The band worked on their album III, which contained the song "High Hopes"- a song that was composed by Leon Sylvers III proteges Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.^[2] Sylvers later took them under his wing to mentor them as songwriters and producers.^[2][3] Tabu Records founder and CEO Clarence Avant took a liking to the song and wanted to know who was behind it.^[4] When word got back to Avant that it was the creation of Jam and Lewis, he mistakenly thought they also produced the song.^[4] When Avant asked if they wanted to work on The S.O.S. Band's next album, they offered to do so at a reduced rate in order to receive some work as producers.^[4] Instead, Avant paid them a fair amount, which lead the duo to contribute three songs to 1983's On the Rise.^[4]