We might have expected ersatz Abbas, but Minneapolis has produced a sort of R&B vanguard of young blacks who are trying to ally funk with the white rock and pop they grew up listening to in that Scandinavian stronghold. The feisty singer Sue Ann Carwell, Lipps Inc.'s Cynthia Johnson and smooth Rockie Robbins have all broken out of the local scene, but the reigning act is surely Prince, and new performers continue to spin out of his whirling vortex. Unfortunately, the new records by two reportedly Prince-masterminded groups, the Time and Vanity 6, seem like outlet stores for Prince's damaged goods.

The second LP by the Time, What Time Is It?, is a dreary followup to the band's debut, which featured two black-radio party-up hits in "Cool" and "Get It Up." But even that strong first record took some knocks for sharing the same instrumental sound (double keyboards) and content (teenage sex) as Prince's music, and the new LP confirms that the Time is being set according to Prince's Dirty Mind. Yet all their talk of girls in camisoles is just not the same as the bursting adolescent sexual energy that makes Prince's records feel tumescent, and What Time Is It? is a lot of not-so-hot jams that degenerate into raps about how terrific it would be to meet the band (because they're so "wild and loose") or how comfortable baggy jeans are. After twice announcing out of nowhere that "we don't like New Wave," it's no surprise that they bungle "One day I'm gonna be-somebody," a rocker that revs its motor but never goes anywhere.

Then there's Vanity 6, three women brought together by Prince to pool their talent. It's a shallow pool, if this record is the best they can do. Like the Time, Vanity 6 tries to pull together rock, funk and disco with a sound that's light on guitar and heavy on organ. For subjects, Vanity 6 leans on its brazen-girl image, rapping sassily in "If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)" – "Did he just take out the trash?" "No, that's something he used to do"–and reversing the girl groups' man-on-a-pedestal attitude in "He's So Dull." With other song titles like "Nasty Girl" and "Wet Dream," they seem to be trying to be as sexually forthright as Prince–they'll perform live in lingerie, they say–but there's little to seduce you into these weak songs, and there isn't a voice in the trio that's as strong as the come-on. (RS 381)

DEBBY MILLER