009).
The Time, also known as Morris Day and the Time and The Original 7ven, is an American funk rock band founded in Minneapolis in 1981. They contributed to the development of the Minneapolis sound, an eclectic fusion of funk, R&B, new wave, synth-pop and dance. Led by singer-songwriter Morris Day, the band members are known for having been close associates of musician Prince, and are arguably the most successful artists who have worked with him, achieving success with singles such as "Get It Up", "The Bird", "Cool", "777-9311", "Jungle Love" and "Jerk Out".
Cheryl Anne Norton, better known by her stage name Cherrelle, is an American R&B singer and songwriter who gained fame in the mid-1980s. Her signature hits include "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Where Do I Run To", "Everything I Miss at Home", and duets with R&B singer Alexander O'Neal such as "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This", as well as "Always" with her cousin Pebbles.
Control: The Remixes is the first remix album by American recording artist Janet Jackson. Released on November 6, 1987 in the United Kingdom, Europe and Japan only, it contains remixes of singles from Control, following the success of the album. Several of the remixes, notably "When I Think of You" and "Control", were the versions featured in their respective music videos. Most of the remixes were also available as B-sides to the original versions. In 2019, the album has been reissued on CD, Vinyl and all digital platforms.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
Garry George "Jellybean" Johnson is an American drummer, guitarist, songwriter, producer and musician based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the drummer for The Time, Johnson worked alongside famed producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and recorded with and/or produced many notable artists including Alexander O'Neal, Cherrelle, New Edition and Janet Jackson, with whom he had the 1990 #1 single, "Black Cat".
"Twenty Foreplay" is a song by American singer-songwriter Janet Jackson from her first greatest hits album, Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 (1995). Written and produced by Jackson and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as one of the two new songs on the album, it was sent to radio stations in the United States as the second single on December 5, 1995, while being issued as the third single on March 25, 1996 in the United Kingdom, by A&M Records. The song is a play on the word "foreplay" and "24 hours a day", and has an unusual musical structure, containing "over-the-top" lyrics that find Jackson singing to a boyfriend.
Lo-Key? is an American hip hop/R&B band that formed in Kansas City, Missouri and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their single, "I Got a Thang 4 Ya!" (1993), reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, and No. 27 on the Hot 100.
The 1988 Soul Train Music Awards were held on March 30, 1988, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live in select cities and aired later in other areas. Dionne Warwick hosted.
Flyte Tyme was a funk band from Minneapolis that launched the careers of vocalists Cynthia Johnson, Alexander O'Neal and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Many of the group's musicians would later work with Prince. The band's name is a sensational spelling of the phrase "flight time."
Barry Lather is an American creative director, choreographer, producer, and dancer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Los Angeles, California.
Hearsay is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It was released on July 29, 1987 by Tabu and Epic as the follow-up to O'Neal's critically and commercially successful studio album Alexander O'Neal (1985). Hearsay explores similar genres to those of Alexander O'Neal including pop, R&B, soul, post-disco, funk, and adult contemporary music, while also incorporating a newer genre, new jack swing. The songs were recorded from 1986 to 1987 in sessions that took place at Flyte Time Productions, Inc. Studio A & B in Minneapolis, Minnesota, assisted by R&B songwriting and record production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It features contributions from guest musicians, including Cherrelle, David Eiland, and Lisa Keith, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of O'Neal's early work.
Alexander O'Neal is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It was originally released in 1985 by Tabu and Epic. The songs were recorded during 1984 to 1985 in sessions that took place at Creation Audio in Minnesota, and Larrabee Sound in Los Angeles, California, assisted by R&B songwriting and record production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
This Thing Called Love: The Greatest Hits of Alexander O'Neal is a compilation album by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal, released in 1992 by Tabu Records. It includes tracks from three of O'Neal's previous studio albums: Alexander O'Neal (1985), Hearsay (1987) and All True Man (1991).