Timex Social Club

Long before "Rumors" became a fixture of mid-eighties dance floors, the American R&B group behind it was simply the Timex Crew. Formed in 1983, the act fused funk, rap and urban R&B into a sound that sat between street energy and polished soul. Marcus Thompson, Michael Marshall and Alex Hill wrote the song that would define them, and Thompson drew its lyrics from his days as a student at Berkeley High School.

Producer Jay King heard the demo in late 1985 and had the group record it at Starlight Studios in Richmond, California, before it appeared on his Jay Records. Re-recorded for the album Vicious Rumors, made at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley and released by Fantasy Records, the track reached number one on three Billboard dance and black sales charts and number eight on the Hot 100, and climbed to 13 in the UK. Follow-ups "Thinkin' About Ya" and "Mixed-Up World" each reached number 15 on the Black Singles chart. The group opened 38 dates on Run DMC's Raising Hell tour in 1986. They split in 1987, and Thompson later chronicled the story in his 2011 book How Do Rumors Get Started.