Ice Cream Castles

"Ice Cream Castles"
"Ice Cream Castles"
	7-inch single cover
Single by the Time
from the album Ice Cream Castle
B-side	"Tricky"; "Get It Up" (UK 12-inch);
Released	1984
Recorded	January 13–14, 1984
Studio	Sunset Sound
Length	7-inch edit: 3:37; album/12-inch: 7:33
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Prince (as Jamie Starr), Morris Day
Producer(s)	Prince
The Time singles chronology

"Ice Cream Castles" is the opening track from the Time's third album, Ice Cream Castle. The song was composed by Prince and Morris Day, with Prince writing the lyrics after recording the instrumental tracks. Day provided drums and lead vocals, while Jesse Johnson played electric guitars on the recording. Prince played all the other instruments.

"Ice Cream Castles" is about an interracial relationship. The song's title is based on a lyric from Joni Mitchell.

The song reached number 11 on the R&B charts, but it did not enter the pop charts.^[1] A live recording from 1998 was included on Morris Day's 2004 release, It's About Time.

The single was backed with "Tricky", featuring Day on drums and Prince on the bass and keyboards. The UK 12-inch single also included the earlier hit "Get It Up", from the Time's debut album.

Personnel

Credits sourced from Duane Tudahl and Benoît Clerc^[2]^[3]

Morris Day – lead and backing vocals, drums
Jesse Johnson – electric guitars, backing vocals
Prince – Oberheim OB-8, bass guitar, Pearl SY-1 Syncussion, percussion, music box, backing vocals

Charts

Chart performance for "Ice Cream Castles"
Chart (1984)	Peak position
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)^[4]	11

References

^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 581.
^ Tudahl, Duane (2018). Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 (Expanded Edition). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538116432.
^ Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
^ "The Time > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums & Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2023.

[1] Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 581.

[2] Tudahl, Duane (2018). Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 (Expanded Edition). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538116432.

[3] Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.

[4] "The Time > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums & Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2023.

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v t e The Time
Morris Day Jerome Benton Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis Jellybean Johnson Monte Moir Ricky "Freeze" Smith Stanley "Chance" Howard Torrell "Tory" Ruffin Jesse Johnson Paul Peterson Mark Cardenez Jerry Hubbard
Studio albums	The Time (1981) What Time Is It? (1982) Ice Cream Castle (1984) Pandemonium (1990) Condensate [as "The Original 7ven"] (2011)
Singles	"Get It Up" "Cool" "Girl" "777-9311" "The Walk" "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" "Ice Cream Castles" "Jungle Love" "The Bird" "Jerk Out" "Chocolate" "Shake!"