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Reply #150 posted 07/04/15 9:12pm

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #151 posted 07/04/15 9:29pm

iZsaZsa

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What is he waiting for?
What?
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Reply #152 posted 07/04/15 10:35pm

terrig

This thread is a joy. Thank you so much. I remember this period so vividly and one thing is very clear about Prince.....

He is happiest onstage playing. That guitar is a hardline right to his mind and heart. Nothing else matters other than that.

All he wants is for people to listen to the music. Thats how he communicates. He was drawn and thin at this time and drama will do that to you - Prince is really superman....lesser people would have never been heard from again.

I cant love this man hard enough. He's stubborn and capricous sometimes, but never ever boring.

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Reply #153 posted 07/07/15 10:59am

OldFriends4Sal
e

March 4. 1995
(The Gold Experience Tour)
Wembley Arena London


1.Purple Medley
2.Endorphinemachine
3.The Jam
4.Shhh
5.Days Of Wild
6.Now
7.Jam/Sex Machine
8.The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
9.Pussy Control
10.Let It Go
11.Pink Cashmere
12.Get Loose
13.A Case Of You
14.I Love U In Me
14.Proud Mary
15.The Ride
16.Race/Super Hero
17.Billy Jack Bitch
18.I Hate U/319
19. Gold

Mayte Garcia and Prince perform on stage on 'The Ultimate Live Experience' tour at Wembley Arena on March 4th, 1995 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Peter Still/Redferns)

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Reply #154 posted 07/07/15 11:45am

OldFriends4Sal
e


2.20.1995 @ the 1995 Brit Awards Show

at the Alexander Palace in London

4 the Best International Male Artist

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Reply #155 posted 07/07/15 12:25pm

iZsaZsa

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*swoon*
What?
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Reply #156 posted 07/09/15 6:17am

OldFriends4Sal
e

March 16.1995
The Gold Experience Tour
The Arena Sheffield. England
1.Purple Medley
2.Endorphinemachine
3.The Jam
4.Shhh
5.Days Of Wild
6.Funky Stuff
7.The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
8.Pussy Control
9.Let It Go
10.Pink Cashmere
11.Loose!
12.I Love U In Me
13.Peach
14.7
15.Get Wild
16.Billy Jack Bitch
17.I Hate U
18.319
19.Gold

BBC TV Top Of The Pops
The NPG & Tora Tora
1.Get Wild

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Reply #157 posted 07/09/15 6:27am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Get Wild" is a song by The New Power Generation, and the first single from their 1995 album, Exodus. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching number 19 in the UK Singles Chart.

"Get Wild" is a funk song, in the style of Parliament and Funkadelic. The lead vocals are by Prince who delivers a rap during the bridge, and some Spanish vocals are provided by Mayte. A maxi-single was released with several remixes of the song.

A remix of "Get Wild" was played in the 1994 film, Prêt-à-Porter and was included on the soundtrack album.

Prince's rap from "Get Wild" was later reused in a promotional remix of the Gold Experience track, "P. Control".

The B-Side of the single was another album track, the psychedelic "Hallucination Rain". This mid-tempo track is mainly spoken but builds into a soaring crescendo of noise and thundering drums in which Prince's voice can be clearly heard at the end. The single also includes the song, "Beautiful Girl", a remix of Prince's 1994 hit, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World".

In 1995, Prince released a perfume called "Get Wild", inspired by the song. It was sold through Prince's mail order retail outlet and New Power Generation stores until 1999. In June 1995, author Jackie Collins sued Prince, claiming he copied the name and design from her own "Wild!" fragrance.

Get wild! Ah!
Get wild! Ooh, ooh, baby!

Get wild! {x4}

When U're sick of that 9 2 5
And U're ready 2 come alive
When U look both high and low
And U can't find a trumpet that blows

Come on, baby (Aw shucks!), where the good times never die
Come on, baby (Aw shucks!), where the damsels good and fly
Come on, baby, U can shake your funky monkey till it cry
Polyvinyl acetate will keep your monkey high
If U wanna get real freaky, now's the time 2 try (Come on y'all)

CHORUS:
Get wild! - Everybody up in the place
Get wild! - It don't matter what sex or race
Get wild! - All U nasty girls and boys
If U wanna get wild, say yeah (Yeah!) - Make some noise!

When U want 2 get in the groove
But the music don't make U move
Hip the DJ 2 a new CD
Anything by the N.P.G.

Come on, baby (Aw shucks!), where the good times never die
Come on, baby (Aw shucks!), where the damsels good and fly
Come on, baby, U can shake your funky monkey till it cry
Polyvinyl acetate will keep your monkey high
If U wanna get real freaky, now's the time 2 try (Come on y'all)

CHORUS

Get wild! - like U know U need 2
Pick a funky outfit short and see-through
Versace got it going on in the gold mesh
Won't U try it on 2 night when U get dressed?
Get Wild's the only aroma that my nose'll see (Get wild!)
Won't U spray a little where U think I'm gonna be?
And U know, U know what shoes 2 wear
The ones so high U're scared

Ououo, peligro que aqui yo vengo! {Oh oh, danger 4 here I come!}
(Get wild!)

When U can't find the G 2 your GO
Even charged, your battery's low
When the smoke's 2 thick 2 blow
There's a brand new high we know

Come on, baby (Aw shucks!), where the good times never die
Come on, baby (Aw shucks!), where the damsels good and fly
Come on, baby, U can shake your funky monkey till it cry
Polyvinyl acetate will keep your monkey high
If U wanna get real freaky, now's the time 2 try (Come on y'all)

Get wild! - Everybody up in the place, yes
Get wild! - It don't matter what sex or race
Get wild! - All U nasty girls and boys (Get wild!)
If U wanna get wild, say yeah (Yeah!) - Make some noise!

Get wild! (Shake it!)
Shake your money maker
Get wild! (Shake it!)
Shake your money maker
Get wild! (Shake it!) (Shake it!)
Shake your money maker
Get wild!

(Get, get ...)
Come on, get wild!

CD single: NPG 61045

  1. "Get Wild" (Single Mix) - 4:35
  2. "Beautiful Girl" - 4:40
  3. "Hallucination Rain" - 5:52

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Reply #158 posted 07/09/15 6:59am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #159 posted 07/09/15 7:02am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Dolphin was available as a promo single, available only on cassette in the UK. In 1993, however, Dolphin was included in the Glam Slam Ulysses stage-show, during the segment titled "Lotus Land".

Almost a year prior to the album's release, on 30 September, 1994, a promo video for Dolphin was premiered as the first video to be broadcast on VH-1 Europe. In early 1995, a rehearsal version of the track by Prince was included as the seventh and final track on Prince's VHS release The Undertaker.

Initial tracking took place on 2 January, 1993 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (during the same one-day session that produced Dark, Come and Endorphinmachine), with only vocals, drums, guitar and bass guitar. The track was included as the eighth track on a March, 1993 configuration of Come. Further guitar, keyboards and sound effects were added to the track between Autumn 1993 and Summer 1994, before it was included as the eleventh track (seventh song) on The Gold Experience in September or October, 1994. -PrinceVault

How beautiful do the words have to be
Before they conquer every heart?
How will you know if I'm even in the right key
If you make me stop before I start?

If I came back as a dolphin, would you listen to me then?
Would you let me be your friend? Would you let me in?
You can cut off all my fins but to your ways I will not bend
I'll die before I let you tell me how to swim

And I'll come back again as a dolphin

Why does my brother have to go hungry
When you told him there was food for all?
This is the man that stands next to the man
That stands to catch you when you fall, oh woah

If I came back as a dolphin, would you listen to me then?
Would you let me be your friend? Would you let me in?
You can cut off all my fins but to your ways I will not bend
I'll die before I let you tell me how to swim

And I'll come back again as a dolphin

If I'm under water, will you find me?
(Find me, find me, find me, find me)
Will you shine a light and try to guide me?
It's happened before, I've knocked on your door
But you wouldn't let me in

How beautiful do the words have to be
Before they conquer every heart? Oh

If I came back as a dolphin would you listen to me then?
Would you let me be your friend? Would you let me in?
You can cut off all my fins but to your ways I will not bend
I'll die before I let you tell me how to swim

Come back in the end as a dolphin
(Oh, I'll come back baby, let me in)
As a dolphin, dolphin
(Let me in, be my friend, yeah, yeah)

Dolphin, as a dolphin, as a dolphin

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Reply #160 posted 07/09/15 7:04am

dodger

OldFriends4Sale said:

2.20.1995 @ the 1995 Brit Awards Show

at the Alexander Palace in London

4 the Best International Male Artist

I remember watching this live like it was last week. I thought it was cool but my mum and sisters thought he was a total weirdo, probably like most did at the time.

.

Great memories, great thread thanks OF4S

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Reply #161 posted 07/09/15 7:32am

OldFriends4Sal
e

dodger said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

2.20.1995 @ the 1995 Brit Awards Show

at the Alexander Palace in London

4 the Best International Male Artist

I remember watching this live like it was last week. I thought it was cool but my mum and sisters thought he was a total weirdo, probably like most did at the time.

.

Great memories, great thread thanks OF4S

U R Welcome

it's cool to review the album eras, you see things a lot differently

then when we were in the moment of it all

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Reply #162 posted 07/09/15 10:13am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #163 posted 07/09/15 10:15am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Good Pussy is an unreleased song recorded in late 1994 or early January, 1995, at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA. Eric Leeds recorded horn overdubs on 16 January, 1995, also at Paisley Park Studios (on the same day as recording horn overdubs on Big Fun, I'm A DJ and Return Of The Bump Squad). It is not known if the track was intended for the New Power Generation's album Exodus, on which was working at the time, or any other project. The track remains unreleased. -PrinceVault

- vocals and all instruments, except where noted

Eric Leeds - horns

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Reply #164 posted 07/09/15 10:19am

OldFriends4Sal
e


New Music Express
August 3, 1995

0{+>
THE GOLD EXPERIENCE

Warner Bros.

1 PUSSY CONTROL - Starts like some electronic intergalactic war with rapid keyboards and a woman talking in Spanish. Then an introduction, "Good morning ladies, gentlemen, boys and motherf---ing girls," before breaking into a six-minute fast track of warped industrial rap with sex-overdose lyrics.

2 ENDORPHINEMACHINE - "There are over 500 experiences to choose from, here's a selection...". It opens with what sounds like a flick through the radio dial and then booms into a huge stadium friendly single with the lyric, "Prince is done with/Prince is done with".

3 SHHH - Continuing the sex theme, 'Shhh' begins with a dramatic intro then slows into a soulful, jazzy epic. "Sex is not what I think about/It's what I think about you," Symbol sings, before the song concludes with a huge orchestral sweep.

4 WE MARCH - Opens with Christmassy chimes then breaks into hard, raw funk as Symbol asks, "If this is the same avenue my ancestors fought to liberate/How come I can't even buy a piece of it if my credit is straight?"

5 DAYS OF WILD - Weakest track on the album. Prince is rapping. Meant to sound bad-assed but it sounds hollow.

6 TMBGITW - Massive spangly pop song and his worldwide number one. The first really stunning song on the LP.

7 DOLPHIN - Fast-beat pop with a chorus that sounds like a huge pepsi advert. Racy, singularly accessible track that will appeal to seven year pop kids as well as hardened fans. Catchiest song on the album, though the words are distinctly left field: "I'll die before you/I let you tell me how to swim/And I'll come back again as dolphin/Let me in, let me in/As my friend dolphin/As a dolphin".

8 NOW - Hard, raw funk with sharp blasts of brass, swells of organ and snatches of rap in places not unlike Public Enemy's 'Give It Up'.

9 319 - A 'Kiss'-like tease with layers and layers of vocal, snatches of horn, choppy funk guitar and scuzzy dirty keyboards. Another possible single.

10 SHY - The album's outstanding track. A stripped down rock ballad with sweet guitar breaks and washes of slide guitar, it ends with the sound of a car driving off into the distance. Symbol sings "The lips say no but the body says might/Looks like we are going to take the long way home tonight".

11 BILLY JACK BITCH - "Open letters are the only things that open wounds." A rolling, funky grove and possible club track (when remixed). Slick swathes of funk and ends with a big roaring laugh.

12 EYE HATE U - Opens with more radio-style voice-overs from a sexy-voiced woman who says, "You've accessed the hate experience. Do you wish to change your mind? Enjoy your experience." Leads into a schmaltzzy over the top ballad with ridiculous lover spurned lyrics and the memorable, "With her hands behind her back so I can tie her tight and give into the act".

13 GOLD - Appropriately big, pumping ballsy power rock ballad to end. Massive Purple Rain-esque sound, though the lyrics are uniquely cheesy and include the words, "There's a mountain and it is mighty high/You cannot see the top unless you fly".

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Reply #165 posted 07/09/15 10:21am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #166 posted 07/10/15 9:24am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #167 posted 07/10/15 9:27am

OldFriends4Sal
e

Prince,Endorphinmachine,Japan,Promo,Deleted,5

First Released: 7 June, 1994 - Interactive CD-ROM (video version)

26 September, 1995 - The Gold Experience album (audio version)-PrinceVault

Ow!
Come on!
Yeah!
C-c-c-c-c-come on!
Would U please look at this mother next 2 me
Frontin' more booty than Peru got keys
Damn, if I don't get that
Wait right there and I'll be right back
Got a new trick in the back of my car
It's kinda like a movie but U're the star
Lights, camera, make a scene
The Endorphinmachine

Go baby
The Endorphinmachine
Yeah, go baby (Go baby)

Tippy, tippy, tin my friend or shall we begin?
Step right up and I'll strap U in
Don't be shy, this won't hurt a bit
Unless of course U don't believe in it
As sure as the dippy dippy wave of my 'do
U'll believe in somethin' before this night is through
Press one 4 the money, press 2 4 the dream
And get ready 4 somethin' that U've never seen
The Endorphinmachine

Go baby
The Endorphinmachine
Go baby (Go baby)

Tommy Barbarella, turn it on

Uh huh, uh huh
Hold up, wait a minute
Ain't no good unless somebody else is in it
U there with the cynical disposition
Perhaps U'd like 2 join us in a mission
Of fishin' 4 logic in a think tank
Unless, of course, U're feelin' like a punk and take the bank
But every now and then there comes a time U must defend
Your right 2 die and live again, live again, live again
Get up, get up, get in
The Endorphinmachine

It's alright, baby (Go Baby)
Don't be shy (The Endorphinmachine)
Yeah, I ain't gonna hurt U
Go baby

Come on, come on (Endorphinmachine)
Well, I told ya (Go baby)
The Endorphinmachine
Go baby, go baby, go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Don't make me!

Prince esta muerto (Prince is dead)
Prince esta muerto (Prince is dead)
Que viva para siempre el Poder de la Nueva Generacion
(Long live the New Power Generation)

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Reply #168 posted 07/10/15 9:30am

OldFriends4Sal
e


Cat Glover from the Lovesexy era.

First time I remember this word in Prince vocabulary

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Reply #169 posted 07/10/15 8:23pm

dysFUNKshhhnL

Great thread--Great Memories...I was at a Paisley Park show on August 26, 1995. Awesome show!

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Reply #170 posted 07/10/15 9:20pm

FreeSpirit

avatar

OldFriends4Sale said:

Miss these thingy's. The Gold Experience is definitely one of my favorite (love every song) albums. All of this is good stuff to read. Lately I have been pulling out all the Prince tunes... or keeping it quiet. It has been a long while since I have venture to Prince.org... this is good stuff! Thank you all.

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Reply #171 posted 07/10/15 10:15pm

XNY

avatar

I have to tell you...as a fan of his music since 1982, watching his evolution at this time was truly inspiring. I've lived in the Twin cities since 1992 and was blessed to be able to see him live about 30 times during this period. To hear the media squabble about his finances or name change - was laughable when you were able to see and hear the amazing performances week in and week out at Glam Slam or Paisley Park depending on where he was playing.

Every show was pure magic and jaw-dropping. We attended late night jam sessions, funk workouts, guitar driven shows... one night it was the MPLS line-up, another the full band...mostly new music few of us had heard, except thru videos he'd shown other nights. I first saw The Beautiful Experience at Glam Slam then I had to get it asap.

A different night he simulcasted a concert from Miami to Mpls via satelite, another night from Mpls. At PP, we were part of the filming of "Love4OneAnother". A different night after Terence Trent D'arby played First Avenue(also a fantastic show), Prince played from about 2-530. It was crazy!!

This was all before the Celebration concerts. If you worked downtown like many of us did, you heard about shows thru friends or simple invites they would hand out at the Rogue club.

There were crowds of people almost every weekend driving in from Chicago taking a chance there would be another show that weekend. My sister and I would drive out not knowing if he was playing some weekends on the small chance he did-- only to be rewarded over and over with an amazing performance.

I got to know some great people who lived and breathed his music during this time. Paradise may not last forever, but from 1992-1996 it was damn near heaven for many Prince fans in the Midwest. It was for me. music

"Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion" -- Martha Graham
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Reply #172 posted 07/11/15 1:14am

SoulAlive

OldFriends4Sale said:

I remember ordering the NPG magazine (subscribing to it) in the summer of '94 but I didn't receive my first copy until February 95! lol Things were a mess at the NPG store during those days.

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Reply #173 posted 07/11/15 1:26am

dodger

XNY said:

I have to tell you...as a fan of his music since 1982, watching his evolution at this time was truly inspiring. I've lived in the Twin cities since 1992 and was blessed to be able to see him live about 30 times during this period. To hear the media squabble about his finances or name change - was laughable when you were able to see and hear the amazing performances week in and week out at Glam Slam or Paisley Park depending on where he was playing.


Every show was pure magic and jaw-dropping. We attended late night jam sessions, funk workouts, guitar driven shows... one night it was the MPLS line-up, another the full band...mostly new music few of us had heard, except thru videos he'd shown other nights. I first saw The Beautiful Experience at Glam Slam then I had to get it asap.


A different night he simulcasted a concert from Miami to Mpls via satelite, another night from Mpls. At PP, we were part of the filming of "Love4OneAnother". A different night after Terence Trent D'arby played First Avenue(also a fantastic show), Prince played from about 2-530. It was crazy!!


This was all before the Celebration concerts. If you worked downtown like many of us did, you heard about shows thru friends or simple invites they would hand out at the Rogue club.


There were crowds of people almost every weekend driving in from Chicago taking a chance there would be another show that weekend. My sister and I would drive out not knowing if he was playing some weekends on the small chance he did-- only to be rewarded over and over with an amazing performance.


I got to know some great people who lived and breathed his music during this time. Paradise may not last forever, but from 1992-1996 it was damn near heaven for many Prince fans in the Midwest. It was for me. music




Sounds awesome. Was a great time to be a fan even more for folks like you seeing it at first hand.
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Reply #174 posted 07/13/15 5:20am

OldFriends4Sal
e

April 8. 1995
The White Room UK
The NPG & Tora Tora
1.The Jam
2.Count The Days

3.Get Wild

4.Big Fun
5.Hide The Bone

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Reply #175 posted 07/13/15 5:26am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #176 posted 07/13/15 10:16am

OldFriends4Sal
e


Time Out - March 15-22, 1995

Slave To The Rhythm
Prince has always been a bit weird, but lately he seems to have lost it completely. He's changed his name to 0{+^, declared war on his record company and scrawled 'SLAVE' on his cheek. Granted a rare royal audience, Peter Paphides asks: what the *@,0{+^! is he playing at?

NO FOOTBALL. There's NO FOOTBALL allowed in here. 'Can we switch it off?' The Wembley catering staff are looking decidedly agitated. It's not clear whether or not the directive concerning the backstage TV has come from higher up, but you can sense the relief when the offending footy fans switch back to Bugs Bunny. Royalty is in the vicinity. Consequently, even though The Artist Formerly Known As Prince/0{+>'s minders are taking it easy over some lunch and a coffee, there's a palpable tension about the place.

Minder One: 'Did you see what she called him?' He's referring to 'Sunday Show', BBC2's new youth magazine show hosted by Donna McPhail and Katie Puckrik. 0{+> performed an as-yet-unreleased song live from Wembley Arena.

Minder Two: 'She didn't call him Prince, did she?'

Minder One: 'She did, you know! She was in the studio and she said, "And now we're going to Wembley for Prince!" She said it!'

Minder Three shakes his head, incredulous. Staring at his pizza for inspiration, he reflects on it for a moment and inhales sharply: 'Heads will roll.' Before anyone has time to work out whether or not he's joking, the door opens. A voluptuous young woman in cycling shorts strolls in. Clearly, this is some kind of sign. Six minders grab their radios and jump to attention just as 0{+> follows behind her, heading for the canteen. However, by the time they've come to their senses, he's gone again, evidently not peckish. Then the summons. 'He's ready,' shouts his publicist, avoiding at all times the dilemma of having to address 0{+> by his new name.

More minders line the walls as I pass through another layer of security blokes, until finally I'm faced with a small subcontinent in trousers. I offer a joke following a somewhat erotic body-search, but it seems this is no time for funnies. The point, of course, isn't that I might be an assassin, more that 0{+> is one of the most famous pop stars in the world. And along with 15 albums, an entire Minneapolis studio complex, several other solo careers launched on the back of his patronage and an untouchable respect within and beyond the music industry such is the paraphernalia of that fame.

As you may have heard, 0{+> wants to wrestle ownership of his songs from Warner Bros Music. At this point I ought to explain that the concept of ownership in music is kind of an odd one. When you sign to a label, you basically sell them your songs. Consequently, any time one of your songs is covered or used by another artist, on film or in an advert, the record company receives a large percentage of the royalties. For example, since Paul McCartney was outbidded by Michael Jackson in the battle to buy The Beatles' songs, even he would need Jacko's permission to sample or use Beatles songs in any unorthodox way.

Warners, then, has responded to 0{+>'s dissent by refusing to release his new album, 'The Gold Experience'. So he's taken to writing 'SLAVE' on his face, changed his name and refrained from performing any 'Prince' songs at his current shows, opting instead for songs from 'The Gold Experience'. As long as Warners owns his songs, it is claimed, you won't get to hear the album on record. Terrible shame, really, as it's his finest album since 1987's 'Sign O' The Times'. If you've seen 0{+>'s first run of Wembley dates, then you will probably know all this. 0{+>'s set comprises almost entirely unreleased material, yet it's only upon going home that you realise he didn't play 'Alphabet Street', 'Gett Off', '1999', 'The Most Beautiful Girl In The World' and 'Kiss'.

The new songs suggest a man in the throes of some kind of creative rebirth: 'Gold', which closes the set in a slo-mo tornado of stardust and iridescence, lies at the core of this rebirth evoking the grandeur of 'Purple Rain' albeit in a more languorous setting, 'Endorphinmachine' is also remarkable, especially the way 0{+> squeals 'Prince is done with!' over all manner of bustling funk syncopations. Mercifully, it's much less clumsy than the eponymous stage set - a big blobby climbing frame representing a colossal hybrid of the male and female genitalia, in fact most of 'The Gold Experience' bulges ripely with a life-affirming spontaneity more common to mid-'80s gems like 'Mountains' and 'If I Was Your Girlfriend', rather than last year's flaccid 'Come' effort.

So: 0{+> wants to talk. About 'The Gold Experience' and about his 'enslavement', and he wants to talk about these things to me. The last time I saw 0{+> speaking was his acceptance speech at last month's Brit Awards. This is what he said: 'Prince? Best? "Gold Experience", better. Get Wild. In concert, perfectly free. On record, slave. Peace.' Can you see why I'm nervous?

'Sorry about the glasses. We were up kind of late last night,' smiles 0{+>, pointing to his Bono-style 'Fly' shades. In terms of fame, he may be even bigger than Minneapolis, but right now he's smaller than my mum. His dressing room is tiny, rendered claustrophobic by the sheer volume of patterned drapes and velour hangings that frame the dim light. Sifting through the awe, I remind myself that I've been summoned here for a reason. 0{+> is using Time Out to tell everyone how oppressive his record company is. When I suggest to 0{+> that he's only decided to talk to the press because he has a vested interest in doing so, he snaps, 'Well, Prince never used to do interviews. You'd have to ask Prince why he never used to do interviews, but you're not talking to Prince now. You're talking to me.'

Okay then. So why are you doing interviews at the moment? 'We have to free the music,' explains the pantalooned sex dwarf opposite me. 'I don't own my music at the moment. That's why I'm in dispute with the record company.'

Apparently, 0{+>'s record company thought he was releasing too much material. This is why it claimed to be putting off the release of 'The Gold Experience'. According to Warners, if it released 0{+>'s albums as often as he wants they'd swamp the market and everyone would lose interest in 0{+>. Aesthetically too, it might make more sense for 0{+>/Prince to release fewer records: many critics have commented that if he was more selective and released fewer albums, they would be stupendous rather than merely very good. 0{+>, unsurprisingly, has little time for either line of thinking.

'There's a lot of things that critics don't understand,' he responds conspiratorially, as if I'm not one of those critics. 'Like the second song in our set is a track called "Jam", and what people don't realise is that in America that's the number one track at house parties. Now, the audience know that, they've respect that! But that's not something that most critics are down with, you know what I'm saying? So when people say I make too many records, I just show them the Aretha Franklin catalogue in the '60s, when she made a new record every four months.'

That's the kind of work ethic you aspire to then, is it?

'That's right. I work hard with the best musicians in the world. We work all day, you know what I'm saying? But those people at the record company who own my music, they go home at 6pm! And they're the people that control my music. Can you see how there's no room for debate between myself and them?' 0{+>'s eyes peer up from beneath the shades as if to punctuate the assertion: 'You know, they still call me Prince!'

Is that so surprising?

'No! That's my point! They have to! It's the name that's written down in the contract. If they acknowledge that I'm not Prince, that 0{+> is different to Prince, then they can't hold me to the conditions of their contract.'

One's initial reaction to 0{+>'s tale of semantic crosswits is to laugh in disbelief, but the point beneath his almost whimsical reasoning is a serious one: 'The concept of ownership of music by record companies is senseless. Like, you know the singer Seal? He's a wonderful talent, but how do I go about telling him and all the other brothers about the battle that we have to fight, when I don't own my music?'

The more you talk to 0{+>, the more you begin to feel that he's been planning this whole stunt for a long time, just waiting to reach a position of sufficient power from which he could pull it off. Look at the sleeve to Prince's 'Purple Rain' album, made 11 years ago. You'll see a primitive version of the 0{+> sign clearly emblazoned on the side. It's been appearing since then with increasing regularity. Presumably, that was the point of the Paisley Park studios and pressing plant, to create the beginnings of a separate infrastructure in the music industry. One that doesn't have to go through the exist in white multinationals, and ultimately exists an alternative to them.

0{+> sits upright in affirmation: 'That's what the live show is about. I've done it! And if you look around at the fans, so many of them are waving signs with the new symbol. It's such beautiful sight.' You can see why Warners is worried. For commitment to the promotion of a separate infrastructure is no longer a distant dream. Far from the patronising jests of certain broad sheet writers who see endless comedy mileage in referring to 0{+> as Squiggle Man, the motivations behind the name change are, to a degree political. Sure, 0{+> doesn't need the extra money, but if he's making you question the ownership of intangibles like music (and the political implications thereof) then 0{+> deserves much respect. The idea of record companies actually owning the songs you write is outrageous. It s like demarcating a piece of the pavement and charging people 'Pavement Tax' to walk on it.

'That's exactly what it is,' smiles 0{+>. 'Do you see how suddenly, writing "SLAVE" on my face suddenly doesn't seem as strange? It's a gesture that communicates my position very well. It's like this is what my record company has reduced Prince to. So now, Prince is dead. They've killed him. 0{+>, on the other hand, is beyond contracts. They can talk about contracts till they drop, but they're Prince's contracts, not mine. The record company can't afford to accept that though.' Now the relish on his face is palpable... 'They're still expecting me to do "Purple Rain", a cabaret set.'

Of course, there are other ways of getting 'The Gold Experience' out. How about the Internet, for instance? 'We're currently looking into that one,' says 0{+>, 'The important thing is that my fans hear this music, whether it be through duplicating cassettes, or if we press up 10,000 CDs after the show and charge $5 each, just to cover costs you know? Even if we do what Pearl Jam do -- just turn up at radio stations and play the people our music. That's what these shows are about, communing with the fans. I go to a club and I see fans dancing to my records. They wave to me, I wave back, and I realise that this is why I make music. Not for record companies.'

0{+> is always quick to mention how his fans 'understand'. While I don't doubt he's genuinely moved by the adulation he receives, it also strikes me as a pretty basic ploy of testing the commitment of the diehards while bringing the waverers closer to you. It's what any cult from Morrissey to Michael Jackson to the Reverend Moon, does in the face of adversity, implicitly calls the love of The Fans into question by appealing to their loyalty. Still, as long as the majority of your fans are prepared to, ahem, die 4 U, there's never too much need to worry about what critics say. So when I start asking 0{+> anything more probing than 'Why are you so wonderful?' he clams up visibly.

Anyone with a passing familiarity with Prince's canon will already know the three main themes of his music: shagging, humping and fucking. An elementary knowledge of psychology tells me that anyone so eager to impress on the world his sack prowess ('you jerk your body like a horny pony would' and 'there's a lion in my pocket and baby it's ready to roar' are my personal faves) must be motivated, in part, by a deep- rooted misogyny. It's also worth bearing in mind that early in his childhood the young Prince Rogers Nelson ran away from his mother in order to be with his father, a musician. For the first time in our little meeting, 0{+> stumbles on his words: 'Aah...oh well, that's a whole concept that, aah... you know, I could say something about that, and you could take a line out of context that might change the meaning entirely. It's all in the songs anyway.'

Yes, but you do see, don't you, that the sheer volume of fucking that goes on in your songs, is frankly bizarre. Don't you?

'Um, I believe that sometimes hate can be love and love can be hate.'

'Gett Off' boasts your, sorry, Prince's ability to assume '22 positions in a one-night stand'. Any chance of passing a few tips on to a mere novice like myself?

'Oh... ' 0{+> is now visibly buckling beneath the ignominy of having to entertain a question this moronic. 'That's not what all this is about... That's not something I, aaah...'

All what?

'Aaaah.' Big pause. He looks away. All right then. What about marriage, then? Any plans to singlehandedly put Durex out of business by having lots of little 0{+>s?

'Not really,' smirks the compact sex symbol. 'I decided that things like family don't have a big part to play in my future. I'm dedicated to music, to the point that I see all of life through it.'

What would seem like a flippant, sentimental declaration from any other pop star becomes a fierce declaration of humanism from the mouth of 0{+>. The past two weeks have seen him deliver night after night of rambunctious boilerhouse funk while the psychedelic harems of his mind are recreated on stage around him. 'A couple of years ago perhaps,' he concludes, 'I had a spiritual, uh...rebirth. I was lacking direction for a very long time. But I saw a light which I realised I had to follow. At that point I became...' 0{+> points to a drape bearing his hieroglyphic name...

By the way, how do you pronounce that? 'It isn't pronounced. It just is.'

0{+>, aka The Artist Formerly Known As Prince plays two more dates at Wembley Arena on Tue and Wed.

- Peter Paphides

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Reply #177 posted 07/13/15 10:17am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #178 posted 07/13/15 10:28am

OldFriends4Sal
e

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Reply #179 posted 07/13/15 11:32am

OldFriends4Sal
e

New Power Soul is the fifth track (second song) on the New Power Generation's second 'solo' album Exodus. Seven months later, the track was included as the b-side of Count The Days, the album's third single in the UK and Europe.

Initial tracking took place on 15 May, 1994, at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA (on the same day as Count The Days, Get Wild, The Exodus Has Begun, Hallucination Rain, Slave 2 The System and It Takes 3). The song was included as the eighth track (fourth song) on the 19 June, 1994 configuration of Exodus, and was included as the ninth track (sixth song) on the 2 December, 1994 configuration.

Prince had previously used the term "New Power Soul" as early as the packaging for the 1988 album Lovesexy.

The album's packaging suggested that a follow-up album with the name New Power Soul would be available soon, but it is not known how far this album was developed and what relationship (if any) the album had to this track (the 1998 album Newpower Soul and its title track, Newpower Soul are unrelated, however).

Recording Personnel

-PrinceVault

New Power Generation (N.P.G.)
Miscellaneous
The Exodus Has Begun
Have mercy, uh
The exodus has begun (The exodus has begun!)
Have mercy, uh
The exodus has begun

Now these are the names of the New Power Generation
(These are the names)
The funkiest suckers of the new gold nation
Polyvinyl acetate, New Power Soul
Guaranteed 2 stick 2 the roof of your Oldsmobile muthafucka

CHORUS:
Long live the New Power!
Have mercy
Generation after generation, the soul will never die
(The exodus has begun)
Long live the New Power!
Have mercy
We don't cry, we don't die, we just multiply

Polyvinyl acetate, New Power Soul (Mercy)
The exodus has begun
These are the names of the children of the sun
Pumpin' the love sign in the days of wild
Tearin' shit up with a vengeance and still they smile (Still they smile)
Though their lives were made bitter with hard labor and no pay
These are the children that will come 2 save the day
(These are the children)
The exodus has begun
Have mercy

(Behold)
Behold the children of the New Power
Are more and mightier than U (Mighty, mighty)
U that have scorned and held back the inevitable
Must now come 2 grips with the truth
(All that is good in the eyes of heaven)
All that is good in the eyes of heaven
Will rebuke your powder monkey ways
(Have mercy, mercy, mercy)
And let that same heaven have mercy
When the wrath of the sun knocks upon your gate

Have mercy
The exodus has begun
(New... New Power!)
Uh, brothers and sisters
(Stop me if U want, it's between U and me)
The exodus has begun
Uh (New Power!)

Just..
Just cause..
Just cause it's.. (Have mercy)
Just cause it's nasty..
Just cause it's nasty it don't..
Just cause it's nasty it don't mean..
Just cause it's nasty it don't mean a.. {loop}
Just cause it's nasty it don't mean a thing

All that is good is nasty
All that is good, all that is good (Have mercy)
All that is good in heaven (The exodus has begun)
All that is good, all that is good (Have mercy)
All that is good in heaven (The exodus has begun)

Long live the New Power! (Long live)
Have mercy
Generation after generation, the soul will never die
The exodus has begun
Long live the New Power! (Long live)
Have mercy (Live a little while)
We don't cry, we don't die, we just multiply

Spatch cocks in black face offer us pennies (Offer us pennies)
When it's millions and millions upon millions they reap
(When it's millions, when it's millions) (Pluck his eye again!)
How in the world can we call ourselves equal
When their wages outweigh
When their wages outweigh the time that they keep?
(Pluck his eye again!)
And if they stood up and behaved like the humans they're supposed 2
As opposed 2 the way they are not
Then this New Power Soul would not be so soulful
(Then this New Power Soul would not be soulful)
And the water they're in would not be so hot
(And the water would not be so hot)
The exodus has begun (The exodus has begun!)

Have mercy
Uh (The exodus has begun!)
The exodus has begun
Now sing

Long live the New Power!
(Long live a New Power where all that is good in heaven)
Brothers and sisters
Long live the New Power!
(The exodus has begun!) (Have mercy!)
(Long live a New Power where, where... mercy!)

Come on
(The exodus has begun!) Uh
(Long live) Have mercy
Play muthafuckas (The exodus has begun!) Uh
(New Power) Have mercy
(Long live the New Power!) Yes muthafuckas, yes
The exodus has begun!
(Generation after generation, the soul will never die) Have mercy
(Long live the New Power!) Yes muthafuckas, yes
The exodus has begun!
(We don't cry, we don't die, we just multiply) Have mercy

La da da da, da da daaa (Yes muthafucka, yes)
Sho do do do do doo (Have mercy) Uh
La da da da, da da daaa (Yes muthafucka, yes)
(New Power) Have mercy

Oh yeah, U can sing
But what the fuck are U complainin' about baby?
Oh yeah, I will read your big ass
Cuz I think U're thinkin' about readin' me
And when the people ask U everywhere
Is that really all your hair?
Tell'em U don't tell a lie
Bald-headed son of a motherfuckin' housefly
And like George said (What?)
Get satisfied
Let's get satisfied, let's get satisfied
(Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...)
La da da da, da da daaa
Sho do do do do doo (New Power!) (Have mercy)
La da da da, da da daaa
(Long live the New Power!) Whoo, yeah, yeah

(Stop me now)
Stop this muthafucker like we intend 2 finish, yeah
(New Power!) (Have mercy)
Mercy
(Long live the New Power!) A New Power
(The exodus has begun!) (Have mercy)
(Generation after generation, the soul will never die) Oh, yeah
(Long live the New Power!)
Shit, y'all can't fuck with me (The exodus has begun!)
(We don't cry, we don't die, we just multiply)
La da da da, da da daaa (The exodus has begun!) Oh, oh
(New Power!) (Have mercy) Oh
La da da da, da da daaa (The exodus has begun!) Oh, oh

{refrain repeats in BG}
(Wait a minute, let me check my messages)
Spatch cocks in black face offers us pennies
When there's millions and millions that they reap
Millions and millions that they reap
What the fuck is that about?
What the fuck is that about?
What the fuck is that shit about?
We don't play that muthafuckin' shit!
U think we got a muthafuckin' joystick up our ass or somethin'?
Fuck that!
I don't know what U thinkin' about
But the exodus has begun muthafuckas!
(New Power!)
The exodus has begun

U ain't gonna hear that shit nowhere else
Ha, ha, ha

This shit is dedicated 2 the memory of His Royal Badness
I know his name, that muthafuckin' Prince
Rest in peace nigga!

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