"Don't Tell Me the Time" is a song by American singer-songwriter Martha Davis, which was released in 1987 as the lead single from her debut solo studio album ''

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

''. The song was written by Davis and produced by

Richie Zito Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...

. "Don't Tell Me the Time" peaked at number 80 on the US '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 8 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart.

Background

Speaking of the song's message, Davis commented in 1987, "I think everyone has been there at some point or other, even if it's only in our imaginations where you're in a situation where you're feeling like you've been done wrong. I have a thing about jealousy; I'm not really a jealous person by nature, but what I can't stand is like if somebody thinks I'm stupid enough not to figure something out. It's the anger, the frustration, the sadness and just all the emotions that go along with feeling like you've been done wrong. It's not directly related to any particular incident I can cite. It has happened to me, I think it's happened to a lot of people."

Music video

The song's music video was directed by David Fincher and produced Kim Dempster for

Propaganda Films Propaganda Films was an American music video and film production company founded in 1986 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Dominic Sena and Greg Gold. By 1990, the company was prod ...

. It achieved breakout rotation on MTV and medium rotation on VH1.

Critical reception

On its release, '' Billboard'' described "Don't Tell Me the Time" as an "aching piece of neo-'60s pop" which is "adorned with Davis' distinctive and emotion-laden vocal". They concluded that the track has "quite an impact". '' Cash Box'' praised it as an "impressive pop outing" and added that it "should cause quite a stir". The '' Gavin Report'' felt Davis "is sure to book plenty of airplay in A/C radio with this one". They added, "It's a song about time and temperature where the moment has passed and there's a chill in the air."

Track listing

7–inch single (US, Canada, France, Netherlands and Australasia) #"Don't Tell Me the Time" – 3:33 #"Lust" – 3:56 7–inch single (South Africa) #"Don't Tell Me the Time" – 3:33 #"Rebecca" – 3:23 7–inch promotional single (US) #"Don't Tell Me the Time" – 3:33 #"Don't Tell Me the Time" – 3:33 12–inch promotional single (France) #"Don't Tell Me the Time" – 3:33 #"Lust" – 3:56

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Policy'' CD liner notes. "Don't Tell Me the Time" * Martha Davis – vocals * Gary Falcone, Kipp Lennon,

Joe Pizzulo Joe Pizzulo is an American vocalist best known as one of the lead singers on 1980s hit singles credited to Sérgio Mendes, including " Never Gonna Let You Go" (from Mendes' self-titled 1983 album) and "Alibis" (from the 1984 album ''Confetti''). ...

– backing vocals *

– guitars, bongos * Gary Chang – synthesizers * Randy Jackson – bass * Michael Baird – drums Production * Richie Zito – producer * Phil Kaffel – engineer * David Leonard – mixing *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering

Charts

References

{{authority control 1987 songs 1987 singles Capitol Records singles Songs written by Martha Davis (musician) Song recordings produced by Richie Zito Music videos directed by David Fincher