James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most notably Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US.\n', '

Jimmy Jam is the son of Cornbread Harris, a Minneapolis blues and jazz musician. Jimmy Jam met Lewis while in high school in Minneapolis. They did not meet in class, however, but while attending a TRIO Upward Bound program on the University of Minnesota campus. They formed a band called Flyte Tyme, which evolved into The Time. In 1981, they were joined by Morris Day and toured with Prince as his opening act. As members of The Time, they played instruments on all but one of the group\'s five albums (Ice Cream Castle), including Condensate which the group recorded as The Original 7ven.\n', '

In 1982, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were introduced to the music executive Dina R. Andrews, who was then an employee of Dick Griffey\'s SOLAR Records, where they would be mentored by record producer Leon Sylvers III. The pair asked Andrews to manage them, and through her relationships Andrews first introduced Jam and Lewis to Music Executive Clarence Avant. They produced their first masters for Avant for the SOS Band. Andrews set-up Jam and Lewis\'s company Flyte Tyme Productions as a business entity, and continued shopping them to her other record executive colleagues. The producers went on to produce several other masters for Avant under Dina Andrews Management for the SOS Band, Cherrelle, Alexander O\'Neal and Change. Additionally, Andrews shopped the duo to many of the executives and artists who used their services, such as Klymaxx, Cheryl Lynn ("Encore"), and executives such as John McClain (Janet Jackson), Clive Davis, Sylvia Rhone, and Warner Chappelle (Rachele Fields). Other 1980s hits included Tender Love for Force MDs and the 1988 hit Can You Stand The Rain for New Edition in their best selling album to date.\n', '

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