Bay area ’80s Soul outfit Timex Social Club enjoyed a brief albeit extremely influential recording career which produced one highly regarded long player, ‘Vicious Rumors’, and a series of classic singles including the runaway 1986 hit ‘Rumors’. Often heralded as the act who paved the way for the New Jack Swing sound pioneered by the likes of Teddy Riley in the late ’80s / early ’90s and sampled by an eclectic collection of contemporary artists, Timex Social Club’s relatively small discography has made a lasting impact on popular music. We caught up with founding member Marcus Thompson to discuss the groups meteoric rise, touring with ’80s Hip Hop pioneers and, aptly, the ‘rumors’ which surround the group’s untimely split:
Let’s start at the beginning. You met with the other original members of the group around 1982 whilst attending Berkeley High School in California. The early ’80s were a very exciting time for new sounds from the West Coast, with the emerging West Coast Electro scene, early Hip Hop and many of the acts that went on to define the West Coast Hip Hop sound (Zapp for example) releasing their most influential material at that time. Tell us about how you met and the sort of music you were listening to and inspired by at the time.
Yes, we all met in high school, we were classmates from 1979-1983. I first formed a crew called the Timex Crew. This was nothing more than an identity we had on campus just to set ourselves apart. At the time, I was a huge fan of Prince. Anything from the Prince camp was in heavy rotation on my boom box or Sony Walkman. (As a side note: In the second verse of ‘Rumors’, I mentioned Susan (Moonsie) [from Vanity 6, an act produced by Prince] and I dropped the word ‘Camisole’ in for good measure: “Did you hear the one about Susan, some say she’s just a tease / In a camisole she’s six feet tall, she’ll knock you to your knees”).
I was just starting out as a DJ. My DJ name was ‘The Blaster Mixologist’ and I was known around campus for making mixtapes. I met group member Alex Hill through a mutual friend in 1982 and joined his DJ crew, ‘The Control Crew’. The Control Crew rented halls and gave big parties. At those parties, we played all of the hit funk 12-inch singles from such artists as Cameo, Parliament / Funkadelic, The Gap Band, Egyptian Lover, Afrika Bambaataa, Run-DMC, Whodini and The System. Alex was a whiz at mixing and he was the first DJ I knew that had two Technics 1200 turntables. The Control crew was aptly named, because we actually controlled the crowd on Saturday nights. Having that party DJ background, spilled over into our song writing.
The group’s first and only album release, ‘Vicious Rumors’ came in 1986 and spawned the hit single ‘Rumors’. It’s often cited as a pre-cursor to the ‘New Jack Swing’ sound of the late ’80s / early ’90s. Was that fusion of soul vocals and the more ‘urban’ backdrop of Hip Hop something you consciously tried to achieve or was it something that came about naturally from the musical influences of members of the group?
I can tell you that the fusion was not planned. We were products of our environments. There are three authors of the song ‘Rumors’ and the breakdown goes like this: Two DJs (Hill and Thompson) and a vocalist with Baptist church roots (Marshall). As far as being a pre-cursor to New Jack Swing, I would say yes and I think that Timex Social Club opened the doors for such groups as Guy and Bell Biv DeVoe.
Advances in technology in terms of equipment and instruments (drum machines and synths in particular) played a big part in the development of ’80s music across many genres. What sort of equipment were you using on the ‘Vicious Rumors’ album? How affordable was it to get access to the equipment you needed to develop what was at the time quite a progressive sound?
Well, I do not want to give away the entire secret recipe, but I can tell you a few ingredients. The equipment that we were using at the time was the most popular and affordable of the early ’80s gear. We used Roland products such as the TR-808 drum machine and the Juno 106 synthesizer. This was way before the Internet days and I remember taking many trips to Guitar Center in downtown Oakland in order to try out the gear and gain knowledge. We mainly worked as party DJs in order to be able to afford our gear although I also had a part-time security guard job as well.
The success of ‘Rumors’ prompted Def Jam’s Russell Simmons to book the group for tour dates alongside the likes of Run-DMC, Beastie Boys and LL Cool J, artists who at the time occupied what might be described as a much more ‘raw’ sounding part of the so called Urban music spectrum. How did Timex Social Club fit into that scene?
Yeah, being an R&B group from the west coast (SF/Oak Bay Area), it was weird to me at the time that Russell booked us to open the ‘Raising Hell’ tour. I remember being very nervous about it also, but once we performed a few shows with the rest of the groups, we became very comfortable and we fit right in. I remember that Jam Master Jay took us under his wing and that made all of the difference. I know that by Russell adding Timex Social Club to that tour, we helped them sell out arenas in major cities such as Memphis, Kansas City, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Landover, Los Angeles and New York (Madison Square Garden).
It was common in the early to mid ’80s for Hip Hop acts to create rap versions of popular hits of the time which could almost be seen as rap cover versions. The same year as ‘Rumors’ was released, a band called ‘Vicious Rumor Club’ released just such a track called ‘Rumor Rap’. How did you view that at the time?
We were on tour with Run-DMC at the time that record was released. The way I heard about it was during a day off on the ‘Raising Hell’ tour. Alex Hill (co-writer of ‘Rumors’) and I went record shopping. We came across the 12-inch of the ‘Rumor Rap’ by the Vicious Rumor Club purely by accident. We both bought copies. We did not get to listen to the song until we returned home, but I liked what I heard. The best parody is ‘Roaches‘ by Bobby Jimmy and the Critters. Their version is very funny and makes me laugh even when I hear it after all of these years.
‘Rumors’ has since been heavily sampled / interpolated in Hip Hop by some of the biggest names in the game, from Public Enemy and House of Pain to 2Pac. When did you first become aware that your material was being sampled and how did you feel about it being adopted in this way?
That is funny because I was probably the first person to sample ‘Rumors’, using my first sampler, a DigiTech PDS 2000. The first time I heard it on wax/vinyl was Master P’s ‘Stop Hatin’‘ from the ‘Ghetto D’ album. I must admit that I had mixed feelings about it being used, but that all changed the day I received my first royalty check from his usage.
To be honest, it is a real blessing when I hear any of my songs sampled, to me that means I did a good job communicating my feelings through my music and that others have taken note and think highly enough of my songs to go back in time and sample them. It is extremely flattering. There are some renditions that I like more than others, but it is all good in my eyes.
Following the success of ‘Rumors’, there must have been some pressure for the group to produce a successful follow up, but after one album the band split. Tell us what took place in the years following the release of ‘Rumors’.
Yes, there was a lot pressure and we were all young men trying to handle it on our own. We were forced to make many decisions that affected our careers, good and bad. The group split in the middle of recording the album, so in my estimation, ‘Vicious Rumors… The Album’ was just not as good as it could have been if we were all together. We were our own production team and with our split, we missed the opportunity to show that we had more hits. In the years following, members went their separate ways.
Club Nouveau’s ‘Jealousy’ makes direct reference in its cover art and lyrical and musical stylings to ‘Rumors’ and is often described as an ‘answer’ to ‘Rumors’. The band’s ‘Why You Treat Me So Bad’ also borrows from Timex Social Club’s ‘Thinkin About Ya’. Talk us through the relationship between Timex Social Club and Club Nouveau.
We started out as friends and business partners. We were all young men in our early twenties. Timex Social Club was the first hit group out of the Jay Records camp. While ‘Rumors’ was charting, Club Nouveau did not yet exist. After a contract dispute, Timex Social Club switched record labels.
You are correct. The songs sound very similar in all aspects, i.e. melody, bpm, even lyrical cadence. I am not sure why those songs sound alike, all I know is that we dubbed many copies of our 1985 original cassette demo tape and distributed them to different people, family, friends, radio DJs, label executives, etc. I was not in the studio when those Club Nouveau songs were written and recorded, but to quote Charles Caleb Colton, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. It was also weird because in ’80s rap music “Beat Biting” was considered a no-no. I earned a RIAA gold and platinum sales award for my writer’s credit on the song ‘Jealousy’ which appeared on Club Nouveau’s debut album ‘Life Love and Pain’. Here’s a fact that most people do not know – my big brother Darryl Thompson was the original airbrush artist who created the cover of the Timex Social Club ‘Rumors’ 12-inch and his work does not appear on any of the Club Nouveau record covers.
You recently wrote a book entitled ‘How Do Rumors Get Started’ telling the band’s story. What prompted you to tell the story? Tell us what people can expect from the book.
While we were on the Run-DMC ‘Raising Hell’ Tour, I kept a diary. I wrote in it several times a day. My plan was to release a book shortly after the tour was over in 1987. As you can imagine, my plans were put on hold and for several years I had all of my music memorabilia locked away in storage, so it was sort of an out of sight out of mind thing going on. In 2010, I realized that our 25th anniversary was coming up the next year and I was finally in a great place in my life to finish the book and that is what I did.
I am very proud of the book and it is getting some great reviews. Besides answering questions that fans have asked me over the years, the book is funny and takes you behind the velvet rope of the early days of Hip Hop. I like to call it a story of Sex, Drugs and Rap & Roll. You can pick up a copy of the book via Amazon, Lulu and TSCBook.com.
We understand you’re still actively performing as Timex Social Club. Interest in the group seems to have stood the test of time. Tell us about what Timex Social Club consists of 2013.
I currently perform with Samuelle: he is the lead vocalist of Club Nouveau and lead on their biggest hit, the remake of Bill Withers‘s ‘Lean on Me‘. We started working together in 2011. Our current show is a hybrid mix of Timex Social Club, Club Nouveau and classic songs. I am the DJ and background vocalist for our show.
Any final words, plugs or thank yous?
Yes, I would like to thank the fans of Old School music for keeping Timex Social Club in their hearts and minds for all of these years. I often meet people who tell me how much they have loved our music and still play and make requests, today. All I wanted to do as a DJ/songwriter is make people dance and it is so gratifying to know that I was able to achieve that at a very high level.
According to BMI, Timex Social Club is very close to receiving the coveted “Million Air” airplay award for ‘Rumors’. At last count, the song currently has airplays in the mid 700,000s, so it will not be long.
I would also like to thank WhoSampled for producing such a great website and in turn educating many people, young and old about music sample origins.
