this is not music
One day Prince will compile and release all of the great 12″ extended remixes of his glory days. By request, here’s another: the extended “Alphabet St. (this is not music, this is a trip)”. Excuse the background vinyl noise.
Prince:
Alphabet St. (this is not music, this is a trip)– mp3 – original version found on LovesexyP.S. A question for anyone out there who converts LP’s on to their PC’s: any recommendations for good software to efficiently remove the background snaps, crackles, and pops? I used Microsoft Plus Analog Recorder for a while, but it takes … a … long…time.
Prince Unleashes his Fury
Okay, IckMusic has admittedly turned into a Prince blog the last several days. Juuust one more post and I’ll move on (maybe). There have been several requests for the mp3 to Prince’s new tune “Fury”. I can’t supply you with a link to buy the studio version yet because there apparently isn’t one available. If anyone comes across the song for sale, please let me know and I’ll get a link up here right away.
For now, a couple things:
Go pre-order 3121, which comes out on March 21st.
And here is an mp3 from Saturday night:
Prince:
Fury(mp3) from 02/04 performance on Saturday Night Live.Prince on SNL: New Song “Fury”
Here’s Prince’s first song last night on SNL. The name of the song is “Fury”. It’s a barnburner. Scorching guitar solos, dancing chicks. WOW….the ending is priceless.
Irresistible Prince
To round off my Prince posts before tonight’s SNL appearance, I want to drop another few your way, and also steer you toward the brand new video from his March 21 release ‘3121’. It’s called “Black Sweat”, and it’s vintage funky down n dirty Prince. I ripped a lil mp3 from the audio so you can sample it before you go to Amazon and preorder it. I assume this is one of the two he’ll be performing tonight. Hopefully with Steve Martin as host, there will be a Three Amigos skit and Prince will play the part of the Singing Bush (or Jefe).
Prince:
Black Sweat(mp3) – new **
Prince:Irresistible Bitch(mp3) – B side to “Let’s Pretend We’re Married”, found on The Hits : B-Sides
Prince:Let’s Work– Extended 12″ (mp3) – original version found on ControversyVideo: Black Sweat (need to use Internet Explorer for the Yahoo player)
Prince’s Old Friends
Here’s an early outtake from around 1985 (supposedly during the ‘Parade’ sessions). “Old Friends 4 Sale” is rumored to be about Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, two members of The Time that went on to much success as producers (Janet Jackson’s ‘Control’), and Big Chick Huntsberry, his former bodyguard. It’s a slow, somber, bluesy tune, one of my many favorites.
Prince:
Old Friends 4 Sale (#2)(mp3)- A reworked 1991 version was released on ‘The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale‘
- Neal Karlen’s Rolling Stone story & interview from 1985.
Prince on SNL this Weekend
On paper, this weekend’s Saturday Night Live is looking mighty fine: host Steve Martin with musical guest Prince. I’m going on 22 years as Prince fan. His output over the last many years by and large hasn’t done a whole lot for me, but I still buy everything he puts out, I’ll catch him when he’s on the tube, and I most definitely catch him live whenever possible.
Most likely because it’s tied to my adolescence and all the memories associated with it, I’m partial to Prince’s 1980’s output: (not in chronological order) ‘Sign o the Times’, ‘Purple Rain’, ‘Around the World in a Day’, ‘1999’, ‘Parade’, ‘Controversy’, ‘Dirty Mind’, the ‘Black Album’ and ‘Lovesexy’ (okay, 1989’s ‘Batman’ soundtrack, but that didn’t do it for me).
His 12″ maxi-single releases during this era were always something to look forward to, because they would be extended remixes of the album versions. One of the cool ones was Lovesexy’s “I Wish U Heaven”, which was stretched out to 10 minutes. The soft funky pop of the album version gives way to a couple of funky sojourns into Prince’s creative genius. I miss that era of being a Prince fan.
Prince:
I Wish U Heaven (Parts 1,2, and 3)12″ Maxi-Single Extended Version
– original version found on ‘Lovesexy’, a great album which spawned one of the more unfortunate album covers in musical history.Jesse Johnson: Fast & Free
I’ve posted ol’ Jesse Johnson before, but it’s my blog and I’ll
crypost if I want to. Jesse was guitarist for The Time until 1985, when he spun out into the world alone with his debut album, ‘Jesse Johnson’s Revue’.Like Prince, his 12″ maxi singles included previously unreleased B-sides. Two of them are featured here. Both encapsulate the Minneapolis sound of that era, spawned by Prince and The Time. Synths, drum machines, irresistible pop-funk.
Free World is Jesse’s statement of emancipation from the tall shadow of Prince.
Fast Girls was Jesse’s contribution to Janet Jackson’s 1984 album ‘Dream Street’, which he wrote and produced (The Time’s production gurus Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would produce Janet’s next album, ‘Control’). But Jesse also released his own version a year later on the B side of his single “I Want My Girl”.
Mo’ Madhouse w/ Prince, Eric Leeds and Vanity
This tune starts with a young lady’s moans of erotic pleasure. Did I get your attention? Good.
It’s an outtake of a song called “Vibrator” featuring the desire of my teen years (and beyond) – Vanity. The vocals were, uh – laid down in the summer of 1983 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio – his purple house in the early 80’s. Prince would take those vocals and insert them into “Orgasm” on the Come album in 1994.
So after Vanity suitably consecrates the beginning of “Seven,” the drums kick in and we’re off on a Princely funky jazz adventure. The song showcases Eric Leeds on sax, and Prince on pretty much everything else. I posted from this album before, and if you want to purchase the CD, it’ll cost you a few tanks of gas (for a used one).
Madhouse: Seven
It’s a Madhouse In Here
It was fun being a Prince fanatic in the 80’s. You’d get a great new album every year, and interspersed in there would be his 12″ maxi-single releases. Most would have an extended version of the album track, as well a previously unreleased B-Side (they’ve all since been compiled on to the 3rd CD of his Greatest Hits release from the late 90’s). It was all so original and fresh: “Irresistible Bitch”, “She’s Always in My Hair”, “17 Days”, “Another Lonely Christmas”, to name a few
On top of his own releases, Prince was busy working on his side projects: The Family, Apollonia 6, Sheila E., and Madhouse. Madhouse was made up primarily of Prince and Eric Leeds (Prince’s sax player at the time), with some contribution from Levi Seacer (bass) and Sheila E. (drums). It was basically an outlet for Prince to lay down some of his more jazz and jazz-funk oriented stuff. The first Madhouse album was entitled ‘8’, and the songs were entitled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. He released ‘6’ as a maxi-single, which included ‘6 (End of the World Mix)’, which I have for you now…
1986, Paisley Park – {The album is out of print, but you can buy it on Amazon for, uhh, $110)
Jesse Johnson’s Just Wanting You
Jesse Johnson left The Time in 1984, right after their success due to their part in ‘Purple Rain’, and their 2 hit singles, “The Bird” and “Jungle Love”. Jesse did alright for himself, releasing a few albums over the years, including 1988’s ‘Every Shade of Love’, which includes this song, “I’m Just Wanting You”. It’s a laid back tune, with Jesse’s guitar at center stage.
