Alltough it seems very quite on this front right now, in the mid- and late eighties Prince had a bunch of 'sattelite'-groups on his Paisley Park label. These artists performed songs that were mostly written and produced by Mr. Nelson himselve. Some of these artists were: The Time, Sheila E, The Family and Madhouse.

In my opinion some of Princes best work was released by those sattelite-artists (lets face it, Prince wrote, performed and produced those songs, the only thing he did, wasnt singing those songs). I in particularly like the work he did with the Family and Jill Jones. Both records show a unique combination of hard, electronic beats and orchestral arrangements (arranged by Clare Fischer). That combination was very original at that time, and did provide some of the most endaring arrangements ever created, in my opinion. I mean, when i listened to Bjorks album Homogenic (where she combines electronic beats with strings) i thought, Prince did that also, but more then 10 years before that.

In my opinion, the best result of that beats / orchestra combination is to be found on Jill Jones debut album, and its called Mia Bocca, including the instrumental that becomes for that song, i consider it as on of my favourite Prince-tracks (altough Jill sang it).

The arrangement of this song is pure genious for me. To explain this:
- You have this instrumental introduction, a swelling orchestral arrangement making you think, hey is this a pop-album i listening to?
- Then Jills voice comes in, interfering with the orchestra, that falls still at the moment
- Suddenly that hard, electronic beat comes in, with the strings weaving in and out, Jill sings the song, and i really LOVE the sound of this cold, hard beat combined with meandering strings and woodwinds during the song
- During the the end of the song, the strings and woodwinds and Jills singing suddenly stop, and you only have this bare beat.....brilliant, mesmerizing moment
- At some time those strings come back in and Jill starts to sing again, building the song to a climax, at the same time the beat is mixed up in a way that your speakers start to crackle
- The song is finally climaxing with a trumpet solo, and after that the full use of the orchestra, not only strings and woodwinds but copper instruments leads to a mindblowing climax

Everytime i hear this song it blows my mind, its original, has a great arrangement, and does to me what good music should do: move me because of the magic it carries.

One minor point: i only have this song on casette and on vinyl (my recordplayer is broken), and would love to find this album on cd. But thats very hard, because it seems to be out of print. Maybe i should try Emule or something to find this 'masterpiece' in digital form
-

Definately one of his best.


You know what too, I think it works BETTER with Jill on vocals - even though there's no Prince version circulating, I think it works soooo much better with a female vocal.

I know it was originally intended for PR, but I'm also remembering it was to be sung from Lisa to Wendy (if memory serves) - so maybe Prince intended it to be sung from a female POV from the start?


» MetroArea
[Edited 4/6/05 14:18pm]

I just heard that album for the first time a few months ago, I wish I had known about it back in 87 when it came out, I know a lot of people who would have dug it back then.

4nowneway said:

I am one of those fortunate people who had it back then and I still have it on tape. The lady at the record shop at the time sold for me for 6.99 or something like that instead of the regular price 9.99. I thought that was nice.

I have one question about Jill Jones. Why does Jill so tired looking? It wasn't that long ago that she did that concert with Chic and looked great just like the old days, now just a few years later she looks terrible. What happened?

Riverpoet,
I love your description of this! Excellent!

Riverpoet31 said:

The whole album is quality imho.

One listen to tht song and my mind drifts back to the summer of 87 and a girl named Marye.

Anyway this was a classic record and I am fortunate to have two cd copies, a cassette and the LP. I love Jill .

It's a great track.

TurnItUp said:

I remember buying Jill Jones and Taja Seville albums at Sam Goody back in 87. I wish Prince was still doing whole entire albums for artist.

Riverpoet31 said:

OH GOD I was at the 14 bus stop here in North Minneapolis just 3 days go mm hmm, and when that part came on I didnt care! I was in HEAVEN!!!!! Just when that trumpet starts blowin BAH BAH BAH...BAAAAADAAA! Sending chills up my back it's so good.

In my opinion, one of the stongest, Prince side projects (the album as a whole I mean) that he has ever worked on. I love "Baby You're a Trip." Gotta a version of Prince singing it. Bad sound quality, great song!

I love Baby, youre a trip too, because of the rich, traditional sounding arrangement, and most of all because of Jill Jones delivery....

Before that, Prince produced music for female 'artist' who could not sing (Vanity, Apolonia), or were just plain mediocre (Sheila E, she's a great drummer, but definitely not a good singer)

Jill Jones could really sing, showed passion, urgency in her singing. And at the same time seemed like a strong woman, i mean, its maybe a bridge to far to call her feminist, but on this cd i hear a strong, indepedent women, not some 'sexdoll' like Vanity or Apolonia

check your org notes

I have not listened for this record for a long time (I have it on vinyl only). But I was definitely charmed by the album when it was released. I cannot understand why it was not a commercial success.

Riverpoet I enjoyed reading your post: it brought me back very good memories from "back in the days".

D.
--

up for mia bocca.