I wish the UGTL-style keyboard wasn't in there. I think the groove needs a bit of space. The parts of the song without it, are much better, IMO. But, great stuff, of course.

206Michelle said:

tritoncin said:

And "Hot Thing" as base rhythm...

It's a cool track, kind of eerie sounding. Trying to wrap my head around the song because the lyrics don't quite make sense to me. I can definitely hear the synths from UGTL and beat from Hot Thing. Around 3:00, it sounds like he is rapping. Maybe he was experimenting with rap on this track? This is most definitely SOTT era.

huh? but it's simply a story being told and it's very clear, isn't it? i've transcribed a little bit of it:

over on the east side ‘cross the river there was a band called coco boys

the leader was a brother named franky he was the ladies’ pride n joy

now franky had a brother named joey and they shared the high part harmonies

joe played the bass, franky played guitar and people, i mean, they was too funky

and every sunday night up on the main strip there always was a battle

and if you had the courage, if you had the style, if you had a different trip -

you’d have a extra $100 in your hands

i was in a band called sandra dee and honey we were a sight for moral eyes

everybody in the band had blonde hair natural or otherwise

there was an argument as to who was gonna go on first,

i guess you could say the cocoboys won

yeah, cause they had a trombone player the size of a house

who considered whooping punks like us fun

the show started - the lights were turned off - turn ‘m off

and in the distance, the horns blared!

the band was on the stage, i could sort of see franky smiling

needless to see he was, he was sorta scary

see the light coloured three men, or was it two?

yeah, a two man horn section walkin’ through the front door

playing the funkiest line i’d ever heard

franky started laughing and the people roared

coco boys, pride n joy

they give the people what they need

make my ears bleed, lord

turn the music up

coco don’t let me down, and if you do it right

you can hear my body sound, uh can you hear it?

can you hear it? uh, can you hear it? coco boys,

la la la, coco boys, la la, yeah

they kicked 30 minutes with the funk so hard the crowd could hardly walk

i stopped transcribing after that because i wanted to just listen to the song
and let it wash over me in all it's amazing, classic princeness

[Edited 7/23/17 2:32am]

mrfog said:

really feeling this good solid groove would of love 2 seen this one being released back in the day.amazing talent prince is simple the best

Bebop17 said:

Well I have my nose buried in this book so I might as well share.

This number was written for The Dawn, a short-lived film project from 1986, planned as a musical concerning two rival bands, one of them called The Coco Boys. Mazarati's Tony 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." In addition to"'Coco Boys," Prince wrote Crucial" and "When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes" specifically for The Dawn.

"Coco Boys" depicts a battle between the Coco Boys and another group. According to the lyric, the members of the Coco Boys 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 and later a well-known Hollywood actress in the sixties. Musically, the track is said to be a mid-tempo pop/funk tune with something of a calypso tinge. Eric Leeds says the song had "a cool vibe."

The song was first recorded live with The Revolution during the Paris August 25th 1986 soundcheck and then again, as a solo performance, when Prince returned back from theParade Tour, in Prince's home studio on September 14th 1986. It is possible that the former version, which features live drumming as opposed to the drum machine of the home studio version, was an instrumental as Prince didn't write the lyrics until later.

.

also this:

Upon his rerum from the one-month Parade Tour of Europe and Japan, Prince threw himself into The Dawn, a new film project. Planned as a musical, The Dawn concerned two rival bands, one of them caJled the Coco Boys. He recorded three songs for the project, "Crucial," "Coco Boys" (drum
machine version), and "When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes." Prince never saw The Dawn project through to its completion, although the scenario of two rival bands would be incorporated into Graffiti Bridge.

.

and the last CoCo Boys bit:

.

The song ["You're My Love"] was the first to be credited to the new Prince pseudonym Joey Coco, originally planned as the name of one of the Coco Boys members.

[Edited 7/23/17 0:01am]

Thank U 4 sharing more background information

I believe the other band was Mazerati.

Prince wanted Micki to join Mazerati with Brown Mark and do a movie called Coco Brothers. Prince wanted him to get out of his contract with Shalamar but it didn't work out. The head of Solar Records said, "I'm not Fattening Up No Frogs for No Snakes." and refuses to let him sign with Prince.

Romeo Bleu(Lenny Kravitz) Tony LeMans Tony Christian and Mickie Free.

I can see them in a band

Phishanga said:

I wish the UGTL-style keyboard wasn't in there. I think the groove needs a bit of space. The parts of the song without it, are much better, IMO. But, great stuff, of course.

I agree with this. Still a cool song with elements of SOTT, UGTL and Shockadelica. Great leak!

That's what I'm talkin' about!!

I too have wanted to hear this song for years. Here it is. And it's fantastic. Sounds like it gave birth to a lot of what ended up on Crystal Ball/Sign O The Times, so it's shelving wasn't for naught. But this is a real gem, a highlight of vol 5.

My first impression after hearing it is that the reverb has been added by the bootleggers, although I might be wrong. I can't really think of another sparse, pop / funk Prince track from the same time period that'd have reverb used in the same manner, anyway.

funkaholic1972 said:

novabrkr said:

My first impression after hearing it is that the reverb has been added by the bootleggers, although I might be wrong. I can't really think of another sparse, pop / funk Prince track from the same time period that'd have reverb used in the same manner, anyway.

In A Large Room... gots lots of reverb, as does Crucial, & Still Would Stand all Time. But the standard reverb on this is not on the rhythm guitar and other touches, it's on the vocals to my ears.

novabrkr said:

My first impression after hearing it is that the reverb has been added by the bootleggers, although I might be wrong. I can't really think of another sparse, pop / funk Prince track from the same time period that'd have reverb used in the same manner, anyway.

First few bars I was getting a Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls" groove. But after that--all Prince. Better each time!

LadyLayla said:

novabrkr said:

My first impression after hearing it is that the reverb has been added by the bootleggers, although I might be wrong. I can't really think of another sparse, pop / funk Prince track from the same time period that'd have reverb used in the same manner, anyway.

First few bars I was getting a Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls" groove. But after that--all Prince. Better each time!

Exactly, was going to say the same thing... It has that eerie new wave neon electronic groove to it.

This is deff the standout track from Blast From The Past 4.0 as a matter of fact, Coco Boys and We Can Fuck have been my two favorite unheard tracks thus far.

Listening to it now

[Edited 7/23/17 20:50pm]

This song has SUCH a cool vibe, very hypnotizing and funky at the same time. Wow, I honestly cannot stop playing this song. Prince's melodic vocal delivery mixed with the ambient synth pad and the funky bassline + Linn just kill me

At least we finally know who Frankie is. "Frankie play something!!" "Serve it up Frankie!!"

paisleypark4 said:

Fuck! This is just drip nasty funk. I really can't believe this song never came out. I can't even get past the first two minutes. Have to keep starting over. Frankie and Joe they shared the "high part harmonies!" I'm just shaking my head in wonder and amazement. Feel like this may be in my top favorites for a long time. Thank you.. Thank you Eye Records. Wow.

word... i feel the same way

Hmm, it was on YT yesterday but now its gone?

ufoclub said:

novabrkr said:

My first impression after hearing it is that the reverb has been added by the bootleggers, although I might be wrong. I can't really think of another sparse, pop / funk Prince track from the same time period that'd have reverb used in the same manner, anyway.

In A Large Room... gots lots of reverb, as does Crucial, & Still Would Stand all Time. But the standard reverb on this is not on the rhythm guitar and other touches, it's on the vocals to my ears.

.

The way the vocals come off may be partially the consequence of having been laid down during a rehearsal/soundcheck for the Le Zenith Paris show, and overdubbed and reworked at Galpin or Sunset several weeks later (probably most of the 'story' vocals during the first half of the song and the added keyboard parts). By the time he's asking for the house lights, and mentioning all the HnR'86/Parade Tour dances, we're getting back to most of the original vocal track retained from the soundcheck, woven into this reworking in a clever way.

.

I believe the drum programming was already arranged specifically for this in advance, but cleaned up and processed in the studio afterwards. This was pieced together in essentially the same manner as 'Data Bank'.

.

[Edited 7/24/17 13:54pm]

It's tracks like this that make you think how things could have been. So much quality material just sitting on a shelf... Amazing.

IstenSzek said:

over on the east side ‘cross the river there was a band called coco boys

the leader was a brother named franky he was the ladies’ pride n joy

now franky had a brother named joey and they shared the high part harmonies

joe played the bass, franky played guitar and people, i mean, they was too funky

and every sunday night up on the main strip there always was a battle

and if you had the courage, if you had the style, if you had a different trip -

you’d have a extra $100 in your hands

i was in a band called sandra dee and honey we were a sight for moral eyes

everybody in the band had blonde hair natural or otherwise

there was an argument as to who was gonna go on first,

i guess you could say the cocoboys won

yeah, cause they had a trombone player the size of a house

who considered whooping punks like us fun

the show started - the lights were turned off - turn ‘m off

and in the distance, the horns blared!

the band was on the stage, i could sort of see franky smiling

needless to see he was, he was sorta scary

see the light coloured three men, or was it two?

yeah, a two man horn section walkin’ through the front door

playing the funkiest line i’d ever heard

franky started laughing and the people roared

coco boys, pride n joy

they give the people what they need

make my ears bleed, lord

turn the music up

coco don’t let me down, and if you do it right

you can hear my body sound, uh can you hear it?

can you hear it? uh, can you hear it? coco boys,

la la la, coco boys, la la, yeah

they kicked 30 minutes with the funk so hard the crowd could hardly walk

This sounds way more appropriate to be a Joni Mitchell song than Emotional Pump.

[Edited 7/24/17 16:08pm]

The best thing ever . Love it 2 pieces. Telling stories n shit .

One of the best posthumous leaks, and certainly the highlight of this entire offering.

.

The beginning is def used on U got the look. It's a cousin to SOTT as it uses the same riff and lyrical phrasing. I also hear Movie Star and a little of Joy in Repetition.


Very interesting but it's obvious why he never released it as parts of it have been repurposed for different tracks.

[Edited 7/24/17 18:57pm]

paisleypark4 said:

At least we finally know who Frankie is. "Frankie play something!!" "Serve it up Frankie!!"

Knuckles

OldFriends4Sale said:

paisleypark4 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Knuckles

Why him?

When Cat says 'Serve It Up Frankie' she is sending out a shout out to Chicago house dj Frankie Knuckles who was a friend of hers. She was a huge club dancer socialite in the 80s in ChiTown and LA.
I was looking for the interview where she talked about this.

When Knuckles passed away a few years ago, I talked about him with her, and the 'serve it up Frankie' etc

Great song, I like the UGTL hook. Anyone think the "horn" parts are where actual horns would eventually be? Maybe this isn't finished and was shelved.

Joey Coco origin???

"Frankie had a brother named Joe....." Frankie and Joey Coco, perhaps??

EDIT-- yeah, nevermind (not alexander), I read the previous comment that says this. Damn. I thought I made a discovery! Ima go backto tryin to figure out who Jamie Starr is now.

[Edited 7/25/17 7:00am]