Re: The Original 7ven

So, I discovered today that The Time have reformed as The Original 7ven. A friend at work told me that she saw them on the Soul Train awards show the other night.

I wondered why they changed their name, and it turns out that Prince won't let them use "The Time" since he owns the name. Talk about control.

There's an article I found in which Terry Lewis says (I paraphrase) "It's OK if everyone still calls us The Time, we just can't call ourselves that."

I kind of dig these guys and plan to listen to their new album on Spotify tomorrow at work.



Post Edited (12-01-11 13:15)

The Original Sven should tour with ABBA.

I sure hope they come to my neck of the woods, under that name or any other.

So silly. Like when I saw War recently and they had to go by the name The Lowrider Band cuz some other hoser owns the rights to the name, even tho this band featured 4 original members, and they were some of the most recognizable members e.g.: the singers, and the sax/harmonica combo that gave War such a distinctive sound.

I'm surprised Prince hasn't gone after The Mexican Elvis - after all, El Vez does mean "The Time" in English.

The Family had to do the same thing when they got back together earlier this year: FDeluxe. I won the new Time (hell, yes, they're The Time) CD a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had the chance to pick it up yet. Let's just say that Prince can be a major pain in the ass, and leave it at that.

It's about control with him, sure, but I'm guessing it's also about bucks. If the original seven want to record or appear as The Time, I'm guessing he wants a cut of the profits. It's the same factor that's driven Prince to release two of his most recent albums as covermounts in European magazines: between flagging album sales and online piracy, he's looking for ways to get his money up front. (In the case of the latter album, 20Ten, he probably was looking to lock up his money before word got out that the album was pretty weak shit.)



Post Edited (12-01-11 21:42)

Update: I listened to the album today. It's not bad...about what I expected. Not as silly as I thought it might be, thought it definitely has a few humorous moments. A few really good songs, a bunch of average ones, and a few stinkers. Basically, a typical Time album, except no real standouts like "777-9311" or "Jungle Love." They might not have brought a ton of great tunes, but they sound great.