What's interesting about this is that they said, if I understood correctly, that they rerecorded "Manic Monday", even though Prince said they could just use the track if they wanted. They "gratefully declined and re-tracked the song". To my understanding, at least to now, is that they did use Prince's track. You can hear Brenda's backing vocal on it. But it seems that's not true.

PrinceVault does state that it was rerecorded, yet Brenda's backing vocals were kept, which is an interesting mix of old and new. I have to say - they rerecorded it pretty well because when you hear the A6 version out there, it sounds almost identical. Although it's been a minute since I've listened to either.

Anyway, cool story. I'm not familiar with "Jealous Girl", the rejected track he also sent to them.

I always thougth it was re-recorded ever since I heard the Prince version on bootleg back in the '90s. I haven't compared lately, but don't all the intruments sound completely different, and even the pacing is different?

It has been partially re-recorded, on a track-by-track basis. Some indeterminate amount of the original multitrack recording, noteably Brenda Bennet's backing vocals in certain sections, has been retained in the Bangles version. The tracks that were omitted served as a skeleton for the freshening up by the session musicians and members of the Bangles under 'In A Different Light producer David Kahne's watch; although the production is different, improved perhaps, the original source is closely followed.

.

It was never anticipated that this song would be the Billboard hit it ended up being. It's an excellent, simple pop track. I believe there may have been a little payola activity going on, however. I love it, but it's certainly not comparable to the breathtaking reconfiguration of what would otherwise have been a forgotten track that, for instance, Sinead's NC2U would be.

.

This same type of partial re-recording is analogous to what Prince himself did, e.g. with 'I Would Die 4 U', where the original recording (although there drawn from a live performance) was meticulously replaced or overdubbed track by track, the omitted original tracks imposing some restrictions on melody and length, but some small portion of the original underlying recording remains in the mix.

.

The version of the Apollonia 6 outtake we have seems to be an early version, not mixed to the standard of a final release, and in poor quality due to multigeneration tape copying; I would tend to doubt that this particular early(?) version appeared on any possible test cassette WB had assembled, which is the alleged source attributed to it in bootleg lore. I would also tend to doubt that the last mix, if such a thing properly exists, for the A6 version represents the full range of what could be drawn from the multitrack.

.

As for what remains in the track beyond the Brenda Bennet vocals, the swirling synth at the beginning to me seems to be a processed, clear, and at proper speed, instrumental track shared between the A6 demo and the final Bangles version.

.

'Jealous Girl' is a The Hookers and Vanity 6 outtake, originating from late 1981. It was originally part of a thematic couplet with another unreleased song from the same session called 'Pizza'. An early version of 'Drive Me Wild' was recorded the same day. 'Jealous Girl' was later updated, with Eric Leeds saxophone overdubs among other changes, in early 1987 for the ill-fated and short-lived Bonnie Raitt collaboration, along with other unused V6-related material ('I Need a Man').

.

With respect to the Bangles interview above, they are at liberty legally, I suppose, to represent their version of the track in this way. A similar example that comes to mind is the official studio assertion that not even a single frame of Eric Stoltz exists in the final version of 'Back to the Future', which is not a strict truth.

.

[Edited 12/19/16 13:23pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

What's interesting about this is that they said, if I understood correctly, that they rerecorded "Manic Monday", even though Prince said they could just use the track if they wanted. They "gratefully declined and re-tracked the song". To my understanding, at least to now, is that they did use Prince's track. You can hear Brenda's backing vocal on it. But it seems that's not true.

PrinceVault does state that it was rerecorded, yet Brenda's backing vocals were kept, which is an interesting mix of old and new. I have to say - they rerecorded it pretty well because when you hear the A6 version out there, it sounds almost identical. Although it's been a minute since I've listened to either.

Anyway, cool story. I'm not familiar with "Jealous Girl", the rejected track he also sent to them.

You are right. The drums are totally different on the original demo, but does sound like Brenda in the background.

imprimis said:

.

It was never anticipated that this song would be the Billboard hit it ended up being. It's an excellent, simple pop track. I believe there may have been a little payola activity going on, however. I love it, but it's certainly not comparable to the breathtaking reconfiguration of what would otherwise have been a forgotten track that, for instance, Sinead's NC2U would be.

When this was on the radio it sounded great, and sounded like a hit, before I knew it was written by Prince. It sounded like a well crafted slightly retro Beatlesque pop song. If you listen to its structure it shares similar skeletal musical formulas to 1999 and I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.

I think anyone in the business could have guessed it would hit simply by listening to a promo. This was light breezy pop. The Sinead cover was thick serious melodrama. But they both hit because they were catchy and well produced.

Bangles hit again with "Walk Like an Egyptian", also a slightly retro pop song.

ufoclub said:

imprimis said:

.

It was never anticipated that this song would be the Billboard hit it ended up being. It's an excellent, simple pop track. I believe there may have been a little payola activity going on, however. I love it, but it's certainly not comparable to the breathtaking reconfiguration of what would otherwise have been a forgotten track that, for instance, Sinead's NC2U would be.

When this was on the radio it sounded great, and sounded like a hit, before I knew it was written by Prince. It sounded like a well crafted slightly retro Beatlesque pop song. If you listen to its structure it shares similar skeletal musical formulas to 1999 and I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.

I think anyone in the business could have guessed it would hit simply by listening to a promo. This was light breezy pop. The Sinead cover was thick serious melodrama. But they both hit because they were catchy and well produced.

Bangles hit again with "Walk Like an Egyptian", also a slightly retro pop song.

.

The Bangles were already on something of an upward trajectory before 'In A Different Light' was released. It deserves to be a hit, but that became a hit I believe is a series of fortuities (chief among them, a radio format change in 1986, where a lot of the excesses of 1982-1985 were cast off, opening a brief passageway late 85-early 87 for simultaneous chart domination by many throwback/progressive/intellectual/Euro-ish Billboard/UK acts and songs, cf. Mike & The Mechanics, Level 52, 'The Way That It Is', 'Life in a Northern Town', etc., before a freestyle-inspired, slightly MPLS-influenced dancepop/NJS/pop hair metal triumvirate took form sometime in 1987 and lasting for the next couple of years or so).

.

There are needless to say many, many excellent, hit-worthy pop songs that are completely unknown to general listening audiences, or unsuccessful commercially outside of a certain market. I can't say that it 'sounds like a clear hit' is a good enough metric (by itself) to gauge eventual success.

.

I'd say they'd rightly figured that 'Walk Like an Egyptian', something of a sell-out synthpop-rock production number, would be extremely successful, but, with a good result, chose to release 'Manic Monday' as the lead single on the far-tapering coattails of Prince's 1984-85 PR rise. I also believe that the song had a Prince credit was heavily impressed upon radio programmers during its promotional stage, and that outright payola is not implausible.

.

When that went very well, 'If She Knew What She Wants', which may have ended up being merely an album track, and which utilized a similar throwback, simple pop formula, was milked to become the next, and intermediate single between MM and what the entired project was wagered on.

.

[Edited 12/19/16 18:02pm]

imprimis said:

It has been partially re-recorded, on a track-by-track basis. Some indeterminate amount of the original multitrack recording, noteably Brenda Bennet's backing vocals in certain sections, has been retained in the Bangles version. The tracks that were omitted served as a skeleton for the freshening up by the session musicians and members of the Bangles under 'In A Different Light producer David Kahne's watch; although the production is different, improved perhaps, the original source is closely followed.

.

It was never anticipated that this song would be the Billboard hit it ended up being. It's an excellent, simple pop track. I believe there may have been a little payola activity going on, however. I love it, but it's certainly not comparable to the breathtaking reconfiguration of what would otherwise have been a forgotten track that, for instance, Sinead's NC2U would be.

.

This same type of partial re-recording is analogous to what Prince himself did, e.g. with 'I Would Die 4 U', where the original recording (although there drawn from a live performance) was meticulously replaced or overdubbed track by track, the omitted original tracks imposing some restrictions on melody and length, but some small portion of the original underlying recording remains in the mix.

.

The version of the Apollonia 6 outtake we have seems to be an early version, not mixed to the standard of a final release, and in poor quality due to multigeneration tape copying; I would tend to doubt that this particular early(?) version appeared on any possible test cassette WB had assembled, which is the alleged source attributed to it in bootleg lore. I would also tend to doubt that the last mix, if such a thing properly exists, for the A6 version represents the full range of what could be drawn from the multitrack.

.

As for what remains in the track beyond the Brenda Bennet vocals, the swirling synth at the beginning to me seems to be a processed, clear, and at proper speed, instrumental track shared between the A6 demo and the final Bangles version.

.

'Jealous Girl' is a The Hookers and Vanity 6 outtake, originating from late 1981. It was originally part of a thematic couplet with another unreleased song from the same session called 'Pizza'. An early version of 'Drive Me Wild' was recorded the same day. 'Jealous Girl' was later updated, with Eric Leeds saxophone overdubs among other changes, in early 1987 for the ill-fated and short-lived Bonnie Raitt collaboration, along with other unused V6-related material ('I Need a Man').

.

With respect to the Bangles interview above, they are at liberty legally, I suppose, to represent their version of the track in this way. A similar example that comes to mind is the official studio assertion that not even a single frame of Eric Stoltz exists in the final version of 'Back to the Future', which is not a strict truth.

.

[Edited 12/19/16 13:23pm]

I believe there may have been a little payola activity going on, however.

No, it is a good pop song and the Bangles were very popular at the time. Listening to some of Prince's unrealsed music he was a really good pop songwriter. Some of the songs just needed to go with the right band or artist.

imprimis said:

.

The version of the Apollonia 6 outtake we have seems to be an early version, not mixed to the standard of a final release, and in poor quality due to multigeneration tape copying; I would tend to doubt that this particular early(?) version appeared on any possible test cassette WB had assembled, which is the alleged source attributed to it in bootleg lore. I would also tend to doubt that the last mix, if such a thing properly exists, for the A6 version represents the full range of what could be drawn from the multitrack.

.

[Edited 12/19/16 13:23pm]

I agree with you.

And this let me wonder why the mastered version included in the A6 original tracklist has never leaked, according to the fact that that release was in the late process of manufacturing, so it must exist in some kind of acetate or promo-in-house cassette.

BoraBora said:

imprimis said:

The version of the Apollonia 6 outtake we have seems to be an early version, not mixed to the standard of a final release, and in poor quality due to multigeneration tape copying; I would tend to doubt that this particular early(?) version appeared on any possible test cassette WB had assembled, which is the alleged source attributed to it in bootleg lore. I would also tend to doubt that the last mix, if such a thing properly exists, for the A6 version represents the full range of what could be drawn from the multitrack.

.

[Edited 12/19/16 13:23pm]

I agree with you.

And this let me wonder why the mastered version included in the A6 original tracklist has never leaked, according to the fact that that release was in the late process of manufacturing, so it must exist in some kind of acetate or promo-in-house cassette

.

At the same time, both 'Blue Limousine' and 'Happy Birthday Mr Christian', the late additions to the album, are vastly superior to any possible Apollonia 6 version of 'Manic Monday'.

.

[Edited 12/22/16 9:31am]

imprimis said:

BoraBora said:

I agree with you.

And this let me wonder why the mastered version included in the A6 original tracklist has never leaked, according to the fact that that release was in the late process of manufacturing, so it must exist in some kind of acetate or promo-in-house cassette

.

At the same time, both 'Blue Limousine' and 'Happy Birthday Mr Christian', the late additions to the album, are vastly superior to any possible Apollonia 6 version of 'Manic Monday'.

.

[Edited 12/22/16 9:31am]

Well, no. Here I can't agree with you.

"Manic Monday" is vastly superior to BL and HBMrC, in my book.

Surely in my Top 5 P's "Non-Prince" songs.

BoraBora said:

imprimis said:

.

At the same time, both 'Blue Limousine' and 'Happy Birthday Mr Christian', the late additions to the album, are vastly superior to any possible Apollonia 6 version of 'Manic Monday'.

.

[Edited 12/22/16 9:31am]

Well, no. Here I can't agree with you.

"Manic Monday" is vastly superior to BL and HBMrC, in my book.

Surely in my Top 5 P's "Non-Prince" songs.

.

The Bangles release, certainly? But as reflected in its circulating outtake form?

.

'Blue Limousine' is a severely underappreciated track. Instrumentally almost too good for its designated album.

.

[Edited 12/22/16 17:52pm]