Back when Alexander O’Neal was the lead singer for The Time (formerly called Flyte Time), he said he was kicked to the curb because he was too dark…literally, and he didn’t appreciate the way Prince handled the situation either. He went into detail about the situation via Blues And Soul:
“Flyte Tyme was a wonderful band, and I felt we were on our way to getting a national deal. You know, I’d been picked to be the lead singer in a group owned by Prince; we’d started recording at Prince’s house… But then I got kicked out the band before I got kicked IN! Some people said it was because I was too black in skin pigmentation. But I still think it was because I was opinionated. I’d started showing I could think and started asking questions about the financial arrangements. But, you know, to be kicked out was heart-breaking. And the main thing I couldn’t respect about it was that Prince hadn’t been man enough to tell me.
Because, all of a sudden, Flyte Tyme started rehearsing behind my back so they could become `The Time` without me! And all this time we were still doing gigs together! You know, they’d suddenly start mixing these new songs into the set and I’d be like ‘Where’s THIS coming from?’! And the only one out of all of them with the balls to tell me what was happening was Terry Lewis! But, though when I got the news I was really hurt, a lotta times good things come out of a bad situation. And that was just fuel for the fire for me! Because I felt that, if I was good enough to even be CONSIDERED for a group by Prince, then I must be good enough for the music industry! And, when Jimmy (Jam) and Terry (Lewis) came home from LA one summer night – after THEY’D got kicked outta The Time by Prince – they came into this club I was performing at in downtown Minneapolis and were like ‘Alex, when we get our plans off the ground we’re gonna get you a record deal’. And that’s exactly what they DID!”
Well well Prince! If Alexander’s story is right, that was cold the way Prince let him go.
The Real Reason Prince Kicked Alexander O’Neal Out Of The Time was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
