Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis, Legendary Hitmakers, Release Their First Album

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Janet Jackson's album "Control" was one of the biggest hits of 1986.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NASTY")

JANET JACKSON: Give me a beat.

MARTIN: Yes, but who gave her that beat? Jackson's producers for the album were Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It was the beginning of an epic partnership.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NASTY")

JACKSON: (Singing) Nasty, nasty boys don't mean a thing - oh, you nasty boys.

MARTIN: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would go on to produce hit records for Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, George Michael. The list is ridiculously long. And now Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, after more than 40 years in the music business, have finally released their own album. It's called "Jam & Lewis: Volume One." On this track, they're joined by their old friend Mariah Carey.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SOMEWHAT LOVED")

MARIAH CAREY: (Singing) Only somewhat - there you go.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Breaking my heart, breaking my heart, breaking my heart again.

CAREY: (Singing) Why you got to go away? - no such thing as lovers and friends.

JIMMY JAM: Overall, what we kind of call the sound of the album - we say new-stalgia (ph).

MARTIN: New-stalgia.

JIMMY JAM: New-stalgia - it's the idea of hearing something new and the excitement that comes from hearing something new. That discovery moment is always a great moment - but also that very familiar, comfortable moment that takes you back to a really nice place.

MARTIN: That's the voice of Jimmy Jam. You'll hear from Terry Lewis in a bit. I asked why it took so long for the name's Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to appear on the front of an album cover.

JIMMY JAM: We kind of got detoured in our original plan to do an album. We had started working on tracks for what we thought was going to be a Jam & Lewis album. That was 35 years ago. And it was the same year we ended up doing "Control" for Janet. So anyway, when we got the album done, or at least what we thought was done, John McClain, who was an A&R person at A&M Records, came to Minneapolis where we were recording. And we played him "Control" and "Nasty" and "When I Think Of You" and "Pleasure Principle" and "Funny How Time Flies," "Let's Wait Awhile." We figure we're done, right? And so like all A&R people at record companies used to do, he would say, sounds good, but I just need one more.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

JIMMY JAM: And we were like, nah, forget it. So anyway, we hop in the car. Terry puts a cassette in. And he says, listen to this. This is some things we're working on for our album.

MARTIN: Yeah.

JIMMY JAM: And about the third song in, John goes, oh, that's the one I need for Janet right there. And we said, what are you talking about? He said, man, give that one to Janet. And we're like, oh, we're just giving our songs away.

MARTIN: (Laughter).

JIMMY JAM: That song became "What Have You Done For Me Lately?"

MARTIN: Wow.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?")

JACKSON: (Singing) What have you done for me lately? Ooh, yeah.

JIMMY JAM: It was the song that launched her career basically and ended ours...

(LAUGHTER)

JIMMY JAM: ...At least as artists.

MARTIN: So your curse is that the two of you were too generous.

JIMMY JAM: Yes. So we finally got selfish. Probably three or four years ago, we got inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. And they ask us what we hadn't done yet that we still wanted to do. To our right was Babyface, who went in the same year we did. And we looked over at Babyface. And we said, well, we never got around to ever doing anything with Babyface. So that would be cool. And then we said, well, you know, we never got around to doing our own album.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HE DON'T KNOW NOTHIN' BOUT IT")

BABYFACE: (Singing) He don't know nothin' 'bout it. 'Bout time you found a man, yeah. But he just behavin' around it. Girl, he don't understand (ph).

MARTIN: Terry, so if we could rewind a little bit - I mean, you guys started your career in a couple of Minneapolis bands before Prince came into the picture. And you worked with him in the band The Time.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "COOL")

THE TIME: (Singing) If you wonder how I do it, there's just one simple rule. I'm just cool - cool.

MARTIN: Can you talk a little bit about your interactions with him? How did Prince change you as musicians, as producers? What was his imprint?

TERRY LEWIS: Well, there's so much with Prince. I mean, let me unpack this bag. This is a full bag.

JIMMY JAM: Yeah.

LEWIS: (Laughter). His musicianship was second to none. So he always made sure, just by his presence, that you were on top of your game. And we were all in rival bands across the city because he was going to come out and funk you up.

(LAUGHTER)

LEWIS: He was going to tear you up. So after many years of going through that competition, he became that national artist that we all looked up to as our hope to get out of the Minneapolis scene because in the Minneapolis scene, there was nowhere for Black musicians to really play. No one really serviced us in terms of...

MARTIN: Just in terms of venues.

LEWIS: They all had a - yeah. And in terms of venues, yes. But...

MARTIN: Yeah.

LEWIS: ...Watching Prince get out, it just gave us that hope. And then Morris Day calls and says, hey, I'm starting a band. I want you to be in the band.

MARTIN: Morris Day is part of The Time.

LEWIS: The frontman of The Time - Prince comes along with that as well because Prince is producing the album. And so our rehearsals are grueling. And in those rehearsals, he pushes you to the extraordinary limits of your abilities - things that you didn't know you could do.

JIMMY JAM: Yeah.

LEWIS: He could work so fast and efficiently. Like, he would rehearse us all day - five hours, six hours. He would go and rehearse his band, The Revolution, for five or six hours. And then he would go to the studio and the next morning come back with a full song, fully produced - or two, mind you. Like, he'll play "1999" for you, like, the next day. And it was like - the work ethic was just stellar.

MARTIN: You put Morris Day on this album - Morris Day and Jerome - both of The Time. You had them do this track, "Babylove." Can you talk to me about that song?

JIMMY JAM: You know, Morris basically gave us our break. And that connection was really important to have on the album.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABYLOVE")

MORRIS DAY, JEROME AND THE ROOTS: (Singing) This is going to be the sweetest experience of your life. It's time to party tonight - oh, yeah. All the sexy people are invited - only the sexy.

JIMMY JAM: This song to me really captures really the best of Morris and Jerome together. It's a lot of back and forth. And then we kind of incorporated that into the song. And the song's, you know, funky. But it really takes you back to that golden era of when we first began in the '80s.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABYLOVE")

MORRIS DAY, JEROME AND THE ROOTS: (Singing) It's time to start this part tonight. Excuse me, but this table's reserved for the sexy people.

LEWIS: This is just about us having fun - just doing what we love to do with the people we love doing it with. The journey for me is the most important part of this all. Who you meet along the way and those people that you learn to love over the period of time is the most important thing. And I always say, I hope I never arrive. This is so fun.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BABYLOVE")

MORRIS DAY, JEROME AND THE ROOTS: Fast-forward - 1980 to 2021. Ain't nothing changed but the date. (Singing) Babylove...

MARTIN: Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam - after more than 40 years in music, their first album as a recording duo is called "Jam & Lewis: Volume One." Gentlemen, it has been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for talking with us.

JIMMY JAM: Thank you so much for having us.

LEWIS: Thank you for having us. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.