Could someone clue me in about what was going on during the timeline with those two albums?

All I know is that Prince actually started writing ATWIAD while he was finishing up filming Purple Rain... as always, the guy is two steps ahead of himself ready to do something new.

How soon after that album did he start working on Parade?
Did he know it was going to be the soundtrack of a movie?
Did the movie have any influence on the tracks or was it the other way around?

The sounds of ATWIAD are revisited in the next album, but Parade's sound is a bit more together, what you call "cohesive".

But the fact he was writing about "a girl in Paris" and one with a "raspberry beret"... is it possible that had any connection (or alluded) to a work in progress: "the French film"

If anyone can help me out, I'd appreciate it. This has kinda been bugging me for a while.

I think he started making PARADE a few days after the Purple Rain tour was over. which I thought was kinda interesting. He was always 2 steps ahead then

Dreamypop. At your next birthday ask for this book: http://uptown.se/2005/book_dow.shtml

Read, reread.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Around The World In A Day: throughout 1984 - released April 1985
Parade: from April 1985 through the rest of the year - released March 1986

(However, earlier versions of 'Raspberry Beret' and 'New Position' are reported to have been recorded in 1982.)

Anyone know about the time frame when the movie was made and was there any connection meant to be between it and the Parade album?

Also another bit I uncovered during the MTV interview in 1985, his first TV interview EVER... that was filmed on the set of the video for "America"... the interviewer said that he heard about him working on a new album (newer than ATWIAD)... he was saying how it was meant to be listened to as a whole and he records even faster now (which is then) with the help of Wendy & Lisa.

So obviously, he was working on Parade almost immediately after finishing that album.

But where does the movie fit into all this? Was the movie even an idea when Parade was being made?

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Uhhh...have you actually watched UTCM? And listened to Parade? Obviously, there's a connection. Parade is the music from UTCM. (Not all of it...but a good share.)

Genesia said:

Of course, I've seen it... I have both.

I'm wondering if he wrote the music for the movie itself... or the idea for the movie came after he wrote the music for it.
Was the music actually meant for the movie, I guess is my question.

Someone told me a while back that I should listen to the album before seeing the movie because it was meant that way... unlike Purple Rain, which the music was written for the movie and I saw the movie b4 listening to the music.

I still ended up gaining possession of UTCM long before getting the music and I think it actually helped me like the music more than I would have at first. A few have said that they think Parade was a strange-sounding album. There's still nothing else he's released since that's anything like it. Or so I hear.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

Screenplay work started in April 1985
Prince visited France in June and settled on the location for shooting.Prince returned to France again in August and shooting started in September. During this time, the MTV session was filmed and broadcast in November. Throughput this period, the album was being recorded as the soundtrack for the film.
The album was released the following year, with a return visit to France for some further footage to round off the film project just afterwards.

The subsequent European tour in 1986 attempted to promote the film as well as the album.

BTW, Prince was 'interviewed' on TV before this date although the results were not eactly spectacular.

langebleu said:

Thanks for the info.
This is why I love coming here. When it comes to Prince, this place is my #1 source of information. I listen to the opinions and the knowledge of the people here and their knowledge becomes my knowledge as well.
People who've experienced Prince longer than I have are more valuable to me as a supporter of Prince than any book will ever be.

That's why I always ask my questions here.

So what you're basically saying is that the movie inspired the album... he was looking at what was going on in the movie and it inspired the style of music he was going for and the things he was writing about.
Very interesting stuff

Then I wonder how they came up with the name of the movie. The fact he and his father co-wrote it means it has some significance other than ultimately becoming the title of the movie.

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

I suspect the movie infliuenced the songwriting, but there may have been some influences the other way too.

The co-credit for the song, 'Under the Cherry Moon' may have been as a result of some song-writing involvement, but there is a view that Prince merely gifted credits to his father (likewise 'Christopher Tracy's Parade', which might then result in his father receiving royalty payments.

It's not clear at all if the title has any other significance. Prince often uses colour in titles associated with objects (a typical device employed in the pop tradition: 'Blue Suede Shoes', 'Green Onions') for his song titles: 'Little Red Corvette', 'Purle Rain', 'Blue Light' etc.. At one point in the film, of course, he draws a letter C and a crescent moon, and some have suggested that this was somehow also a passing reference to Chris Moon.

As with many of these things though, it's easy to read lots of things into references when they were never necessarily intended and the evidence is flimsy at best.
.

Christopher Tracy's Parade was originally recorded as Little Girl Wendy's Parade, but was then changed (he also sings 'little girl Wendy's parade' during the guitar break in 'Kiss')