Timex Social Club is an American R&B

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

, formed in 1985 and best known for the 1986 hit single "

Rumors A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences; derived from Latin 'noise'), is an unverified piece of information circulating among people, especial ...

History

Originally known as the Timex Crew, members included Marcus Thompson (founder), Gregory "Greg B" Thomas, Michael Marshall, Craig Samuel, and Darrien Cleage. By 1986, Samuel, Cleage, and Thomas had departed, Alex Hill and Kevin Moore were added, and the name Timex Social Club was adopted (despite the group's name,

Timex Group USA Timex Group USA, Inc. (formerly known as Timex Corporation) is an American global watch manufacturing company founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company became insolvent but was reformed into ...

bears no sponsorship of the group). They fused

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and urban R&B. In 1986, the group released the '' Vicious Rumors'' album produced by Jay King on Danya/

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

( A&M in Canada; Mercury in Europe; CBS/Sony in Japan). Its one major hit, "

", written by Thompson, Hill, and Marshall, peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 13 in the UK, and number 1 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B,

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

, and Hot Dance/Disco-12 inch Singles-Sales charts. The two follow-up singles, " Thinkin' About Ya" and "Mixed-Up World", reached the R&B top 20. Also in 1986 Ocea Savage was added on keyboards and background vocals.

Tour

The success of the single "Rumors" prompted hip hop impresario

Russell Simmons Russell Wendell Simmons (born October 4, 1957) is an American entrepreneur, writer and record executive. He co-founded the hip-hop label Def Jam Recordings, and created the clothing fashion lines Phat Farm, Argyleculture, and Tantris. He has p ...

to hire the group as the opening act for 38 dates on

Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...

's Raising Hell tour in 1986. Other acts on the tour were

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

, and Whodini. Besides solo dates, the group also opened for

New Edition New Edition is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B/Pop music, pop group from the Roxbury, Boston, Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by singer/rapper Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a new edition of the Jackson ...

, Midnight Star,

the S.O.S. Band The S.O.S. Band (sometimes written as S.O.S. Band; abbreviation for Sounds of Success) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B and Boogie (genre), electro-funk musical ensemble, group who gained fame in the 1980s. They are best known for the songs ...

Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964. Its founding members include brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell (musician), Ronald Bell (also known as " ...

, and Jermaine Jackson.

Split

Timex Social Club disbanded shortly after the success of "Rumors". The band's producer Jay King, Denzil Foster, and Thomas McElroy formed Club Nouveau, whose first single was "Jealousy", an answer song to "Rumors" that references Timex Social Club's split. Club Nouveau subsequently had a No. 1 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hit in 1987 with a go-go cover of

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me ( ...

's " Lean on Me".

Revival

As of 2011, the current Timex Social Club roster consisted of founding member Marcus Thompson as DJ and Samuelle Prater on vocals.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Timex Social Club African-American musical groups American contemporary R&B musical groups New jack swing music groups Fantasy Records artists Music of California Musical groups established in 1985 A&M Records artists Mercury Records artists 1985 establishments in California Musical groups from Berkeley, California