Lifton started off his professional musical career at age 21, working as a studio session player for Detroit-based studios, most notably Don Davis's famed Motown recording studio Groovesville Productions and Lorio Recording Studio.
Lifton co-founded his own record label, Orphan Records, with Virginia Perfili in 1981, and released his first single, "I Want to Talk to You", in 1982.
Lifton released his first EP, Untitled, in 1984.
The EP consisted of songs "I Wanna Talk to You", "Of Mystics", "Soldier", "Silence", "Harmony", and "Time We Were on Our Way".

In 1986, Lifton collaborated with Jimmy Miller and Steve Winwood to create a cover for their hit song "I'm a Man".
The music video featured live performance footage as well as dancers like August 1986 Playboy playmate Ava Fabian.
The video was directed by David Golden, produced by Marina Sargenti, with John LeBlanc serving as cinematographer.
Lifton self promoted the video, driving the song to #23 on the Billboard charts, which generated enough attention for Atlantic Records to take notice, leading them to buy the license and sign Lifton to a record deal.

Lifton enjoyed the process of making videos and started exploring the relatively new world of music videos.
Lifton worked extensively with Bruce Nazarian; together, they produced many 12" records that appeared on Orphan Records.
Through his relationship with Bruce Nazarian, Lifton was hired in 1986 by Island Records to direct Millie Scott's music video for her song "Automatic".
By involving himself with making music videos, Lifton became more and more interested in the art of filmmaking.
By 1987, Lifton got his foot in the door of the film industry by working on the soundtrack of the feature film Kandyland.
Lifton started off his professional musical career at age 21, working as a studio session player for Detroit-based studios, most notably Don Davis's famed Motown recording studio Groovesville Productions and Lorio Recording Studio. Lifton co-founded his own record label, Orphan Records, with Virginia Perfili in 1981, and released his first single, "I Want to Talk to You", in 1982. Lifton released his first EP, Untitled, in 1984. The EP consisted of songs "I Wanna Talk to You", "Of Mystics", "Soldier", "Silence", "Harmony", and "Time We Were on Our Way".
In 1986, Lifton collaborated with Jimmy Miller and Steve Winwood to create a cover for their hit song "I'm a Man". The music video featured live performance footage as well as dancers like August 1986 Playboy playmate Ava Fabian. The video was directed by David Golden, produced by Marina Sargenti, with John LeBlanc serving as cinematographer. Lifton self promoted the video, driving the song to #23 on the Billboard charts, which generated enough attention for Atlantic Records to take notice, leading them to buy the license and sign Lifton to a record deal.
Lifton enjoyed the process of making videos and started exploring the relatively new world of music videos. Lifton worked extensively with Bruce Nazarian; together, they produced many 12" records that appeared on Orphan Records. Through his relationship with Bruce Nazarian, Lifton was hired in 1986 by Island Records to direct Millie Scott's music video for her song "Automatic". By involving himself with making music videos, Lifton became more and more interested in the art of filmmaking. By 1987, Lifton got his foot in the door of the film industry by working on the soundtrack of the feature film Kandyland.
Jimmy Lifton