What Time Is It? (album)

What Time Is It? is a 1982 album by the Time. Their second album, it was recorded at Sunset Sound and Prince's home studio in the Minneapolis suburbs. The title of the album comes from an exclamation by Morris Day that became associated with the band's on-stage theatrics, appearing frequently on the band's debut album as well.

What Time Is It?
Studio album by
the Time
ReleasedAugust 25, 1982
RecordedJanuary – May/June 1982 (except for “Wild and Loose” in July 1981)
Genre
Length38:46
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerMorris Day, The Starr ★ Company
The Time chronology
The Time
(1981)		 What Time Is It?
(1982)		 Ice Cream Castle
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Showcasing a denser and more inventive Minneapolis sound, What Time Is It? produced three singles: "777-9311", "The Walk" and "Gigolos Get Lonely Too".

Recording

Although the individual members of the Time are credited with instrumentation, most of the instruments on the album were played by Prince, with Morris Day playing drums on half of the album.[1] Morris Day sang lead vocals, and Vanity performed spoken vocals on "The Walk". Additionally, the Time guitarist Jesse Johnson appears on "Gigolos Get Lonely Too", while "777-9311" features a programmed LM-1 beat by David Garibaldi.

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Top Soul LPs. It spent a total of 33 weeks on the Billboard 200 and 38 weeks on the R&B Albums chart. The album's peaking was more successful than the group's previous release. The album was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales over 500,000 copies in the United States. The Time supported the album by touring as one of Prince's opening acts on the 1999 Tour.

Track listing

Note that the original label gave writing credits to Morris Day or The Time for all six songs. However, the songs were officially registered with ASCAP as being written by Prince, or by Prince and Dez Dickerson, which is from where the official writing credits have been sourced.[2] All songs written by Prince except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wild and Loose" (composition credited on label to The Time)Prince, Dez Dickerson7:32
2."777-9311" (composition credited on label to Morris Day) 7:57
3."Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody" (composition credited on label to The Time) 2:27
Side two
No.TitleLength
4."The Walk" (composition credited on label to The Time)9:30
5."Gigolos Get Lonely Too" (composition credited on label to Morris Day)4:40
6."I Don't Wanna Leave You" (composition credited on label to The Time)6:30

Personnel
  • Morris Day – lead and backing vocals, drums (1, 4, 5)
  • Prince – backing vocals (all but 6), electric guitars (all but 5), synthesizers (all tracks), Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano (4-6), bass guitar (all tracks), drums (3), Linn LM-1 (6), percussion (all tracks), engineer (uncredited)
  • Vanity – spoken vocals (4) (credited as Vanity 6)
  • Jesse Johnson – electric guitar and backing vocals (5) (credited for guitar and vocals on whole album)
  • David Garibaldi – Linn LM-1 (2)
  • Susan Moonsie – backing vocals (1) (assumed, uncredited)
  • Kim Upsher – backing vocals (1) (assumed, uncredited)
  • Don Batts – recording and mixing engineer
  • Peggy McCreary – recording and mixing engineer
  • Bernie Grundman – mastering
  • Al Beaulieu – photography

Singles and chart placings
  1. "777-9311"
  2. "Grace" (non-album track) – 7" single
  3. "The Walk" – 12" single
  1. "The Walk"
  2. "OnedayI'mgonnabesomebody" – 7" single
  3. "777-9311" – Japan 7" single
  4. "I Don't Wanna Leave You" – 12" single
  1. "Gigolos Get Lonely Too"
  2. "I Don't Wanna Leave You"

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for What Time Is It?
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[7] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r20223
  2. "ACE Repertory".
  3. "The Time > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums & Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  4. "The Time Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  5. "The Time Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1983". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  7. "American album certifications – The Time – What Time Is It?". Recording Industry Association of America.
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