I have always found it some what strange that Prince has never performed "New Power Generation" live. Not that its the best song ever but I would think that he would of played it by now. Afterall, a few months after the song was released as a single, he named his band The New Power Generation. My thoughts are he probably rehearsed the song and it didnt work. Which I can kinda see. He also has never performed( I'm not counting lyrical interpolations) these "Graffiti Bridge" tracks -"Tick, Tick, Bang", "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", "We Can Funk", "The Latest Fashion", "Graffiti Bridge"(Thank God), and "Love Machine".

Big Chick

"Security Ensuring Thee"

The phrase 'New Power Generation' has been around since 1988/Lovesexy.

HonestMan13 said:

The phrase 'New Power Generation' has been around since 1988/Lovesexy.

Yes, thats totally correct. I really didnt feel like mentioning that because I feel that it took a bigger role for the "Graffiti Bridge" project.

Peace

Big Chick

BigChick said:

I have always found it some what strange that Prince has never performed "New Power Generation" live. Not that its the best song ever but I would think that he would of played it by now. Afterall, a few months after the song was released as a single, he named his band The New Power Generation. My thoughts are he probably rehearsed the song and it didnt work. Which I can kinda see. He also has never performed( I'm not counting lyrical interpolations) these "Graffiti Bridge" tracks -"Tick, Tick, Bang", "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", "We Can Funk", "The Latest Fashion", "Graffiti Bridge"(Thank God), and "Love Machine".

Big Chick

"Security Ensuring Thee"

Sure he did - all the performances are in the movie

The "Nude" tour at the time was intended as a "hits" show that could generate him a decent amount of money when he apparently needed it. So, I suppose, not going for a setlist that focuses on the latest album was a financial choice for him at the time.

Now that I checked it out it seems the tour actually started even before the album was released and ended during what would have been the "promotial period" of the album. A bit odd, if you ask me.

Never been a fan of the "New Power Generation" song. Always thought it sounded like something from a Pepsi commercial.

NPG is a really good song. The message is a little contrived, but the melody, the bass line etc. are top-notch. Underrated for sure.

It has an awesome chord progression. I play it acoustically from time to time and it's a total jam.

novabrkr said:

The "Nude" tour at the time was intended as a "hits" show that could generate him a decent amount of money when he apparently needed it. So, I suppose, not going for a setlist that focuses on the latest album was a financial choice for him at the time.

Now that I checked it out it seems the tour actually started even before the album was released and ended during what would have been the "promotial period" of the album. A bit odd, if you ask me.

Never been a fan of the "New Power Generation" song. Always thought it sounded like something from a Pepsi commercial.

yes, The question of u was played as a new song which wasn't released yet, during the nude tour.

Didn't he play it live at Rock In Rio ? I'm sure I remember seeing a clip of this (and being surprised.) Can anyone confirm this?

robertlove said:

novabrkr said:

The "Nude" tour at the time was intended as a "hits" show that could generate him a decent amount of money when he apparently needed it. So, I suppose, not going for a setlist that focuses on the latest album was a financial choice for him at the time.

Now that I checked it out it seems the tour actually started even before the album was released and ended during what would have been the "promotial period" of the album. A bit odd, if you ask me.

Never been a fan of the "New Power Generation" song. Always thought it sounded like something from a Pepsi commercial.

yes, The question of u was played as a new song which wasn't released yet, during the nude tour.

I'm not sure why you brought that up.

I just commented that the setlist for the tour didn't focus on the latest album (unlike his previous tours that had most of the new songs on the setlist).

Surprised he's never actually played We Can Funk live. I dig both the 86 version and the Graffiti Bridge arrangement. Not sure off-hand how much of the lyrics would be off-limits to his modern 'wholesome' self, though .

Though hasn't his pal Andy Allo released an acoustic runthrough of the song recently?

As he's apparently never played We Can Funk, while he has played stuff like Joy in Repetition, Question of U and Elephants and Flowers from the same album, maybe he just doesn't like the song with hindsight.

Miles said:

Surprised he's never actually played We Can Funk live. I dig both the 86 version and the Graffiti Bridge arrangement. Not sure off-hand how much of the lyrics would be off-limits to his modern 'wholesome' self, though .

Though hasn't his pal Andy Allo released an acoustic runthrough of the song recently?

As he's apparently never played We Can Funk, while he has played stuff like Joy in Repetition, Question of U and Elephants and Flowers from the same album, maybe he just doesn't like the song with hindsight.

Well, he's got so many songs that he can't really do each and every one of them live. He kept returning to "We Can Funk" in the studio quite a few times and that suggests he saw potential in it. However, he's got songs like "Controversy" or "Let's Work" that perform the same function on his setlists.

It seems like once he changed his style a bit in the early-90s he didn't really seem to want to revisit most of the Batman / GB era material.

Elephants said:

Didn't he play it live at Rock In Rio ? I'm sure I remember seeing a clip of this (and being surprised.) Can anyone confirm this?

PrinceVault indicates that there was a bit of "We Can Funk" mixed in with Baby I'm a Star... http://www.princevault.co...uary,_1991

Not sure if that counts as "playing" it though.

There was a live arrangement rehearsed at least by the NPG without Prince as it's on the circulating boot Skin Tight

I would love to hear it live

I wonder why he hasn't? It has a good flow & would be a good concert opener! Just imagine hearing it? I love where he was trying to go..

"Pardon me 4 living, but this is my world 2" I would love to hear it with an extended guitar in the mix! Haha

I wonder why he hasn't? It has a good flow & would be a good concert opener! Just imagine hearing it? I love where he was trying to go..

"Pardon me 4 living, but this is my world 2" I would love to hear it with an extended guitar in the mix! Haha

LAY DOWN UR FUNKY WEAPON!

novabrkr said:

Never been a fan of the "New Power Generation" song. Always thought it sounded like something from a Pepsi commercial.

I agree.I think it's one of the weaker tracks on the GB album.

It's always been a favorite of mine, it would have been great to see it played during the Nude Tour or maybe the D&P tour..I'm surprised that he hasn't played it live atleast once

[Edited 2/25/13 14:09pm]

novabrkr said:

robertlove said:

yes, The question of u was played as a new song which wasn't released yet, during the nude tour.

I'm not sure why you brought that up.

I just commented that the setlist for the tour didn't focus on the latest album (unlike his previous tours that had most of the new songs on the setlist).

I also read that you mentioned the tour started before GB was released. When i read that I had the same thought as robertlove, The question of U being played during the show, a great memory.

he would only play it if he wants to clear the arena...HORRIBLE song.

Funky Weapon remix on the maxi is acceptable. More punchy.

midnightmover said:

NPG is a really good song. The message is a little contrived, but the melody, the bass line etc. are top-notch. Underrated for sure.

Yes! I love the album version a lot too.

EyeJester7 said:

thank heaven for small favors

Not one of my faves, but it would be kind of cool if he broke it out after all this time. I would LOVE to hear "Can't Stop" though.

remko said:

novabrkr said:

I'm not sure why you brought that up.

I just commented that the setlist for the tour didn't focus on the latest album (unlike his previous tours that had most of the new songs on the setlist).

I also read that you mentioned the tour started before GB was released. When i read that I had the same thought as robertlove, The question of U being played during the show, a great memory.

Yes, I only shared memories that the tour started before GB, the tour had actually more to do with the Batman album than with GB. The Question of U was really one of the highlights, that beat!

Purpleaxxe1972 said:

EyeJester7 said:

I wonder why he hasn't? It has a good flow & would be a good concert opener! Just imagine hearing it? I love where he was trying to go..

"Pardon me 4 living, but this is my world 2" I would love to hear it with an extended guitar in the mix! Haha

"Pardon me 4..." Has been my signature below forever. I,like the,lyrics and the chorus is great.

It's such a clever line, though!

It's a good song. Never should have been the second single. Most of it is pretty good. Some of the synth line sounds like circus music though. The lyrics don't really seem to mean anything. I think the remix is a little better in some parts, but I probably prefer the original.

novabrkr said:

The "Nude" tour at the time was intended as a "hits" show that could generate him a decent amount of money when he apparently needed it. So, I suppose, not going for a setlist that focuses on the latest album was a financial choice for him at the time.

Now that I checked it out it seems the tour actually started even before the album was released and ended during what would have been the "promotial period" of the album. A bit odd, if you ask me.

Never been a fan of the "New Power Generation" song. Always thought it sounded like something from a Pepsi commercial.

Prince did a lot of that from 1991-2007 touring before the album being released