Prince / The Time (October 6, 1981) – “Prince Singing For Time Is Stuff Of Dreams” Feature - The Minneapolis Star
This substantial The Minneapolis Star feature by Jon Bream examines the increasingly intriguing relationship between Prince and The Time. Written as a playful “dream” in which Prince and The Time are effectively two sides of the same creative enterprise, the article questions how much of The Time’s debut album was really the work of Prince, while also documenting the group’s emerging chart success and Prince’s preparations to open for The Rolling Stones.
Publication: The Minneapolis Star
Date: October 6, 1981
Country: United States
Under the headline “Prince singing for Time is dreamy”, Jon Bream begins by
describing an imagined scenario in which Prince was The Time and The Time was Prince.
The idea develops into the article’s central question: how much creative involvement did Prince actually have in The Time’s debut album?
Bream describes Prince as the Minneapolis multi-instrumentalist responsible for his own recordings and notes the strong critical reception previously given to Dirty Mind. The article also points towards Prince’s forthcoming activities, including appearances with The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseu
Attention then moves to The Time, described as one of the hottest new Minneapolis groups appearing on the national charts. The article gives specific contemporary chart information for the single “Get It Up”, placing it at No. 12 on the soul chart and No. 26 on the disco chart that week.
The group itself is described as featuring musicians with links to Flyte Tyme. Bream notes that The Time had been introduced to its Los Angeles management and subsequently to Warner Bros. Records through Prince.
The newspaper then pushes beyond the official record-company story. In Bream’s imagined version of events, Prince wrote the material, recorded the tracks in a home studio and even supplied some of the vocals in a different register from Prince’s familiar falsetto.
Bream specifically contrasts Prince’s singing styles, suggesting that while Prince regularly used falsetto on Prince recordings, the imagined Time vocals occupied Prince’s natural mid-range.
The feature then asks whether Prince actually sang or performed on The Time’s album.
Prince’s manager Steve Fargnoli strongly rejects the suggestion. Asked whether Prince might have been responsible, Fargnoli responds by questioning why Prince would then appear on Prince’s own Dirty Mind album.
The Time’s representatives likewise maintain that Prince had only offered “guidance” on the record. Morris Day is described as Prince’s best friend, while the article notes that both had previously played together in Grand Central, a teenage Minneapolis group that also included André Cymone.
Bream remains deliberately sceptical, leaving readers with the question of whether the similarities between Prince and The Time might reveal something more than the official explanation.
PRINCE IN PERFORMANCE
The continuation of the article provides valuable contemporary information about Prince’s own live activity.
Bream reports that Prince had recently performed a sold-out 45-minute rehearsal performance at Sam’s as preparation for upcoming appearances with The Rolling Stones in Los Angeles.
The performance included several new songs from Prince’s forthcoming fourth album, Controversy.
Bream highlights older material including “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”, while identifying “Stand Up And Organize” as a particularly inspiring new song. The article also mentions “Anti-Christian, Anti-Christ” and the new single “Controversy.”
Prince’s new album is reported as scheduled for release on October 14.
The clipping further states that Mick Jagger had attended one of Prince’s New York performances approximately six months earlier, after which Prince was approached about appearing on Rolling Stones concerts.
CONTEXT AND NOTES
This feature is particularly valuable because it captures speculation surrounding Prince and The Time at the very beginning of their recorded relationship.
Rather than stating the speculation as established fact, Bream deliberately frames the idea as a dream, repeatedly contrasting the writer’s suspicions with the official explanation supplied by Prince’s management and The Time’s representatives.
The article also provides a useful contemporary snapshot of both acts in October 1981. The Time were beginning to register on the national soul and disco charts, while Prince was preparing Controversy and rehearsing for the high-profile Rolling Stones appearances.
Two photographs accompany the opening page: a portrait associated with Prince and a group photograph captioned “Morris Day, third from left, and the Time.”
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Event: Jon Bream examines Prince’s creative relationship with The Time
Era: 1981 Controversy / The Time era
Tone: Investigative, playful and speculative
Photography: Portrait and group photograph of The Time accompanying the feature
WHAT THE CLIPPING SHOWS
• Jon Bream questioning how extensively Prince contributed to The Time’s debut album
• “Get It Up” at No. 12 on the soul chart
• “Get It Up” at No. 26 on the disco chart
• Prince’s management insisting that Prince only provided “guidance” to The Time
• Reference to Morris Day and Prince previously playing together in Grand Central
• Prince performing a sold-out 45-minute rehearsal at Sam’s
• New material from Controversy being performed ahead of the album’s release
• Prince preparing for appearances with The Rolling Stones in Los Angeles
All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts referenced in this entry remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non-commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.
Comments