Does anyone else on the Org dig this song besides me? I think it's the best jam off the "G.B." soundtrack. When I heard it for the 1st time (back then) I was blown away by it. It didn't have that glossy, shiny 90's sound. It almost had a
early 1970's feel to it. And it's been said that P did this cut all by himself.

I could almost visualize P in the studio laying this jam down piece by piece. It was probably 1am in the morning and the studio was dimly lit with candles and incense blowing. Coke Johnson and Susan Rogers were probably in the studio with him. P probably laid down the tribal drum beats 1st, then percussion and added bass later.

By 3:30am he's laying down the eerie, spooky electric synth and clean rhythm jazz guitar on his Hohner. Then he probably brings out his white Auserwald axe, steps on his pedals and raises hell. His phrasing is so right for this tune. Then by 7am he's finished with his lead and backing vocals. I wonder who he might have been singing about. Shelia? Susannah? Cat? Martika?....

I was thrilled when he brought this jam back for the "Emancipation" 96 mini show on VH-1 and BET. He killed it. The version with him and Larry from 03 NYC is cool too but something about the studio version grabs me.

I'd like to hear P bring some more cuts like this out of his vault.

The One Night Alone Live version is excellent too. Joy In Repetition is one of his songs ever imo.

That sort of sets the mood but, regardless of the liner notes of the CD, the actual work was done... at least initially by Coke Johnson. Hope the following adds to your image.

--

Thursday July 17, 1986-

For much of the month of July, Prince had studio 3 at Sunset Sound on “lock out” or more specifically, an exclusive claim to the studio. As happened many times in the past, Prince asked Coke Johnson to set it up at 3 pm. Half-hour later, Prince entered with a mission and started laying down the individual instruments. For just under two hours, the basic tracks were recorded for the song "Joy In Repetition.” A little after 5pm, he began to record overdubs… bongos, additional guitar, etc. At midnight, Prince began his vocals. This was Prince’s alone time. Usually, he would send the engineer out of the studio so he would have a little privacy. Vocals can be the most personal time for a musician, and Prince wanted the ability to play with his vocals, layer them, bounce them back and forth and even make mistakes. Some of those mistakes became great parts of songs, while others were for his ears alone.

It wasn’t uncommon for Prince to sit in the recording booth with a microphone hanging over the mixing board. The room lit only by candles and the lights of the console. It is easy to imagine how the mood of the song was influenced by the dim lights and smell of candles.

Over the next few hours, Prince would call Coke into the studio to tweak something, but for the most part, Prince was a sponge and knew how to work the board as well as many engineers. By 4 am, Prince and Coke started working on a rough mix of the song. Completed by 5, 2 copies (on TDK C-60 cassettes) were made of the rough mix and by 5:30 am, Prince was gone.

-This was taken from an early draft of the book "Prince: The Studio Sessions"

SPYZFAN1 said:

And that's just what he did.

Recorded 17/07/1986 - One of the tracks taken off Crystal Ball when it became SOTT.

Damn..I learn something new everyday. P did this song back in 86? Never knew that. madhouseman that's amazing you printed that. That's almost verbatim to what I was thinking what went down. I'm going to have to track that book down.
Thanks for posting that.

Well whatever year that song was recorded, it still kills me. I also realized that the opening dialogue is the same dialogue on the opening of "Alphabet St."

it's very atmostpheric..sounds fab live

The studio verion is great, but I was totally blown away by the ONA version.
[Edited 4/25/08 12:14pm]

SPYZFAN1 said:

That's from the original segue between 'The Ball' and 'JIR' on Crystal Ball. 'The Ball' became 'Eye No' on Lovesexy, he kept the segue for both tracks.

One of his best ever songs. in the top 5, imo

madhouseman said:

see? i love to know shit like this.

Milty said:

but would a book like this sell?

InsatiableCream said:

i feel the same way. this song is amazing. I just can't get enough of the ONA Live version.

could be debated that this song is prince's BEST EVER

its certainly in my top 3

To me the best Prince song ever! Hence my screen name. In the GB movie there's an audible scream right as the song starts to taper off thats not in either versions of the studio versions. I like the scream, wished he added it in and improved the audio.

SPYZFAN1 said:

ive just gotta laugh-no offence

a newbie asking prince org does anybody dig JOY IN REPETITION???

DOES ANYBODY DIG JOY????

i cant imagine anybody not digging this masterpiece

I love this song and the excerpt really creates an excellent visual.

Thanks for sharing.

joyinrepetition said:

you high? improved the audio??

DANG SOME OF Y'ALL ARE NEVER PLEASED

thats like saying the mona lisa would have been better if.....

2 me it would Any chance it would ever be made available??

madhouseman said:

NPG2045 said:

check out the vault

incredible. probably one of his most impressive compositions/performances/arrangements/productions.

jonylawson said:

I agree. Check out The Vault and many of the other UPTOWN publications. Some of the same research was used for both, but the priority is always to get the most information in the UPTOWN books. I know that the next one is in the works, but I don't know how far along it is.

Thanx for the props!

Love this!!!
"I got more holes than a golf course"!!

Love this song

Sorry jonylawson but I'm not a "newbie". I've been on the board for a few years. I usually don't start threads but I had to after listening to this song the other night.

And where else would I ask this question?.... On a Van Halen board?

If there's a Prince fan on the forum who doesn't like Joy in Repetition please raise your hand. SPYSFAN1, I think you'll find (and should know) that it's one of his greater songs and that very few will dismiss it.

But back to the song. We have the ONA version, the original version (GB) and then another I take it? On The Works I guess?

And the O2 performance. Which we have committed to memory of course. As per the request from Prince.
[Edited 4/23/08 3:42am]

Our man has to go some to beat this classic. it's my favorite song for ohh so many reasons...

Is this book Prince:The Studio Session available?

aalloca said:

Not yet. Hopefully down the road, but it is only an early draft right now.

Yeah, I dig it. A lot. I could tell it was from the mid 80's.

My only regret is that P butchered the intro for the GB Release.
I was aware of the original full take before GB was released and, friends, I couldn't say how bad it was to listen to that disgraced way the song is connected with "We Can Funk". Absolutely a shame.