I started a thread when I learned that Prince originally wanted Madonna in UTCM and discovered that he asked her to be in Graffiti Bridge as well. After doing some digging here on the Org and elsewhere, here's other info I've found on the bizarre tragicomedy known as Grafitti Bridge:

• In addition to Madonna -- Kim Basinger and Janet Jackson (unconfirmed) were considered for the lead role; unsure if they were both considered for the Ruthie Washington character

• Cat Glover was cast as a character named Vienna

• Sheila E. was cast as a character named Angel

• Prince's character was named Camille Blue

• Mavis Staples replaced Patti LaBelle

• Prior to being brought into the film, The Time were working on their own film, a movie based on their day-to-day exploits (similar to "A Hard Day's Night")

• "Scandalous" replaced "Still Would Stand All Time" on the Batman soundtrack, which would later replace "The Grand Progression" on GB

• "The Grand Progression" refers to a central theme of the original script for GB; a search for "the grand progression" of "17 chords, all originating from the A-flat", which would make the graffiti bridge of the movie appear.

• Unreleased songs and song titles associated with the movie: Stimulation, Everything Could Be So Fine, The Spiritual World, XYZ, Bloody Mouth (soundtrack only), Seven Corners, Beat Town, Ruthie Washington Jet Blues, Love Is Everywhere, Camille

• Some of the GB ideas are leftovers from The Dawn, a musical that pitted Mazarati against The Coco Boys (Tony LeMans, Micki Free and Romeo Blue aka Lenny Kravitz

• In an early draft the main character is searching for God who, as it turns out, looks a lot like Kim Basinger

Wow that's really interesting man! Thanks for sharing it . I would've loved to see The Time's movie since that would've been hilarious, and I really wish The Grand Progression (and the idea of the Graffiti Bridge being a more metaphorical/ non existant thing) would have been used in the movie. It could've been much better then it turned out to be . And I had no idea Prince knew Lenny Kravitz from back in the late 80's o_O

in 1990,I recall Tyler Collins (who,at the time,was enjoying a Top 10 hit,"Girls Nite Out") saying that she too had been offered a role in GB but she turned it down.She said that she didn't want to be known as just another "Prince girl".She later signed with Paisley Park Records but the label shut down before her album could be released.

NICE

especially this part

• Cat Glover was cast as a character named Vienna

• Sheila E. was cast as a character named Angel

• Prince's character was named Camille Blue

alphachannel said:

• Unreleased songs and song titles associated with the movie: Stimulation, Everything Could Be So Fine, The Spiritual World, XYZ, Bloody Mouth (soundtrack only), Seven Corners, Beat Town, Ruthie Washington Jet Blues, Love Is Everywhere, Camille

what about "Love Song",the 1989 Madonna/Prince duet that appeared on her Like A Prayer album? I had heard that an early version of this song,titled Our Love Song,was intended for the film (the two of them singing it to each other in one scene).This,of course,was when Prince was trying to get Madonna to take the part.

SoulAlive said:

alphachannel said:

• Unreleased songs and song titles associated with the movie: Stimulation, Everything Could Be So Fine, The Spiritual World, XYZ, Bloody Mouth (soundtrack only), Seven Corners, Beat Town, Ruthie Washington Jet Blues, Love Is Everywhere, Camille

what about "Love Song",the 1989 Madonna/Prince duet that appeared on her Like A Prayer album? I had heard that an early version of this song,titled Our Love Song,was intended for the film (the two of them singing it to each other in one scene).This,of course,was when Prince was trying to get Madonna to take the part.

Good catch. I mis-read a couple of excerpts from Madonna interviews thinking that Love Song was from a later project: http://allaboutmadonna.co...e-a-prayer

OldFriends4Sale said:

NICE

especially this part

• Cat Glover was cast as a character named Vienna

• Sheila E. was cast as a character named Angel

• Prince's character was named Camille Blue

Madonna's character was named Ruthie Washington

where does he come up with these names?

Fact thirty four - This movie is complete bullshit, and is evidence that god does not exist.

The only fact that matters.....the movie is fucking horrible.

Honestly, if the things that are mentioned in the factiods had happened, the movie would have been worse.

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE????

Referring to an '87 article from the StarTribune [here] the Coco Boy's were intended for the "Dream Factory" film.

Was the idea later incorporated into GB, or was it inteded as a story line for "Sign O The Times"?

Nothinbutjoy said:

Honestly, if the things that are mentioned in the factiods had happened, the movie would have been worse.

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE????

!!!!!!!!!!!

Aristotle said:

Referring to an '87 article from the StarTribune [here] the Coco Boy's were intended for the "Dream Factory" film.

Was the idea later incorporated into GB, or was it inteded as a story line for "Sign O The Times"?

It seems like Prince was working on so many projects at the same time at one point in July 1986,he even decided to work on a Broadway musical,which is where the songs "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" and "Girl O' My Dreams" come from.I remember a magazine article that insisted his new movie Dream Factory was slated for a November 1986 release,lol.With so much activity going on,even the media got confused and couldn't keep up.

but yeah...I think many of these ideas were incorporated into GB.It's interesting to note that GB was supposed to be the first in a series of new films.The plan was to follow it up with a street-oriented sequel called The Dawn,but obviously that didn't happen.GB effectively killed his movie career.

I'd really like to know how Krabitz, LeMans and Free ended-up being selected as the Coco Boys... What was these people's connection with Prince in 1986? Were they even aware of that whole project or did Prince just consider them for the role? There must be more info available.

Cool

Always been fascinated about the Coco Boys, and its why Prince wrote a song for Nona Hendryx under the pseudonym Joey Coco in 1987 - Baby Go go

Also the songs from ths project survive, Can't stop this feeling I got, Joy in Repetition and Soul Psychodelicide were actual numbers for the movie along with Wonderful Day, mostly poppy lightweight numbers. Its seems he really got into this project, around 1986/87, but events at the time may have seen him go off it.

I would love to find out more.

Adorecream said:

Cool

Always been fascinated about the Coco Boys, and its why Prince wrote a song for Nona Hendryx under the pseudonym Joey Coco in 1987 - Baby Go go

Also the songs from ths project survive, Can't stop this feeling I got, Joy in Repetition and Soul Psychodelicide were actual numbers for the movie along with Wonderful Day, mostly poppy lightweight numbers. Its seems he really got into this project, around 1986/87, but events at the time may have seen him go off it.

I would love to find out more.

Prince used the psudonym several other times. I can't remember 'em all but the 1986 song for Kenny Rogers was a Joey Coco composition as well.

databank said:

I'd really like to know how Kravitz, LeMans and Free ended-up being selected as the Coco Boys... What was these people's connection with Prince in 1986? Were they even aware of that whole project or did Prince just consider them for the role? There must be more info available.

In the mid-80s,Prince was really close to Micki Free.They were seen hanging out together in Hollywood and even jammed together a few times.Prince wanted to bring him into his camp,but he was still a member of Shalamar.In 1991 when Jesse Johnson left the Time,Prince suggested to the guys that Micki would be a great replacement.

Not sure what his connection was to the other two when he was planning this film,neither Kravitz or LeMans had recorded their debut album yet.

databank said:

I'd really like to know how Krabitz, LeMans and Free ended-up being selected as the Coco Boys... What was these people's connection with Prince in 1986? Were they even aware of that whole project or did Prince just consider them for the role? There must be more info available.

Not sure about the timeline but Prince and Mark were grooming Mazarati since late 1984; by '86 Micki Free would have been out (or on his way out) of Shalamar. Tony LeMans' manager -- John Mendel -- worked for Cavallo, Ruffalo & Farnoli, and says he put Lenny in his first band. A guy named Mike Tyler says he was in a band with LeMans & Kravitz that had a deal on the table with A&M. Kravitz who orginally aspired to be a studio musician also crossed paths with LeMans on a Sly Stone session.

Side note: Micki Free has a daughter named Anastasia

From Uptown Magazine:

Immediately upon his return from the one-month Parade tour of Europe and Japan, Prince threw himself into a new film project, The Dawn. Planned as a musical, The Dawn concerned two rival bands, oneof them called the Coco Boys. According to Tony Christian, Prince had ideas about Mazarati being one of the groups and he was considering parts for Tony LeMans and Lenny Kravitz, who had played together in the Los Angeles group Romeo Blue, and Micki Free, formerly of Shalamar. LeMans was also under consideration for Paisley Park Records as a solo artist.

Christian describes The Dawn as “a black West Side Story type musical, starring two bands, rivalries, fighting it out. I don’t think Prince would have been in the movie, though. He would just be directing it.” Prince recorded three songs that he had written specifically for The Dawn in his home studio: “Crucial,” “When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes,” and “Coco Boys,” which was developed from an instrumental piece recorded during the Paris soundcheck session on theParade tour. Describing a battle between the Coco Boys and anothergroup, the track is a mid-tempo pop/funk tune with a calypso flavour.According to the lyrics, the band members all have 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 who became a well-known Hollywood actress inthe sixties. “When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes” is a ballad,described by Mazarati’s Tony Christian as sounding a bit like “Free.”

Prince never saw The Dawn project through to its completion, although the scenario of two rival bands was incorporated into Graffiti Bridge, his next film project. The Dawn was still mentioned as a possible film in 1989, but it remains unfinished to this day. Clearly, writing music tailored for a film or a play, and conjuring up characters and scenarios, provided a stimulating creative challenge for Prince. Withthe dissolution of his protégé bands, Apollonia 6, The Time, and The Family, he was increasingly turning his attention to film projects.

In early October 1986, Prince left Minneapolis for the warmer climates of Los Angeles. He holed up at Sunset Sound, working there almost every day for three months. He was still seeing Susannah and she took part in some of the sessions. EricLeeds and Matt Blistan recorded horn overdubs on many tracks and Jill Jones, who was working on a solo album, was sometimes called onto provide backing vocals. Other occasional guests in the studio included Sheila E., Eric Leeds’ friend H.B. Bennett, André Cymone, Micki Free, Tony LeMans, and Jody Watley, formerly of Shalamar,who was working on a solo album with André and David Rivkin at Sunset Sound. Before focusing on an album project of his own, Prince spent the initial two weeks working mostly on songs for other artists.

the Dawn sounds like it would have been very similiar to Graffiti Bridge,but with Mazarati and The Coco Boys playing the two bands,instead of The Kid and the Time.

I want to know the chords of the grand progression.

Tittypants said:

Nothinbutjoy said:

Honestly, if the things that are mentioned in the factiods had happened, the movie would have been worse.

HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE????

!!!!!!!!!!!

NOTHING could have saved this movie with its premise. It's just silly. The whole idea behind GB was just silly. But the lp is still one of my favorites by prince.

What makes Graffiti Bridge NOT live up to its potential is that Prince just had too many ideas and he seemed to draw them all into one. He still was on this fix about Love, Grand Progression, Camille..It was just an overload of an experience! LOL

Nevertheless these facts are interesting! Thanks for sharing!

Very interesting tidbits for a horrible movie that should have never made it to the big screen

EyeJester7 said:

What makes Graffiti Bridge NOT live up to its potential is that Prince just had too many ideas and he seemed to draw them all into one. He still was on this fix about Love, Grand Progression, Camille..It was just an overload of an experience! LOL

Nevertheless these facts are interesting! Thanks for sharing!

the other thing is the movie didn't inspire the music or is it the music wasn't inspired by the movie,

(most of it at least the ones that came out of the Dream Factory/1986 sessions: Can't Stop This Feeling I Got – 4:24 The Question of U – 3:59 We Can Funk – 5:28 Joy In Repetition – 4:53 PR sessions: Chocolate Controversy sessions: Tick, Tick, Bang" – 3:31 (Jerk Out*)

Good music that because he didn't have the time was used/remade.

Tittypants said:

The only fact that matters.....the movie is fucking horrible.

Exactly. In fact, I don't own it and couldn't suffer more than 20 minutes of it when I tried to watch it. Please, nobody spoil the ending for me, I couldn't give a shit.

OldFriends4Sale said:

EyeJester7 said:

What makes Graffiti Bridge NOT live up to its potential is that Prince just had too many ideas and he seemed to draw them all into one. He still was on this fix about Love, Grand Progression, Camille..It was just an overload of an experience! LOL

Nevertheless these facts are interesting! Thanks for sharing!

the other thing is the movie didn't inspire the music or is it the music wasn't inspired by the movie,

(most of it at least the ones that came out of the Dream Factory/1986 sessions: Can't Stop This Feeling I Got – 4:24 The Question of U – 3:59 We Can Funk – 5:28 Joy In Repetition – 4:53 PR sessions: Chocolate Controversy sessions: Tick, Tick, Bang" – 3:31 (Jerk Out*)

Good music that because he didn't have the time was used/remade.

that's a very good point.The soundtrack seems to be a bunch of odds and ends from earlier recording sessions.

cool facts. thx

.........i liked this movie