Morris Day and the Time live (6/5/16)

Sunday (6/5) was day two for us at the Belle Isle Grand Prix here in Detroit. And the threat of inclement weather was not going to deter us (and hundreds more) from seeing the performance by Morris Day and the Time. And if you even had to guess, yes we had another great spot right at the stage rails. As you'll see below, we were so close we almost could have reached out and touched the stage.

Janet Jackson - Control

Today (February 4th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Control, the third studio album from Janet Jackson. Working with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, this 1986 release was a smash hit that combined R&B, rap, funk and dance into a perfect package. The record soared to number 57 in Japan, number 47 in Sweden, number 36 in Germany, number 28 in Switzerland, number 25 in Australia, number in Canada, number 8 in the UK, number 7 in the Netherlands and number 5 in New Zealand. Here in the US, it went to number 1 on both the Billboard Album chart and the R&B chart. Its stay on the former chart was impressive one-hundred and six weeks total run, two of which was at the top spot.

Alexander O'Neal - Alexander O'Neal (30th anniversary)

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the self-titled debut album from Alexander O'Neal. It spent eighteen weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 92.

For my full review of this, one of my 80's favorite debuts, click here.

For more from Alexander O'Neal, click here.

Cherrelle - Fragile

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of Fragile, the debut album from R&B singer Cherrelle (the stage name for Cheryl Anne Norton). This 1984 release, produced in part by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, spent eight weeks on the US Billboard Album chart and peaked at number 144. It also climbed up to number 27 on the US Billboard R&B chart.

Alexander O'Neal - Alexander O'Neal

The American R&B artist was born November 15, 1953, in Mississippi and moved to Minnesota at age 20. Alexander O'Neal spent a number of years on the Minneapolis music scene including the early days of the funk band Flyte Time with Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Monte Moir. They combined sharply dressed suits with smooth R&B grooves that helped define the signature "Minneapolis sound". When Prince helped the group get signed with Warner Brothers and had them change their name to the Time, O'Neal and Prince had a disagreement that lead to his leaving of the band. While Morris Day stepped in, O'Neal went solo.

In 1984, he was signed to Tabu records. In April of 1985, he put out his self-titled debut album Alexander O'Neal which reached number 92 on the US Billboard 200, number 72 in the Netherlands, number 21 on the US R&B chart and number 19 in the UK. The record produced four singles which did well on the R&B charts.