Fans really didn't know. But kind of knew at the same time. I should clarify that there was some cognitive dissonance and there were lots of rumors about Jamie Starr already, not to mention we all were buying records of the associate artists based on hoping for Prince's involvement. But then it felt more like wishful thinking. Prince records were just better, and unless it was a song like Dance Electric, you would kind of overthink it. It's comically obvious in retrospect. It was like confirming Wendy and Lisa were really a Lesbian couple. People weren't that sophisticated.

RJOrion said:

nah, most Prince fans knew... from the opening bars of "Get It Up" "Cool" and " The Stick", most of us KNEW Prince was involved...i know i did...his voice is right there in the mix...and no ones music or voice sounded like P at that time....there was never any doubt that Prince was Jamie Starr

Yeah, that was a huge giveaway, LOL!

funkaholic1972 said:

You have to remember that this was in the days before the internet so the only way we regular folks got our music information was via magazines like Rolling Stone, etc. There might have been rumors spread among fans of Prince but then at the same time he (and others) denied that Jamie Starr was Prince. P even said so in a song- 'Jamie Starr's a thief! Now you can all take a bite of my purple rock!'. Yes the music on the Time's first two albums sounded like Prince music (at that time) but we didn't know for absolutely sure that Prince was behind it all until later. Looking back it is rather blatant that it's Prince in 'the mix' but it was a somewhat well kept secret then.

On a slightly different note, I remember one friend getting mad when I said "Nasty Girl" was Prince. He didn't want that to be.

The first time I encountered The Time et al was in Purple Rain. And then I picked up a Jon Bream book that reported the Vanity 6 and Time albums were Prince, so I pretty much "always knew" as far as there wasn't a time I knew about the associated artists without also knowing the degree of Prince involvement. Sheila E. may have been a bit unclear, as the single came out early in the Purple Rain era... but I think it was revealed pretty soon.

I don't have any idea how obvious it may have seemed to people who were actually hearing the early Time and the Vanity 6 material as it was released. In retrospect, sure... but at the time Prince wasn't so big that he was on everyone's mind.

I think people knew, but not in the way we know now.
We knew as Prince wanted us to know, that this was UPTOWN.
This is THEIR sound. I always thought Prince was on something here or there,

that someone else from one of the bands was singing/playing here or there

The first I'd ever heard anything about them was by way of my step brother singing 'The Walk'. I don't remember when I first put them together with Prince, but it certainly wasn't right away.

Very interesting to hear people thought at the time.

When I first heard Get Wild/The Good Life, I remember thinking, "Oh, the NPG have left Prince and struck out on their own".

I find Love Bizarre to be the most obvious Prince song given to someone else! His voice is so prominent! It was used in the Krush Groove film (but not on the LP). and people say Prince missed Hip-hop! he was fully aware of it and mainly chose to follow a different path. Holly Rock (which is on the soundtrack) is basically Planet Rock reworked!

It was easy to believe that Prince was not involved with The Time because they were his first side project and we had recently been fooled by Ebonee Webb just about a month or two before The Time's first record came out. Ebonee Webb had a song called "Something About You" that sounds very similar to Head. They had the Prince synths and falsetto down to perfection and no one has ever sounded as similar to Prince as they did on that song to this very day except Prince himself. When we heard that song, we just knew that was Prince but he had no involvement with that band whatsoever. Ebonee Webb was a side project of Allen Jones who was the producer of The Barkays.

.

Shortly after that, about a month or two, "Get It Up" showed up on the radio sounding just like Prince from the music on down to the background singing. We immediately thought that was Prince too and then the DJ said it was The Time. The record hits the stores and the credits list either Jamie Starr or The Starr Company as the producer with background vocals by various girlfriends and no mention of Prince whatsoever. We could recognize and hear Prince all over it but the credits showed no proof so if Ebonee Webb was able to pull it off without Prince, why wouldn't The Time or some other group be able to? Shortly after that, "Controversy" shows up on the radio and by this time, we're all like..... "OK, now who is this new group? Oooooh, OK, this one is actually Prince.".

It was obvious to me and my crew that Prince was involved with The Time. However, there really was no way to know that Prince basically did the whole The Time album by himself. in terms of access to more detailed information, those were ancient times. Basically we were at the mercy of whatever was listed on the cassette or record liner notes, or what was written by Cynthia Horner or some other hip writer/magazine editor. Back then speculation and innuendo ruled the day lol.

[Edited 2/5/21 2:50am]

nayroo2002 said:

That photo is hilarious

.

In Get it up, its Prince singing "Get it up, get it up, I'll fuck you all night". His paws were all over that album and the next two.

.

The Morris Day book mentions him and Prince cutting that album in early 81 and only when Prince rushed out Get it Up as a single, was he told to assemble a band and the Time began proper. Apparently after Prince and Morris cut the album with Prince doing all the songwriting and music sans a fill drum fills and vocals by Morris, they went quiet for a few weeks, until Morris got a phone call out of nowhere from Prince asking him to get a band together because Get it up is a hit.

.

I think maybe in 81 apart from a few in the know types and the R&B crowd who dug the first 3 albums, very few people knew or cared who Prince was. Still the people who bought that Time album, mostly must have known who Prince was and put two and two together - From Minneapolis, on Warner Brothers and there was some dude singing about fucking a girl all night who sounded a lot like Prince

JoeyC said:

It was obvious to me and my crew that Prince was involved with The Time. However, there really was no way to know that Prince basically did the whole The Time album by himself. in terms of access to more detailed information, those were ancient times. Basically we were at the mercy of whatever was listed on the cassette or record liner notes, or what was written by Cynthia Horner or some other hip writer/magazine editor. Back then speculation and innuendo ruled the day lol.

[Edited 2/5/21 2:50am]

That's a blast from the past right there. Cynthia Horner and "Right On" magazine was THE source back then. "Rolling Stone" was mainly for pop/rock but for funk and R&B, it was "Right On", "Black Beat", and "Rock & Soul".

Madhouse was the best lie. A whole backstory involving Eric Leeds and his Pittsburgh players. I remember a review in a Jazz magazine praising the album and describing the whole orgin of the band 😂.

Also worth remembering there was just confusion around anyways, it wasn't just Prince. It's hard to believe we weren't sure Rockwell was MJ on it. That was like total slight of hand, because even after everyone heard it clearly, they'd still question it.

lavendardrummachine said:

Also worth remembering there was just confusion around anyways, it wasn't just Prince. It's hard to believe we weren't sure Rockwell was MJ on it. That was like total slight of hand, because even after everyone heard it clearly, they'd still question it.

Chaka on "Higher Love"

SRV on "Let's Dance"

EVH on "Beat It"

But, these and yours are examples of a "guest appearance".

nayroo2002 said:

lavendardrummachine said:

Also worth remembering there was just confusion around anyways, it wasn't just Prince. It's hard to believe we weren't sure Rockwell was MJ on it. That was like total slight of hand, because even after everyone heard it clearly, they'd still question it.

Chaka on "Higher Love"

SRV on "Let's Dance"

EVH on "Beat It"

But, these and yours are examples of a "guest appearance".

Rockwell was more than a guest appearance, he's singing the chorus before that was a standard collab kind of thing to do. You would watch the video with neighbors and argue about whether or not that was MJ. There's a good chance he wrote the line too, since demos have revealed just how much of a creative force he actually was. But the point being is, even with a clear voice, in those days you would doubt it, talk yourself out of it, just think "Oh he just sounds like him" and then shamelessly buy records purposely because it sounded like someone you liked. Same thing happened with Prince.

The only time I remember figuring out something by someone else was really Prince without some obvious public connection (either actual reporting that he had done the song or it was a performer with a known relationship to him) already being "out there" was "Love... Thy Will Be Done." Knew that one from the first time I heard it played on the radio. Maybe "Sugar Walls," actually. I don't remember for sure about that one.

EddieC said:

Maybe "Sugar Walls," actually. I don't remember for sure about that one.

Sugar Walls..yeah, people knew that one, but I'm not sure why. Maybe it was in the media?

Dandroppedadime said:

I find Love Bizarre to be the most obvious Prince song given to someone else! His voice is so prominent! It was used in the Krush Groove film (but not on the LP). and people say Prince missed Hip-hop! he was fully aware of it and mainly chose to follow a different path. Holly Rock (which is on the soundtrack) is basically Planet Rock reworked!

A bit off-topic, but I always laugh at the Love Bizarre and the GUY IN THE GLASSES dancing with a ruffled shirt.
https://youtu.be/56gpwl6cohc