Timex Social Club was formed by myself roughly around 1983. The group consisted of two local DJ/songwriters – me and Alex Hill and a raw, church trained singer named Michael Marshall. We were all friends who knew each other from attending the same high school, Berkeley High School located in Berkeley, California.

From 1983 to 1985 were having fun writing songs and producing our own demo tapes. I think we all knew we had something special in the works and the songs just kept coming. Alex had the home studio and we would go to his place on weekends just to hand out and work. Alex’s style was more hard –edged rap, while Michael and I were mostly writing and working on R&B songs. One of the few times that our two types meshed was while we were working on a demo for the song “Rumors”. I had written the lyrics for “Rumors” in 1983 and had gotten the idea from a phone call I received from a friend telling me about a mutual friend of ours he was dating at the time.

I remember when I came up with the name Timex Social Club, Alex and Michael thought it sounded corny and too much like the Prince-related group Morris Day & The Time, but the name stuck and we kept it. We worked on songs including “Rumors” during those years and by 1985, my older brother Darryl Thompson (the artist how created the artwork for the front cover of the 12” single for “Rumors”) had taken a demo tape to producer Jay King. Shortly after Jay heard the tape, I received a phone call. Jay liked the sound and wanted to meet the group to talk about recording “Rumors”. We arranged a meeting and the rest, as they say is history. At the initial recording session for “Rumors”, Timex Social Club consisted of only three members: Alex Hill, Michael Marshall and myself.

What do you remember about the writing and recording sessions for the song “Rumors”?

What I remember most about the writing and recording sessions for “Rumors” was all the fun we had in the creation process. The funny thing was that “Rumors” was the song that was always a “work in progress”. We changed the song a lot during the two years we worked on it. Ideas for it seemed to be endless. The most notable change came nearly right before we recorded the master. One day I was over at Alex’s place and we were messing around with the song. Before one of the playbacks, Alex did a solid keyboard run and then started the track. I jumped form my chair and said, “What was that?!” He didn’t know what I was talking about. “Play that again”, I shouted. Alex said, “This?” as he ran one finger down the entire length of the Juno 106 keyboard. I yelled, “Yeah, that’s it! I love that. How can we make that into the intro?” Alex could not find a way to program the intro (this was the early days of midi-sequencing) and nothing else we tried to program had the same sound and feel of him doing it live and so, the intro you hear today was in fact, done LIVE by Alex Hill. To this day, “Rumors” is the only song with an intro like that. As far as the lyrics are concerned, I wrote them mainly about the topics of the day. I wanted to put some notable names in the song and actually the name Michael does refer to Michael Jackson. The irony of that was our lead singers name was also Michael. I mostly feared that we might have to cut that line due to Michael Marshall having issues with it or that folks might think he was singing that line about himself! But he never said a word and I think that the way he sung it let everyone know we were speaking about Michael Jackson, Hey, it was the 80’s what more can I say?

What is your opinion on rap and hip-hop today ? Do your feel the market is over-saturated with this type of music?

My opinion of hip-hop today has been tainted by the tragic losses of Jam Master Jay, Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur. Yes, back in the day rap was fun! The songs reflected a fun vibe. You could see it in the titles of the songs. Today, hip-hop music is all about business. This is a good thing, but it has also taken the fun out of it. Most rappers refer to hip-hop as “The Game”, but no one seems to be having fun playing it! Songs nowadays have so much violence and profanity in them, that it’s shocking. Some music videos are very close to being X-Rated, so they can only be shown after midnight, unless there is also a PG version that can be played during the day. As far as the market goes, I don’t feel that it is over-saturated since we still do not have a “Queen of hip-hop”. MC Lyte and Queen Latifah still record but the has not yet been passed, in my opinion. So if anything, the genre needs more female artists.

How was working with Jay King as your producer and King Records as your label?

To be honest, working with Jay King as our producer and label owner was a bit strained and difficult as I recall. What your have to remember is that we were all youngsters and the roles we were playing were new to everyone who was involved in the project. At the same time, no one had even heard of Jay King, Jay Records, or Timex Social Club. Urban Radio had not heard that type of fusion between rap and R&B, which made “Rumors” stand out. We were looking to Jay for guidance and training in order for us to become a successful group, which is what Barry Gordy did at Motown when he molded his groups. Subsequently, we never saw Jay all that much after the recording sessions of “Rumors”. He was our promoting the song in other regions. While it was a good thing, it was also what caused a breakdown in communication between him and us and ultimately led to us shopping another deal with Dayna Records.

What music project are you currently involved in today?

Today I am officially retired from the music industry and am not involved in any new projects. I am now a father and husband and I no longer write or record in any capacity. Yes, I miss the good times we had and I often reflect back to the year 1986: being a part of Timex Social Club, having a Number One hit record on the chards, touring 30 cities as the opening act for Run DMC’s Raising Hell Tour and hearing the cheers from the fans as we performed on such epic stages as Madison Square Garden. To this day, I still meet folks that tell me that “Rumors” is one of their favorite songs of all time and I’m happy that our legacy still lives on.

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