Latin said:

Latin said:

Thanks Latin! I remember hearing about that.

That is so interesting, as usual Latin. I feel melancholy about Prince today. Think I'll go dig the car out of all the new snow to shake it off.

"While it wasn't one of the eight songs Brooks chose from the 10 Prince submitted for inclusion in the movie, "The Rest of My Life" sounds like it was designed as an opening number. "

A few years back, I went to my daughter's dance recital. The opening number?

"The Rest of My Life"!

I literally fell out of my chair!

I covered some of the I'll Do Anything craziness during the Listen2Prince entry on The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale entry. Here are the relevant parts:

- "The Rest Of My Life" was recorded in Melbourne, Victoria during April 1992 while touring in Australia. In context of The Vault, it's a good opening statement. Hyperactive, short and to the point, it sets a stage of youthful excitement and optimism for the journey of the album that follows. "The Rest Of My Life" was selected as the Japanese promotional single, with "Extraordinary" as the b-side.

"The Rest Of My Life" was a part of a series of songs that Prince had written for a musical comedy film called I'll Do Anything, although in the end this one was not selected. Director James L. Brooks got in touch with Prince's camp in March 1992 to see if he was interested and likely just gave him the treatment, an early draft of the script, that it was to be a musical, and which scenes he thought needed music. From the way the songs were written, Prince seems to have had a more traditional staged musical in mind. But it wasn't. When it was shown to test audiences in its original musical form, nothing tipped them that it was a musical. The first number started far enough into the film -- with no warning -- that the audience revolted. Hans Zimmer, who scored the film, summed up the problem with the project beautifully: "you can't surprise people with a musical." Many critics wanted to blame the whole fiasco on Prince, but he had little to do with the production other than writing and submitting the songs. The film was reworked and released without any of Prince's music, gaining a marginally better reception.

Zimmer has said that from what he remembers, the music contracts were so complicated that the original version will likely never see the light of day. That doesn't stop him from saying how much he really liked Prince's contributions to the project.

...

- The next two tracks were written specifically for the failed musical portion of I'll Do Anything and were re-recorded by the production. "My Little Pill" is a pure broadway piece and makes very little sense out of that context. The tension in the music is an interesting experiment, and would have been a better fit here as an instrumental. Its presence here is more confusing than anything because Prince didn't do drug songs. The lyrics follow a drug addiction sub-plot for Tracey Ullman's character, Beth. Purely an expositional soliloquoy (for you non-theatre types, the lyrics set the stage for what's going on in her head), it's a self-validation of her habit. "My Little Pill" was recorded in March 1992, about a month before the international Diamonds And Pearls tour began. "There Is Lonely" as it appears here is a melodramatic arena rock power ballad. Prince and his NPG recorded the song in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia at the beginning of the Diamonds And Pearls tour. For the musical version of the film, Nick Nolte is supposed to have lent vocals to this and the still unreleased "Be My Mirror." His gravelly singing voice has been likened to a less artful Tom Waits, so take that as you will. I enjoy Tom Waits, but if I had to sit through him singing in a musical ... I might join the riot. if that means anything to you. That is probably the reason that the soundtrack version was to feature Prince's vocals with the accompaniment replaced by the band hired for the rest of the production for aural continuity.

Once I finish with the released discography, I plan to go back and research the shelved and abandoned projects more thoroughly. This one included.

InwardJim said:

InwardJim said:

I covered some of the I'll Do Anything craziness during the Listen2Prince entry on The Vault... Old Friends 4 Sale entry. Here are the relevant parts:

- "The Rest Of My Life" was recorded in Melbourne, Victoria during April 1992 while touring in Australia. In context of The Vault, it's a good opening statement. Hyperactive, short and to the point, it sets a stage of youthful excitement and optimism for the journey of the album that follows. "The Rest Of My Life" was selected as the Japanese promotional single, with "Extraordinary" as the b-side.

"The Rest Of My Life" was a part of a series of songs that Prince had written for a musical comedy film called I'll Do Anything, although in the end this one was not selected. Director James L. Brooks got in touch with Prince's camp in March 1992 to see if he was interested and likely just gave him the treatment, an early draft of the script, that it was to be a musical, and which scenes he thought needed music. From the way the songs were written, Prince seems to have had a more traditional staged musical in mind. But it wasn't. When it was shown to test audiences in its original musical form, nothing tipped them that it was a musical. The first number started far enough into the film -- with no warning -- that the audience revolted. Hans Zimmer, who scored the film, summed up the problem with the project beautifully: "you can't surprise people with a musical." Many critics wanted to blame the whole fiasco on Prince, but he had little to do with the production other than writing and submitting the songs. The film was reworked and released without any of Prince's music, gaining a marginally better reception.

Zimmer has said that from what he remembers, the music contracts were so complicated that the original version will likely never see the light of day. That doesn't stop him from saying how much he really liked Prince's contributions to the project.

...

- The next two tracks were written specifically for the failed musical portion of I'll Do Anything and were re-recorded by the production. "My Little Pill" is a pure broadway piece and makes very little sense out of that context. The tension in the music is an interesting experiment, and would have been a better fit here as an instrumental. Its presence here is more confusing than anything because Prince didn't do drug songs. The lyrics follow a drug addiction sub-plot for Tracey Ullman's character, Beth. Purely an expositional soliloquoy (for you non-theatre types, the lyrics set the stage for what's going on in her head), it's a self-validation of her habit. "My Little Pill" was recorded in March 1992, about a month before the international Diamonds And Pearls tour began. "There Is Lonely" as it appears here is a melodramatic arena rock power ballad. Prince and his NPG recorded the song in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia at the beginning of the Diamonds And Pearls tour. For the musical version of the film, Nick Nolte is supposed to have lent vocals to this and the still unreleased "Be My Mirror." His gravelly singing voice has been likened to a less artful Tom Waits, so take that as you will. I enjoy Tom Waits, but if I had to sit through him singing in a musical ... I might join the riot. if that means anything to you. That is probably the reason that the soundtrack version was to feature Prince's vocals with the accompaniment replaced by the band hired for the rest of the production for aural continuity.

Once I finish with the released discography, I plan to go back and research the shelved and abandoned projects more thoroughly. This one included.

Thyanks so much that was very enlightening...

especially referenceing My Little Pill...there are some Bozo,s around her who dont want to understand

the song was part of the Movie Plot...

Lovejunky said:

InwardJim said:

- "My Little Pill" is a pure broadway piece and makes very little sense out of that context. The tension in the music is an interesting experiment, and would have been a better fit here as an instrumental. Its presence here is more confusing than anything because Prince didn't do drug songs. The lyrics follow a drug addiction sub-plot for Tracey Ullman's character, Beth. Purely an expositional soliloquoy (for you non-theatre types, the lyrics set the stage for what's going on in her head), it's a self-validation of her habit. "My Little Pill" was recorded in March 1992, about a month before the international Diamonds And Pearls tour began.

Thyanks so much that was very enlightening...

especially referenceing My Little Pill...there are some Bozo,s around her who dont want to understand

the song was part of the Movie Plot...

Without the proper context, "My Little Pill" is very confusing.

Thanks for posting Latin. If I'm not mistaken, there is a great interview with Prince discussing writing songs for the film. I think he was interviewed by Spike Lee, but I could be wrong. Anyway, when the interviewer says that the director told him that the songs were just too funky for the film, Prince responded, "They didn't tell me Nolte would be singing them." Classic Prince.

Lovejunky said:

Very much enjoyed the post, Latin. The Brooks comment about Prince being "many stops past great" is one of my favorite ones I have read. I first heard the songs out of the blue on one of the BFTP collections. I was playing it for the first time without checking out the play list so it would be a surprise. Each of the soundtrack numbers first came on with the actor's versions rather than Prince's. I didn't know what it was and it was strange hearing this type of theatrical singing on a Prince collection. I started wondering if this was some type of Saturday Night Live skit that was recorded because I recognized one of the actress's voices. They were that bizarre sounding. Then, Prince would do his version of each song and I would actually like the song. I was on an exercise walk when I was listening to it at the time and I couldn't wait to come home and look the songs up in the Vault to see what it was about. I put the Prince versions on a BFTP play list, as they represent yet another facet of his creativity. Love how Prince was involved with so many types of projects!

pinkcashmere23 said:

1725topp said:

gandorb said:

I actually "might" have that soundtrack.