CoronaVinyl Day 317 (T): Vicious Rumors by Timex Social Club

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "T," and I'm going with the only album Timex Social Club ever released, 1986's Vicious Rumors.

Timex Social Club was formed in the Bay Area in the mid '80s, and they released Vicious Rumors shortly after forming.  The album is a nice example of mid '80s urban R&B, and it was one of the early new jack swing albums.  It was a relatively big hit for newcomers, going to #29 on the Billboard album chart.  

If you know any song by Timex Social Club, it's likely their big hit, "Rumors," which went to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard R&B and Dance charts, #1 on the Canadian pop chart, and Top 15 on the pop charts in Belgium, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK.  Two other songs from the album -- "Thinkin' About Ya" and "Mixed Up World" -- reached #15 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.

The group seemed destined for prolonged success, supporting the likes of Run DMC, New Edition, and Kool & The Gang on tour, but their star burned out just as quickly as it shone.  They broke up in 1986, and their producer Jay King went on to form Club Nouveau (which had the #1 cover of Bill Withers's "Lean On Me" in 1987).

The album isn't on Spotify, but there's a YouTube playlist with most the songs on the album (though not in order), so that's what I embedded below.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Rumors"
Their most famous song is a good one.  It's catchy and has a nice beat, and more importantly, it's decidedly anti-gossip.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Just Kickin' It"
This is another solid mid '80s R&B track, with elements of funk.  It definitely foreshadows the new jack swing movement that would take hold in the late '80s and early '90s.