Happy 35th Anniversary to The S.O.S. Band’s sixth studio album Sands of Time, originally released April 9, 1986. (Note: Sands of Time is not currently available in authorized/official form via streaming platforms, hence the absence of embedded streaming audio below.)
For most of 1986, all anyone could talk about was Janet Jackson’s Control. That breakthrough established Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as pop hit makers and made their Flyte Tyme sound accessible to mainstream America. It was streamlined and agile with its more complex components detached for the occasion.
But a few months after Control, another masterwork showed up with that sound fully intact: The S.O.S. Band’s Sands of Time.
This elegant disc was the third and most refined S.O.S. Band collaboration with Jam and Lewis. Thick, lush, and cool, it was a tapestry of luxuriant chords and nocturnal hues. Where Control was a gourmet dish with a surprisingly flavorful sauce to set it off, Sands of Time was a mason jar, just full of the sauce.
Even before linking with Flyte Tyme, success was the band’s middle name. S.O.S., an acronym for “sounds of success,” began in 1977 when an Atlanta club owner noticed Mary Davis’ voice and paired her with keyboardist Jason Bryant, guaranteeing a residency if they put a group together. So they called on guitarist Bruno Speight and saxophonist Billy Ellis among others. Their Tabu Records deal came through a manager Ellis knew. Trumpeter/vocalist Abdul Ra’oof joined on as the ensemble was touring to promote the platinum sales of their #1 hit “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” (1980).
Subsequent recordings didn’t quite match those sales though. That’s where Jam and Lewis came in. As members of The Time, Prince forbade his protégés to have side projects. Still, Tabu CEO Clarence Avant so loved the rawness of the duo’s songwriter demo, he asked them to produce half of the next S.O.S. Band album On the Rise (1983). When Prince found out, he was furious and fired them. Well, fine. It only freed them to craft hits for Just the Way You Like It (1984). The benefit was symbiotic. It legitimized them as producers and liberated S.O.S. from the one-hit wonder tag.
A formula was set. Sands of Time simply perfected it. The LP begins with the escapist dream sequence “Even When You Sleep.” You may recognize the kick-snare combo from Jackson’s “Control” taking on a different quality here. The song’s warm, extended opening feels like slowly stepping into a steaming onsen. At once sensual and maternal, the lyrics entreat you to “dream all your troubles away.” Mirroring its colorful, surrealist, Dale Wehlacz cover art, Sands of Time represents fantasy, intimacy, class, and grandeur.
Meanwhile, back in reality, S.O.S. was still an all-Black funk operation from Atlanta. They had to contend with commonplace racism in order to paint these fantasies. Davis explains, “They didn’t put our picture on the cover of the album… If you mail it to a White [radio] station [with] our picture on it, it would automatically go into file 13, which is the garbage can.”
They had to hide their skin just to get heard on the radio, so you probably wouldn’t see Dick Clark introducing them on American Bandstand. They were always welcome on Soul Train though. If you lived in a Black household in the 1980s, Soul Train was a cultural must. MTV and VH-1 were molasses-in-January slow to embrace Black artists. In response, these particular artists turned to Don Cornelius to debut their lead single.
“As life goes on, you learn to hold on… to appreciate the finer things in life,” muses Davis, awash in diminished jazz keyboard. She croons the chorus, “You’re the finest I’ve ever known, finest I ever!” Unexpectedly, the music stops, as does their subtle but sharp choreography. The groove resumes confidently. The stop-and-go allows time to pose on the dance floor in your most stylish, silky, swishing outfit. A classic is born.
Beyond being the epitome of audible chic, “The Finest” was also an all-star event twinkling with labelmate cameos. Cherrelle’s pouted delivery blows on the song’s refrain to cool it while Alexander O’Neal’s impassioned ad-libs set the bridge ablaze. It got so close to #1, but Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s “On My Own” would not relinquish its hold on the R&B charts. This isn’t the first time this happened to the Atlanta crew.
“Just Be Good To Me” (1983), the hit that lost Jimmy and Terry their purple jobs, also missed the #1 R&B spot by a hair—specifically hair with blunt-cut bangs (Rick James’ “Cold Blooded” blocked the winning shot that time). So rather than relent, they recorded it in triplicate. “Just The Way You Like It” (1984) reached #6 sporting the same drums, tempo, and key. At Tabu’s behest, “Borrowed Love” did the same, resulting in a Top 20 single for Sands.
Cumulatively, “Just Be Good To Me,” “Just The Way You Like It,” and “Borrowed Love” form a polyamorous love story in three acts. In the first, there’s reluctance; the second, acquiescence; finally, the affair comes to an Aesopian close (“The pain of too much pleasure / Is all so clear to me / After you go / Nothing but ache to fill my emptiness / What could make me think / That I could live on borrowed love?”).
That’s as dramatic as the LP gets. The rest is laidback whimsy, tailored to be the soundtrack to makeout sessions with your first girlfriend or boyfriend (“Do You Still Want To”), family barbecues in the park (“Nothing But the Best”), and washing your car in the driveway while singing into the hose nozzle (“No Lies”). Playing Sands of Time meant no matter what day it was, the next 40 minutes would be all weekend.
The charm of Sands is its consistency. Anywhere you drop the needle, you can two-step to it—the kind that naturally happens when you taste food you’re cooking and it’s really good. This is a keep-cool project. You won’t break a sweat unless “No Lies” is on. That cut’s jittering funk crosses The Time’s swagger with fiery rhythm guitar from “Take Your Time (Do It Right).” It’s the most Prince-ly track Jam and Lewis have delivered since leaving his camp, and Davis brought her best church house testimonial vocals to the #2 Billboard Dance Chart entry.
An S.O.S. album wasn’t complete without self-production to showcase the members’ individual creativity. A couple of Jason Bryant compositions present the group at their glossiest. “Two-Time Lover” shows off impressive pop-and-sizzle bass throughout, and Ellis’ sax solo is all too brief. Staccato melodies and modern drum programming on “Do You Still Want To” show they learned a trick or two from their Flyte Tyme colleagues as well.
The real hidden gem here is the titular, pining “Sands of Time,” another Davis/Ra’oof duet thematically similar to 1983’s “Tell Me If You Still Care.” Its late-night slow dance vibe is rich in feeling and perfect for quiet storm DJs. Mariah Carey felt it too. Her “Always Be My Baby” remix tributes The S.O.S. Band. She whispers Davis’ parting words like a prayer (“May we always be together in the sands of time”).
Bittersweetly, these players would never reassemble the same way. Jam and Lewis thereafter leaned into helping Janet Jackson and New Edition evolve. Davis left to pursue a solo career. Support vocalist Fredi Grace stepped out of the shadows to join Chandra Currelly as the band’s new leading ladies. Unfortunately, while preparing their 1989 follow-up Diamonds in the Raw, saxophonist Billy Ellis passed away. After one more set for Tabu (1991’s One of Many Nights), the band shifted their attention back to the touring circuit with Davis rejoining in 1994.
The S.O.S. Band’s hot streak wasn’t easy to pull off. Atlantic Starr, Klymaxx, Starpoint, Midnight Star and other female-fronted electro funk bands were constantly innovating. Competition was stiff, and touring can get expensive too. Jam and Lewis’ use of layered chords and Roland TR-808 beats updated the hard-working musicians’ trademark sound to give them an edge in the marketplace.
All good things come to an end, but if Sands of Time had to be their last Flyte Tyme project, they made sure to be firing on all cylinders. The RIAA gold-certified R&B Top 5 would be their highest charting LP since their 1980 debut. The S.O.S. Band went on recording hiatus from 1991 until 2017’s energetic single “Just Get Ready.” More recently, Davis and Ra’oof recorded a song for Jam and Lewis’ new album expected to materialize this year. No doubt there’s still magic in their chemistry, but Sands of Time captured them at their ballroom best. And it truly was the finest they ever.