Ice Cream Castle


Ice Cream Castle is the third studio album by the American funk rock band The Time, being produced by Prince as "The Starr ★ Company". The album produced three singles: "Ice Cream Castles", "Jungle Love", and "The Bird".

Recording

Sessions for the album began in late March 1983, at Sunset Sound, in Hollywood, beginning with "Jungle Love". "Chili Sauce" and "If the Kid Can't Make You Come" followed in mid-April 1983. Although Prince played the majority of the studio instrumentation on the album, members of The Time, particularly Jesse Johnson, made some contributions.
"The Bird" was recorded live by the band in early October 1983 at First Avenue in Minneapolis, after a studio recording was made earlier in 1983, but the live version was chosen for release instead. "Ice Cream Castles" and "My Drawers" were the final tracks recorded for the album in mid-January 1984.
Other tracks recorded and considered for the album included "My Summertime Thang". "Cloreen Baconskin" was recorded during the same two-day session in late March 1983, with Morris Day on drums and Prince on bass guitar, but isn't believed to have been intended for the album. The latter was later released as a part of the album Crystal Ball.
Later tracks considered for the album include "Chocolate", "My Love Belongs to You" and "Velvet Kitty Cat", all recorded in mid-April 1983.

Release and reception

The album's two biggest hits, "Jungle Love" and "The Bird", were featured in the film Purple Rain and this, along with Day's performance in the movie, catapulted the album up the charts and to a crossover audience. The band didn't have time to enjoy the success, as they had disbanded by the time the movie was released.
The album peaked at number 24 on the Billboard 200 and number three on the Top Soul LPs charts. The album spent a total of 57 weeks on the US Billboard album charts and had reached its peak position in early March 1985. The album was eventually certified platinum by the Recording [Industry Association of America] for sales of over a million copies in the United States, being the group's best-selling album to date.

Track listing

Singles

  1. "Ice Cream Castles"
  2. "Tricky"
  3. "Get It Up" – 12" single
  1. "Jungle Love"
  2. "Oh, Baby" – 7" single
  3. "Tricky" – NL 7" single, German 12" single
  4. "The Bird" – 7" back-to-back single
  1. "The Bird"
  2. "My Drawers"

    Personnel

Credits sourced from Duane Tudahl and Benoît Clerc

Musicians

The Time

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
US Billboard 20044
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 45

Certifications