Garage Sale Vinyl: The Time
Ice Cream Castle / Warner Bros. / July 1984
by Christopher Long
The most successful creation in the celebrated Prince-produced product line, The Time was one of the more exciting R&B acts to rise from the late-‘70s, early-‘80s Minneapolis music scene. With charismatic ringleader Morris Day front and center, the massive-sized crew checked all the boxes, mixing funk, soul, and bona fide rock and roll with heaping portions of street-smart swagger. Fueled by two consecutive certified gold-selling LPs, The Time (1981) and What Time is It? (1982), The Time scored the slot opening for Prince on his famed “1999” tour in 1982.
By 1983, The Time would find themselves shooting their oft-scene-stealing performances for the upcoming big-screen Prince feature film, Purple Rain. Then, in the summer of ‘84, to coincide with the Purple Rain premiere, came the third Time album, Ice Cream Castle. Despite the perception projected by the full band cover photo, the six-track collection actually belonged as much to “the kid” as it did to The Time. But what a fab slab it was.
For us old-timers who were blessed to live during those glorious days of yore, Ice Cream Castle was (with few exceptions) one of the last great albums from the golden, now-bygone era when “R&B” implied music, created by “artists” who wrote catchy, fun, and important songs, and who sang and played actual musical instruments. But I digress.
The soaring opening title track revealed The Time to be a music act grooving lightly into the future, while “My Drawers” felt a bit more faithful to their acknowledged guitar-driven, funk-fueled rep. As a result of the band’s compelling, bad-boy Purple Rain performances, two of the record’s three singles, “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” received significant MTV exposure, propelling the contagious party anthems to Top 40 status. Ice Cream Castle would reach #24 on the Billboard 200 and ultimately would move in excess of one million units.
My original Ice Cream Castle LP vanished years ago. My CD copy has deteriorated to the point of no longer being playable. And my iTunes version just never scratched my itch. So, I was absolutely giddy to discover a reasonably well-cared-for vinyl copy just last week at my local go-to used record joint, for just a couple of bucks.
In sum, along with the Ohio Players, Shalamar, Rufus, Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, and Lakeside, The Time still ranks as one of my all-time favorite R&B powerhouses. And nearly 40 years later, Ice Cream Castle remains one of the sweetest entries in my ever-growing music library.
(5/5) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ice Cream Castle Track List (from original LP credits)
SIDE ONE
- Ice Cream Castles (Day) – 7:33
- My Drawers (Day) – 4:04
- Chili Sauce (Day) – 5:45
SIDE TWO
- Jungle Love (Day, Johnson) – 5:29
- If the Kid Can’t Make You Come (Day) – 7:33
- The Bird (Day) – 7:40
