How to include post date code in post title

[mikewilltoo]

I'm creating templates, and I'd like to include code in the post title that automatically pulls in and displays the post date. E.g., if I were to manualy do this without code, the title might be:

May 7, 2009 - Lecture

but I want the title in the template to look something like this

[the correct code for the date] - Lecture

I've tried using the following variants, and the date part all comes up blank.

<span class="time"><?php the_time('F j, Y'); ?> - Lecture
<span class="time"><?php the_time('F j, Y'); ?></span> - Lecture


<span class="time"><?php the_time('F j, Y'); ?></span></p> - Lecture

I've successfully gotten this to work before, but I can't remember how I did it.

THANKS.