Which band of prince is his tightest?

Could any of you musicians explain a tight band to me.
I believe I know what it means but I could do with a specific explination.
[Edited 10/7/09 5:19am]
[Edited 10/7/09 5:21am]
[Edited 10/7/09 5:22am]

New Power Generation 1993-1995, with Sonny T, Michael Bland, Morris Hayes, Tommy Barbarella and Mayte.

Many think his SOTT/Lovesexy band was his tightest. Sheila E certainly is a very tight drummer, for example.


"Tight" in this context stands for the feeling of everything clicking together. A stimulation from every angle in every way. Just like a tight asshole.

Dave1992 said:

^ I agree!

anytime larry played with prince the rhythm section came alive. when he performed at septimo, that is the tightest prince has ever had a band.
[Edited 10/7/09 8:26am]

Except for the "asshole" part, Dave1992 said it:

NPG 1993-95 & Lovesexy 1988,

In my opinion it was the Sign O The Times/Lovesexy lineup.
I mean obviously for the nostalgia factor my favorite lineup was the Revolution. And i don't think they get nearly enough credit around here for being as talented as they were.

And Larry Graham sucked balls when he was in the band. Combine that with the worst drummer to ever play behind Prince in Kirky J and you get the dark days to this Prince fan.

Dave1992 said:

Definitely that version of NPGMC. Once he stripped it down and made it a power quartet plus himself, it was ON.

The Lovesexy band was well rehearsed and tight as hell too, and they run a very close second. I wasn't a fan of Miko and Levi in that group. Boni was an okay keyboard player, but was mainly there for her singing.

It speaks volumes that Prince has still worked with, and even rehired, some of those stripped down NPG members.

I consider the stripped down version of the 'original' NPG (Sonny Thompson, Michael Bland, Prince, Tommy Barbarella, Morris Hayes - without those rappers and 'eye-candy' like Mayte) as the tightest band he ever had.
I think that around the release of The Gold Experience, they were the tighest band I knew at that time within the realm of pop-music.
There 'tightness' as a band is something that lifts the music on the Gold Experience from good to great.

They were especially great I think when it came to playing 'traditional', more 'pure' styles (instead of the eclectic mixture of styles Prince used on most of his songs from the eighties): raw rock (and roll) on parts of the Gold Experience and Chaos and Disorder, traditional R&B and bluesy / jazz material on The Vault and a song like Willing and Able.

But, when it comes to the overall best and most versatile Prince band I would go for the Sign of the Times / Lovesexy-tour band.
[Edited 10/7/09 9:50am]

Give me chemistry history and cohesiveness with a band over being tight anytime.

There are some really dull tight a$$ bands out there with no or little character

Dave1992 said:

for the first time you made me:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Amen, OF4S! You and I always seem to have similar views about his music.

With that being said, his "tightest" band, to me, was the SOTT/Lovesexy band. I mean, EVERYBODY was in sync and on point: the horns, drummer, bassist, etc..., and they were so damn funky. Even Prince realized this himself when he said, paraphrasing, in the Vibe 1994 interview that that current NPG band was getting to a point where they were approaching his Lovesexy band as far as musicality. He didn't say they were there, but that they were getting there!

The JBs, The JBs, The JBs, The JBs, The JBs, The JBs, The JBs, ....

Tightest Band was not the NPG in any permutation, it was the following

Prince and the Revolution 1982-1983 Triple Threat Tour

Prince, Dr Fink, Lisa, Dez, Mark, Bobby Z, (Wendy - Occasional member)
The Time and Vanity 6 (In the wings)

That was tight, and they made the 1999 album, need I say more

IMO it has to be the Musicology band. John Blackwell on drums, Mike Phillips, Candy Dulfer, and Greg Boyer on horns, Rhonda Smith on bass, Mike Scott on additional guitar and Renaldo Neto on keys. On that tour, no two shows are alike and there was never a dull moment. Granted, the band is pretty big and meant for arenas, but that tour was amazing.

Huggiebear said:

Actually Prince made the 1999 album basically all by himself. Fink and Bobby Z weren't in it at all. But yes tight as hell that crew.

th13182 said:

I like this as well, John Blackwell rips the drums apart like no other - this band had funk - kick ass

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Yes we have alexnvrmnd777

I'm tossed between the band between 1982-1986 and the 1987-1988 bands
both had that connection that just replaced any imperfections. The one thing the SOTT band lacked was I don't think they had the 'connection' he had by history and song writing/composition greatness you found with the previous band. I still use Power Fantastic as a perfect example(part of the SOTT being a part of this too) This song always brings chills down my spine, you can feel the time inspired chemistry, you can feel the connection forged. This song was 'nailed' in 1 take.

And that is another thing, I can't stand 'perfection' in this kind of arena, it just come across as 'cold' to me. I love a little crack in the voice some human imperfection striving for a good show or song. The SOTT/Lovesexy band was really special too, one thing that gave them that extra was part of the band was from the Revolution(years) and the other part was from a protege band, a lot of the people in that band were in Prince camp since the 1983yrs, Cat Levi & Boni being the exceptions.

yet Levi & Boni were in Sheila's band during the 1986-Sheila E period

Cat just embodied Uptown
the difference with Cat & Mayte
Cat created dances (prior to joining the band) based on Prince music
she was a big fan
Mayte wasn't a fan of Prince or his music that's what she brough n2 the NPG

to me one difference between the noituloveRRevolution & the SOTT/Lovesexy band was Prince wanted the 1978-1986 band to sound very close to the albums, there was a good amount of improvision and stage sexiness but it focused on Prince more, he started bringing in more instrument solos and 'gospel' belting during the 1987-1988 years which opened even more with the following bands, getting to be too much with the big brass sections. Too much jazz improvisions and soloing is a bit distracting compared to the pre 1988 shows.

Prince's shine diminished after 1986 a bit and then diminished more after 1988.

Well Prince & The Revolution got me to be a fan so I'm going with The Revolution

OldFriends4Sale said:

And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, my thoughts exactly!

I'm also sorta impartial to the 1986 Revolution as well. They tore shit up on that Parade tour and the aftershows (their perfroamcne of Strange Relationship during an aftershow on Aug 25, 1986 was THE shit!!)!! But you're right in that the 82-86 band was coming up with Prince at the time and influenced a lot of the tunes you hear from that period. And Power Fantastic is a great example, as you said, as is In A Large Room With No Light. They had that raw feel yet polished energy that was just so damn funky. I used to LOVE when he'd start doin a extended jam, live, with some of that chickengrease. Example would be Take Me With U from Syracuse 85.

With that said, there's still something about the SOTT band that just gelled to me, and the performances were OFF THE CHARTS, thanks in part to Cat's choreography and chemistry with Prince!!! And the band's performances on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night were sooo damn funky almost every night. My absolute fav version would be the one he did in Holland where says, "Can't you fools see that it's raining?" Classic!

alexnvrmnd777 said:

Yep I'm with U,

lol chickengrease, I love a preview of America on the Purple Rain tour 1985 it was like 14 minutes long and they just tore thru it, Sheila E was with them. And Bobby broke into this futurist tribal house beat...I swear they were way before their times

oh the Revolution performed Strange Relationships on the Parade tour...(I now back then previewing new songs was the norm. I love the preview of All the Critics Love U in NY during a 1982 show at first ave, it was a show of muscle, I love that song live.

Do you know if Alexa de Paris and Dance Electric were performed during the Parade tour at all? I know they rehearsed them during Parade rehearsals. When I heard it, it just blew me away how they were able to duplicate the songs live...

One of my favorite shows with the SOTT band was the New Years Eve show that was hot they did Movie Star from Dream Factory

the SOTT shows at times sounded light, not a lot of denseness to the music at times. the Lovesexy shows you started to hear more musical denseness and the music sounded fuller.

But I still remember those 1983-1985 Purple Rain era shows still sounding so advanced in sound.

Huggiebear said:

Huggiebear said:

i agree, i agree, i agree, i agree. damn it feels good to be back!!!!!

OldFriends4Sale said:

I know for sure they did Dance Electric during one of the Cali shows on that Hit & Run tour they did. I wanna say it was in San Fran, but I can't be too sure. In fact, I remember Prince played a snippet of it on one of those Ahdio shows from the NPGMC days. Funky as SHIT!! Andre was there too. Alexa De Paris, I'm not so sure about off the top of my head.

I don't remember the SOTT band doing Movie Star for that New Year Eve's show...oh, that's right. That track was actually Miles and his band playing it on one of his shows. I'm looking at the track list in my head now.

I've heard that All The Critics performance you're talking about it and it was indeed quite funky. Raw, too, and almost very unsounding like the record, which is fine in itself. And speaking of America, that promo clip (all 10 mins of it) is the stuff!! They were on fire that night, and the highlight to me was the rare glimpse of Prince on the skins. God, I miss those REAL Prince horns, Eric and Atlanta. Not this Vegas shit he's been toting around for the last few years.

Blackwell - drums
Rhonda - bass
Renato - keys
Morris Hayes - keys

no Prince band has ever beat this lineup.

various incantations of the npg...

but the revolution is more fun any day.

For me its the 93-95 NPG - HANDS DOWN

th13182 said:

My Fav too

If we're talking 'tightness', Michael B has GOT to be on drums. There is no tighter drummer out there. He's almost like a machine!

(D')