Throughout Prince's career, he has been involved with a succession of protégés and side-projects. This Story envelop a fascinating insight into Prince's production and songwriting techniques. Many of the artists have become stars in their own right. Perhaps most famous and successful of all of this musical projects have been ... THE TIME.
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• [1. The Beginning] • [2. The Time] • [3. What Time Is It?] • [4. Ice Cream Castle] •
• [5. Corporate World] • [6. Pandemonium] • [7. Graffiti Bridge] • [8. Old Dogs, New Tricks] •
• [9. The Future?] •
4. Ice Cream Castle
On 26th and 27th March 1983, during the 2nd leg of [Prince]'s "1999"-Tour, [Prince] spends two days at Hollywood Sunset Sound to work with [Morris Day] and [Jesse Johnson] on tracks for THE TIME's third album. This was the first time, that some members of band were involved in the production process. They cut Jungle love, My summertime thang and an impromptu jam entitled Cloreen bacon skin, which was only released by [Prince] on his 1998 [Crystal Ball] album. My summertime thang finally didn't make it on this release, but a re-recorded version surfaced on THE TIME's 1990 reunion album [Pandemonium].
From 14th to 22nd April 1983, the "1999"-Tour ends 4 only days before, [Prince] works with [Morris Day] and [Jesse Johnson] at Hollywood Sunset Sound again. Amongst other tracks they recorded Chili sauce, If the kid can't make you come and Chocolate. The last song didn't make it to this album too, but like My summertime thang, a reworked version turned up on the 1990 reunion album [Pandemonium].
On 19th April 1983, a song called Velvet kitty kat (sometimes also entitled as "Mink kitty kat") and on 20th April 1983, a ballad entitled My love belongs to you were recorded too. Both were previously unreleased until now.
 | | | On 18th April 1983, [Prince] called [Jimmy Jam] and [Terry Lewis] into Hollywood Sunset Sound, and told them, that they were both let go from THE TIME. The duo stays in Los Angeles at the same time and working on the S.O.S. Band project at Larrabee Studios in West Hollywood.
On 16th May 1983 [Prince] appears at the 3rd annual Minnesota Music Awards at the Charlton Celebrity Room in Bloomington and was finally honored with six awards. He thanked Minneapolis for its support and ended the night with a 10-minute jam of "D.M.S.R." on borrowed equipment with a mix of members of his own band, [Morris Day], [Jesse Johnson] and Vanity 6. Later this night they performed a jam session at First Avenue in Minneapolis with [Jesse Johnson] on drums and Sue Ann Carwell singing the lead vocals.
Also in May 1983 [Prince], THE TIME and Vanity 6 starts preparations for the "Purple Rain" motion picture project. A warehouse in St. Louis Park, a Minneapolis suburb, was rented for band rehearsals and dancing and acting classes. [Prince] also installed most of his recording equipment and this warehouse becomes his new home studio for about 12 months.
The line-up of THE TIME finally underwent some more changes. [Monte Moir] made the decision to leave the band when he heard, that [Jimmy Jam] and [Terry Lewis] had been let go by Prince. [Terry Lewis] was replaced on bass by [Rocky Harris], a local musician who knew [Jesse Johnson]. The replacements for [Jimmy Jam] and [Monte Moir] on keyboards were found in [Paul Peterson], a member of Twin-Cities first family in jazz and [Mark Cardenas], a Los Angeles native, who had been working in jazz-rock fusion circles in Minneapolis a few years before.
On 4th October 1983, the new THE TIME line-up premiered live at First Avenue in Minneapolis. [Jerome Benton] introduced the show, enlisting the help of several bikini-clad models. He also did a soul-preacher routine, begging the audience for donations and passing a plate through the audience for their contributions to a charity fund. THE TIME played an 8-song set that includes two at this time previously unknown tracks - Jungle love and The bird. The concert was taped professional with a mobile recording unit and the live-version of The bird finally ended up on THE TIME's third album [Ice Cream Castle]. Despite a wildly receptive audience, this concert was filled with tension and it was obvious, that [Morris Day] was beginning to loose interest in the band. At the end of the show he stormed off the stage, bypassed the dressing room, and charged out the stagedoor to his Porsche. The confused band members remained behind for a somewhat tainted celebration. [Morris Day] was very dissatisfied with [Prince]'s firm control of THE TIME and the hand-picked additions to the band. Despite achieving a big commercial success with the previously two albums of THE TIME, he was also still seeing very little money for his work.
The shooting to the "Purple Rain" motion picture starts on 1st November 1983. The new bass player [Rocky Harris] showed up late for the first day of filming and was replaced by [Prince] with [Jerry Hubbard], from a noted Twin-Cities musical family, immediately. [Morris Day] was very uncooperative and chronically late to all rehearsals and filmings. He and [Prince] hardly talked with each other during the whole shooting of the movie. At one day of filming both ended up in a real fistfight and [Jellybean Johnson] had to break it up. It was evident, that they both would soon be going their separate ways without each other. |
Starting on 27th December 1983, [Prince] relocates for four months to Los Angeles for some additional shootings to the "Purple Rain" motion picture and extensive recording sessions for his own "Purple Rain" album, and a new project called Apollonia 6 at Hollywood Sunset Sound. In January 1984 he also finished the work for THE TIME's third album by recording Ice cream castles and My drawers. Tricky, that appeared as the 7inch b-side of Ice cream castles, was recorded with [Morris Day] shortly thereafter in February 1984.
| | |  On 8th June 1984, THE TIME, led by [Jesse Johnson], performed Jungle love live on the 3rd annual Minnesota Black Music Awards at the Prom Center in St. Paul. [Morris Day] wasn't present at this event and his conspicuous absence sparked rumors, that THE TIME had broken up.
In late June 1984 [Morris Day] was definitely no longer interested to continuing his work with THE TIME, has moved to Santa Monica in Los Angeles (CA) and severed ties with [Prince]'s camp and his management team. Their departures weren't announced officially until after the premiere of the "Purple Rain" motion picture. Without [Morris Day], it was basically [Jesse Johnson] who leads the band. [Prince] initially wanted continue THE TIME by installing [Paul Peterson] as new frontman and lead-singer, but [Jesse Johnson] rejected this idea. After failed attempts to convince [Morris Day] to return to Minneapolis, all come to the conclusion, that THE TIME was history.
[Jerry Hubbard] and [Mark Cardenas] decided to continue working solo with [Jesse Johnson]. The remaining members [Jellybean Johnson], [Jerome Benton] and [Paul Peterson] were invited by [Prince] to a meeting at his house, where he offered [Paul Peterson] to front a new band called The Family as the lead-singer. This project was later joined by [Prince]'s girlfriend Susannah Melvoin on co-lead vocals. |
The third album, [Ice Cream Castle], was released by Warner Bros. Records on 2nd July 1984. This record was in all essentials a collaboration effort between [Prince], [Morris Day] and [Jesse Johnson]. With the exception of The bird, which was a live recording by THE TIME from 4th October 1983, there was very little musical input by the other band members. The bird features [Morris Day] on lead vocals, [Jerome Benton] on percussion, [Jesse Johnson] on guitar, [Rocky Harris] on bass, [Jellybean Johnson] on drums and [Paul Peterson] and [Mark Cardenas] on keyboards. However, [Rocky Harris] were fired before scenes with THE TIME in the "Purple Rain" motion picture were shot, so on the album sleeve his replacement in the movie, [Jerry Hubbard], is listed as the bass player. Sharon Hughes sings background vocals on If the kid can't make you come and acts as [Morris Day]'s love interest on Chili sauce. The last song also features Novi Novog on violin.
"All jams by Morris Day, except 'Jungle love' written by Morris Day & Jesse Johnson" listed the songwriting credits on the album cover. However, Ice cream castles, Jungle love and The bird were registered as a collaboration by [Prince] (as Jamie Starr) with [Morris Day]. All other songs registered solely to [Prince] (as Jamie Starr). [Jesse Johnson] stated in an later interview, that he wrotes Jungle love and that he was removed from the credits when he decided to left THE TIME in June 1984. His claim is substantiated, because in May 1984, when the songs initially were registered to ASCAP, [Jesse Johnson] was listed together with [Prince] (as Jamie Starr) and [Morris Day] as co-writer of Jungle love and The bird, but his name was omitted in July 1984 by changing the songwriting credits on both songs.
[Ice Cream Castle] is the least satisfying of the three albums, reflecting the turmoil the band was going through. Boasting solid, funky grooves and contagious singalong chants, The bird and Jungle love were the closest the album gets to achieving the band's past glories. The opener Ice cream castles is a poppier effort, but there's little rhythmic or melodic variety throughout. The rest of the songs are clearly uninspired and have to qualify as fillers. My drawers is a dull, guitar-lasted funk-metal attempt (the main synth-line of the song is borrowed from the last few minutes of The stick). Sounding like a re-worked "Do me, baby" (1981, from the [Prince] album "Controversy") the dreary If the kid can't make you come is a watered-down electric piano ballad. Even less distinguished is Chili sauce, which basically consists of background music.
The songs on [Ice Cream Castle] deal with much the same topics as the previously two album by THE TIME. The bird is a straightforward party song, introducing a dance called the bird, which doesn't require grace or personality, just "two arms and an attitude". The only serious song on this album is Ice cream castles, which concerns interracial romance. [Morris Day] says, that if two people of different races want to fall in love, the color of their skin shouldn't matter, as in the end we all share a common humanity. The title of the song is borrowed from a phrase in Joni Mitchell's song "Both sides now" (1969, from the album "Clouds"). In My drawers [Morris Day] boasts to the fellas about his woman. Chili sauce finds him attempting to seduce his female companion while having a dinner in a restaurant. This song was originally titled "Proposition #17" due to the fact that [Morris Day] tells [Jerome Benton], that he can stop him after he has tried 17 ways to convince a woman to come with him. If the kid can't make you come is also a seduction song, this time with the action take place in [Morris Day's] crib. In Jungle love he wants to show a woman his wild and untamed jungle love.
Despite being the last inspired of all three albums, but undoubtedly supported by [Morris Day's] charismatic appearance in the "Purple Rain" motion picture, [Ice Cream Castle] sold better then both previously albums, attaining platinum status (1 million sold copies). It was also the first album that really attracts a white following. It hits position #3 at the Billboard R&B-Charts and #24 at the Pop-Charts. Again three singles were released: The first Ice cream castles reached #11 at the R&B-Charts but didn't make it to the Pop-Charts. The biggest success so far came with the second single, Jungle love, which hits #6 at the R&B-Carts and #20 at the Pop-Charts. The bird, as the third single, peaked #33 at the R&B-Charts and #36 at the Pop-Charts.
The b-side of Ice cream castles was again a non-album [Prince] penned song called Tricky, which was actually sung by [Prince] with an altered voice. This track was recorded by [Prince] (all instruments & lead-vocals) with [Morris Day] (drums) in February 1984 at Hollywood Sunset Sound, when the work on the album was completed. A really funky workout, the song is a good-natured jab directed to an artist who has seen better days and who is told quite bluntly to retire. The target of the song was actually George Clinton, one of [Prince]'s favorite idols.
| | | Despite persistent rumors, it took over three years before the originally line-up of THE TIME finally got back together on stage. On 2nd October 1987, THE TIME reunite for a concert on the 6th annual Minnesota Black Music Award at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul's Civic Center, where [Prince] was inducted into the Minnesota Black Music Awards Hall of Fame. The ceremonies were emceed by [Jerome Benton], who was also a member of the eagerly awaited live-show by THE TIME, which was the undisputed highlight of this evening. All original members of the band, barring [Monte Moir], who was expecting the birth of his first child, treated the crowd of nearly 4,000 people to a set of some of their most popular songs. [Prince] wasn't present, choosing instead to attend a concert by David Bowie.
There were also plans to reform THE TIME for another record and a possible tour. Since the band dissolved in late June 1984, most band members had launched highly successful careers as solo artists or producers, which meant that not everyone of them saw THE TIME as their main priority any longer. There was also tension between some of the members, which further complicated matters. The 1987 reunion proved premature, but the original line-up of the band eventually did get together to record another album one day.
Finally it took another year and a half before things eventually fell into place. Somehow all reported bad feelings were put aside and a possibly new THE TIME album, once again produced by [Prince], was on the cards. |
