EyeJester7 said:

nyse said:

Lovesexy remains a favorite among die hard fans. it is in my eyes his most personal and spiritual

releases till this date. I used to spend my whole work day bumpin this album on repeat.

But in the eyes of popular culture at that time it was Prince's lowest selling album up to that date

since his first release "For you". it only sold 175,000 units

many things could have hindered its markebility:

* releasing it as only 1 continuous track so the listener could hear the album as a whole entity.

but this basicaly alienated the casual listener.

* Not initially putting out any promos or videos for the album just to create a air of mystery.

* not touring the USA first which would have boosted the sales at home

* The album cover brought controversy and forced some stores to hide it

behind the counter or not carry it at all.

some people say this is the turning point for prince which started a decline in his artistic output.

but i greatly disagree. Lovesexy is a testament to Prince's most truthfull and honest release.

Annastesia is one of my fav songs ever. alphabet st. is a for sure classis. dance on is a great follow up to sign o the times. all and all who really cares about what the "market" has to say or has not to say about this album. true Prince fans indeed know how trully artistic and eye opening LOVESEXY really is.

<3

I second that! Cause Lovesexy Is The One! Till My Day Is Done!

Hundalasiliah!

I 3rd that, I was disappointed when the Batman/Graffiti Bridge (band)era came in

It was a good hi we were on up to 1988 and Cat & Sheila and the band, and then it changed again

It was starting to be too much for me

I loved what he was presenting with Lovesexy, but like SOTT he didn't promo it as much as he should have, I loved the quality of the Glamslam & I Wish U Heaven videos, the Bside/long versions started dropping off after Parade, lack of touring in the States

I've been playing all week and em lost in the sweep of Lovesexy. It just seems he was free & happy during this period.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Put your love down
Talk 2 me lover, come and tell me what U taste
Didn't your mama tell U life is 2 good 2 waste?
Did she tell U L♥vesexy was the glam of them all?
U can hang, U can trip on it, U surely won't fall
No side effects, the feeling last 4ever
Straight up, it tastes good, it makes U feel clever
U kiss your enemies like U know U should
And then U jerk your body like a horny pony would
U jerk your body like a horny pony would
Now run and tell your mama about that!

Love the alphabet video

OldFriends4Sale said:

cool pic

nursev said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Put your love down
Talk 2 me lover, come and tell me what U taste
Didn't your mama tell U life is 2 good 2 waste?
Did she tell U L♥vesexy was the glam of them all?
U can hang, U can trip on it, U surely won't fall
No side effects, the feeling last 4ever
Straight up, it tastes good, it makes U feel clever
U kiss your enemies like U know U should
And then U jerk your body like a horny pony would
U jerk your body like a horny pony would
Now run and tell your mama about that!

Love the alphabet video

Me too!

I loved the dancing , loved the hair and clothes. His hair was so lush, and had so much body, LOL.

OldFriends4Sale said:

When 2 R In Love is one of my favorite songs from Prince, period. I Wish U Heaven, Glam Slam, Alphabet St., Anna Stesia, made for a very nice album, it's very underrated. I really did like the themes, sound, and look from this era. I too liked the videos for I Wish U heaven, Glam Slam, and of course Alphabet St.

nursev said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

cool pic

L 2 R Top 2 Bottom

1st row: Atlanta Bliss(bnw stripped shirt) Dr Fink 3rd to right

2nd row: Mico Weaver

3rd row: Levi Seacer jr Eric Leeds Boni Boyer(waving)Sheila E Prince(laying down)

Cat taking the picture

Say hello 2 my little friend, the Blue Angel

Q: What are the specs for the original Clouds?
A: This guitar features all maple construction and has a thru-neck. It is built using Gibson’s 24.75” scale length and has 22 medium/jumbo frets with a 12” radius on the fretboard. This guitar is equipped with EMG active pickups (an 81 humbucker at the bridge and an SA single coil in the neck position) and Schaller hardware – a tunomatic style ‘457’ bridge/tailpiece and M6 machine heads. It has one volume control, one tone control and a 3-way switch. The whole guitar is finished in two-pack paint (including the fretboard) and is equipped with Jim Dunlop strap locks and a brass nut. The truss rod cover is also made from brass. All hardware is gold plated.

March 2. 1988
Radio City Music Hall New York
1988 Grammy Awards

1988
Got nomination for Grammy Award
category Album of the Year for "Sign O' The Times"


1988:Got nomination for Grammy Award
category Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "U Got The Look"
shared with Sheena Easton

1988:Got nomination for Grammy Award
category Best R&B Song for "U Got The Look"

It's ironic. I just listened to this last night out of sheer boredom and then BAM!!..this thread is here.

I hadn't listened to it in years and I think it still holds up today. I remember buying this the day it came out and the clerk put it in a big brown paper bag.

P has said this was his gospel record. Not trying to sound sacreligious, but if gospel music sounded like this I would spend more time in church. The title track was played a lot on the R&B

stations out here back then. It kind of reminded me of an updated "1999"..the keys and the groove.

I also forgot how much guitar is on this record also. P is wailing all over this record as he did a few years before with "P.R".

I dug the "black" album, but I think "Lovesexy" was way better.

Lovesexy(the title track) blows the roof off the mutha!!!

Pic is from housequake.com :

[img:$uid]http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/8024/alphabetstvideo.jpg[/img:$uid]

Fantastic video "Alphabet St.", my memories are so sweet to this fantastic song, to the video and to the fine Lovesexy album. Summer of 1988, sweet time for me...

Pic: Credits goes to Patrick, thanks (IIRC)...

SPYZFAN1 said:

It's ironic. I just listened to this last night out of sheer boredom and then BAM!!..this thread is here.

I hadn't listened to it in years and I think it still holds up today. I remember buying this the day it came out and the clerk put it in a big brown paper bag.

P has said this was his gospel record. Not trying to sound sacreligious, but if gospel music sounded like this I would spend more time in church. The title track was played a lot on the R&B

stations out here back then. It kind of reminded me of an updated "1999"..the keys and the groove.

I also forgot how much guitar is on this record also. P is wailing all over this record as he did a few years before with "P.R".

I dug the "black" album, but I think "Lovesexy" was way better.

lol U zoned in on the Lovesexy vibes

Alphabet St. is a very basic video which has Prince performing the song against a computer generated background of messages and letters floating around. The white Ford Thunderbird mentioned in the song (unlike the lyrics suggest actually a 1964 Thunderbird, previously owned by Prince's dad) is also featured. It is the first video to show the white custom Auerswald Model C guitar. And is famous for its hidden “Don’t buy The Black Album, I’m sorry” message. The decision to make a video was a spur of the moment thing, after Prince had a change of mind about not wanting do a video for the song. It was a snowy Sunday afternoon, when Prince called Alan Leeds that he wanted to do the video. Leeds searched all day and finally found local video producer Michael Barnard prepared to come and do the shoot. Sheila E. And Cat were also commissioned. Equipment was rented from a local cable tv company. The video shoot commenced at 7:00 PM and was shot using four cameras with 2/3" tubes, shooting on 3/4" U-matic cassettes.

Eye No
© 1988 Paisley Park Records

Rain is wet and sugar is sweet
Clap your hands and stomp your feet
Everybody, everybody knows
When Love calls, U gotta go
(I know) {repeat in BG}
Welcome 2 the New Power Generation
The reason why my voice is so clear
Is there's no smack in my brain
(This soul belongs to God)

Hundalasiliah! I know there is a heaven, I know there is a hell
Listen 2 me people, I got a story 2 tell
I know there was confusion, lightnin' all around me
That's when I called His name
Don't U know He found me?

No! - is what Spooky Electric say, it's not OK (No!)
But I know that Love is the only way till my dyin' day (No!)
Till my dyin' day I'll be OK
Cuz Lovesexy is the one till my day is done
Hundalasiliah! (Yeah oh!)

I know there is a devil because he talks so loud
He makes U do things your friends do (Do what your friends do)
Hang out with the crowd
But my Lord, He's so quiet when He calls your name
When U hear it your heart will thunder
U will wanna hear it every day

No! (People) - is what Spooky Electric say (Tell me, what'd he say?) (No!)
But don't U know that I know Love is the only way till my dyin' day (No!)
Till my dyin' day I'll be OK
Cuz Lovesexy is the one till my day is done
Hundalasiliah!

Alright y'all, everybody in the house (Serve it up, Frankie)
Here's what I want U 2 do (Ooh child!)
Raise your hand up straight in the air
Swing it 2 the right, savoir-faire
Up on the 2, swing on the 4
Everybody on the dance floor

(Shout - "Ho!") {repeat}
Sho'nuff
Y'all ain't got it, U're dead!
Go ahead {x4}
(Frankie, play!)

Raise your hand up straight in the air (I know)

(Put your hand up) {x2}
Alright y'all, come on, uh
Yeah

(Say no) (No!)
If U can't find your way, everybody say (Say no) (No!)
If U're afraid, everybody ain't got it made
(If U're lookin 4 the crown, come on y'all) (Say no) (No!)
If U want a drug other than the God above (Say it) (No!)
If U need a drink every single day (Sing it)
Then blow that devil away!

(Say yes) (Yes!)
If U want this feeling called love
(Oh yeah, come on, y'all) (Say it) (Yes!)
If U want it now raise your hand 2 the man above
(Y'all 2, I gotta say it) (Yes!)
Up on the 2, swing right on the 4
(It's alright, it's alright) (Yes!)
We want everybody 2 open this door! (Come on)

Yeah!

If U don't wanna live life under the gun (I know)
We know a better way 2 have some fun (I know)
I know there is a heaven and a hell
I know there is a heaven and a hell

Save me Jesus, I've been a fool

How could I forget that You R the rule

U R my God I am Your child

4 now on 4 u I shall be wild

I shall be quick

I shall be strong

I'll tell ur story

No matter how long

This feeling's so good in every single way
I want it morning, noon and night of every day
And if by chance I cannot have it - I can't say
But with it I know heaven's just a kiss away, kiss away

Doubts of our conviction
Follow where we go
And when the world's compassion
Ceases, still I know
4 your every touch
I thank U so much
4 your every kiss I...
I wish U love

I wish U heaven

If I see 11
U can say it's 7
Still I wish U heaven
I wish U love

I wish U heaven

I wish U heaven
We wish U heaven

Prince's Women Try to Explain Their Madcap, Mysterious, Lovesexy Boss

Onstage during his Lovesexy tour, satyr-ic superstar Prince comes on like the heaviest breather in all show business. Dressed in purple hot pants, matching thigh-high boots, white stockings and black garters, he promptly lures the luscious dynamo Sheila E. from behind her massive drum kit for a quick bump and grind. The next minute he's slip-sliding around the stage with lithesome go-go dancer Cat Glover, who bounces on a neon-lighted bed during a lewd, grooved version of "Head." Up in the balcony the girls are screaming, "Get naked, Prince!" Of course they know he already has—right there on the cover of the Lovesexy LP. They might have also read those tabloid stories about Prince's peccadilloes, such as the one that reported he unwound by lapping honey from the navel of a model.

Say it's so, Prince, if only for the fans. All right, just say something. As usual, the innovative, hyperproductive Purple Pain isn't talking. Prince, 30, is in the middle of a killer six-month, 60-concert tour, which critics and fans have hailed as the hottest live show of the year, featuring what Musician magazine calls "the best band in the world right now." But such accolades aren't enough for Prince, whose woes in the marketplace have forced him to advertise his usually sold-out concerts on TV. His Lovesexy LP is among the slowest-selling in his 10-year, 10-album career. And he's worried that his message, which mixes his old sexistentialism with exhortations to find God—remember, even a loyalist admits Prince is "not normal, exactly"—isn't getting across.

The upshot is that Prince, who routinely makes band members sign affidavits that they won't talk to reporters, has now deigned to allow Cat and Sheila E. to speak for him.

Cat, 26, is a Chicago-born dancer who met Prince two years ago at the L.A. club Vertigo and has starred in his stage shows ever since. Sheila E., 30, is rock's premier female drummer, thanks in part to the showcase Prince provides. Not surprisingly, the two women come to praise, not bury, their little Caesar. Arriving for separate interviews wearing matching black minidresses—designed by the mini-maestro himself—they begin by trying to dispel all this talk about sex.

"Prince was upset when people misunderstood his album cover," says Cat. "People say, 'Oh, Prince is nude! How gross!' That shows the kind of minds they have. The cover was meant to express vulnerability. Why be ashamed of your body?"

Cat certainly isn't ashamed of hers. Besides her lascivious romps in "Head," her sexual aerobics heated up Prince's Sign O' The Times concert film. But the intimacy she and Prince ecstatically share onstage is, she insists, pure choreography. "In the show, I'm his girlfriend. When we sing 'Head,' it's fun. We're just acting it out. I play the girl." That, presumably, means Prince only plays the boy, but when she is asked whether there's a chance her boss might be gay, Cat cracks up. The boy, she says, is girl crazy.

The rumor mill in Minneapolis, the squeaky-clean hometown he has placed uncomfortably on the lurid-rock map, somewhat agrees. Former Prince protégée Vanity has said on record that Prince is the best lover she ever had. "Believe me, Prince loooves the girls," says another ex-member of Prince's inner circle. "He definitely doesn't just sing about it." Balderdash, protests courtier Cat, who would like us to believe that the man who makes out with her so convincingly onstage is chaste as a monk in private life. "People think he sleeps around," Cat says. "He doesn't. You see him leave a party with a girl, they could be going back to the hotel for anything. They might stay up all night talking.

"He talks to me," Cat adds, "so I know." And what is revealed in these heart to hearts? Not much. Cat says Prince entertains with talk about food fights on the road, his favorite records (Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Cocteau Twins) and the latest films (he pronounced The Last Temptation of Christ "good"). "I love Prince," Cat says. "If I wasn't in his band, I'd want to be his girlfriend. But I don't mix business and pleasure." Except, perhaps, onstage.

Enter Sheila E:
After leading her own band for two years, tiny Sheila E. (née Escovedo), gave up center stage in 1986 to beat skins for Prince. She soon became so devoted, she left her family and a lifelong circle of friends in the Bay Area and moved to Minnesota, where she lives close to Prince's recording complex. That has led to more rumors. Sheila is said to be nursing an unrequited, or maybe requited, love for her boss. She says neither is true. "We're always working and we're always together," Sheila explains. "He loves his guitar. He loves his music. His main girlfriend is his music. Musically, Prince is the best. He's a genius. The only other person I felt this way about was when I used to play for my father." (He is percussionist Pete Escovedo, a former Tito Puente and Carlos Santana sideman who sat his daughter at a drum kit when she was 5.

Wherever the truth lies in this tangle of loving denials and sweaty rumors, it is clearly true that Prince is obsessed with music, especially his own. "Oh, he's a workaholic, no question," Sheila says, adding that his cure for the traditional post-performance blues is to "keep playing. We'll end up going to a club and playing for another three hours. It's that much fun."

Such impromptu jams have startled audiences at nearly every stop of the Lovesexy tour, which is expected to play through February. Each concert is structured as an elaborate sin-and-salvation cycle, the first half consisting mostly of the older, funkier, overtly sexual songs that made Prince the man Tipper Gore would most love to muzzle. "The beginning of the show is dark," Sheila says. "We kind of take you through hell, and then at the end—it's like heaven. We were bad and we become good. The music is very spiritual in the second half."

That half represents a Prince we can expect to hear more of, Sheila says. It was his growing "God love," Sheila says, that made Prince stop distribution of The Black Album, a hardcore funk record set for release last December. Bootleg copies were so widespread that cynics suggested Prince pulled the album merely to burnish his legend. Sheila won't have any of that. "It was very dark and negative," she explains. "Prince thought, 'What if something happened to me before I'm able to put out another?' He couldn't sleep at night thinking about 10-year-old kids believing 'this is what Prince was about—guns and violence.' He said, 'I can't leave this on little kids' minds. I don't care if they pressed 500,000 copies.' "

Take that, Tipper. Besides, Lovesexy, his followers say, was issued as a mind-cleansing antidote to The Black Album. Cat and Sheila report that their man sketched all the musicians' stage costumes, featuring bold colors and sleeves decorated with block letters spelling "Love God," "Minneapolis" and the band members' names. He also designed street and evening clothes for the girls. "He says, 'It's up to you if you want to wear it,' " Cat says. "But he has wonderful taste. I'm used to jeans and sweatshirts, but since meeting Prince I like dressing up."

And the beat goes on. "He's such a perfectionist," says Cat. "If there's a mistake, he'll bring it to your attention, and if you make it again, he'll say, 'Docked.' That means he'll dock your pay. But he never does. He is just one of the persons you love to be around 24 hours a day." Which is a lucky break, because, like time, rust and crabgrass, Cat adds, "Prince never sleeps."

1988 Outtake

Initial tracking took place on 6 October, 1988 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (during two days off from the Lovesexy Tour, between shows in Toronto, ON, Canada and Hampton, VA, USA, on the same day as Still Would Stand All Time). This version contained different verses than the released version, but contains the same chorus. It was initially included on a configuration of the Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic album, dated 27 October, 1988, but was removed for the late 1988 - early 1989 configuration

Boy is lonely on a burning hot summer night
A car door slams - out jumps Coco in a dress so tight
The likeness of Jesus on a leather coat
She's 2 smart 4 ecstasy, she's 2 fast 4 coke
She takes the boy by the hand
The only thing he understands
Is that she wants him on the dance floor

Elephants and flowers

Hot sweaty light paints a picture red and gold
On their just turned 18-year old bodies - superbold!
Scream and dance 4 12 hours 2 the New Power Soul (New Power)
No sex, no drugs, no devil here - just gold ol' rock'n'roll

Elephants and flowers

CHORUS:
Love the One who is Love, the One who gives us the power
The One who made everything - elephants and flowers
The One who will listen when all others will not
There will be peace 4 those who love God a lot

Elephants and flowers {x2}

No confusion (Confusion)
No tears (No tears)
No enemies (No)
No fear (No fear)
No sorrow (Sorrow)
No pain (No pain)
No ball (No ball and no chain)

Sex is not love, love is not sex
Putting words in other people's mouth won't get U elected
Don't kiss me, just talk 2 me

CHORUS

Elephants and flowers

(C'mon, everybody)

98 in the dark {fade out}
The DJ on the racecar
He tried 2 put it in park
But it wants 2 groove more

lovesexy is such a great album with a real neat vibe, it really makes me wonder how anyone on here can dislike it.

im not even into jesus, but i really dig the spirituality

uuhson said:

lovesexy is such a great album with a real neat vibe, it really makes me wonder how anyone on here can dislike it.

im not even into jesus, but i really dig the spirituality

I personally love(d) it, the project, the outtakes/era studio cuts

the album I love the journey,

I wish there was a bit more of something, to promote the album (outside of technical stuff)

I mean I wish there was a protege group still in effect, that the music assisted the Lovesexy music idea

He toured heavily (especially in Europe) I love all 3 videos especially Glam Slam & I Wish U Heaven,

I don't know because the message was so fuzzy, I wish he had a good 'video/movie' director that could have done some mini movie videos something that could have creatively helped promo the album a few more videos... Scarlet Pussy underground video

Lovesexy, 1999, and SOTT are the 3 perfect albums in Prince's career - to me.

I have loved Lovesexy from the moment I borrowed a friend's cassette and heard the opening bars of "I Know"...

In 2004, I got a Lovesexy-inspired (from the Alphabet St video) tattoo.

I am very staunchly against religion, but really I don't understand about 90% of what's being talked about on the record (or I loosely translate it to something that I relate to), so the album is simply a masterpiece to me.

This is his ultimate party/feel good record, to me. Even the ballads are party-friendly. You could put this track on at a party and let it rip and people would enjoy it.

the letters in the alphabet street video reminds me of stuff i see sometimes in my minds eye as i go to sleep or in dreams -- lots of letters moving and spinning -- what does it mean?

i like the echoes of lovesexy in graffiti bridge too.

Some of my favorite

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/AUTOMATIC7/PRINCE%20IMAGES/lovesexy_tourbook_06.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/AUTOMATIC7/PRINCE%20IMAGES/1988ls7.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/AUTOMATIC7/PRINCE%20IMAGES/LOVESEXYBAND4.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/AUTOMATIC7/PRINCE%20IMAGES/LOVESEXYBAND2.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v167/AUTOMATIC7/PRINCE%20IMAGES/1988.jpg[/img:$uid]

MadamGoodnight said:

nursev said:

Love the alphabet video

Me too!

I loved the dancing , loved the hair and clothes. His hair was so lush, and had so much body, LOL.

shit I was jealous of his hair