round the time prince was working on the 'dream factory', 'camille' and 'crystal ball' projects ('86-'87), it's said that he was also working on a project called 'the dawn'. in the 'purple rain' booklet (from '84) he'd already stated "may u live 2 see the dawn." in many songs since then there've been mentions of this dawn. on the 'gold' album ('95) you're finally welcomed to the dawn. on the '97 release of the 'crystal ball' set there's even a song called 'welcome 2 the dawn' (disc 4: 'the truth'). but here's my question, what is this dawn prince has been talking about? is it a good place? probably, but why? could y'all tell me about 'the dawn' project from the mid 80's? was there a concept behind this project, or was it like the 'dream factory' project, just intended to be a collection of songs that had little to do with eachother? what songs were intended to be used for the project?
that's enough questions for now i reckon..

'The Dawn' was a movie that Prince was working on in the mid-80s.He recorded at least three songs for the planned film..."Crucial","When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes" and "Coco Boys".In 1989,Prince announced four films that he would soon start working on :"The Robert Johnson Story","Graffiti Bridge","The Dark Side Of The Moon" and "The Dawn",which was described as a "street-oriented sequel to "Graffiti Bridge".But,of course,since 'GB' flopped,a sequel was out of the question.

In a 1996 Rolling Stone interview,Prince mentioned a big album he was working on called 'The Dawn',which he said "the world ain't ready for yet".So,it's likely that,someday,we will still get a new CD called 'The Dawn'.
[This message was edited Thu Oct 24 4:37:08 PDT 2002 by DavidEye]

David Eye said:
In a 1996 Rolling Stone interview,Prince mentioned a big album he was working on called 'The Dawn',which he said "the world ain't ready for yet".So,it's likely that,someday,we will still get a new CD called 'The Dawn'.

I was SO excited when I read that as well BUT it looks to me more like Prince's ego speaking than reality. I wonder if that interview was prior to Emancipation's release and it evolved into that project?

I got excited again when I heard WTTD acoustic version on The Truth.

Oh well.

Imagine if Prince had continued to work with good directors (such as Albert Magnoli who directed Purple Rain and was briefly Prince's manager in 1989 and with whom he planned these four films). Oh well no. 2

P.S. DavidEye LOVES talking/speculating about Prince films

jaypotton said:

LOL...you know it!!


You know what's frustrating? Originally,Prince wanted Martin Scorsese to direct 'Cherry Moon',and he hired Albert Magnoli to direct 'Graffiti Bridge'.Can you imagine how much different those films would have been if Prince had NOT decided to direct them himself??

jaypotton said:

No,'The Dawn' did not evolve into 'Emancipation'.That Rolling Stone interview appeared only weeks before 'Emancipation' was released.Prince clearly stated that 'The Dawn' was a work-in-progress that "the world was not ready for".So,hopefully he will finally decide that,yes,we are indeed ready for it

DavidEye said:

Well for a start they might have actually been good films! To be honest I am now somewhat fond of UTCM. It's no classic but it does have some good moments and it looks good. But when you have a cast of non-actors (mostly) and a novice director your chances of a good movie are slim. I just think it was way too far a departure from PR for the public to accept (just as other threads have said ATWIAD was too far from PR and also Parade).

Graffiti Bridge could also have been way better. I remember reading that it was this that caused Albert Magnoli and Prince to part ways as they disagreed on the script (I suspect AM wanted to make a true sequel to PR without the religious messages being so blatent - but that's just my opinion)

DavidEye said:

okay, well i've heard 'crucial' (rather weak imo), but how about the others. someone told me 'when the dawn of the morning comes' is an uncirculating song. but maybe a description of the song has been given by someone somewhere. and what about 'coco boys'? any info?

No,'The Dawn' did not evolve into 'Emancipation'.That Rolling Stone interview appeared only weeks before 'Emancipation' was released.Prince clearly stated that 'The Dawn' was a work-in-progress that "the world was not ready for".So,hopefully he will finally decide that,yes,we are indeed ready for it [/quote]

COOL, let's be having it then Mr P. You know, if P was to release a killer album in the next few months (with a few singles) he might be able to capitalise on the tour and publicity. We know this won't happen of course!

Naughty of me to cross post but...

Okay I'm NOT saying this should be done BUT one obvious route would be:

The 'real' sequel to Purple Rain (ie not graffiti bridge).

Premise:

The Kid is now in his 40s. During the time that has elapsed since the Revolution's First Avenue performance he has become a big star. However he is trapped by a restrictive contract that dictates what he can and cannot do. He decides to try and do his own thing and nurture some fresh young talent. In the meantime he also has to deal with the betrayal of the woman he loves and the eventual discovery of someone new who teaches him to trust again.

By doing this he could cash in on anything happening to promote a possible 20th anniversary of Purple Rain?

purpleone said:

I've heard "Crucial" but not those other two tracks.I do know that the song "Coco Boys" is where Prince came up with the alias "Joey Coco".So,perhaps a character in the film was gonna be called Joey Coco?

jaypotton said:

Hey Jay,that's a pretty good idea for a sequel!! I'm gonna try to come up with my own idea too

The story above kinda works I guess because it continues the 'semi autobiographical' that made Purple Rain interesting.

It could also be somewhat cathartic for Mr P to exorcise his demons and anger at both the industry AND personal issues!

How about the title:

The Dawn (ha ha - ie Purple Rain's credits said 'May U Live 2 C the Dawn' and here it is. Plus by the end of the film the Kid has reached his own personal dawn, a new beginning?)

Prince - if you're reading this and like the idea I'll write you a script

The cassette single of 'The Holy River' given away at Books & Borders has the track 'Welcome 2 The Dawn (acoustic version)' on the b-side (before it appeared on 'The Truth' album). Underneath the track it says "From the 4thcoming album 'The Dawn'". So at that time it was intended to be the next album after 'Emancipation'. I'm also pretty sure Prince mentioned that 'The Dawn' was going to be another 3CD album at that point.

BorisFishpaw said:

Thanks for clearing that up.


.

As for the song 'When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes', the only available info on it states that it was, and I quote, "written for 'The Dawn', and was recorded in Prince's home studio in mid-September 1986, shortly after his return from the 'Parade' tour of Europe and Japan". The lead singer of Mazarati claims that the song is a ballad "not far removed from 'Free' on the '1999' album.

'Coco Boys' was also intended for 'The Dawn'. According to the lyric, "the members of the Coco Boys all haqve blonde hair, "natural or otherwise", and the group includes "a trombone player as big as a house and a singer who looks like Sandra Dee", who was a pretty blonde, former teenage model and,later, a well-known Hollywood actress in the sixties.

Musically, the track is described as "a mid-tempo pop/funk tune with something of a calypso tinge". Eric Leeds has said the song has "a cool vibe".


.

Now what would be really cool- to ensure that I sign up for year 3 of NPGMC, is if Prince would send us The Dawn and Roadhouse Garden as part of the membership! As well as a brand new album, and also the Xenophobia studio album...

Hey Prince, I just planned out 2003 for you!

Considering what BorisFishpaw said, could "The Dawn" have become "The Truth"?