777-9311

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777-9311

from the album What Time Is It? single art for 777-9311 Song details Performer: The Time First Released: 30 July 1982 - 777-9311 single Album(s): What Time Is It? Writer(s): Prince (credited to Morris Day) Producer(s): Prince (as The Starr Company) (credited to Morris Day and The Starr Company) Live Appearances First and last live appearance: 11 November 1982: Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium, Chattanooga, TN, USA (during set by The Time); 26 June 1994: Glam Slam, Los Angeles, California (first Prince performance, clip only); 23 January 1998 (a.m.): Townsend, Oakland, CA, USA (first full performance by Prince) 5 March 2016 (a.m.): Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA (during sampler set) Performed regularly on tour: none Performed occasionally in shows: 1994 (clip only), 1996 (clip only), 1997 (clip only), 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011 (instrumental clip only during sampler set), 2013 (instrumental clip only during sampler set), 2014 (instrumental clip only during sampler set), 2015

777-9311 is the second track on The Time’s second album What Time Is It?, and, four weeks before the album’s release, 777-9311 was released as the album’s first single. The song was written by Prince, although the song is officially credited to Morris Day. It was produced by Prince (as The Starr Company), but was credited to Morris Day and The Starr Company. While specific recording dates are not known, basic tracking took place in May or June 1982 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota (during the same set of sessions that produced Onedayi’mgonnabesomebody, I Don’t Wanna Leave You, and several other tracks that were released over the next several years). Although Morris Day calls various bandmembers' names before solos, the recording features only Prince and Morris Day. While reflecting on the track’s history on Facebook in 2014, Jesse Johnson wrote "777-9311 Was A Stock Drum Beat In Prince’s Linn LM-1 ($5,500 drum machine you know it wasn’t The Time’s) ... The beat was programed into the Linn LM1 by Tower of Power drummer David Garibaldi1 ... for Roger Linn." (David Garibaldi’s drumming would also be sampled, uncredited, years later on The Time’s Release It.) He also added "Prince used my $179.00 Hondo Strat to play the chords on 777 (that’s why the guitar sounds so nice and dull...cause it was cheap!)" The title of the track was Dez Dickerson’s home phone number at the time, and he was allegedly upset that it was used in the song; when the album was released he received several unwanted calls and changed the number as a result. Recording Information Recording Sessions Date Studio Additional info May-June 1982 Kiowa Trail Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA Tracking Recording Personnel Morris Day - vocals Prince - background vocals and all instruments (uncredited) Jellybean Johnson - credited for drums and percussion, but did not appear Terry Lewis - credited for bass guitar and vocals, but did not appear Jesse Johnson - credited for guitar and vocals, but did not appear Jimmy Jam - credited for keyboards and vocals, but did not appear Monte Moir - credited for keyboards and vocals, but did not appear Versions Released Versions Title Length Released Version Additional info 777-9311 7:57 What Time Is It? 777-9311 single Jungle Love 12" single Studio 777-9311 (Edit) 3:28 777-9311 single The Walk single (Japan) Edit 777-9311 (mono) 3:28 777-9311 7" promo Edit same as above, but in mono Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in... Title Length Released Version Additional info Grace 2:37 777-9311 single Studio Uses musical backing of 777-9311 Murph Drag 4:11 NPG Ahdio Show # 3 (not available as a separate track) Studio Murph Drag Unreleased Studio Purple Medley 11:03 Purple Medley single Studio medley See Purple Medley for more details

Additional Information See also Trivia What Time Is It? album 777-9311 single The Time 1 It’s interesting to note that while the original beat was indeed programmed by David Garibaldi, the drums samples were not played by him, but a drummer named Art Wood. References The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004) https://www.facebook.com/JesseJohnsonfan/posts/10152295060396224 https://www.facebook.com/JesseJohnsonfan/posts/10152295513321224

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