Editing Living Colour (section)

===Early years (1984–1986)===
British-born guitarist [[Vernon Reid]] had formed several bands in the years before forming Living Colour in New York in 1984, using the [[British spelling]] of "colour".<ref>{{cite web |last1=James |first1=Joseph |title=Cult of Personality: An interview with Will Calhoun (Living Colour) |url=https://willnotfade.com/2017/04/30/will-calhoun-living-colour-interview/ |website=Will Not Fade |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616211504/https://willnotfade.com/2017/04/30/will-calhoun-living-colour-interview/ |archive-date=June 16, 2019 |date=April 30, 2017 |quote=Band founder Vernon Reid is English, so made a deliberate choice to spell 'colour' correctly with the 'U' included. But most Americans spell many words incorrectly out of ignorance. It's not much of an issue.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Burgess |first1=Mick |title=We chat to Corey Glover from Living Colour ahead of Newcastle Riverside gig |url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/corey-glover-living-colour-interview-13670041 |work=[[ChronicleLive]] |date=September 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109073550/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/corey-glover-living-colour-interview-13670041 |archive-date=November 9, 2017}}</ref> Reid assembled several bands under the name Vernon Reid's Living Colour from 1984 to 1986.<ref name="rs">{{cite magazine|title=Living Colour's Time Is Now|author=David Fricke|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/living-colours-time-is-now-19901101|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=November 1, 1990|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912232142/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/living-colours-time-is-now-19901101|archive-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>  Reid was well known on the downtown New York jazz scenes because of his tenure in [[Ronald Shannon Jackson]]'s Decoding Society.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fricke |first1=David |title=Back in Black |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/back-in-black-2-95063/ |publisher=Rolling Stone Magazine |access-date=20 May 2021 |date=24 Sep 1987}}</ref>

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 later in their significant 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 (Living Colour album)|Vivid]]''.