prince

Yo, while me and Q-Tip were performing 'Vivrant Thing' in Vegas last night...this n-a Prince walked out on the stage, took the guitar from our guitar player and just started rocking! None of us knew he was there until he popped up on the stage...then the n-a vanished like Batman, LOL!

The sound crew said Prince was in the balcony watching the show from the very beginning (The balcony was closed off). Then when 'Vivrant Thing' came out, he just came backstage and walked out on stage.

None of us knew what was happening, then when we finished the show he was gone LOL!

that is awesome

that is Prince!

i guess when prince takes a guitar from you, you let him

this n-a

this n/a

i wonder what would happen if somebody refused to give prince his guitar.

no one's seen tevin campbell in years.

any excuse to post this:

Just another relaxed day at home:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/01/08/prince_ann_500.jpg

And he talks a bit.

nice. i am anticipating MPLSOUND.

also watch 'em while you can:

lol @ the pains taken to avoid his purple majesty's bare cheeks

I'm very curious about what he does with ProTools. Could be really interesting.

not like it's the first time, he's been using it since 3121 at least

earlier i had a crossword clue that was "part of TAFKAP" and even after i had filled in "ARTIST" it still didn't register for a minute

Utterly of non-interest to anyone anywhere. Unless you are, you know, alive and breathing:

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/watch-while-you-can-prince-rehearsal-videos-1984/

Is Matos sittin' down?

Cool. Extended "When Does Cry" and "Erotic City" sound good.

http://twitter.com/PRINCE_OFFICIAL/status/8476096110

Shhhh, don't tell Prince about the Youtube videos

Like his little routine in "17 Days."

His James Brown rooted and updated moves were/are always fun to watch plus the extra little hopping and running around stuff here

Cave17 Matt C should be checking these videos out also

Matos, what do you think?

oh dear lord. this is fantastic.

I love how he goes through his moves, knowing they're already mastered, and keeps a more critical eye on the band. what a fun loving task master!

......aaaaand they're gone

got to see 5 of them, haha. oh well. hopefully someone capped 'em while they were up

Damn, I only got to watch "When Doves Cry". I hope these can make their way onto Dailymotion or something.

new song to debut friday on The Current radio:

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/85053272.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUss

.....and it's awful:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/features/2010/02/prince-cause-and-effect/index.shtml

man he has so completely and totally lost it.

bad wrong false prince

wow yeah that is bad

WTF is Prince using MS Songsmith now?

i want to say "nothing can ever erase the work he did in the 80s" but i somehow wonder if this song is actually capable of erasing the master tape to "if i was your girlfriend"

With the amount of stuff going on in the background it sounds like he recorded over the top of something. In case anyone is wondering what the reverse bit at ~3:30 is, it's Prince saying "contracts just make you smaller".

the problem with all of prince's stuff from the 90s on is that i think he fundamentally misunderstands what made him great at one time.

he's a great minimalist that thinks he's a maximalist.

eh he's done some good minimalist stuff since the 90s - Black Sweat, for ex.

but yeah I agree that in general he's better when he's doing less

Am I crazy or has Prince benn listening to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#v=CXCiS2FpmIc&feature=related

eh he's done some good minimalist stuff since the 90s - Black Sweat, for ex.

― dead clown handjob (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, February 26, 2010 5:44 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

black sweat....and....black sweat...and..um...black sweat ; )

j.k. but yeah that's the only song i've heard in years i thought was GOOD good not just "hey this is pretty good for prince now, i guess"

i can't listen to this at work but it's probably for the best.

it's funny, i just listened to mplsound again and thought it wasn't that bad (if you have no expectations except for dad-prince).

oh what the fuck

like I could put up with the verse and I could put up with the chorus, but not both together in the same song; that is exactly the wrong thing to do, dude

i should do a poll, this song versus his vikings playoff song, which sounded like the work of a slightly deranged lutheran church choir director

at least the Vikings playoff song was awesome in its insanity; this is boring, mild-mannered shit that thinks it's shit-hot

replace lutheran w/ witness and you just about summarized prince 2010

j.k. but yeah that's the only song i've heard in years i thought was GOOD good not just "hey this is pretty good for prince now, i guess"

title tracks of musicology and 3121 were pretty good and stripped down imho. there was some other track on musicology that I liked but I'm blanking on it at the moment... but yeah his hit-to-miss ratio is pretty sad.

its weird how humorless his recorded output has become. dude was funny as hell when I saw him um... 10 years ago

I mean, when even the people who defended The Rainbow Children are like "yo this is hot trash" it's time to reconsider your artistic vision

Hey, I really like The Rainbow Children!

I do, too! This is bullshit tho

Prince has been churning out the doo doo for a good long time now. Last thing I really liked by him was that "P=Funk" track. He's creatively bankrupt IMHO.

How Prince managed to lose it this badly makes a pretty great case for contracts, editorial guidance, et al.

I mean - he's always crammed as much as he could get away with into his songs and it usually worked. Probably because they were songs. Stuff like this new track just makes my eyes glaze over.

uh, this is a song, it's just not a very good one

I mean - he's always crammed as much as he could get away with into his songs and it usually worked. Probably because they were songs. Stuff like this new track just makes my eyes glaze over.

― François de Roobabe (Capitaine Jay Vee), Friday, February 26, 2010 6:41 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i disagree what is "crammed in" to, say "Kiss" or "When Doves Cry"?

both those songs are prince at his best....a peculiar, brittle minimal digital funk.

The problem with that statement is that Prince at his best is not only "Kiss", "Alphabet St", "Housequake" and "When Doves Cry"; it's also "1999", "I Wanna Be Ur Lover", "Mountains" and "Gett Off".

i think we may have different tastes in prince....

still i don't see those songs as being particularly busy or overstuffed like recent stuff

(though full disclosure: last album i heard was the one my wife got free when she went to a concert...it seemed just "fine" in the same way i guess like a new mark knophler solo album would seem to a dire straits fan)

OK, I'm 36 seconds in and it's already been like 10 different songs, WTF? So the intro stuff, and then when the big power chords and organ and I'm like, "Is he doing, like, a Boston album?" Then the other guitar groove kicks in and I'm thinking, "OK, ok, this could be like an updated version of 'Dirty Mind'-era shit," but then it started sucking. Does it get better? Do I click "Play" again?

answers to your last questions are "no" and "no"

Too late.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Oh, god, the guitar solo. That is the worst guitar tone I've ever heard on a Prince song. AND NOW ACOUSTIC GUITAR OH JESUS MAKE IT STOP.

Thank you, Prince, for pooping in my ears today. It made me appreciate good music even more.

just for reference, here's prince's vikings song

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/21/prince-vikings-song-audio_n_432433.html

at least with that, I had a desire to play it 7 times in a row (largely because I couldn't believe wtf it was I was hearing)

i disagree what is "crammed in" to, say "Kiss" or "When Doves Cry"?

but the extended version of "kiss" is just as wacky and overstuffed as nu-prince. "when doves cry" has gospel vocals, neo-classical keyboard breaks, guitar solos, etc, but it's a great song and all that stuff elevates it even more.

ok y'all i give...i guess i just thought saying lots of classic prince jams were minimal was like ac/dc has loud guitars but i retract my statement (also i'm not the hugest prince fan to begin with)

Prince used to be able to make minimal maximal.

and maximal minimal?

I don't know what's sadder, the fact that this song exists or the fact that lots of people on the "Tell us what you think" link are praising it.

Prince's diehard fans are pretty diehard.

if I could hack that link and replace it with a copy of T-99's "Anesthesia", I would

I guess I'm a pretty diehard fan - I will even tell you a couple of things on "Planet Earth" are worth your time - but even I couldn't defend this. Or that Vikings tune.

this new song sounds like hes just recording for recordings sake even more than usual, but i kinda like it just to see how bad hes really gotten. i wish he would stop doing these 'message' type songs where he thinks hes making some really important point. the structure is sort of like two 3 chains of golds packed into one.

oh god. I'm really doing myself a favor by avoiding this, aren't I?

I will even tell you a couple of things on "Planet Earth" are worth your time

this seems to be the pattern more often than not with his post-90s material - there will be one or two tracks that are clever/engaging/remind you why he was so great, and then the rest is just crap. the weirdest thing to me is that his ear for production and composition just seems to have gotten steadily shittier and shittier. like he doesn't actually know what a good guitar or drum sound is anymore, he just has too many hi-tech toys that he's busy fooling around with. dude's aesthetic standards are shot.

I think this minimal=good, maximal=bad division is bogus. Prince has done a lot of great maximal songs, like "Mountains", "Alphabet St.", "Sexy MF", "Gett Off", "Joint 2 Joint", "Gold", the 12 inch mix of "I Wish U Heaven", "Pink Cashmere", "Paisley Park", etc. And some of his minimal stuff is pretty boring, like half of Batman and Come. This new song is bad, but that's just because he wrote a bad song, not because every maximal thing he does is awful and every minimal thing good.

you have a strange definition of "maximal"

not that that's in any way surprising

I mean, Alphabet St...? WTF that song has one drum loop, some chicken scratch guitar, slap bass, a guitar solo, a bunch of vocals and a few synth horn stabs. and structurally it has one verse that repeats throughout the entire song.

this song is like an ipod shuffle type song

but its entertainingly bad/funny in a oh god can he really have gotten this bad sort of way

almost endearingly bad

"he doesn't actually know what a good guitar or drum sound is anymore, he just has too many hi-tech toys that he's busy fooling around with. dude's aesthetic standards are shot."

otm

oddly this level of crap almost makes me love prince even more

never going to see him live anymore though

I mean, Alphabet St...? WTF that song has one drum loop, some chicken scratch guitar, slap bass, a guitar solo, a bunch of vocals and a few synth horn stabs. and structurally it has one verse that repeats throughout the entire song.

― mark roflr (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, February 26, 2010 2:29 PM Bookmark

I was thinking just a moment ago that "Alphabet St." is maximalist in the way that Basement Jaxx are. There are tons of weird details tucked away into corners that don't hugely announce themselves and aren't necessarily going on all at the same time, but add up to dozens of different elements appearing over the course of the song.

WTF is Prince using MS Songsmith now?

lolllllllllllllllll

This song isn't bad imo but it is extremely silly.

if it is maximalist, his old stuff is not maximalist in the "sounds like 12 jacked up high school bands' top song on myspace thrown in a blender"

It's kind of like he finally got around to reading all those reviews of Midnite Vultures 10 years ago that said it was aping Prince & he decided to ape Midnite Vultures in turn.

but every track of midnite vultures, for 15 seconds at a time.

I was thinking just a moment ago that "Alphabet St." is maximalist in the way that Basement Jaxx are. There are tons of weird details tucked away into corners that don't hugely announce themselves and aren't necessarily going on all at the same time, but add up to dozens of different elements appearing over the course of the song.

Yes, this is exactly why I called is maximalist. The whole Lovesexy is like this, the songs have the basic grooves, but they take weird detours and add and decrease all sorts of elements all the time. When I'm talking about maximalism I meant maximalism within Prince's oeuvre. It's not like Lovesexy is the world's most bombastic album, but I think it was a pretty big change of direction after Sign 'O' the Times (and Prince followed that direction all through the nineties). I know a lot people don't much care for Lovesexy, but I think it proved he could do a more maximal sound in a cool and interesting way. Too bad it looks like he can't do that anymore.

Didn't know where to put this, but I wanted to share, and this is as good a place as any:

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l0gyj9jdmD1qbp7xlo1_r1_500.jpg

XD

batgirl is hot imo

this thread has taken a good turn

batman's posture imo

I can't tell if he's angry or about to start the Batusi.

In the case you didn't know, a recent storyline in Batman and Robin featured a villain who was inspired by Prince, and specifically by his look in Purple Rain - check the homage to the Purple Rain cover in this issue cover:

http://www.ifanboy.com/images/ifanboy/Batman%20and%20Robin%206.jpg

"I only want to see you laughing/At Mr. Bruce Wayne"

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/07/05/prince-world-exclusive-interview-peter-willis-goes-inside-the-star-s-secret-world-115875-22382552/

"The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

MTV isn't the only thing that was once hip and is now outdated...

last week in Paris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUKA7usm4C0

this prince character might be on to something:

http://www.newsweek.com/1995/02/26/the-internet-bah.html

http://www.swift.fm/bizmarkee/song/63161/

if that's really prince on everything, as a teenager, wow. he's a better drummer than i thought.

That's it, I quit music, I'm retiring... Oh wait I just went and listened to that Vikings track - I un-retire.

http://i56.tinypic.com/34zmtjd.gif

if that's really prince on everything, as a teenager, wow. he's a better drummer than i thought.

― the parking garage has more facebook followers than my band (Jordan), Thursday, September 9, 2010 2:21 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark

where'd you ever get the impression Prince isn't a dope drummer!?

yeah at least two of the times i've seen him he's taken a turn on the drums and rocked the hell out.

"Tambourine"!

and without looking it up, i think there are a bunch of songs on 1999 and purple rain that are basically him on everything.

He played everything except for the occasional Matt Fink keyboard run up through 1999.

was listening to Prince this morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMJlYsfDTEE

Tis the season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETbXkTqUzpg

um, hi. where can i find a bunch of print b00ts? like live stuff and studio stuff.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/02/prince_played_m_2.html

Prince at Madison Square Garden

Start Time
8:35 PM
Laydown
1999
Corvette
Beautiful ones
Controversy
Purple Rain
Raspberry beret
Cream
Cool (the Time cover)
Let's work
U got the look
Nothing compares to u (dedicated to Bobby Z.)

1st Encore
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley)
Let's go crazy
Delirious
Dreamer
When doves cry (intro)
Kiss

2nd Encore
Medley
Nasty girl
Forever in my life
Sign
Alphabet
Love bizarre (Sheila E cover)
Hot thing
Pop life / I would die / Single ladies / If I was your girlfriend
Insatiable
Scandalous
Adore

3rd Encore
Mountains
Shake your body (the Jacksons cover)
Everyday people / Higher (Sly & The Family Stone cover)

End time
10:55 PM

Guests
Questlove
Chris Rock
Kim Kardashian

i'm fascinated by this comment in the brooklynvegan post about prince's opening act: Cee Lo should have been allowed to say Fuck You, but Crazy almost made up for that. I would also like to add that all of Prince's monitors had constant reminders during Cee Lo's set that said "NO F WORD" Pretty hilarious, love my little Prince.

whatup with that?

he's cleaned up his act since getting all j-w. i remember some story about him admonishing q-tip for cursing when sitting in.

imagine if prince didn't 'get all j-w' on us - more albums like the black album.

He played everything except for the occasional Matt Fink keyboard run up through 1999.

Ha, I just misread this as the year 1999, not the album, and was all, um, no.

Oh, and those instrumental tracks are actually the trio of Andre Cymone, Bobby Z Rivkin and Prince, not Prince on drums. I mean, Prince can play, but he's no Stevie Wonder or Justin Bieber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z8cX9cgrRU

absolutely amazing

lol @ prince kicking kim kardashian off of the stage

that may be like my third favorite Prince guitar solo at 3:07. Truly breathtaking.

Oh, and those instrumental tracks are actually the trio of Andre Cymone, Bobby Z Rivkin and Prince, not Prince on drums.

which tracks? prince is a great drummer, and it's him on dirty mind, controversy, and 1999 afaik.

The tracks referenced somewhere above. It's him playing drums through "1999," sure, but while I won't fault his playing, and it's perfect for what he's doing, it's really mostly serviceable beat-keeping (esp. compared to his abilities on everything else).

While I agree his drumming pales beside his keyboard and guitar skills, listen to him on "Tambourine" and the better tracks on Musicology.

?uestlove on prince's drumming:

prince on the other hand

his fluctuating rhythm gives you the sense that an actual band is playing his stuff.

best demonstrated by his "careful or you'll drop it" drunken pace on Dirty Mind's title track. his overexcited virgin getting some muppet animal style of "irresistible bitch" the maniac drumline snare solo of "lady cab driver" and the inventiveness of Parades first four song suite.

when i jam with him (actually with them--once at P's crib) i dont channel the WW?D page. i channel the WWsw and WWpD page.

last month when he grabbed the bass i knew exactly where to go: ive learned when you jam w/ prince you get better results playing the drums as he woulda played it. which in my case worked like gangbusters (our "cloreen" was about 25 mins and marked the first time that 2 hour night he sang on the mic)

was gonna cite "Lady Cab Driver."

okay holy shit @ that cee-lo/prince collabo

^ (but what happened at 4:55?)

Thurs night, 2/24/11, Oakland, Ca, Oracle Arena

So my fiance fails to tell me that we have fucking AMAZING seats- on the floor, he's playing in-the-round, with the stage in the shape of that goofy symbol, but our seats are basically in front of that, just off to the left- His piano is like, maybe 50 feet from our seats..
No opening act, the house lights go off, the stage fills with purple smoke, and he pops out of the middle of the stage with a gold fender Strat-the place goes babanas.. he does 3 tunes, then disappears, stage lights off. Lights slowly come back on as Sheila E. pops outta that same spot with her Timbales- The place goes fucking apeshit! Remember we're in Oaklnad, she's a hometown hero and her family, the Esovedos have deep roots here in the music world, especially in latin Jazz-they even own their own club in Oakland.. She looks hot!!- skin tight white leather dress.. She plays her one and only hit, kicks over a cymbal stand like Keith Moon, and walks off the stage-ripped it! They move her drums off to the side, and she and the Purple one come back out, she's his percussionist for the rest of the set... Hit after hit after hit, everyones singing along, having a good time, lots of goofing off between Sheila and Prince.. He sounds great, his voice was spot on, and every guitar solo-which he's the only guitarist in the band-was top notch-improvised and just shredding..His command of the band is striking, a nod to James Brown I'm sure..
THeres a small break in the action.. then you here some thundering bass tone-Larry Grahm from Sly and the Family Stone (more Oakland legend shit) comes out and they funk the place out! They do like 3 Sly tunes, and Prince lets Larry take over, he goes and place percussion with Sheila, but he smack his hand with a stick at one point, and Sheila laughs at him-cute..
That little purple midget does 5 encores-one of them after the house lights came one and he had a pretty grand finally with invites to people surrounding the stage to get up and dance on stage.. House lights were on for about 15 minutes, in which the crowd never let up in its cheering, even with ushers shooing people out, the crowd styed to have him comeback for two more.. whch put the set just shy of 3 hours.

I'd have to say, that this show was one of the best shows I've ever seen, up til this point it was James Brown who I saw in '92. That show was raw as shit, but this thing was a spectacle.. And most important, was looking over and seeing my Girl, smiling, dancing, singing along and having a blast.. we even slow danced during Purple Rain in the isle.. very well worth it!

http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/watch-while-you-can-prince-rehearsal-videos-1984/
^anybody know if these exist anywhere now?

Sounds like Sean had a good time. I dread to think how much the tickets were for such good seats.

forks, some of those were on youtube last time I looked

Put it this way, I was worried about the rent.. lol! There were more expensive seats, but they seemed further away, but had a more direct line of site.. And there were these cocktail seating spots write against the stage that were even more expensive, with ever worse veiw cuz they were so up against the riser of the stage...

fuck that sounds awesome

Not bad from the sound of it:

Prince and the New Power Generation at the Forum, April 14

DMSR
Pop Life
Extraordinary
Uptown
Raspberry Beret
Cream
Cool (Time cover, featuring a sojourn into Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough")
Let's Work
U Got the Look
Purple Rain
Let's Go Crazy
Delirious
1999
The Beautiful Ones
Little Red Corvette
Kiss
Medley: When Doves Cry / Nasty Girls / Sign of the Times / Darling Nikki / 777-9311 / Single Ladies
If Eye Was Ur Girlfriend
Insatiable
Scandalous
Adore
A Love Bizarre (Sheila E. cover, featuring Sheila E.)
Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry cover)
Controversy (with Housequake chants)
The Glamorous Life (Sheila E. cover, with Sheila E.)
Peach (with Sheila E.)
Dance (Sylvester cover)
Baby I'm a Star
Stratus (Billy Cobham cover)
Sometimes It Snows in April
Laydown
Endorphinmachine
She's Always in My Hair
Dreamer
Welcome 2 America

wow, I always thought that this was exactly the kind of show he didn't play

he's been doing these kinds of all hits+deep cuts shows for at least a decade

like I'd say that's almost the exact same set I saw him play on the 1 Nite Alone tour almost 10 years ago

Stratus (Billy Cobham cover)

ha

just played drums for another prince tribute show, this time we got the whole thing on video. it was a blast, will post soon.

When P plays 'Uptown' live it means God is pleased with us...

I was at the Forum show last night. First time seeing Prince in 29 years (only other time was when he opened up for the Stones at the LA Coliseum in 1981). Stunningly on fire show (NPG bassist and drummer just killing it).

Also, the crowd and security were completely cool and into the show. By the third encore we made it onto the floor (not bad for $25 tickets!)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5190/5622835694_a58c14975a.jpg

wow! not bad at all.
was the show not sold out?

I'm not 100% sure this show was sold out because it was announced only on Tuesday of this week. I think next week's shows are sold out though...

Also, when I took the picture we were already 3.5 hours into the set and a lot of people had already left by then - probably thinking that the 15 minute stretch between the first and second encore (when the house lights were on) was the actual end of the show. Folks, you don't leave the building until Prince leaves the building.

look at all those empty seats....leaving a prince show before he's done--d'oh!

maybe they were making sure they'd get to the club for the after-party set before it filled up

i went to one of those...Roseland after the Garden, 1987(?)--he played til 5am. i was in the very front row, catching the sweat off his electric blue body suit. WHOA! best show over

best show ever...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erJbpv0ZSb4

dope imo

Tweets from my friend Michael at tonight's show:

Prince has been playing for 17 hours, done 104 encores and played every single song ever. Literally, ever. Best show ever? Has to be.

I think there are no more songs left. Someone needs to write a song quick so Prince can come back out and play it.

If Prince ever runs into the problem of an audience just not leaving and demanding encore after encore, he can just come out and do that Vikings song. Guaranteed venue emptier.

that is why prince will never die, and will become a constellation.

I've always loved the covers Prince chooses to do live.

so at Dan's suggestion I got Emancipation and Come cuz both were cheap.

Why is Come so hated on by some? It's definitely one of his more challenging album and it screams of a "fuck you" record, as it isn't as catchy as most of his albums, but by god is it funky and danceable and the title track alone! "Loose!" is great!

It's mostly because Prince himself was nasty about it because it was a contract obligation album.

I will admit, though, that I had owned it for about 3 weeks and hadn't gotten past the title track (which is so so so so good) until a friend told me his favorite song on the album was "Papa"; after playing that song I think I just put the CD player on endless repeat and cycled through the album for the next month.

yea I remember that was his last album as Prince for a while but while I can tell he purposefully made it cluttered and noisy and not very melodious in places and threw in an 11 minute opening track it still sounds damn good!

oh and yes the title track is faaaaaaaaaaaab.

my fave on the album nowadays is probably "Letitgo" but yeah, the whole thing is brilliant

Have you gotten to Emancipation yet?

I recorded a version of me singing Letitgo and doing all the harmonies once. thing is an earworm!

yep I've gotten through 1.5 discs of Emancipation. I'm really enjoying how much variety it has. like "Courtin Time" was a fav from disc 1, "One Kiss at a Time" is what I'm back on now and dear god is this shit smooooth.

oh dude, there's so much more left for you to hit, disc 3 is a MONSTER IMO

awesome. i'm gonna have to hit the last disc up late to night, damn busy schedule. don't suppose 'listening to 13 year old Prince album' is a good excuse to get out of commitments

OH MAN @ "Emale"...........

^_^ yeah, that song = hotness

I am also partial to the "Joint 2 Joint"/"The Holy River"/"Let's Have a Baby" sequence coming up

Come is drastically underrated
SOLO

aw that's gonna be in posts out of context isn't it

i think there's about a great album and a third to be culled from emancipation and a lotta filler but it's well worth the trouble

omg his vesrion of "One of Us" is AWESOME...way better tha the original

Funniest Prince moment--that WTF Germanic Sigmund Freud-sounding accent he does for a couple of lines in the 12" version of Little Red Corvette....LMAO

After last week's discussion, "Let's Have a Baby" promptly went into my iPod. Check out how well he uses space.

i really liked that one on first listen.

u know he wrote one of us rite?

says here some dude from the Hooters wrote it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_of_Us_(song)

hm. I guess i'm wrong! I always thought he wrote that.

playing hop farm fest in kent this year

stoked!

nowhere seems to have sunday tickets available yet tho...

saw him last night in san jose, it was incredible, well worth the ridiculous ticket price. bonus, leonardo di caprio in the audience caught on the jumbo screen dancing like an idiot

also, cover-wise, we got COOL (the Time), Wanna Be Starting Something (MJ), and we got Nothing Compares 2 U and Shiela E. doing Glamorous Life

Just announced two shows here (Montreal) at a ridiculously small venue... and I'll be out of town.

Fuck. They went on sale at noon. I just found out. I think they're soldout.

I was wrong! And I am seeing Prince! In TEN DAYS!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA-bQFsRqJI&feature=related

Oh my freakin' god, y'all.

Love it when his stuff makes a fleeting appearance on youtube.

Hey I recognize that interviewer.

His management's pre-interview list of guidelines insisted, "Please do not discuss his views on the internet," but perhaps Prince hasn't read them. "I personally can't stand digital music," he says. "You're getting sound in bits. It affects a different place in your brain. When you play it back, you can't feel anything. We're analogue people, not digital." He's warming to his theme. "Ringtones!" he exclaims. "Have you ever been in a room where there's 17 ringtones going off at once?"

Does he have a ringtone?

"No," he says, looking as offended as if I'd asked him if he drove a clown car. "I don't have a phone."

He's equally put out by covers of his songs, Glee's version of Kiss being the latest offender. "There's no other artform where you can do that. You can't go and do your own version of Harry Potter. Do you want to hear somebody else sing Kiss?"

Prince will happily talk about how much he adores Adele ("When she just comes on and sings with a piano player, no gimmicks, it's great") or Janelle Monáe, but he won't criticise other artists. "The new pushes the old out of the way and retains what it wants to. Don't ask me about popular acts. Ask Janelle. Doesn't matter what I say. We ain't raining on anyone's parade. I ain't mad at anybody. I don't have any enemies."

this dude is just bad-ass

He keeps playing down his own stardom and doffing his cap to his band or God or Sly and the Family Stone, but does he ever think, perhaps midway through playing When Doves Cry to 30,000 people: "I'm really very good at this"?

"Well I don't think it," he smirks, raising an eyebrow. "I know it."

BAD-ASS

waht

Sometimes he seems a little too fond of boundaries. "It's fun being in Islamic countries, to know there's only one religion. There's order. You wear a burqa. There's no choice. People are happy with that." But what about women who are unhappy about having to wearing burqas? "There are people who are unhappy with everything," he says shruggingly. "There's a dark side to everything."

Agreed with all three previous reactions.

and re: previous covers discussion on truthbomb thread

He's equally put out by covers of his songs, Glee's version of Kiss being the latest offender. "There's no other artform where you can do that. You can't go and do your own version of Harry Potter. Do you want to hear somebody else sing Kiss?"

Except he covers stuff all the time. (Including, apparently Beyonce's Suga Mama, which was on youtube at one point but which I have never heard. :(

you might be missing the raging egomaniac part of the equation

Wasn't space to include the rest of that quote, which might have seemed pedantic to general non-music-mag readers anyway. He says that (a) he plays them live rather than releasing them and (b) he calls up the songwriters to ask if they're cool with it.

yeah, like meshell ndegeocello is doing a full length prince cover tour that i imagine prince is cool with
he seems more snotty about the recorded versions.

me being the snot that I am, I would have asked about the covers on Emancipation

tbf, i now hear only his version of betcha by golly wow as the "real" one.

DJP, you interviewing Prince would be all kinds of hilarious/great because it would eventually be half an hour of shit-talking about mentally incompetent Minnesotans you've encountered.

"I went in intending to ask a musical genius questions about his art and his future. I ended up attempting to horrify him with stories about home town."

tempted to go with "mentally incompetent Minnesotans i have encountered" as a dn, but

Welcome 2 Hastings

xp The problem is his conversation jumps all over the place and you can't record it so you're just sat there scribbling down what he says and by the time you've got it together to quibble with a point like that he's on to something else. Except the Islam one where I had time to pull a "Bloody hell, really?" face.

then there was that time when Prince was the unpronounceable symbol, and his managers gave the specific font to use to journalists when writing about him in print, and then he tried to sue them when they tried to use it as directed...

Live review of Friday's show, courtesy of me, but since I have *no* idea how to do live reviews, it's pretty much a partial setlist plus commentary:

http://roverarts.com/2011/06/purple-reign/

The fourth encore began with Prince spot-lit at centre stage, performing an ethereal version of Joni Mitchell’s A Case of You

OMG

ddddaaammn

WOW Alex that gig sounds incredible!

holy hell

not saying it wasnt good but doesnt he play that kind of show pretty regularly these days? his aftershows/jams arent rare like they used to be.

No, Alex, you did very well indeed.

Entirely possible. He hasn't come to Montreal in a decade and in comparison the Saturday show was pretty much nothing but hits. They have a setlist for that over at prince.org and I was kind of jealous at first because we got maybe 8 recognizable prince hits and most of those were partial/medleys. But...there was a looseness to the set on Friday. Kind of felt like anything could happen.

Plus, I've never seen Prince live before so I don't have a point of comparison. I do know that my friends in the states have indicated that the Welcome 2 America tour was pretty much just the hits, so this felt like somewhat of a departure.

http://www.canalplus.fr/c-divertissement/pid3303-c-le-live-du-grand-journal.html?vid=483431

http://player.vimeo.com/video/18951826
Prince doing A Love Bizarre live with Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings and Maceo Parker
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wish this would load already so i could watch it

Outstanding. Note the teleprompter!!

I recently discovered the Electrifying Mojo's interview with Prince just after his 1986 (?) birthday gig in Detroit. Amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJZCoxZ5COY

i don't think i've heard his voice outside of his movies--so cool

1983 rehearsal tape:

http://thediscography.tumblr.com/post/7071635816/haruenishikawa-d-m-s-r-rehearsal-including

that Mojo interview's great.

this is crazy under-rated innit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heJ-FxhU0h0

saw prince last night for the first time. one of my top 5 shows of all time easy. and it was in a field at a crap festival. and it was godlike. amazing setlist plus Sly & Family Stone medley with Larry Graham. fuuuuuck.

Let's Go Crazy/Delirious, 1999, Little Red Corvette, Nothing Compares 2 U, Take Me With U, Raspberry Beret, Cream, Cool, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Let's Work, U Got The Look, Purple Rain, Kiss, Controversy/Housequake, Play That Funky Music, Dance To The Music/I Want To Take You Higher/Everyday People/Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Come Together, Dance (Disco Heat), If I Was Your Girlfriend, Baby I'm A Star

^^^THAT is sort of the set list I wish I had seen? Much as I loved all the insane stuff he did. Baby I'm a Star and U Got the Look and If I Was Your Girlfriend = pure gold.

I was really worried he would do a cack new stuff set, but it was literally hit after hit and unbelievable

that's what he usually does

It's does seem an awful shame that because he hasn't released a decent record in over 20 years, I have an awfully hard time trying to convince people of his genius...fair enough they may never of liked him in the first place but you mention his name and it's either a blank stare or 'yeah, Sexy MF was good'...er no...

What world do you live in? Pretty much everyone I know loves this guy!

sonnyboy, find new friends

xxxxxpost SO many underrated james on "Graffiti Bridge:" Joy In Repetition, Elephants, We Can Funk, Thieves in the Temple, Tick Tick Bang... if that record was just the Prince songs it would be in my top 5 for sure.

"Joy in Repetition" is so swirly and weird.

i can sing every word of joy in repetition and occasionally do when i'm waiting for trains
Graffiti Bridge is badly underrated yes. It james out.

sonnyboy, find new friends

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

xpost: was gonna say "sonnyboy if you don't think chaos and disorder, 3121, the gold experience or emancipation are *decent* then i dunno about your prince fandom"...
is that harsh?

Gold Experience and Emancipation no doubt
3121 eh
Chaos and Disorder has like two james and that's it.

Here I go pushing 20Ten again...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHWoK6P9XoM

That's kinda fun.

Everyone loves his guy...how many of them own 'TGE', 'Come' or anything after the Love Symbol album? There's a shitload of people who don't have anything past Diamonds and it's basically the Kid's fault.

It's does seem an awful shame that because he hasn't released a decent record in over 20 years
― The Pastiche Liberation Front (sonnyboy), Thursday, July 7, 2011 7:29 PM Bookmark

I stopped reading here. sorry, Emancipation, Musicology, and 3121 are all good to great....

also I like the Symbol album and Come

I currently don't own anything of Prince's past The Gold Album, and even then Diamonds and Pearls is the last album of his featuring anything I want to hear. It's just too much mediocrity to take/sift through. Granted, each Prince album has always had a track or two I've liked, even "The Rainbow Children," but I'd be lying if I gave a shit about his sort of gormless genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vITKFi2W_o

thread why u brake heart ;_;

^Obv. live is a different matter. I've seen the dude in several different live contexts, from clubs to arenas, and he's never been less than captivating.

Well, you are correct: nothing after Emancipation is essential.

yea I would agree that he hasn't made a CLASSIC in the last 20 years, but sonnyboy acting like he hasn't even achieved mediocrity in the last 20 years = o_O

There was a Prince vs Bowie thread a few years ago and I was more or less aghast that anyone could seriously pick Prince over Bowie. I only vaguely remember the "points" I was trying to make and I can't be bothered to find the thread, but anyhow, something clicked over the past few years and now I think I finally "get" Prince (ILM has certainly helped). I say that even as someone who was a Prince fan during the 80's. It's amazing that you can hear music one way for 20 years and then suddenly a light turns on and you hear things completely differently. This is also a big reason why I could never give up listening to music.

that's like me with the Rolling Stones, who I hated up until this year

Live of course he still rules although the best bits for me are when he sits alone at the piano and plays his little heart out...that is pure unadulterated Prince genius...(but go back to 82/83 live boots...up there with J.B, P-Funk and EWF...arguably better)...but as someone who lived on Prince's music between 82-88 don't come here and tell me that there wasn't as major dropping off as has been witnessed in 50 years of pop music...Emancipation vs 1999??...please...sure you could scramble together a good comp of the best bits and it would still have lots of great stuff on there but the day he let Wendy and Lisa go was the day everything went tits up...yeah ill call it...if you tell me that Come or 3121 is up there with a Dirty Mind I'll respect you,shake your hand and tell you maybe we like Prince for different reasons...right that's enough from me I'm off to watch Graffiti Bridge...

ehm, nobody is saying Come or 3121 are up there with Dirty Mind, but Dirty Mind is a classic and one of his best efforts. You said he hadn't released anything "decent" in 20 years.

Well I guess "decent" is subjective but for me Prince and decent should'nt even be in the same room. As far as his recorded output goes and im only talking bout his recorded output... sure they're are a few gems but the vast majority of it is'nt mediocre...its just plain bad...

As far as his recorded output goes and im only talking bout his recorded output... sure they're are a few gems but the vast majority of it is'nt mediocre...its just plain bad...

As far as his recorded output goes and im only talking bout his recorded output... sure they're are a few gems but the vast majority of it is'nt mediocre...its just plain bad...

As far as his recorded output goes and im only talking bout his recorded output... sure they're are a few gems but the vast majority of it is'nt mediocre...its just plain bad...

As far as his recorded output goes and im only talking bout his recorded output... sure they're are a few gems but the vast majority of it is'nt mediocre...its just plain bad...

I suppose if you include Around the World in a Day, Lovesexy and the enervated late nineties records the percentages informing the phrase "vast majority" would make sense.

I was only talking about the last 20 years...but I guess you could now say the majority...

what the fuck ever

also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6yANUgWfSM

Everyone loves his guy...how many of them own 'TGE', 'Come' or anything after the Love Symbol album? There's a shitload of people who don't have anything past Diamonds and it's basically the Kid's fault.

― Master of Treacle, Friday, July 8, 2011 10:26 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

Parts of Chaos and Disorder I liked (the title track) and parts of it I LOVED ("Dinner With Dolores"). But Emancipation was underwhelming. It wasn't that he was phoning it in necessarily, but most of what was on that record was What We Know Prince Can Do, rather than Prince Taking Chances.

today I was visiting with an old friend who got me into Prince years and years ago, and he went "which Prince albums do you not have?" -- he's been ripping and selling/giving away a lot of his CDs, so he gave me a whole stack of Prince: For You, Around The World In A Day, Lovesexy, Grafitti Bridge, Diamonds & Pearls, Come, The Gold Experience, and Emancipation. gonna enjoy poring over these while i work on my ballot for the Prince tracks poll.

yeah, if you haven't really listened to those albums you are due for a fucking revelation my friend

i've heard some of them once or twice and have heard songs from others via said friend, but yeah i know there's a wealth of good shit i'm about to exposed to

the problem with Prince Taking Chances is that (apart from the rainbow children, or the truth) when hes tried to do that over the last 20-odd years, weve been ending up with some pretty awful music. basically, prince shouldnt touch new technology or try and work with new styles/sounds anymore cos it comes out badly. his best stuff of recent is more modest in its ambition.

it is kind of funny to end a rant about how Prince has lost it by announcing that you're going to watch GRAFFITI BRIDGE

unexpectedly i was listening to SOTT at the weekend and thinking its maybe a bit overrated compared to say an album like 1999. maybe ive just developed a thing about rejecting 'classic' career peak albums but it seems a bit too 'careful'/muted. and im not sure the title track lyrically is much more than a social ills laundry list or that the cross isnt a bit cliche with its almost bono-ish imagery of pregnant mothers singing and flowers and ghettos on opposite sides etc. i should make a SOTT thread.

there's one floating around where we ranked the tracks on SOTT

my opinion was that the singles are among the weakest tracks on the album aside from "If I Was Your Girlfriend", which is amazing

U Got the Crazy

SOTT feels like the start of 'modern' prince to me, but it's the best possible version where almost all the ideas work and the songs are really strong

But Emancipation was underwhelming. It wasn't that he was phoning it in necessarily, but most of what was on that record was What We Know Prince Can Do, rather than Prince Taking Chances.

Agreed. The problem is, What We Know Prince Can Do tends to be more listenable (ie, less appalling) these days than Prince Taking Chances.

i think sott is the end of classic prince, rather than the start of modern prince. graffiti bridge was basically the real end of that though, seeing as it had a lot of old 86-era songs from the sott/dream factory sessions on it.

1999 is just bolder though (im using this to compare as its his first big double album) - it feels like no one had done anything like that before. sott meanwhile seems more measured with some not exactly obvious (he makes them prince-ian) influences showing up but still clear here and there (the ending of play in the sunshine i still love but it now just makes me think of strawberry fields) whereas before prince seemed to have few obvious influences. could never take the place is still amazing and weirdly the guitar section now makes me think of weather report or return to forever but not nearly as flashy/bloated. very odd hearing an album youre so familiar with after leaving it alone for so long.

emancipation is good if you trim it to one cd. more than that and its weaknesses start to show. plus a lot of the songs on there were just too long.

There is a lot more worth saving on Emancipation than just one CD's worth. Chunks of it are self-indulgent but most of it works.

I think Emancipation apologists take things a bit too far, really. Especially when there's the perfectly serviceable Gold Experience right next to it in the discography.

Here's where I admit I never got "I Hate U."

It's perfectly possible to like both Emancipation and The Gold Experience! In fact, I prefer The Gold Experience; that doesn't make me dislike Emancipation.

those stabs at nineties R&B on Love Symbol and TGE are mostly tinkly and treacly. Emacipation is where he gets it.

Don't think we ever polled TGE.

Here's where I admit I could really care less about anything on Emancipation outside of "Sleep Around" and "The Human Body."

"Let's Have a Baby" has quietly become one of my favorite Prince ballads: the bass, piano, his falsetto.

ha Eric, well at least I agree that both of those tracks bang

sleep around i always thought george michael should have covered

"Sleep Around" with "Star People" production would be pretty great.

or 'outside' type production

it really is the best GM song GM never recorded

could never take the place is still amazing and weirdly the guitar section now makes me think of weather report or return to forever but not nearly as flashy/bloated. very odd hearing an album youre so familiar with after leaving it alone for so long.

this might be my least favorite part of the whole record. the drum programming drives me crazy, that relentless fake open hi-hat over what should be a simmering breakdown

aargh the drums on ICNTTPYM drive me insane, if there was ever a Prince single for proper rock drumming

drums on the Cross are also terrible, as opposed to Sheila rocking out on SOTT live

maybe the Mo Tucker effect on the album was intentional, I dunno

cmon, you think prince really was listening hard to the velvets? thats just something critics assigned to the song in retrospect, no?

Yeah - I also seriously doubt he was listening to the VU. Wishful Critic Thinking.

The beauty of SOTT - and very much spoken about at the time it was released - is the very obvious demo-y quality of many of the tracks. Especially when Prince was always so good at passing off stuff he'd recorded mainly by himself as full band collabs (i.e. "1999", much of Purple Rain)

Love the drums on "The Cross"! They actually sound live.

I also like the sorta crappy drum machine sound.

the drums on the cross are live. its not a drum machine. ICNTTPOYM is a drum machine tho, obv.

prince would not be a VU fan imo... i think he would see them as deficient/too inept in some way.

there's more than one AMAZING cd on emancipation but not much more
still necessary
crystal ball is not as good, but again there's at least one great disc

I really don't think it's that big of a stretch that Prince would be familiar with VU.

In 1987? I do.

there's more to life than Prince you know but not much more

xpost

The VU albums were reissued in 1985 so it's more than feasible that he heard them then if not well before.

well i could believe that wendy and lisa might have played him some

honestly can't see Prince having even the slightest interest in a band that doesn't have "chops" in the conventional sense. and VU did not.

across the board, all his obvious influences - Kraftwerk, P-Funk, Sly, Joni Mitchell - were very slick musos

also just because a song has only two chords /= Velvets

Well, he also loved Cocteau Twins c. the Parade era so maybe chops weren't everything...

uh Elizabeth Fraser definitely has vocal chops

http://www.westendextra.com/news/2011/jul/prince-spotted-berwick-street-purple-rain-superstar-drops-buy-cds-and-dvds-soho-record

who knew this guy went record shopping. seems like a wasteed trip though. hes in soho, hes going to SOTU, and he buys hendrix, curtis, sly and al green (all of which i am sure he knows off by heart). says it all really about where hes at these days!

cementing his legacy/place in the pantheon?

that would be if he went around record shops reshelving his own albums ;)

I would posit that releasing so many albums is the opposite of taking a chance. Dude should cull and concentrate, then drop an album that has more weight to it than "the newest Prince album until he releases two or three more next year."

when Prince culls and concentrates, we end up with Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic

culling and concentrating has never really been his forte

when Prince culls and concentrates, we end up with Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic

Ha, too true. Musicology sounded like he made an effort, too, and that turned out ... better.

when he culls and concentrates, he also records SOTT.

A handful of rave-ups aside, it might be the quietest rock double album ever recorded.

Musicology sounded like he made an effort, too, and that turned out ... better.

Speak for yourself.

"The opposite of NATO is OTAN"

makes ya think

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lohrzkYyV91qixko4o1_400.gif

<3

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj273/mookiebut/funk_convulsion.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJH-nLejSIg&feature=player_embedded

yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

I've never taken the time to track down unreleased Prince stuff, but this is convincing me I should.

heard an incredible prince bootleg the other day - 20 min set, live in bbc studios in '92. just insane, especially the transitions.

you absolutely should rev, although the homemade bootleg series someone linked to in one of the polls threads does a pretty good job at collecting the best of it and grouping it by era.

never seen these clips--watch while you can!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abjN6NvaXx8&feature=youtu.be

Apparently there was a Revolution reunion show sans Prince at First Avenue tonight? Classic lineup + Dez + Eric Leeds with Wendy as frontwoman.

uh.... fucking hell that video

The recorded version comes from that show (edited down a bit, with the coda added later). First time they ever performed it.

has that video been out there?

yeah wow

i'm just trying to imagine being one of the kids in the front row there... like it would take me possibly my entire life to comprehend being in that position

Not sure how long that video's been out there, but I watched it a few months back at least. There's other first performances of Purple Rain material from that show out there.

Oh, and it was Wendy Melvoin's first show in the band.

Whoa, "When You Were Mine" in his natural register is like a whole different (but still amazing) song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WadJVLlS9Jw&feature=related

hard to believe that's the same show, i don't like that at all

uh.... fucking hell that video

― illuminati girl (J0rdan S.), Sunday, February 19, 2012 8:12 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark

xp Really? I think that's my favorite performance of that song I've seen.

i dunno, seems tossed-off to me? is he even singing in the same key as the rest of the band? idk, i'm back to the purple rain clip

super pissed the "delirious" clip got its audio removed

several other uploads from that show by "jamiestarrevolution". unfortunately the most intriguing have disabled audio tracks ("delirious", "let's go crazy"). there is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77NFGphNOpU

not much cop, but there you go

some disagreement as to key in that version of "when u were mine", plus crippling A/V glitches, but shit that smokes. goddam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ha60kFHU_U&context=C3bfe5bfADOEgsToPDskIvV4Iw8yGO6r7yRCW2pX6e

I don't think he's out of key, just playing with the melody. xps

going through dude's videos, did MPLS ever release anything else?

crazy animate video in an 80s, kinda-sorta rock and rule style, badass.

uh, "animated"

Oh wow, this Prince wiki: http://www.princevault.com/index.php/Main_Page

Yeah, that wiki is great!

There's also a really great online project floating around that arranged the best of unreleased prince stuff and released stuff as proper deluxe albums.

maybe the death of megaupload etc. killed it, tho.

his case of you is epic, although i think i prefer the solo acoustic version i saw him do over the summer.

uh.... fucking hell that video

― illuminati girl (J0rdan S.), Sunday, February 19, 2012 8:12 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark

― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Sunday, February 19, 2012 11:04 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

There's also a really great online project floating around that arranged the best of unreleased prince stuff and released stuff as proper deluxe albums.

maybe the death of megaupload etc. killed it, tho.

― Somewhere between Fergie and Jesus (Alex in Montreal), Sunday, February 19, 2012 10:10 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Where is this?

I think you can still find that stuff floating around, at least in Soulseek. They're called "Foefur's remasters", and they're all in FLAC format.

I don't think the remastering work this Foefur fellow has done to album tracks is that impressive, but these are a great way of getting hold of rare and unreleased tunes.

I wasn't thinking of Foefur's remasters. Was thinking of this - http://therearenokings.blogspot.com/

Apparently all his files got taken down, but he's working on alternative distribution.

Shoot me an e-mail, Rev and we can find a way to get you it via snailmail or something?

Oh shit. He doesn't even have the track listings up anymore. Hm.

yeah, i been looking around, there's no foefur's remasters around as far as i can see (damn!)

Just gonna list the extras/bonus discs b/c the regular album tracklisting is normal for the albums.

Prince (1979)
Wouldn't You Love to Love Me?
Down a Long Lonely Road
Miss You
Baby, Baby, Baby
Donna
Nadeara
K-FUNK Interview

Dirty Mind (1980)
Lisa (only bonus track)

Controversy (1981)
The Second Coming
Broken
She's Just a Baby
Tick, Tick, Bang
Feel U Up/Irresistable Bitch
Strange Way of Saying Eye Love You

1999 (1982)
Purple Music
Turn It Up
Moonbeam Levels
Possessed
No Call U
Baby, You're a Trip
Extra Lovable
Delirious (Alternate)
DMSR (Alternate)
Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) (Alternate)

Purple Rain (1984)
Bunch of alternate versions
All Day, All Nights
the other non-prince tracks from the movie, including Dez Dickerson's Modernaire

Parade (1986)
Old Friends 4 Sale
All My Dreams
Others Here With Us
Little Girl Wendy's Parade

Sign O The Times (1987)
(Bonus Disc 1) - Bonus Disc
Power Fantastic Intro
Power Fantastic
It's a Wonderful Day
Neon Telephone
Wonderful Ass
Sexual Suicide
Teacher Teacher
Big Tall Wall
Data Bank
Girl o' My Dreams
Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
We Can Funk
In a Large Room With No Light
Movie Star
A Place in Heaven
Witness 4 the Prosecution (Hornless Version)
Crystal Ball
Joy In Repetition

Bonus Disc 2 - Camille (original tracklisting for the 'Camille' album)
Rebirth of the Flesh
Housequake
Feel U Up (Long Stroke)
Shockadelica
Good Love
If I Was Your Girlfriend
Rockhard in a Funky Place

Bonus Disc 3 - Dream Factory (final version of Dream Factory c. 1986)
Visions
nevaeH ni ecalP A
Dream Factory
Train
The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
It
Strange Relationship (Alternate Version - extra sitar/tabla)
Starfish and Coffee
Interlude
Slow Love
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Sign O The Times
A Place in Heaven
Crystal Ball
The Cross
Last Heart
Witness 4 the Prosecution
Movie Star
All My Dreams

Of the later albums I think he's also done Graffiti Bridge and Diamonds and Pearls but I didn't see anything there I was super excited about.

The real treasure trove is the Sign o the Times package, which includes a disc worth of amazing bonuses, plus Dream Factory which is secretly sometimes my favourite Prince album.

one of my friends was at the Revolution reunion last night. sounds like p was there, but didn't play?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AK_UuvBrDU

Holy crap those SOTT-era tracklists! If someone does a dropbox-type thing please to ILXmail me...

xpost <3 Wendy so much

echoing what jon lewis said; that stuff looks AMAZING

It really is. Um. The blog says that they're going to figure out some other way of distribution. But there must be a better way.

Oh also, I think those packages include the 12" singles and their b-sides also? But I keep those separate from the albums as their own singles in iTunes.

I have that huge comp a dude did years ago of all the 12" mixes (vinyl rips at 160 bitrate) which is a fkin monument though the sound lacks impact. Would be interesting to hear what the latest vinyl-ripping science could do for them.

It was on an ILX thread somewhere, maybe '06 or '07.

Holy crap those SOTT-era tracklists! If someone does a dropbox-type thing please to ILXmail me...

― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Monday, February 20, 2012 7:46 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Holy crap those SOTT-era tracklists! If someone does a dropbox-type thing please to ILXmail me...

― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Monday, February 20, 2012 7:46 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Monday, February 20, 2012 1:38 PM (11 minutes ago)

Pretty please!

Oh lord. Ok.

Trynna figure something out.

Ditto, even though I think I have almost all this material.

I don't have the FLACs though - they were available at the time, but I didn't think to get them etc. etc.

Wow, I'd never seen those Homemade editions.

I for one do not need flacs. Decent bitrate mp3 is more than enough for me.

Yeah, not a flac fan. Perfect copy of imperfect source, etc.

i've only got the 1999 homemade deluxe thang, but it is great. always meant to grab the rest... if there is a d-box thing, keep me posted!

another on the "fuck flacs" bandwagon, good mp3s preferred

i demand flacs! FLACS!!! (no just kidding, realllllly don't care.)

the original Dream Factory record, which I ripped about six years ago, is as magnificent as SOTT. The world is a sadder place for not hearing "Teacher Teacher" and "Train."

Yes, Train is AMAZING and not in the Mavis Staples version which gets rid of the lovely percussion that sounds like clickety clack.

What is your Dream Factory tracklist Alfred - mine doesn't have Teacher Teacher on it.

Was general consensus SOTT Deluxe/Camille/Dream Factory?

It begins with "Visions," an instrumental piece composed by Wendy and Lisa, then segues into "Teacher Teacher."

That's the other thing: Wendy and Lisa are full-fledged collaborators in this iteration of the album.

I have that huge comp a dude did years ago of all the 12" mixes (vinyl rips at 160 bitrate) which is a fkin monument though the sound lacks impact. Would be interesting to hear what the latest vinyl-ripping science could do for them.

I have 320 bit or FLAC copies of all of Prince's 12" mixes (except for "America", where the rip with the best sound quality that I've found is 256 bit; unfortunately I can't rip my own vinyl copy of it) and B-sides, and of some of the unreleased stuff too. Obviously filesharing is WRONG AND AGAINST ILX RULES, but if you drop me an email at tuomast {dot} alho {at} gmail {dot} com, we can "discuss" the issue.

i managed to get all those "homemade deluxe editions" except for, i think, diamonds and pearls, which was the last one. they are indeed amazing. they also did deluxe edition of some prince-produced albums like vanity 6 and the time.

that vanity 6 album is great cheap fun btw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DewZ0nvMw7A

Not the Rockpile song, I guess.

damn i need these homemade deluxe edtions in my life

dream factory stuff >> sott

i think this is a pretty common outtake, but i posted "purple music" from the 1999 sessions a while back if anyone doesn't have it: http://ow.ly/8HQ3m

sign me up as someone interested in homemade SOTT box sets plz!!!

We could send Alex In MTL a purple thumb drive to fill up, then it could get sent around to all of us in turn. Like old fashioned tape networks...

a purple thumb drive in a thong

it will need a tiny smoke machine

and the ability to jizz on the audience at the end of "purple rain"

*cries*

sign me up as someone interested in homemade SOTT box sets plz!!!

holy shit i just listened to 'teacher teacher' on youtube...so good.

didn't realize just how much unreleased stuff from that era there was. need need need that dream factory comp!!!

Wow. Ok. This is a lot of people - concerned about too much dropbox downloading from my account. Is there a better way to do this?

let me know what you need to make it happen

ilx should have a private BitTorrent tracker

oooooh gimme have been thinking about some way of getting my mitts on all this unreleased stuff since reading Dance Music Sex Romance: The First Decade last year

maybe a drop box tree? Alex shares it to a few, each of them share it to a few?

Or y'know THE PURPLE THUMB DRIVE...

Purple thumb drive sounds hilarious and awesome. We would have to compile a mailing chain though. And also wouldn't the thumb drive get stopped at borders and stuff?

http://geniusbeauty.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/purple-rose-usb-flash-drive.jpg

racist imo

?

purple so gets stopped at the border

oh lol, thought that the random purple rose thumb drive i found was somehow racist.

well that too

i was racist when i posted, forgive me if i go astray

carefully suppressed library lols

A+

only just spotted all this deluxe edition hype and yeah god if there is a way of getting my hands on this stuff Alex i'm mad for it thankyou.

"I Wonder" might be my favorite unreleased Prince. "Train" is really really good too.

Speaking of this kind of stuff, a couple of great comps of unreleased mp3s were floating the internet around awhile back, with tremendously detailed liner notes included.. OK here's the notes for Vol. 2 for instance:

1. Irresistible Bitch - Original Demo Version (1981)
I'm immediately cheating a bit, because Irresistible Bitch was released as the b-side of the single Let's Pretend We're Married, the fourth and final single from Prince's fifth album 1999. And in 1993, it was included as the eleventh track on The B-Sides compilation (included as the third and final disc on The Hits/The B-Sides). While specific recording dates for Irresistible Bitch are not known, it was initially recorded in sequence with Feel U Up in late 1981 at Prince's home studio at Kiowa Trail, Chanhassen. The song was later re-recorded in September 1983. However, the original demo version is more interesting in my book, because with its synths and drum computer, this version contains the first characteristics of what would become the Minneapolis Sound.

2. Baby, You're A Trip (1982)
Baby, You're A Trip is the eighth and final track on Jill Jones' same-titled 1987 album, released on Prince's label Paisley Park. Although Jill Jones was given official writing credits, the song was written solely by Prince. He even recorded his own complete version - this one. Initial tracking for Prince's original version took place in July 1982 and mixed the song further in January 1986 (on the same day as mixing other tracks for Jill Jones' album; With You, Mia Bocca and G-Spot).

3. Lust U Always (1982)
An unreleased song recorded in 1982 at Prince's Kiowa Trail home studio. The song paraphrases some lyrics from Joni Mitchell's song Twisted (later played once on the One Nite Alone... Tour), but thematically fits in well with much of his 1981/1982 material, concerning the narrator's uncontrollable lust for a woman. It is not known if the song was intended for Prince's next album 1999 or any other project. It was submitted for copyright five years after its recording and Prince offered it to the late Robert Palmer soon after, but he turned the song down.

4. Purple Music (1982)
Recorded at some point in 1982 at Prince's Kiowa Trail home studio. It is unknown if it was considered for inclusion on 1999 or any other project. The song is a monotonous uptempo track, sparsely instrumented by a bouncy drum machine beat provided by the Linn LM-1 and a synth bass line, a scratchy guitar riff reminiscent of Controversy and a simple synth-lead line, not too far removed from the lead line of 1999's All The Critics Love U In New York. It has an anti-drug message in which Prince says that "purple music" does the same to his brain as reefer or cocaine. Prince's voice sounds slightly manipulated (although not to the effect that he would later utilize for songs performed as Camille, like If I Was Your Girlfriend), to suggest he is indeed getting high on his music as he sings.

5. Computer Blue - Full Version (1983)
Again, I'm cheating a bit, because Computer Blue has of course been released as the fourth track on Purple Rain. But this version is the longest circulating, clocking in at 14.03 minutes, and has never been released as such. Here's why: before a studio recording was made, Prince and the Revolution recorded the song live during a benefit concert on August 3, 1983 at First Avenue, Minneapolis (during which I Would Die 4 U, Baby, I'm A Star and Purple Rain also were recorded). Later in August, 1983, a studio version was recorded at The St. Louis Park Warehouse, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, with the full Revolution, before at least three other versions were recorded mid-August 1983, with only Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman participating. These versions would be edited down for the album and are largely similar at the beginning and end of the song - differences are noticeable in the middle of the track. The version of Computer Blue I selected for this compilation was included as the third track on the November 1983 configuration of the Purple Rain album, but it was edited down for the final April 1984 album configuration to make room for the inclusion of Take Me With U. A pity, if you ask me ;)

6. Electric Intercourse - Live at First Avenue (1983)
At the benefit concert on August 3, 1983, Electric Intercourse was also played - and thus recorded. In my humble opinion, Electric Intercourse is one of the best songs Prince ever wrote, and judging the raving comments this song usually gets amongst Prince fans, I'm not alone. No studio version is known to exist; Prince used the live version when adding overdubs to the track in mid-September, 1983. It is likely the track was planned to be included on Purple Rain in the same overdubbed-live format as I Would Die 4 U, Baby I'm A Star and Purple Rain. A few days after recording overdubs, however, Prince recorded The Beautiful Ones, which replaced Electric Intercourse. Again, a pity in my opinion, because even though I love The Beautiful Ones, Electric Intercourse is a true gem.

7. Possessed (1983)
Possessed was released in a live version on the Prince And The Revolution: Live VHS and is credited as a dedication to James Brown. No studio version of the track has been released. Initial tracking took place in May 1983 at Prince's home studio, two months after the song's first live appearance. He recorded a new version in March 1984 for use in the Purple Rain movie. A short instrumental portion plays in the movie in the background of a scene in which Morris Day tries to seduce Apollonia.

8. All Day, All Night (1984)
All Day, All Night is the fifth track on Jill Jones' self-titled album, released on the Paisley Park label. Although Jill Jones shared official writing credits, the song was written solely by Prince and is registered at the Library of Congress as having been written by Joey Coco, a pseudonym Prince used for a while. Initial tracking for Prince's original version took place during a concert on Prince's birthday, 7 June, 1984 at First Avenue, Minneapolis, during the same show where the basic tracks for Our Destiny and Roadhouse Garden were also recorded. Prince added further instrumentation and Jill Jones added vocals at a later date (likely in July, 1986, although this is unconfirmed).

9. Our Destiny (1984)
Also recorded during Prince and the Revolution's concert on 7 June, 1984 at First Avenue. The track segued directly into Roadhouse Garden. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman worked on the track further for three days in late September 1984 (during the same sessions where they recorded string overdubs for Pop Life from the Around The World In A Day album). They added a string section to the track which Prince later reused for the opening of The Ladder, recorded a few months later. Our Destiny is not known to have been considered for inclusion on Around The World In A Day, or any other project at the time. It is likely that it was planned for inclusion on the Prince and the Revolution album Roadhouse Garden (worked on in 1998/1999), but the album, and the song, remain unreleased.

10. Go (1985)
Recorded in early August 1985, with only Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. Prince worked on the track further in late October 1985, when bandmembers arrived in France for the video shoot of the America single, although it was worked on in rehearsal, rather than in the studio. Engineer Susan Rogers noted that Prince put a lot of time and effort into the track, and must have been seriously considering it for release, although it was not included on any known configuration of the Parade album or any other project. It is likely that the song was considered for the announced Prince and the Revolution album Roadhouse Garden in 1998/1999, but this is speculative. The track remains unreleased.

11. Baby Go-Go (1986)
Released as the third track on the Nona Hendryx album Female Trouble, and, about two months later, Baby Go-Go was released as the album's second single. Initial tracking took place in June 1986. Nona Hendryx re-recorded the track with her own musicians in early 1987, with both Mavis Staples and George Clinton adding background vocals (both of whom Prince would come to work with directly in the following years). Prince's version remains unreleased. To compare both versions, listen to Nona's take of Baby Go-Go, lacking the funky guitar licks from Prince's version ;)

12. Data Bank (1986)
Written, produced AND recorded by Prince, but credited to The Time. Initial tracking took place on in June 1986, and was re-recorded with Morris Day on lead vocals in summer 1989 at Paisley Park Studios, when Prince and Morris Day worked on the projected fourth album by The Time, Corporate World, which later morphed into Pandemonium. Either way, Prince's own version is far more interesting (and superior) to The Time's version; it's a great example of how prolific Prince was in the mid-Eighties with not just writing many, many great songs, but even recording them.

13. Rebirth Of The Flesh (1986)
On some bootlegs wrongfully called Semi-A-Collia, Rebirth Of The Flesh was originally recorded in late October 1986 and planned to be included as the first track on the November 1986 configuration of the Camille album (credited to Prince's pseudonym Camille), which was later aborteer. A few weeks later, it was included as the first track on the first disc of the triple-album Crystal Ball on the late November 1986 configuration. The track was removed when the album was eventually trimmed down to become Sign O' The Times.

14. The Ball (1986)
Recorded in July 1986 and included as the fourth track on the second disc on the late November 1986 configuration of the Crystal Ball triple LP, which was created as the follow-up to Parade, segueing directly into Joy In Repetition. When Prince had to trim down the album (Warner Brothers refused to release a triple album, foreseeing a commercial flop and because they found Prince was releasing too much music within a short time, risking he would saturate the market) and it developed into Sign O' The Times, the track was removed (along with the 12-minute long title track from Crystal Ball. In December 1987, Prince re-recorded the track with new lyrics as Eye No (released as the opening track from his 1988 Lovesexy album), but kept the original segue ending the track (which was also used at the beginning of the released version of Joy In Repetition, later released on Graffiti Bridge in 1990).

15. Witness 4 The Prosecution (1986)
Witness 4 The Prosecution was initially recorded in March 1986, and further recording was done by Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Susannah Melvoin and Eric Leeds in April 1986, while Prince was en route returning from France shooting additional scenes for Under The Cherry Moon. While the track was not included on a late April 1986 configuration of the (never released) Dream Factory album, it was included as the 15th song on the June 1986 configuration, and as the 16th track on the July 1986 configuration. Prince re-recorded the track completely in October 1986, the day before disbanding The Revolution (the reason Dream Factory was never released). In late 1998/1999, the track was intended for inclusion on the Roadhouse Garden album of Prince and the Revolution-era tracks, but this album remains unreleased.

16. The Line - Later Version (1987)
The Line was initially recorded late December 1987, during a stretch of sessions focused on the Lovesexy album. It was written in response to a poem by Ingrid Chavez which Prince had recorded with her earlier in the month, entitled Cross The Line. However, that is not the version on this compilation; the initial version was sparsely arranged. Prince added horns, percussion and several chants in January 1988; this version was included on an early version of the album, compiled on 21 January, 1988, but was removed for a February configuration, replaced by I Wish U Heaven. The song includes a chanted portion used in live shows since early 1987, "People, people. I've got a brand new dance", which mentions Housequake (from the Sign O' The Times album). The track ends with vocalist Boni Boyer singing lyrics from Take My Hand, Precious Lord. A scream by Boni Boyer from this track was later used in the opening seconds of Acknowledge Me from the 1994 Come album (credited incorrectly to "Bonni Boyer"), with the liner notes stating that The Line was "2 b released at a later date". The song remains unreleased, though.

17. Fuchsia Light (1988)
Fuchsia Light was recorded in April 1988 for possible use on Tony LeMans' Paisley Park Records 1989 album Tony LeMans. At some point between mid-1988 and early 1989, Tony LeMans recorded lead vocal overdubs, but the song was not included on the release; it is believed Prince pulled the song after returning from the Lovesexy Tour upon discovering that LeMans was having an affair with Ingrid Chavez. The song's theme of a colored light being used during the act of lovemaking was later used in Blue Light (from the 1992 'Symbol' album, but the tracks are otherwise unrelated. Prince also reused a phrase from the track, "monogamy and trust", in Sex (the B-side from Scandalous from 1989), but this should not be considered a quote or reference to this song.

18. The Max (1988)
This version of The Max was recorded in February 1988, but is entirely different from the 'Symbol' album track of the same name, except from the line 'This is The Max'. It is not known if the track was intended for any specific project. A saxophone riff from this track was later reused in Carmen On Top, released on her 1991 album.

19. Dance With The Devil (1989)
Recorded in February 1989 during initial sessions for the Batman movie and accompanying Batman soundtrack album. The song is based around the phrase "You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?", used in the movie by The Joker (played by Jack Nicholson), which is sampled during the track (this was later sampled in Batdance, but is not considered a sample of this track as it originates from the movie). The track also samples a Gregorian chant, initially used in Madhouse's 21-24 (The Dopamine Rush Suite). The track is long and suite-like, containing several separate sections, including a classical synth run similar to the ending of When Doves Cry. It was included as the ninth and final track on a March 1989, configuration of the Batman album. Prince felt the track was too dark, however, and replaced it with Batdance, which was recorded in mid-to-late March. The track remains unreleased, unfortunately.

20. Come - Original Version (1993)
OK, this is a complicated one. Come is released in an entirely different version on Prince's album Come from 1994. In 1993, an earlier recording of Come was included in the Glam Slam Ulysses stage-show, during the segment titled "The Trojan Horse" (credited, as was the whole project, to O(+>) In 1994, four months before the album's release, the studio promotional video of Come (using yet another recording of the track, the one included in this compilation) was included in The Beautiful Experience TV movie (again credited, as was the whole project, to O(+>) It is not clear when the version used in The Beautiful Experience was recorded, but it is likely this was recorded in late 1993 or early 1994 at Paisley Park Studios. At this point Prince, pardon, O(+> was working on The Dawn, and Come was planned for inclusion. It was also planned for inclusion on an early version of The Beautiful Experience EP (before the EP was turned into a simple maxi-single for The Most Beautiful Girl In The World). Strangely, when O(+> abandoned The Dawn, the track was not included on the configuration of the March 1994 configuration of Come, but when Warner Bros. asked for Prince to include the title track, he recorded yet another version, in mid-April, 1994. A configuration of Come from April-May, 1994 includes two versions of Come (although the versions are unknown). A planned "live" single from 1994 also included Come as the opening track, segueing (as the track often did in live settings) into Endorphinmachine. In the summer of 1994, O(+> worked on various remixes of the track for a planned Come EP, details of which are not known, but this EP was known to include 18 & Over (released in 1998 on the Crystal Ball cd set). While 18 & Over clearly derives from Come, it is an entirely different track. Get it? ;)

actually i think those notes may be written by sometime ilxor DJ Sandeman

lol @ "Electric Intercourse"

"Nicki, you're scaring him...--Maya Rudolph as Beyonce

Him, I thought Blu was a girl,--

I meant Prince. (he's crouching behind the couch with just his eyes visible)

Saturday Night Live skit from February 18th still in my mind(Prince gives Blu a smirk)

^^^this was cut from the On Demand broadcast :(

Too bad. That was the best part

let me know what you need to make it happen

so uh did this ever happen...? Alex? Forks?

No. It will - sorry. School took over life for a while.

I'm out of the woods next Monday at 3 pm. We'll figure it out then?

awesome - thx

yeah awesome! i'll have whatever's going, whatever it takes.

yeah, i would still be hella excited!

Right, unreleased Prince vols 1 & 2. scroll to bottom and click "slow download"

(link removed, sorry)

vol 2 liner notes are above

vol 1:

1. We Can Work It Out
From one of the first studio demos by Prince, he made just after signing to Warner Bros. The song even is about the record company he fights during the 90's. It is also one of the first songs in which he experiments with synths, including the Oberheim 4-Voice.

2. Moonbeam Levels
This beautiful ballad, which is about Prince's fear of nuclear war, just like extra Loveable an unreleased song from the 1999 "sessions (1982).

3. Wonderful Ass
Inspired by the butt of Vanity (of 6). Originally recorded in 1983 but edited in 1986 by Wendy & Lisa. INXS stole the text for the song 'Mediate' from their album Kick (1987).

4. Old Friends 4 Sale
Prince blew the lyrics of the song in 1991 on the scraps album The Vault ... Old Friends 4 Sale. The original is much more personal and deals with Dez Dickerson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of The Time who were snowed in and therefore too late for a show. And about the cocaine addiction of Prince's bodyguard Big Chick Berry Hunt. So much snow.

5. Manic Monday
Made into a hit by The Bangles. The song was supposed to be buried as a duet between Prince and Appollonia on the Appollonia 6 album (1984).

6. I Can not Love You Anymore
Recorded in 1992 during the Diamond & Pearls tour in Australia, probably with a voice recorder, for the recording sounds as lo-fi as Guided by Voices at that time. He wrote it for I'll Do Anything, a sort of musical / movie with Nick Nolte....

7. Extra Loveable
"Hey Dez, do you like my band," Prince exclaims mid-song. Guitarist Dez Dickerson had just been replaced by Wendy... Extra Loveable was intended for the Vanity 6 album (1982).

8. I Wonder
A slow, bluesy song with an infectious funky beat. Sounds like Ray Charles teleported to 1990.

9. Train
An outtake from the highly productive Dream Factory period (1986), later recorded by Mavis Staples on Time Waits for No One (1989).

10. Lisa
A tongue-in-cheek song about Lisa Coleman, the keyboard-player of The Revolution, who had just joined the band. From 1980, the time of Dirty Mind and nasty texts.

11. Nothing Left to Give
Written with Sandra St. Victor (The Family Stand). Their collaboration Soul Sanctuary made the Emancipation album (1996), but this gem, for that time remarkably guitar driven, lay.

12. Neon Telephone
The original, and of course much better, version of the song from 1985 that Prince gave the eighties band Three O 'Clock.

13. Love ... Thy Will Be Done
Martika scored a hit in 1991 with this beautiful subdued gospel song, but the version of Prince is more intimate. As if everyone around him in the studio already asleep, he whisper-sings about longing for love, with tears in his eyes. And in ours.

14. High Fashion / Mutiny
Rough mixes of 2 tracks of the Family Project (1984), but with Prince on vocals.That same Family album contains the original of Nothing Compares 2 U.

15. Empty Room
This actually is not unreleased, because it came out as a download on the NPG Music Club on the EP C-Note in 2002 as a 'thank you' to the fans who felt that they didn't get enough value for money for their club membership. Thanks to them we can enjoy this heart-wrenching song he originally recorded in 1985, around the time that he went out with Susannah Melvoin muse (Wendy's sister).

16. Chocolate
The Time did this song again for Pandemonium (1990), but that version is much less funky than Prince's version of 1983-4. Prince recently rediscovered this song and played it for the first time in a killer live version during the second show in the Melkweg, Amsterdam in July 2011.

17. Would not You Love to Love Me
Home recorded in 1978 or 1979. Later he baked a poppy version of this for Taja Sevelle (1987).

18. Open Book
Dates from the time of the Martika sessions (1991). Open Book didn't appear on Martika's Kitchen, but was given to Jevetta Steele. But this bare version really is much more emotionally exposed.

19. All My Dreams
Perhaps the best Prince ever made. Recorded during the Parade sessions in 1985, but miraculously never released. What positive energy explodes out of here!

20. Love Is a Losing Game
Recorded at the Amstel Hotel, on the day that Amy Winehouse died and Prince was in Amsterdam because his concerts in Oslo were canceled because of the attacks by Breivik.

yesssss thank you sir.

that's what i'm fucking talking about. thanks!

tracer, you are a...um....prince

Tracer, you are a gentleman and a scholar...bless you!

woooooah amazing!

i promise i will get on my part of this tomorrow night post-exams.

:)

omg

There will be one or two tracks duplicated on Dream Factory, but the rest I'll try to steer clear of what's already been distributed.

wow, thanks tracer! week made

WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS WONDERFUL ASS

yeah, i recognize like a third of these tracks but have (for the most part) super shitty dubs so putting them all in one place and cleaning them up is excellent
this will be this week's soundtrack

It's absurd that these are anyone's out-takes. I have tickets for two nights of Prince's Welcome 2 Australia tour. He has such an out-sized influence on my music appreciation and he hasn't been here in my adult life, so I'm a little nervous. He's going to bring it, right?

thank you SO MUCH

oof awesome, thanks! do people want me to upload this "homemade deluxe edition" of 1999 I have? or does everyone already have that

yes, 1999!!! that would be great, Tyler...(LOVING the unreleased stuff...can't help but think the poll results would have been alot different if this stuff had circulated prior)

All free download slots are in use. You can download this file immediately by upgrading to FileFactory Premium. Otherwise, please feel free to try again shortly.

:(

xxpost yeah!

Dang, nice.

ah there we go - MANY THANKSSSSS!!!!

GODDAMN, we can work it out; never heard this! very symbol era awesome!

i mean, it sounds earlier than that but the motifs and approaches are there

wowowowoww "I Wonder"!

yeah, "i wonder" was the immediate standout for me as well, it's quite a 1-2 punch with "train" following immediately after

thanks for this, can't wait to listen.

this is tremendous! thanks thanks thanks

such a great mix of things i've only heard once or twice at super low bitrates and brand new shit

oh man I came too late

me too. Can we email you?

i never knew he covered "love is a losing game" - cant wait to hear it

i think he's just doing the guitar...? did i mislisten?

If the link itself if still live I can fwd it to ppl.

this is so great - really appreciate the high sound quality throughout as well

@Alfred y

and others, soz i just got paranoid a bit

cracks me up that Prince actually insisted on nicknaming one of his sidemen "Brown Mark".

stop talking about it!

sorry it was the shoutout in extra lovable that brought it all back

man Wouldn't You Love to Love Me #2 totally has that Sly/Riot-period keyboard and percussion sound

"Makin' music naturally, me and WB" LOLOLOL

I haven't even been able to get all the way through this yet cuz I keep going back to and re-listening to tracks

I haven't made it past "Wonderful Ass" :/

not many people do

so big you can't get over it
so wide you can't get around it

Ok! I have 'Dream Factory', 'Camille' and the Homemade Deluxe Bonus Disc from Sign O the Times up on my Dropbox. Those who were interested maybe send me a shout at 4lex4n✧✧✧.0str✧✧✧@gm✧✧✧.✧0m and I'll forward you the public links.

The Homemade Deluxe of 1999 was mostly covered by what Tracer uploaded.

Oh. Wait. that didn't work.

Ok. well - it's my first name in full, followed by a period followed by '0str0ff' at gmail.

But with "o" instead of "0"

request sent

And ... sent. Thanks Alex!

ditto

Request sent!

Wow I think "Train" is about to send me down a rabbithole of chasing Prince rarities. See you in a few years, thanks Alex.

ty alex

Can't request until I get home later--so psyched! Thanks Alex

Train is the best. Like, literally, actually, forever, the best.

The Mavis Staples version off of 'Time Waits for No One' is ok but it's nowhere near as great as Prince's which uses this train-on-a-track noise as the percussion line.

also just wait til you get to 'all my dreams' because DEAR GOD.

Man I have a terrible sounding recording of 'All My Dreams', that is an amazing amazing song. Can't wait!

(did u get my email btw?)

i replied to all the emails that i got. :/

luk4s, d0n and dayo

Sent it again, once I realized what first name in full meant ...

I didn't get a reply...? :(

maybe I went in yr spam place. This is me, remove the dashes: j-o-n-c-r-o-a-k-e-r @ gmail.com

Sorry folks - was busy writing stuff and not checking gmail. Replied to everyone new. :)

and yeah. just to clarify. name in full = 4lex4nder with As and then "." and then o-s-t-r-o-f-f

uh does he really sing "I will rape you if I must" on "Lust 4 U Always" or am I mishearing things...

Thanks Alex. Just saw that the dude at There Are No Kings just upped all his deluxe editions again as torrents, but in flac form. Alas, not only can I not successfully download the torrent links, but I don't want flac, but maybe someone else is interested ...

xpost i heard(?) that too o_O

Ooh! Good to know. I'm not a flac person but they're there.

Also, some folks were reporting issues with the SOTT - has anyone gotten that link to work proper?

worked for me

Your link or his? Because I can't get a torrent file for any but Dirty Mind. It just downloads ... gibberish. Code and shit.

I got yours, though!

tried it three times now and the .zip file always opens up empty...?

Ok. So I'll try to recompress and reupload my Sign of the Times.

I wonder, is Alex in Manhattan still takin' requests? Sent him an email last nite...A#L^E*X#A@N!D*E(R DOT (alex's last name) @gmail.com

Holy crow, SOTT Outtakes is fuckin' SICK.

Prince takes a lot of baths

god DAMN, this version of "Crystal Ball!" If I die this week, bury me with it.

listening to the Dream Factory version - this is way better than the one that showed up on the offical 3-CD Crystal Ball release wow

i'm just getting to the perfect prince thing now - yowza! really great throughout.

xpost just to be clear i was listening to the SOTT Ridiculous Deluxe version of 'crystal ball', haven't gotten to the Dream Factory one yet.

I can't get the Ridiculous Deluxe zip file to work for some reason :(

I lent the CD-R I burned of TDF years ago and never got it back but am so happy to have these and sounding so good. "Teacher Teacher" no longer sounds like a circus heard from several city blocks away.