Concisely, I think this was a singular, and extremely cool Prince work. He created an EP of unified but distinct versions of a song that meant a lot (Mayte and proving to Warner he could still have a hit)

Loved the harmonys, extended talked vocals, the warmth and joy from Prince (I usually say sad, mad angry Prince makes the best music)

Sadly the EP did not get the love the single got, (It was awesome to hear TMBGITW on the song of the day winning phone ins and staying for a week on the radio I listened to)

Oh and the version of TMGITW on the Gold Experience was the Shits. Thanks Prince, and thanks Warners for forcing him to put a song begrudgingly on that album, which never should have been on there in the first place (it does not fit)

robertgeorge said:

Oh and the version of TMGITW on the Gold Experience was the Shits. Thanks Prince, and thanks Warners for forcing him to put a song begrudgingly on that album, which never should have been on there in the first place (it does not fit)

I don't disagree, but having played TMBGITW in a band for a while, I can attest that those two-bar breaks between every single vocal line get really boring after a while. I wasn't even slightly surprised that P 'tarted up' the Gold Experience version the way he did.

eyewishuheaven said:

robertgeorge said:

Oh and the version of TMGITW on the Gold Experience was the Shits. Thanks Prince, and thanks Warners for forcing him to put a song begrudgingly on that album, which never should have been on there in the first place (it does not fit)

I don't disagree, but having played TMBGITW in a band for a while, I can attest that those two-bar breaks between every single vocal line get really boring after a while. I wasn't even slightly surprised that P 'tarted up' the Gold Experience version the way he did.

Interesting, I appreciate your take on it as a performer. To me the original single has great production (I don't mind the ticking clocks) and really hinges on his vocals.

TMBGITW is in the wheelhouse of Isn't she Lovely (yes that was about Stevie's daughter, but I mean just a song about a man expressing his love openly), though Isn't she lovely is probably more of a tune to sing along with.

robertgeorge said:

Concisely, I think this was a singular, and extremely cool Prince work. He created an EP of unified but distinct versions of a song that meant a lot (Mayte and proving to Warner he could still have a hit)

Loved the harmonys, extended talked vocals, the warmth and joy from Prince (I usually say sad, mad angry Prince makes the best music)

Sadly the EP did not get the love the single got, (It was awesome to hear TMBGITW on the song of the day winning phone ins and staying for a week on the radio I listened to)

Oh and the version of TMGITW on the Gold Experience was the Shits. Thanks Prince, and thanks Warners for forcing him to put a song begrudgingly on that album, which never should have been on there in the first place (it does not fit)

Yet it wasn't a Warner release, at all. It was a deal WB let him have under NPG and Bellmark alone. The credits even say that he appears courtesy of Warner Bros. Records.

TMBGITW totally fits on The Gold Experience. Even in the Beautiful Experience video, it started with the NPG operator. I like the updated version though.

The EP was a wonderful set. I loved the artwork, and the butterfly cutout. I think it was JC Munson (?) who recently talked about how he put his name in the artwork in a small spot without Prince necessarily knowing about it. haha

It was the height of all things related. The symbol was so new and really out there in a different way. I forget offhand if this was his first release under the new name or not but he certainly knew how to integrate it into artwork.

I had this on cassette, and my walkman had an auto-reverse on it where I could make the tape go the opposite direction to hear the other side without taking it out of the player. Overtime, I learned exactly the middle of either side, and could hit the reverse and it would start playing the other side in the exactly same spot. So once it ended, it effectively rewound my tape while playing the 2nd half of the songs. (All songs were on both sides.) It might have been in the middle of the Mustang Mix, but I forget. Mayte was talking, I remember that.

I´ve never been a fan of that song. Still remember the day I first heard it and saw the single but I found it too syrupy.

Loved the Mustang Mix version though. A whole different version that I much preferred over the original version.

Especially the TOTP version was really nice.

I love the artwork

robertgeorge said:

Concisely, I think this was a singular, and extremely cool Prince work. He created an EP of unified but distinct versions of a song that meant a lot (Mayte and proving to Warner he could still have a hit)

Loved the harmonys, extended talked vocals, the warmth and joy from Prince (I usually say sad, mad angry Prince makes the best music)

Sadly the EP did not get the love the single got, (It was awesome to hear TMBGITW on the song of the day winning phone ins and staying for a week on the radio I listened to)

Oh and the version of TMGITW on the Gold Experience was the Shits. Thanks Prince, and thanks Warners for forcing him to put a song begrudgingly on that album, which never should have been on there in the first place (it does not fit)

TMBGITW was there on TGE from the first known configuration onwards, before the project was even submitted to WB. My understanding is that it was originally the single version, though, but WB can't be held responsible for putting the song on TGE. Moreover, reports indicate that the whole TGE sound and concept were actually build around TMBGITW, which was the song that kicked off the whole project when recorded in September 1993, so whether one likes it or not, it's quite unaccurate to claim it does not fit on TGE.

databank said:

robertgeorge said:

Concisely, I think this was a singular, and extremely cool Prince work. He created an EP of unified but distinct versions of a song that meant a lot (Mayte and proving to Warner he could still have a hit)

Loved the harmonys, extended talked vocals, the warmth and joy from Prince (I usually say sad, mad angry Prince makes the best music)

Sadly the EP did not get the love the single got, (It was awesome to hear TMBGITW on the song of the day winning phone ins and staying for a week on the radio I listened to)

Oh and the version of TMGITW on the Gold Experience was the Shits. Thanks Prince, and thanks Warners for forcing him to put a song begrudgingly on that album, which never should have been on there in the first place (it does not fit)

TMBGITW was there on TGE from the first known configuration onwards, before the project was even submitted to WB. My understanding is that it was originally the single version, though, but WB can't be held responsible for putting the song on TGE. Moreover, reports indicate that the whole TGE sound and concept were actually build around TMBGITW, which was the song that kicked off the whole project when recorded in September 1993, so whether one likes it or not, it's quite unaccurate to claim it does not fit on TGE.

That is very interesting, I could not recall the configurations. I agree you are correct, but from a pure subjective feel I don't like tmbgitw on the gold experience. Then again I don't even like Gold on the Gold experience so what the heck do I know, lol.

robertgeorge said:

databank said:

TMBGITW was there on TGE from the first known configuration onwards, before the project was even submitted to WB. My understanding is that it was originally the single version, though, but WB can't be held responsible for putting the song on TGE. Moreover, reports indicate that the whole TGE sound and concept were actually build around TMBGITW, which was the song that kicked off the whole project when recorded in September 1993, so whether one likes it or not, it's quite unaccurate to claim it does not fit on TGE.

That is very interesting, I could not recall the configurations. I agree you are correct, but from a pure subjective feel I don't like tmbgitw on the gold experience. Then again I don't even like Gold on the Gold experience so what the heck do I know, lol.

The known configurations can be found on the Princevault entry for the album.You can also read Scififilmnerd's amazing series of articles on the Come/TGE era: http://prince.org/msg/7/317254

I pretty much dislike all versions of this song, from the rain-drops and ticking-clock samples to the syrupy lyrics. Did Prince ever play it live at all, in the last 20 years of his life? Weird that he neglected such a major hit of his, unless I missed it?

ian said:

Possibly my favourite artwork for a Prince release. So lavish for an EP, so much detail. I don't listen to the remixes that often but I always enjoed them. Love the 12" EP with the large booklet. I've got the Japanese CD also with the 3 bonus tracks. Exciting era.

I always thought it was Mayte on vocals on the 'Mustang Instrumental' but I remember emailing the NPGMC back in the day and they said it was Nona.