not the Dream Factory, nor the Camille or Crystal Ball

the SOTT album music singles long versions bsides (1987)outtakes the band the style the times

not the concert film...there is a link below 2 discuss the SOTT film

Prince

Camille

Susan Rogers

Coke Johnson

Dr Fink

Sheila E

Eric Leeds
Miko Weaver

Levi Seacer jr
Atlanta Bliss
Gregory Brooks
Wally Safford
Boni Boyer
Cat Glover

Sign O the Time movie concert

http://prince.org/msg/7/447838

Prince & his Madhouse 8

http://prince.org/msg/7/448090

the Camille era[aborted] ~1987

http://prince.org/msg/7/4...?&pg=1

the Black Album era[aborted] ~1988

http://prince.org/msg/7/448846

One of my favorite eras. The clothes, colors, jams, perfect!!!!!

Susannah Melvoin: Backing vocals on Play In the Sunshine & Starfish and Coffee; co-lead vocals on "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
"Starfish And Coffee", Lyrics co-written by Susannah
Eric Leeds: All saxophones
Atlanta Bliss: All trumpets
Sheena Easton: Co-lead vocals on "U Got the Look"
Sheila E.: Drums and percussion on "U Got the Look", drums and "Transmississippirap" on "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night"
Clare Fischer: Arranger of strings for "Slow Love"
Wendy Melvoin: Guitar and backing vocals on "Slow Love"; tambourine & congas on "Strange Relationship"
Lisa Coleman: Backing vocals on "Slow Love"; sitar & wooden flute on "Strange Relationship"
Miko Weaver: Lead guitar on "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
Jill Jones: Co-lead vocals on "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
The Revolution: Performance of "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
Gilbert Davison, Todd Hermann, Coke Johnson, Brad Marsh, Mike Soltys, Susan Rogers and "the Penguin": Party voices on "Housequake"
Greg Brooks, Wally Safford, Jerome Benton and "6000 wonderful Parisians": Backing vocals on "It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
Susan Rogers, Coke Johnson, and Prince: Engineer
Prince: All other vocals and instruments

"Slow Love" lyrics co-written by Carol Davis

It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" music co-written by Dr. Fink & Eric Leeds.

paulludvig said:

Perhaps my favourite era. Loved everything about it. The music, the clothes, the band, the attitude.

Yep.

I love this era, is so full of magic and great songs.

RELEASED 4.2.1987

Sign o the Times
Play In the Sunshine
Housequake
the Ballad of Dorothy Parker

It

Starfish & Coffee
Slow Love
Hot Thang
Forever In My Life
U Got the Look
If I Was Your Girlfriend
Strange Relationship
I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

The Cross
It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night
Adore

3.21.1987

@ FIRST AVENUE -SOTT Open Rehearsal

1. Housequake

2. Girls & Boys

3. Slow Love

4. Hot Thang

5. Now's the Time

6. Strange Relationship

7. Forever In My Life

8. Kiss

9. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night

released 2.18.1987

In France

a skinny man died from a big disease with a little

By chance

his girlfriend came across a needle

and soon she did the same

At home there are 17yr old boys

and their idea of fun

Is being in a gang called the disciples

High on crack and toting a machine gun

Times

Times

Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died
A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it
And yet we're sending people to the moon
In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time
Now he's doing horse, it's June, unh

Times
Times

It's silly, no?
When a rocket ship explodes and everybody still wants to fly
But some say a man ain't happy unless a man truly dies
Oh why?

Time
Time

Baby make a speech, Star Wars fly
Neighbors just shine it on
But if a night falls and a bomb falls
Will anybody see the dawn?

Time, mm
Times

Is it silly, no?
When a rocket blows and, and everybody still wants to fly
Some say man ain't happy truly until a man truly dies
Oh why, oh why?
Sign o' the times, unh

Time
Time

Sign o' the times mess with your mind
Hurry before it's too late
Let's fall in love, get married, have a baby
We'll call him Nate
If it's a boy

Time
Times

I am a dog outside your door
I have been there since a quarter to four
You are a cat licking intense
I bite your leg in self-defense

Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)

Get out my tree, grinning at me
Licking your tail like it's cream
Stroking your whiskers, causing a scene
That's not the way to be to me (that's not the way)

Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)

And the doggy say to the kitty
La, la, la, he, he, hee
I want you, you want me
Oh, how sexy it will be
If we ever get together in my tree

Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)

Hey little pussy you sure look sweet
Knocking me off of my four feet (knocking me off of my four feet, my four feet)
Sure do wish dogs could climb (I wish, I wish)
Then we could have a funky good time

Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)
Say it again! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)

Why you wink at me? (Why you wink at me?)
I don't really to see (I don't want to see)
Nasty little cat left up in a tree (up)
Is it really worth a one night of fun?
You've got nine lives, I only got one, ooh!

Say it! (ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh)

And the doggy say to the kitty
La, la, la, he, he, hee
I want you, you want me
Oh, how sexy it will be
If we ever get together in my tree

I'm picking up your scent

Prince wrote this song with Sheena Easton, a Scottish singer he was collaborating with at the time (Prince wrote her 1985 hit "Sugar Walls"). According to Easton, the song was very innocent when she started writing it - the song was about a cat that climbs a tree and teases a dog. She says Prince would often inspect her notebooks and offer advice; when he came across "La, La, La, He, He, Hee," he thought it was an interesting idea. As a challenge, he put the song together, turning the dog and cat into metaphors for a human liaison.

The result was a song that has the typical musical complexity of late '80s Prince, but with lyrics that sound like a dirty nursery rhyme. Not suitable for the masses, it was released on the B-side of the "Sign O' the Times" single and later included on The Hits / The B-Sides compilation.

Cat Glover and Eric Leeds - Sign of the Times Tour at Isstadion, Stockholm, Sweden, 9th May 1987.

[Edited 10/17/17 2:25am]

It was during this era that I became a Prince fan. I was a teenager and in the space of 6 months I spent all of my pocket money on his albums produced between 1978 and 1987 (including Sign O' The Times), and started designing and creating my own clothing range based on Cat and Sheila E.'s outfits from the Sign O' The Times tour... I was a dancer and our dance teacher played Prince during the class. Those were fun times. If during that period someone had told me that I would one day get invited by Prince to dance onstage, I would have have believed them (and rightly so as it happened for real, but not until many years later)!

The "Sign o' the Times" single cover...that was when Prince actually asked me to join his band. I had no idea what was going on.
He asked me to go by his house in Beverly Hills and pick up a dress. I flew to Minneapolis the next day and I had no idea that was the dress I was supposed to wear. But, that dress was supposed to be for Susannah Melvoin, Wendy's twin sister. It just so happened I fit the dress. I came to find out that was the dress he wanted me to wear for the cover and he didn't let me know what it was for.
Earl Jones, Jill Jones' uncle, did my hair. I put on the dress, they gave me Prince's glasses, Prince told me to play the guitar and they started shooting. That how it ended up on the cover.
By the way, that heart you see on the cover, was a thick glass mirror. It was so heavy and that's why you see my muscles. I was shaking holding that heart. I said "Prince, if you were going to make the heart black, you could just drawn a black cardboard heart and it would have been effortless."
But, he's smart and he's such a genius, he wanted it to look like him. I got it. If you're holding something heavy, I don't care if you're a baby, girl or woman, your muscles are going to show. Even my dad thought that was Prince. Prince's dad thought that was Prince. Amazing, right?

http://beautifulnightschitown.blogspot.com/2013/05/sexy-dancer-cat-glover-talks-2.html

CherryMoon57 said:

It was during this era that I became a Prince fan. I was a teenager and in the space of 6 months I spent all of my pocket money on his albums produced between 1978 and 1987 (including Sign O' The Times), and started designing and creating my own clothing range based on Cat and Sheila E.'s outfits from the Sign O' The Times tour... I was a dancer and our dance teacher played Prince during the class. Those were fun times. If during that period someone had told me that I would one day get invited by Prince to dance onstage, I would have have believed them (and rightly so as it happened for real, but not until many years later)!

lol great story. Great times to have been alive.

I used to draw pictures of Amazonian / Wonder-Superwoman types that dressed like Cat & Sheila E lol

OldFriends4Sale said:

CherryMoon57 said:

It was during this era that I became a Prince fan. I was a teenager and in the space of 6 months I spent all of my pocket money on his albums produced between 1978 and 1987 (including Sign O' The Times), and started designing and creating my own clothing range based on Cat and Sheila E.'s outfits from the Sign O' The Times tour... I was a dancer and our dance teacher played Prince during the class. Those were fun times. If during that period someone had told me that I would one day get invited by Prince to dance onstage, I would have have believed them (and rightly so as it happened for real, but not until many years later)!

lol great story. Great times to have been alive.

I used to draw pictures of Amazonian / Wonder-Superwoman types that dressed like Cat & Sheila E lol

I used to paint too, whilst listening to his music, anything from night cityscapes to people resembling his male and females associates... Such inspiring times.

CherryMoon57 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

lol great story. Great times to have been alive.

I used to draw pictures of Amazonian / Wonder-Superwoman types that dressed like Cat & Sheila E lol

I used to paint too, whilst listening to his music, anything from night cityscapes to people resembling his male and females associates... Such inspiring times.

lol so did I, I did my version of the bands/proteges on stage etc

Know what I remember? I did not know one darn soul that liked Princfe or cared about this movie. So I went to the movie to see it all by my self. Back then I could not have paid aanyone to go with me. Everybody was into Mj.

I could not believe this masterpiece was overlooked in favor of the Joshua Tree.

Damn Joshua is a fine album, but Sign O' The Times have more styles and genres, it is far more varied.

It's a much better album (SOTT), I believe we can agree to this today, right. Sign is FANTASTIC, it's strong all the way in pop, soul, funk and rock, wow...

Prince was magnificent, in 1980 to 1988. One masterpiece right after the other, and each were different. Incredible, to release so many true masterpieces in 1 decade.

Prince was the biggest genius in his generation,


no contest really...

I am so confident that as the 21st century rolls along, this will stop being reluctantly included near the bottom of "100 Best" lists and will rise to the top, possibly the very top.

I've listened to every Beatles, Stones, Clash, Steve Wonder, Dylan album, and so many others, and I still think this is the ultimate one.

To me it's not a "sprawling" or "messy" record. Regardless of how it was assembled, every track locks together and conceptually works.

It's definitely one of the ten greatest records ever.

[Edited 10/14/17 20:53pm]

CherryMoon57 said:

Wonderful picture, this and the one before.

[Edited 10/15/17 16:52pm]

Good times.

I remember driving an hour a way to pick up the album from a record store that put it out on the shelves a day early. I remember studying the cover and album sleeves. I remember swearing that I had dreamt hearing "the Ballad Of Dorthy Parker" the night BEFORE I ever heard it.

(I also remember thinking how the hell did "La La La, He He He" not make the cut but "U Got the Look" and "Slow Love" did?)

Is this really 87? Was he rocking the polka dots then? Looks more like his LoveSexy afterparty look.

OldFriends4Sale said:

3.21.1987

@ FIRST AVENUE -SOTT Open Rehearsal

1. Housequake

2. Girls & Boys

3. Slow Love

4. Hot Thang

5. Now's the Time

6. Strange Relationship

7. Forever In My Life

8. Kiss

9. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night

Yes, the SOTT open rehearsal in 1987

watching it as we speak

Polka dots were being worn during the Parade era

well he wore the white/black polka dot suite on the regular main shows

* the post has been updated

emesem said:

Is this really 87? Was he rocking the polka dots then? Looks more like his LoveSexy afterparty look.

OldFriends4Sale said:

3.21.1987

@ FIRST AVENUE -SOTT Open Rehearsal

1. Housequake

2. Girls & Boys

3. Slow Love

4. Hot Thang

5. Now's the Time

6. Strange Relationship

7. Forever In My Life

8. Kiss

9. It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night