early band members included bassists alex mosely, jerome harris and carl james, drummers greg carter, pheeroan aklaff and j.t. lewis, keyboardist geri allen, and vocalists d.k. dyson and mark ledford, with reid occasionally singing lead vocals himself. the band's sound was vastly different from the songs that showed up later on their major label recordings. material from this period included instrumental jazz/funk workouts, politically pointed punk rock burners, experimental excursions via reid's guitar synth, and an early version of the song "funny vibe", which was reworked for their debut album "vivid".