news & events
Masterclass
May 22, 2025
Jellybean, Tori, Freeze and I will be playing, deconstructing songs and sharing stories about the band and the Minneapolis sound.
If You Were Here Tonight
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
I’m thrilled after 39 years, this song I wrote and produed is Alex’s #1 played song.
Apple Music 100 Best Albums
JUNE 22, 2024
Janet Jackson’s Control and Rihanna’s ANTI made the list. I wrote and produced “Pleasure Principle” for Janet and an interpolation of Alexander O’Neal’s “If Were You Here Tonight” became Rihanna’s “Work”.
Rihanna’s “Work” receives RIAA Diamond Award
JUNE 1, 2024
Rihanna’s “Work” receives RIAA Diamond Award for 10,000,000 units by combining sales and streaming figures since its release.
“Work,” the flagship dancehall tune featuring Drake, was infused with pop and hip-hop elements. Stemming from her 8th and latest solo album, Anti, the song earned Riri more groundbreaking achievements, including surpassing Michael Jackson on the US Billboard Hot 100 as the artist with the fourth most US number ones.
The song also reached number one on the US Dance Club Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Rhythmic charts, and topped several international charts, including Belgium R&B/Hip-Hop, Canada, France, South Africa, and more. At the 59th Grammy Awards, the Barbadian songstress was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.
Rihanna’s “Work” Spotify Streaming Success
JULY 1, 2024
Rihanna’s song “Work” has been streamed on Spotify over 1.4 billion times since it’s release on January 28th, 2016.
Prince – Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
“Let’s Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Salute To Prince”
APRIL 21, 2020
We paid tribute to our friend and mentor along with some amazing musicians such as EW&F, Foo Fighters, Gary Clark, Sheila E. and many others.
grammy.com/news/lets-go-crazy-grammy-salute-prince
Rihanna’s “Work” nominated for a Grammy for song of the year.
DECEMBER 6, 2016
Rihanna’s “Work is released using an interpolation of Monte’s song “If You Were Here Tonight”
MARCH 18, 2016
Rihanna’s “Work is released using an interpolation of Monte’s song “If You Were Here Tonight” originally recorded by Alexander O’Neal in 1985 on the Tabu label. It went on to #1 and stayed for nine weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 and charted high in many countries around the world.
The Time and Rihanna performance at the 50th Grammy Awards.
FEBRUARY 10, 2008
Rihanna’s “Work is released using an interpolation of Monte’s song “If You Were Here Tonight” originally recorded by Alexander O’Neal in 1985 on the Tabu label. It went on to #1 and stayed for nine weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 and charted high in many countries around the world.
“The Pleasure Principle” by Monte Moir/performed by Janet Jackson
MAY 12, 1987
The Pleasure Principle was released.
Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pleasure_Principle_(song)
Alexander O’Neal’s “If You Were Here Tonight” was released.
JUNE 4, 1985
How many times this song has been sampled or covered by other artists?
video library
media quotes
I can’t count the number of times I’ve referenced this song ["The Pleasure Principle" by Monte Moir/performed by Janet Jackson] and accompanying music video in my life so far. This has been on my list of impossibly perfect songs since it was first released, and my appreciation for it has only grown over the years. Monte Moir would have been a legend for me if he had only written this one song and then retired. However, there are so many others . . . oh, and he also happened to be the keyboard player for a little band called The Original 7ven, formerly known as The Time. Yes, we’re all cooler now.
Today “If You Were Here Tonight” endures as a high water mark of sophisticated 80s soul. You can hear it’s echoes in contemporary artists from various genres. It’s been reinterpreted by musicians like reggae artist Wayne Wonder and English crooner Matt Gross. It’s iconic keyboard riff even found its way into Rihanna’s 2016 hit “Work”.
Nearly four decades later, the track remains a standout moment in O’Neal’s catalog and a masterclass in understated emotion. It’s enduring resonance lies in its deceptive simplicity-a sparse musical backdrop highlighting the singer’s impassioned delivery as he pours out his yearning for an absent lover.
I learned the power of this song while Deejaying at a Pub one night, and the crowd went crazy. The song had the writing talents and production skills of Monte Moir, who graced O’Neal with a ballad about lost love that still holds up today. Moir also provides O’Neal with two strong albums in the ballads “Do You Wanna Like I Do” and “Look at Us Now.”
Written with Monte Moir, “The Pleasure Principle” is a frantic, energetic dance tune that features Jackson hitting an incredibly high note at the song’s peak. There are fantastic pounding keyboards, skipping drum machines, and engaging background vocals—a prime example of 1980s urban-synthpop.