The Family – The Family (1985)

Tracklisting:
1. High Fashion
2. Mutiny
3. The Screams Of Passion
4. Yes
5. River Run Dry
6. Nothing Compares 2 U
7. Susannah’s Pajamas
8. Desire

Source: CD
Format: VBR V0 MP3
[View Comments To Listen]

From the ashes of The Time came The Family, the eponymous debut of the curious Minneapolis sextet. As The Time dissolved with the ultimate departure of Morris Day and Jesse Johnson, both of whom went on to pursue solo careers, remaining members Paul Peterson, Jellybean Johnson, and Jerome Benton (!) were tapped for a new project, including Prince’s then girlfriend (and twin sister of bandmate Wendy) Susannah Melvoin, guitarist Miko Weaver, and saxophonist/flautist Eric Leeds (who would figure heavily in subsequent recordings of That Guy from Minneapolis).

Peterson, now named “St. Paul”, who replaced Monte Moir in The Time, takes front stage in The Family, singing lead (not surprisingly in a mirroring style to That Guy) for the majority of the tracks. There is a high fashion motif in the art direction and even the music, now employing real horns instead of the signature “horns” of Minneapolis Funk, courtesy of Leeds. Clare Fischer appears for the first time on a That Guy-related project, as the arranger of the symphonic orchestra that accompanies The Family’s grooves. The result is a refreshing take on the sound that was born in Minneapolis, foreshadowing the future recordings of That Guy, and unlike some of the other diversions of the time, funky as well as they are elegant — “Mutiny”, and “Yes” for example, should be in anyone’s rotation who is a casual fan of That Guy.

Alas, this run was extremely short lived. Unwilling to continue under That Guy’s “Means of Production”, St. Paul called it quits (a move that was met with much lyrical derision from That Guy). Jellybean and Jerome ultimately shifted allegiances to the now-building Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis empire (a time during which, Jerome actually found himself still in alliance with That Guy, as seen in the film Under The Cherry Moon). The remaining members found themselves with That Guy’s touring band for some time afterward. However, that wasn’t the end of The Family, except in name. In recent years, all original members have reunited under the name fDeluxe (some say mandated because of That Guy’s refusal to release the band’s original name), who dropped Gaslight in 2012. Good news: it sounds like they never left.