The time - tricky

Music - For promotional use only
Tricky was released as the b-side of Ice Cream Castles, the first single from The Time's third album, Ice Cream Castle. It was also included on some versions of the album's third single, Jungle Love. Tricky was written by Prince, but credited to Morris Day. It was co-produced by Morris Day and Prince under the name The Starr Company.
Initial tracking took place on 1 February, 1984 at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA, after work on the Ice Cream Castle album was complete. The bass and drum parts were largely taken (possibly re-recorded) from Cloreen Baconskin, which was recorded in 1983 but released in 1998.
Copyright 1984 Warner Brothers Records
All Rights Reserved

[@AddSeymourJr]

I bought this song back in 1984 as a freshman in college. I would play this song for my friends in my dorm room and we'd laugh our asses off!! But they all thought the lead vocals were Morris Day. I'm like, "naaaaah. that's Prince! Morris is on drums."

[@myberetta2002]

Love hearing Prince laugh, he has the best laugh ever 💜💜

[@GregoryBoyd-ln3nm]

I figured that was him laughing

[@jeffreysparkssr.614]

Me too...* But sorry to say, "That's not Prince, but his childhood friend and nemesis...Morris Day, of His other group The Time".

[@jeffreysparkssr.614]

The Time was a silly group. I believe Prince got his silliness from, or alongside them!

[@berealloudandshiz6635]

“1,2,3,4 why you big?” Got me lmao 😂

[@brendaberry2729]

Isn't that Prince laughing in the beginning. So fun to hear these ham sessions.

[@mariaellicott7004]

Brenda Berry Yes that's Prince.

[@henrinevermind1695]

It's all PRINCE strangely with MORRIS DAY on Drums...

[@DLBlckwl]

No no no....that's Jerome laughing.

[@DLBlckwl]

@@henrinevermind1695 It's not Prince talking or laughing. It's Morris and Jerome, bubba.

[@k64firefly03]

@@DLBlckwl Incorrect, That is Morris talking in the beginning, Prince laughing then after the groove starts that is Prince talking. Morris is on drums. Same setup when they recorded the early version of this song when it was called "Cloreen Baconskin" Later on in the song you can hear Jesse laughing in the background and Morris laughing in certain sections. At the end Morris says "My man said Johnny, Johnny, help me"

[@dennissacco927]

"Back in the musical days, it was a lot of good memories. Some of the moments in the studio - like we did a b-side to “Tricky.” We had heard Bootsy and Parliament Funkadelic had talked about us on the record and said something like, “Morris, Morris, meow meow” and kind of eluded to, back then, that maybe we kinda copied some of their style. So we went right in the studio that night and we did our rebuttal. It ended up being a B-side, but we got such a kick out of it. We laughed a lot that night because we were just, off the top of our heads, coming up with stuff to fire back at them. It ended up being pretty funny." -MD

[@thetruthhurtsu]

imagine Prince and NIN on a track together lol

[@starrcompany3275]

Where's this quote from?

[@princereznor1]

@@thetruthhurtsu i always wanted that

[@newhorizonsforfifty2833]

And this rebuttal, which I'm just now learning about, is infinitely funkier. Like Prince & Morris listened and said, "Mm-hmm...this should be easy."

[@021881mt]

@@newhorizonsforfifty2833 Yeah right!! This is good vintage Prince but compared to Copy Cat this and his style sounds way thin without the groove to make you involuntarily move. George wasn't even fat yet either so what they talking about? They sound like corny high kids trying to talk shit about a grown gangsta behind his back, they were too scared to put this on the album.

[@xzcape]

Cant nobody do it like this. The pure joy of a jam session.

[@gregdorsey3345]

These guys sure knew how to jam and have a great time. I wish I could have been at least a teenager in the 80's. I wasn't born until 1987.

[@chrishawkins6535]

I would say you miss out on a lot of great stuff lol {sorry}/If you were born in the seventies it would've better for you!💯💜

[@charlesmccants8820]

One of the baddest show bands in the industry!

[@gregm7976]

Sounds like Tricky & Cloreen Bacon Skin both turned into the studio record Irresistible Bitch.

[@JavierGutierrez-cx9kb]

I believe this track was the spark to "Irresistible Bitch" listen to the beat and music.. I can see why Morris might've wanted some credit for that record.

[@leeharrison8222]

Good call! "Cloreen Baconskin" was so obvious that I didn't pick up on the musical similarities--beats and bass--to "Irresitible Bitch". You are totally right.

[@buderabu]

Cloreen Baconskin is the basis for this song, and was used in Irresistible Bitch and Soul Psycedelicide.

[@mrflynn01]

@@leeharrison8222, IB was released in 1982, I think that theory is out the window!

[@samueljdonald8824]

@@mrflynn01 no it wasn't

[@mrflynn01]

@@samueljdonald8824, like I stated 1982! www.vice.com/en/article/6xe4qr/z-sides-prince-irresistible-bitch

[@starrcompany3275]

The purest sweetest most funkiest Minneapolis beat you'd ever wanna hear💜 (Johnny Johnny)

[@purplepaisleypassion]

Yes, that is Morris's voice in the intro...and Prince's unmistakable laugh...the remainder of the song is Prince singing, with Morris and the boys in the background cracking up at his craziness (and yes, Morris on drums)😉💜💜💜

[@leeoni24]

the whole song is prince all but the intro!1

[@purplepaisleypassion]

leeoni24 ...soooooo, you hear no one else's voice, sound effects, or laughs, in the entire rest of the song, other than Prince? You might want to take another listen.

[@TheJukebox89]

Correct

[@jeffreysparkssr.614]

Morris played drums on Bacon Skin...On this song, it was Jellybean...

[@tedhawkins5841]

Thats somthing how Prince can still make u dance with only useing 3 instruments! Drums keyboard syrhs Bass guitar

[@AdamBombBay]

been looking for this song for years.. man this is the cut..

[@lisaparson4993]

RIGHT!?!?!?!?

[@edbrown7248]

Man, me too, Adam! Haven't heard since high school! (1984)And now it's 2022! Wow! Thanks for posting!

[@johnnightshade5779]

Damn I miss those B side jam sessions. These cats today wouldn't even know what a B side is. It's really good to hear Prince laughing.

[@DJPsychoDTM]

"Somebody bring me a piece of chicken....n'dohhhhhhhhhhhhh"

[@DLBlckwl]

Haha! I was looking at your lyrics right when he said it!

[@samramos1470]

@@DLBlckwl same! lmao

[@DLBlckwl]

@@samramos1470 😄👍

[@robertbuck5235]

Man, I never knew this was Prince! I thought it was Morris Day! Damn! Learn something new everyday!

[@vixapphire]

"When I look in the mirror..." I used to have this single but someone nicked it years ago. Thanks for the memories!

[@AnthonyHarris-fe6zo]

Classic! This b-side would have me & my boyz crackin' up!!😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@Igaveyoumyfakename]

I like how back then in Prince's world, a keyboard was "horns." LMAO.

[@2010Gullwing]

Keyboards sound so much better than horns..

[@DLBlckwl]

Prince is not saying horns here, it's Morris. Hello, people!

[@ronniespirit1969]

That’s because the synthesizers were made to Emulate horns

[@MrFaDookie]

i feel 4 u .....

[@godzamongmany4429]

RIGHT!!!

[@nichelleh]

I love the crackling of the LP at the end. Great memories.

[@demetricemcswain5897]

That's Morris in the beginning & that's Prince doin the rest

[@MrLazyKeith]

Untouchable from 80-84 this crew was the dankest. That's a long time to be the champ. Jesse sounds like he's cracking a rib. Love the Minneapolis crew.

[@MikeStone3000]

I was wondering when somebody would post this track. Funky, funny s***...and I love it! Thanks!

[@tedhawkins5841]

Mike Stone Man i was just saying the same thing u said! Cuz the last time i heard this was on 1580kday in the 80ds

[@trentgarland7114]

I remember that song it was funky and so fun. It make you want to dance. In 1984 it was a unreleased song.

[@tedhawkins5841]

Trent Garland They played this on black radio alot in 84 1580 kday

[@jasonrodgers5533]

@@tedhawkins5841 Yep.... I remember hearing this back in the day on the radio. The good ol days where they would play eeeeeeeverything

[@MrFaDookie]

I gotta share dis wit my mother.....

[@marquestravae8614]

If I'm not mistaken, after the intro, that is actually Prince talking on the track. He uses the same voice on Vanity 6's "If a Girl Answers, Don't Hang Up". People think it's Prince imitating Morris Day, but after listening to some of Prince's other songs, "Movie Star" for example, and his character Christopher Tracy in the "Under the Cherry Moon" film, I believe the Morris Day personality may have been something Prince actually created.

[@ashpar21]

it is Prince, you can tell by his signature "gimme some horns"

[@markcarter7930]

or maybe it was a old man voice character that they all used remember they are a group of people terry lewis used this voice on a few interviews Sheila e also used it I personally think it was a group thing growing up my friends and I made up voices and sayings that we made up...some times it caught on and everybody's doing it...some times it didn't......choke580

[@mattarwood]

Marques Travae listen to Clooreen Baconskin

[@starrcompany3275]

Marques Travae Prince was the originator of speaking in those voices like that him Morris ,Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis Jerome Benton all those guys used to speak like that in high school in Minneapolis and brought it to Los Angeles. It became our swag to the Western world.

[@theprolificnetwork4670]

On V6 album says Terry Lewis. They all know how to use that voice and sound alike

[@aaronbp]

If you watch Purple Rain again, listen real close in the scene where The Kid goes after Morris on his bike. You can hear Morris yell out at The Kid: TOSSED SALAD HAIR-DO HAVIN'

[@2010Gullwing]

Yeah, but Prince said it here

[@s.k.sandles7005]

It's Morris on the drums!

[@mattarwood]

Shelton sandles Prince on vocals

[@teddygee7859]

Of course m!

[@GaryTisdaleFungkSta1]

Been searching a looongggg time for this classic YEASSSEEE...

[@byronp24]

Soooo! funny! funky and cool at the same time, I play his music daily as a musician trying to improvise (( it's gonna take me a million years😭

[@marquestravae8614]

DAAAMMMMNNN!!! Thanks for posting! NEVER thought I would ever hear this song again! Funny, silly little joint. One thing I remember about the radio playing this song. On Detroit's 93 FM back in '84 when this song came out, they edited out every time the word "black" was said, as it was probably deemed offensive by some listeners.

[@shawndiggz8904]

I remember WZAK 93.1 FM played this jam in NE Ohio!❤

[@danielp5317]

And WDMT too

[@stevepolius436]

That’s ma jam right there ❤️💯this back in the day An still do

[@roycescott5303]

MORRIS WAS LIGHTING BOOTSY UP IN THE BEGINNING

[@rickames]

I laughed my behind off when I heard this song in the record sto a long time ago! But as I listen to it now, sounds like Prince instead of Morris, plus Prince was The Starr Company.

[@meniii]

+rickames The Starr ★ Company" (or "Jamie Starr") is a pseudonym Prince used on production work as engineer on his own records and for production/writing credits on other artists releases such as Apollonia 6, Sheila E., The Time and Vanity 6 primarily the years preceding "Purple Rain".

[@whatevernoticed]

+rickames Cloreen Baconskin from Crystal Ball is from the same origin as this song. And you can hear some 'Irresistible Bitch" in it too. It is indeed Prince you hear, not Morris. His voice is the same as in the ending of 'Do Yourself A Favor'.

[@ERICGRIMEY1]

that is prince...morris on drums..

[@DetroitButcher]

+ERICGRIMEY1 "We ain't gonna put no more instruments on this! We ain't got TIME!"

[@rickames]

Thumbs Up!

[@joyofsox]

I need *hours* of this stuff. ... Open The Vault!

[@mikepaul1216]

i hope this song gets released on cd.

[@ashpar21]

Prince is literally eating chicken through majority of this whole thing

[@s.k.sandles7005]

ashpar21 Prince eating chicken made it that much funnier....Morris on drums and either Prince or Terry Lewis on bass....Prince on keyboards, and basically just clowning around in the studio!!

[@abrahamjackson6019]

10,000 question, was Prince talking about Rick James, they're were feuding when this dropped.

[@AntwhaleNearfar]

Abraham Jackson No. This was a clapback diss track aimed at both Bootsy Collins and George Clinton. Morris is talking about Bootsy in the beginning ("Bean pole looking...tossed salad hairdo havin'...long, tall...leather wearin'...gold tooth etc) and Prince is talking about GC ("Fat...old...Michelin Man...need to retire" etc). They were responding to a song George & Bootsy had recorded called "Copycat" where they'd mentioned both Prince & Morris in a way that was clearly a diss (hence the beginning where Prince says "What Tricky say? Yakety yak? Yakety yak my ass muthafucka"...Bootsy says "Yakety yak...let's bring in the dog and put out the cat bobba" at the beginning of "Copycat").

[@dukedune5717]

word@@AntwhaleNearfar

[@trentyoungersr.4478]

@@AntwhaleNearfar you nailed it!

[@echoesmyron5569]

Morris on drums, Prince on keyboard & doing his best Morris Day impression. But that is MD talking on the intro.

[@markcarter7930]

yup and laughing at the end..........

[@laurentdestailleurs3874]

Prince plays the bass and sings, and morris plays the drums on the original jam recording clorean bacon skin.

[@vincentthomas283]

Echoes Myron reminds me of when I was in the music biz, bull crapping around in the studio. all night long getting stoned, making music laughing.

[@tedhawkins5841]

Echoes Myron See only true prince fan's can tell their voices apart from eachother! Very good! This is how Andre cymone Tricky Jam Lewis prince all those cats use to talk around school in Minneapolis and to think they brought their swagg to Los Angeles and we copied them in some form.Prince Morris moved to santa monice to record purple rain while Jam and Lewis was giving us structure to our music with groups like the sos band and Human League and stealing Janet Jackson from her father making her adapt to their sound.So god bless u prince uve done alot for the sound of Los Angeles.

[@XCLent0]

yup and Jesse laughing....

[@normal2954]

This was the jam in my senior year in high school. I think the Electrifying Mojo must have had one of the few copies.

[@mrflynn01]

Love MoJo, I personally got a chance to talk to him! And I recorded the convo!

[@motownkid7382]

You from Detroit

[@glove7641]

Waiting for DJ to do a "Trick" "Irresistible B****" megamix

[@alexhaynes6649]

With "Cloreen Baconskin"

[@6etch9]

"even Yo memory banks done forgot this FUNK"

[@kevinbenson7326]

Not me! I'm a true funk soldier. I was all into Prince and The Time. So I'm up on a lot of stuff of theirs, that most people aren't.

[@alangarcia4658]

Great song!!! R.I.P prince

[@DLBlckwl]

Haha! I remember using this to scratch in "Michelin Man!" over other jams on my mix tape. Still got the cassette somewhere.

[@Theycallmekenney]

this is what inspired Chlorine Baconskin...Morris Day had him goin! lol

[@richg9448]

Mannnnn That’s Prince vocals. I went back to his interviews (when he’d joke around) and even using the voice with Jerome in Under the Cherry Moon and I just realized after all these damn years it’s Morris on the Drums Terry on Bass J-Jam On Keys and Prince on Vocals …

[@danigirl562]

Questlove’s Supreme Morris Day episode… IYKYK

[@shaunwilliams4231]

Long tall snaggly gold toof!

[@jaylouis8227]

Man! I used to have this 45. It was the B side to Ice Cream Castles.

[@sleyeminizo275]

Prince created the whole Morris persona!

[@mrflynn01]

Facts!

[@jeffreymitchell5868]

Morris on drums, Prince erthing else. Funky!

[@ERICGRIMEY1]

Morris dope on those drums

[@brickscratch]

Loved hearing this - Many thanks

[@leyobahn2011]

That ain't Morris doing the vocals it's Prince! It's Morris at the start until 20 seconds in (Prince is pissing himself laughing!) after that it's Prince!

[@starrcompany3275]

lalaland prince is laughing but its,more of Jerome Benton...

[@iyamwhite3931]

Now i see where Sheila E got her rap voice from on Krush Groove.

[@mannysavage88]

Same thing I said

[@b.rodclark7349]

EXACTLY!

[@rickstraws92]

lol yeah it was an insider thing in Prince's world back then.

[@edbrown7248]

JAMM!!

[@chucku00]

Irresistible Morris. _Somebody bring me a piece of chicken!_

[@tedhawkins5841]

Morris called prince some of thease names in purple rain when prince knocked him on his ass when he drove up on that motorcycle in the alley!

[@erickreed258]

I thought i was the only 1 who remembers this

[@AncestralCapital]

Extra info: Yes Morris voice on intro. Prince on Bass. Morris on drums. Oberhiem horns overdubbed by Prince. Find the song from Crystal Ball called "CLOREEN BACONSKIN". Not sure if it was re tracked but it's definitely the same groove the original "IRRESISTIBLE BITCH" had a different groove. But this became the groove for that masterpiece. Also (my speculation) people have said that that the song is talking about many people. But the only person that I saw it describing is Billy Sparks. But that's just a guess.

[@curtisalvin]

Morris has now confirmed they were talking about Bootsy Collins & George Collins.

[@curtisalvin]

Morris has now confirmed they were talking about Bootsy Collins & George Clinton

[@ronaldrobinson4559]

I heard it was about George Clinton and Bootsy Collins.

[@jgrayersqueen]

JAMIE STARR!! LOVE IT!!!

[@tessahallett4133]

Waiting so long. Thank you! I only have this on an old tape...

[@-FOOTS]

somebody bring me a piece of chicken!!!

[@EbonyJT]

Robert Thomas 🤣🤣🤣

[@2010Gullwing]

Morris on drums...Prince on bass and keys..

[@djpolo5458]

Good looking out on this one

[@1blackfrend]

I confirm this is mostly Prince's voice.

[@redd7188]

Sounds like the drum licks from Irresistible B. By Prince

[@kimberlyrisen7248]

Thats hilarious and a good beat

[@trentgarland4521]

this is created by and produced byPrince on b-side of ICE CREAM CASTLE IN 1984 it was such a FUNKY SONG YOU CAN DANCE TO.

[@rooseveltmccarter6087]

Tricky. From The LP "Ice Cream Castle" (1984).

[@ErnestSewell]

Bill Jackson engineered this session, when Prince and Morris returned from seeing Peter Gabriel. They were laughing hysterically with each other, about Peter's clothes, etc. They showed up at Sunset Sound around 1am or so. They started jamming before the mics were completely set up. (Morris is left-handed, so he had moved the drums around, and Jackson was rushing to rearrange the mics.) They stayed in the studio and just jammed, did overdubs, and put in the sound effects. The toilet flush is from the women's restroom at Sunset Sound.

[@adrianlyord5300]

Awesome thanks for the info

[@tajak]

This is some pretty and pretty rare stuff ! Thanks for sharing ... :-)

[@jjrj8568]

Sounds like the proper "Song" version of Cloreen Bacon Skin.

[@canicommit]

Been looking for this tune forever. thanks for sharing. its too bad it was so short i feel fat and old and it still makes me laugh loud.

[@PaisleySimone]

I have been looking for this song 4/ever! Thank you so much for this!!!!!

[@phantomflankmaster5000]

Thank You! Thank You for this song me_nica.. I had been looking for this song for over 30+ years! Yesssss!!!!

[@TheJimi74]

Ive been looking for ages for this song!! Awesome!!!

[@eliturner26]

I love this. One of my first 45's EVER...LOL! My Momma bought it for me

[@robertnelsonjr4648]

I remember this jam it was on ice cream castle's Album Mat ter of fact I still have it

[@nsureuhamilton]

Love this track!!! Got on cassette!!!

[@gfanarakos]

tale from the bus....should get info and sketch this...it would be epic

[@TheScripflipNetwork]

nice! - good deal. ive only heard the cloreen backon skin version and the raw demo of this. man... so cool

[@TrickyNinjaProds50]

I just became aware that this was a diss record directed at George Clinton & Bootsy Collins! Just heard Morris Day explain this on Questlove's Podcast! Laughing at the revelation!

[@AlfredPinkard]

That is Prince singing the Lead vocal in his Jamie Starr persona and voice. The only part that is Morris is the opening lines of fun loving insult. Prince does the complete vocal on the original track "Cloreen Bacon Skin"

[@CreoleGuh504]

omg I been looking for this!!!

[@GazFunkstar]

Recorded early ‘84 during sessions for The Time’s 3rd album, the ‘Morris Day’ style vocals during the opening is actually Morris, but for the rest of the song it’s Prince himself who does his ‘pimp’ voice and also performs every instrument bar drums. Morris only contributes on the drums and ad libs the odd background vocal. No other members of The Time appears on this.

[@mrflynn01]

The credits read Jessie Johnson

[@SPAZZOID100]

@@mrflynn01 he is not on this.

[@TraMark]

Prince is so unmistakenly unique! Ice cold!

[@ohdiane2120]

Omg! #Hilarious & It is #Prince Lol :D ! ! Thanks to Morris Day & The Time . So #awesome ~

[@TheDarkDutchman]

Have been looking for this specific track for ages!!!!! Wow! Glad finally found it. Thanks for uploading!! 🤩

[@JustMe-np9ty]

LOVE this song! Thanks! :)

[@QueenTrinity-mw7vd]

I've never laughed so hard 😂

[@LesJeuxSontFunk]

This was an awesome surprise on the B-side of my recently bought 7-inch of Jungle Love

[@mrflynn01]

You’re mistaken it’s the Bside of Ice Cream Castle: www.discogs.com/The-Time-Ice-Cream-Castles/master/27147

[@LesJeuxSontFunk]

@@mrflynn01 Hi there, I have a different version, printed in Germany: www.discogs.com/The-Time-Jungle-Love/release/203891 I guess we have different releases. Awesome track, nonetheless :)

[@mrflynn01]

@@LesJeuxSontFunk, irresistible bitch was released in early 83’ backside of “Let’s pretend we’re married”

[@joshrios3132]

That's cloreen brother alfred on the drums 😎

[@lisaparson4993]

OMG...me_nica... i thought my family was the only one who knew this record... thx for the gift...may you be blessed

[@DJObliteration1]

This still tickles the shit outta me!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ROCKNROLLFAN]

When I first heard this song on a mixtape in the car 30 YEARS AGO, I thought that it was an outtake.

[@darthkouskous3365]

100% Prince at work

[@robertlewis6846]

i have been look'in a long time for funny track thanks!

[@denisecappelletti7076]

love Tricky !!!

[@qgill778]

I’m here after the Morris Day Questlove interview .. This was Prince and Morris response to Bootsy and George Clinton lol

[@juscuzuluvme]

I remember when I was a kid and we'd play this and thought it was Morris talking about Prince. Come to find out that it was the two of them talking about George Clinton

[@abrahamjackson6019]

For years I thought Rick James was being attacked, you right it was George Clinton and Bootsy Collins....