Like you, I needed some time to let the studio version of Eletric Intercourse work it's magic; it was uber-weird to finally be able to play it, compared to the live versions we had.

I remember a lot of people saying "I prefer the live version" immediately after the release of the Deluxe Purple Rain, but I wasn't one of them; I wanted to give it some time.
I immediately transfered it onto my various playlists (the Ballad Blizzard, my personal faves called Pop Life and the dedicated Purple Rain playlist) and I played it lots between then and now.

And now it had some time. And I must say, it has found it's place on those lists, in favour of the live version; I am loooooving the studio version as it fits so well into my playlists, but it also found a way to fixate itself into my brain, which I did not think was possible anymore, as most of the material ofthe Purple Rain era were transfixed into my brain age 13.

How does the studio version of Electric Intercourse fare on your lists/brain?

I love the live versions.

The studio version is done in a higher falsetto and loses a lot of the piano magic.

The scream in the live version is awesome as is the yearning, sexual frustration and unrequited lust in his voice.

For me, the live version was the reason it was pulled from Purple Rain the movie in favour of the Beautiful Ones.

Other superior Live version Vs inferior studio versions:

Poplife: Alladdin performance, Vegas

The Cross: Both SOTT movie & LiveSexy performances

Slow Love: SOTT movie

Shhh: Live version in 1994 movie with nona Gaye (Welcome 2 the something I think), anyway he's wearing white and black stripes on the symbol guitar

FaceDown: New York version when he keeps saying 'excuse me' and proceeds to play some fonky bass

In a unique occurence, my favorite version is a cover, i.e. Nero's 2012 rendition of the track, which of course is based on the live version: https://www.youtube.com/w...VKP9i6C2DY

In the end I find it keeps the more inimate mood and raw energy of the live version while turning it into the synthpop masterpiece Prince's studio version fails to be (because the mechanical beat and arrangements work against the message, or at least fail to deliver it as well as the live version later did).

There's also a softer, poppier cover by Japanese artist Tokyo Romance that I like a lot, also based on the live version: https://www.youtube.com/w...Snvliju0kc

Silvertongue7 said:

I’ve loved it since day one. It may not be as good as the live version, and certainly not as good as The Beautiful Ones, but it is so fantastically weird that keep coming back to it.

it is good... I prefer the fan edit of the rehearsal to it and both to the live (at 1st ave) but that has more to do with the quality of the recording than the performance.

to me, the Nero sounds more based on the rehearsal... but I will admit of the 3 I have listened to the Aug 3 1983 the least.


Now we need the live version with overdubs to be "released" as well as better quality video of the show...

[Edited 2/25/18 9:56am]

OnlyNDaUsa said:

sulls said:

Silvertongue7 said:

I’ve loved it since day one. It may not be as good as the live version, and certainly not as good as The Beautiful Ones, but it is so fantastically weird that keep coming back to it.

Me too. Love it a lot, every tine it comes on I have to turn it up loud.

that cover version is indeed great! in my top 10 favorite cover versions after hearing it for the first time thanks to your post. also in my top 10 is a very original cover version of The Beautiful Ones by Fol Chen. I think (hope) you'll like that one 2. can't find a yt link but it's on the spin 2009 anniversary cover cd Purplish Rain

I think a lot of Prince songs are 100x better live than their album counterparts. Sometimes it's just an enhancement on a studio track that's already great; sometimes it's damn near superior to what is on record.

In this case, we were so used to the only version that existed, which is the live First Avenue rehearsal and performance, that anything else was sure to pale in comparison.

But the beauty of the album version is that was Prince's vision for the song. And while I agree he should have sometimes produced songs as if he were doing them live, and maybe "Electric Intercourse" is one of them, there is a purity about the studio version. Yes, it's falsetto, and it's different. But again, it's relative. If we had only known this version, then the First Avenue video popped up in 2017, what would our opinion really be of that live version? Overblown? Muddy? Not true to the original? We can't say.

I did have a letdown moment w/ the album version but soon realized that both versions have their own charms.

I guess I am different

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I much prefer the studio version to the live version (something that is the case for nearly all of Prince's work).

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As to the song.. it's passable, but I am happy it never made it into Purple Rain. It is as close to Take Me With U as it gets to me, filler, waiting for something better to happen.

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That said, I don't hate it at all, it just feels like a song that never really goes anywhere and doesn't really stir emotion. The Beautiful Ones, to me, is so much better. I am sure it was written in part because Electric Intercourse just didn't work well enough.

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I'm happy we got to hear it though!

I prefer the studio version too. It is so quirky.