OldFriends4Sale said:

Home studio, early 1981
She’s Just A Baby #1 (4:44)
Broken (3:04)
Commercial #1
Hump You
Susan

The Hookers, home studio, 1981 - Jamie Shoop & Susan Moonsie
I Need A Man #1 – lead vocal: Jamie Shoop
Make-up (2:39)*
Wet Dream #1
Jealous Girl #1 – offered to The Bangles in 1985
Pizza
Drive Me Wild (2:32)*

Home studio, autumn-winter 1981
The Second Coming (1:58) (autumn)

The Hookers/Vanity 6, home studio, late 1981 – early 1982
Moral Majority #1
Vagina – also the name offered to Denise Matthews when she joined The Hookers in January 1982

Home studio, early 1982
All The Critics Love U In New York (5:55)*
Do Yourself A Favour #2 (previously “If You See Me”) (8:41) (Pepé Willie)
Money Don’t Grow On Trees – possibly intended for The Hookers
No Call U #1 (3:02)

Vanity 6, Sunset Sound, 25 March – 9 April 1982 – album completed in May
Bite The Beat (3:13)* (Prince/Jesse Johnson)
He’s So Dull (2:32)* (Dez Dickerson) - produced, guitar & drums by Dez Dickerson
Too Much
Nasty Girl (5:16)*
Wet Dream #2 (4:11)*
Let’s Pretend We’re Married (7:20)* (30/3)
Wouldn’t You Love To Love Me? #4 (1/4)
Extra Loveable (7:06) (3/4)
If A Girl Answers (Don’t Hang Up) (5:35)* (Prince/Terry Lewis)
3 x 2 = 6 (5:22)* (5/4)
If It will Make U Happy (6/4)

Home studio, 1982
Boom, Boom, Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart #1
Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got #1
Don’t Let Him Fool Ya #1
Fox Trap
Girl (7:36)*
Horny Toad (2:13)*
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man #1
Lust U Always #1
Mink Kitty Cat #1 – intended for Vanity, tentative placing
My Baby Knows How To Love Me #1
New Position #1
Purple Music #1 (10:48)
Purple Music #2 (10:35) – extra guitar parts & vocal differences
Strange Relationship #1
Teacher, Teacher #1
U Should Be Mine (possibly instrumental) – offered to Eric Leeds in July 1989 for new Madhouse album
Yah, U Know #1
You’re My Love #1

Sunset Sound, 7-14 January 1983
Little Red Corvette (Dance Mix) (8:22)*
Drive Me Wild (Extended Version) (7:08)*

Cinny said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Home studio, early 1981
She’s Just A Baby #1 (4:44)
Broken (3:04)
Commercial #1
Hump You
Susan

The Hookers, home studio, 1981 - Jamie Shoop & Susan Moonsie
I Need A Man #1 – lead vocal: Jamie Shoop
Make-up (2:39)*
Wet Dream #1
Jealous Girl #1 – offered to The Bangles in 1985
Pizza
Drive Me Wild (2:32)*

Home studio, autumn-winter 1981
The Second Coming (1:58) (autumn)

The Hookers/Vanity 6, home studio, late 1981 – early 1982
Moral Majority #1
Vagina – also the name offered to Denise Matthews when she joined The Hookers in January 1982

Home studio, early 1982
All The Critics Love U In New York (5:55)*
Do Yourself A Favour #2 (previously “If You See Me”) (8:41) (Pepé Willie)
Money Don’t Grow On Trees – possibly intended for The Hookers
No Call U #1 (3:02)

Vanity 6, Sunset Sound, 25 March – 9 April 1982 – album completed in May
Bite The Beat (3:13)* (Prince/Jesse Johnson)
He’s So Dull (2:32)* (Dez Dickerson) - produced, guitar & drums by Dez Dickerson
Too Much
Nasty Girl (5:16)*
Wet Dream #2 (4:11)*
Let’s Pretend We’re Married (7:20)* (30/3)
Wouldn’t You Love To Love Me? #4 (1/4)
Extra Loveable (7:06) (3/4)
If A Girl Answers (Don’t Hang Up) (5:35)* (Prince/Terry Lewis)
3 x 2 = 6 (5:22)* (5/4)
If It will Make U Happy (6/4)

Home studio, 1982
Boom, Boom, Can’t U Feel The Beat Of My Heart #1
Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got #1
Don’t Let Him Fool Ya #1
Fox Trap
Girl (7:36)*
Horny Toad (2:13)*
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man #1
Lust U Always #1
Mink Kitty Cat #1 – intended for Vanity, tentative placing
My Baby Knows How To Love Me #1
New Position #1
Purple Music #1 (10:48)
Purple Music #2 (10:35) – extra guitar parts & vocal differences
Strange Relationship #1
Teacher, Teacher #1
U Should Be Mine (possibly instrumental) – offered to Eric Leeds in July 1989 for new Madhouse album
Yah, U Know #1
You’re My Love #1

Sunset Sound, 7-14 January 1983
Little Red Corvette (Dance Mix) (8:22)*
Drive Me Wild (Extended Version) (7:08)*

Woooooo!! SEX, SEX, and more SEX on the list

*

Prince was a busy and horny boy....Susan, Vanity, Jill

Blush
Eyeliner
Hush
See what you made me do?
Base
Mascara
Erase
I wanna look good for you

Comb
Hair
Don't care
I always comb my hair
Make-up
Make-up

Pink
Blue
Purple
I wanna make it good for you
Make-up
Make-up
Make-up
Make-up

If I wear a dress
He will never call
So I wear much less
I guess I'll wear my camisole
Make-up
Make-up
Make-up
Make-up

Smoke a cigarette
I'm not ready yet
Make-up
Make-up

Make-up
Smoke a cigarette
I'm not ready yet

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince Builds His Kingdom

By Frank Schwartz
Right On!, Winter 1983

As the mystery in Minneapolis grows wider, more and more wonder who's really doing what to earn those gold records which are accumulating among Prince's entourage.

He wears his sexuality just above the knees, where his uni-sex leg-warmers end and his fleshy thighs begin. His multi-racial politics dart in and out of darkens and light between religious doom-saying and party-hearty platitudes. Born with a dirty mind, he's learned the music au natural, with no guidance, no lessons, no waiting.

.

.

Self described as "his mother's favorite freak," Prince has a grand chance at becoming a King. But to those who first plucked him from obscurity in north Minneapolis at age 17, he's a "very thorny rose," a five-foot-two Napoleon in drag. He's also super secret. And at 23 years, the handsome kid in his Frederics of Hollywood underwear and Humphery Bogart's (studded) trenchcoat is quickly becoming the most talked about, least understood mystery musicmaker on the block. Here in Minneapolis-St. Paul (America's Twin Cities located in the quiet, and often cold, north country), we simply call him "His Royal Badness," founding father of The Time, master designer behind Vanity 6. The man-child behind the curtain. Sometimes he plays unannounced with his band in our bars.

.

Ironic as it is, that sad situation may prove to be the ideal environment for the one-man sex and music machine. Prince still makes his home here, out of one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, 20 minutes from the cities. His family, including his divorced father, who leads a musical life of his own, and one of his sisters, who sings in a local Black gospel choir is scattered across the Twin Cities. One of nine children, Prince Rogers Nelson can go about his business, recording in his private studio, the one located "somewhere in uptown." Or he can hang out at the First Avenue club where he has often tested out his latest jams on an unsuspecting dance crowd. Nobody bothers him much, even when he's in the cool company of his good pal Morris Day from The Time, or Vanity from Vanity 6. If he feels claustrophobic, he can commute to Los Angeles or New York. Being famous insures a smooth getaway.

.

.

.

.

Enter Vanity 6, stage left. Vanity 6 is Prince's female alter ego, three pinup peculiar princesses in lingerie who peddle excessive street eroticism that borders on soft-core porn. On their debut record (another Warner Bros. product, by the way), the nasty girls work through a blue testament series of sex scenarios that covers the familiar turf of "Wet Dreams" and dull boyfriends. Unlike The Time, these daughters of controversy aren't from Minnesota's backwoods or alleys. Susan's from the Caribbean, Brenda's from Boston and the beautiful Vanity is a Canadian export from Toronto. How all three came to be Prince's V- girls is a case Kojak might consider.

The babes in lingerie share neither The Time's hit-hopping party funk or their home addresses. Instead, His Royal Badness has hung a more British brand of syntho-pop behind the album's best cuts, while snatching a JB lick for workouts like "Nasty Girls." In a live setting, The Time backs Vanity, with you know who looking over their shoulders. You see, it's family affair. And it's becoming so solidified that even Prince has begun dropping joke lines about Jamie Starr and his too wild and loose offspring. "Jamie Starr's a thief," he says on the new 1999 album. "The Time will fix your clock," and "Vanity 6 is so sweet" he mugs during "Dance,Music,Sex,Romance." So what if Prince is indeed the mystery man pulling the wool over our eyes? He's pitting people to work and giving the rest of the general population a proven formula for outrageousness in this year's unending depression. And so far, Prince's potent prescriptions have proven to be the most satisfying lethal doses of fun any listener on the rock or soul front lines, could ask for. Besides, his low profile, high octane output and pet projects give people here in the Twin Cities bars something to talk about all winter other than the cold. Did you think Prince wore those leg-warmers just for show?

A great read ..thanks

should be a book with ONLY vanity pics

luvsexy4all said:

should be a book with ONLY vanity pics

But it wasn't just Vanity. The three girls together made that group what it was. Susan, the sweet virgin in white, Brenda, the tough girl with the cigarette and the knife, and Vanity the nasty vixen in black. They all played a part. Susan moved the best, Brenda sang the best, and Vanity looked the best. They all deserve equal attention in the book.

80tomato said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince Builds His Kingdom

By Frank Schwartz
Right On!, Winter 1983

As the mystery in Minneapolis grows wider, more and more wonder who's really doing what to earn those gold records which are accumulating among Prince's entourage.

He wears his sexuality just above the knees, where his uni-sex leg-warmers end and his fleshy thighs begin. His multi-racial politics dart in and out of darkens and light between religious doom-saying and party-hearty platitudes. Born with a dirty mind, he's learned the music au natural, with no guidance, no lessons, no waiting.

.

.

Self described as "his mother's favorite freak," Prince has a grand chance at becoming a King. But to those who first plucked him from obscurity in north Minneapolis at age 17, he's a "very thorny rose," a five-foot-two Napoleon in drag. He's also super secret. And at 23 years, the handsome kid in his Frederics of Hollywood underwear and Humphery Bogart's (studded) trenchcoat is quickly becoming the most talked about, least understood mystery musicmaker on the block. Here in Minneapolis-St. Paul (America's Twin Cities located in the quiet, and often cold, north country), we simply call him "His Royal Badness," founding father of The Time, master designer behind Vanity 6. The man-child behind the curtain. Sometimes he plays unannounced with his band in our bars.

.

Ironic as it is, that sad situation may prove to be the ideal environment for the one-man sex and music machine. Prince still makes his home here, out of one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, 20 minutes from the cities. His family, including his divorced father, who leads a musical life of his own, and one of his sisters, who sings in a local Black gospel choir is scattered across the Twin Cities. One of nine children, Prince Rogers Nelson can go about his business, recording in his private studio, the one located "somewhere in uptown." Or he can hang out at the First Avenue club where he has often tested out his latest jams on an unsuspecting dance crowd. Nobody bothers him much, even when he's in the cool company of his good pal Morris Day from The Time, or Vanity from Vanity 6. If he feels claustrophobic, he can commute to Los Angeles or New York. Being famous insures a smooth getaway.

.

.

.

.

Enter Vanity 6, stage left. Vanity 6 is Prince's female alter ego, three pinup peculiar princesses in lingerie who peddle excessive street eroticism that borders on soft-core porn. On their debut record (another Warner Bros. product, by the way), the nasty girls work through a blue testament series of sex scenarios that covers the familiar turf of "Wet Dreams" and dull boyfriends. Unlike The Time, these daughters of controversy aren't from Minnesota's backwoods or alleys. Susan's from the Caribbean, Brenda's from Boston and the beautiful Vanity is a Canadian export from Toronto. How all three came to be Prince's V- girls is a case Kojak might consider.

The babes in lingerie share neither The Time's hit-hopping party funk or their home addresses. Instead, His Royal Badness has hung a more British brand of syntho-pop behind the album's best cuts, while snatching a JB lick for workouts like "Nasty Girls." In a live setting, The Time backs Vanity, with you know who looking over their shoulders. You see, it's family affair. And it's becoming so solidified that even Prince has begun dropping joke lines about Jamie Starr and his too wild and loose offspring. "Jamie Starr's a thief," he says on the new 1999 album. "The Time will fix your clock," and "Vanity 6 is so sweet" he mugs during "Dance,Music,Sex,Romance." So what if Prince is indeed the mystery man pulling the wool over our eyes? He's pitting people to work and giving the rest of the general population a proven formula for outrageousness in this year's unending depression. And so far, Prince's potent prescriptions have proven to be the most satisfying lethal doses of fun any listener on the rock or soul front lines, could ask for. Besides, his low profile, high octane output and pet projects give people here in the Twin Cities bars something to talk about all winter other than the cold. Did you think Prince wore those leg-warmers just for show?

A great read ..thanks

This journalist knew his stuff. It's spot-on information. Really good article. GUessing it was first written well prior to Winter '83, as Vanity had left the camp July of '83. Or, the journalist wasn't aware of the changes at that point.

violetcrush said:

80tomato said:

A great read ..thanks

This journalist knew his stuff. It's spot-on information. Really good article. GUessing it was first written well prior to Winter '83, as Vanity had left the camp July of '83. Or, the journalist wasn't aware of the changes at that point.

I thought she left much later, leading up to the actual shoot of the movie?

OldFriends4Sale said:

Krystalkisses said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I thought she left much later, leading up to the actual shoot of the movie?

I remember Susannah Melvoin saying the last time she saw Vanity it was sweltering summer time like a July when she came to visit and Vanity said something really snarky to her and it seemed like she had just gotten into an argument.

was that the award show after party?

OldFriends4Sale said:

violetcrush said:

luvsexy4all said:

should be a book with ONLY vanity pics

But it wasn't just Vanity. The three girls together made that group what it was. Susan, the sweet virgin in white, Brenda, the tough girl with the cigarette and the knife, and Vanity the nasty vixen in black. They all played a part. Susan moved the best, Brenda sang the best, and Vanity looked the best. They all deserve equal attention in the book.

im just refering to looking at her...

Krystalkisses said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

was that the award show after party?

No I think it was when Susannah went to Mpls to visit Wendy&Lisa and they were rehearsing for the movie. The story was in Susannah's Toure interview...i remember her saying it was in July or something. I think she was intimidated by Vanity and Prince or someone was like "You don't have to worry about her anymore" or something and she didn't see her around after that.

Yes, it was during her interview with Toure. Susannah arrived at the warehouse in July '83 while the band was rehearsing songs. She walked in and Vanity came up to her and said, "oh, it's YOU again!". I imiagine by this point she knew something was brewing there. Vanity walked out of the warehouse. It was her last day with the camp. Susannah looked around for Wendy, and then Prince walked up to her and said, "don''t listen to her. It's nice to have you here". Yikes!! A bit of tension there for sure.

violetcrush said:

Krystalkisses said:

violetcrush said:

Yes, it was during her interview with Toure. Susannah arrived at the warehouse in July '83 while the band was rehearsing songs. She walked in and Vanity came up to her and said, "oh, it's YOU again!". I imiagine by this point she knew something was brewing there. Vanity walked out of the warehouse. It was her last day with the camp. Susannah looked around for Wendy, and then Prince walked up to her and said, "don''t listen to her. It's nice to have you here". Yikes!! A bit of tension there for sure.

Yeah that was the story I was thinking of. The tension was totally understandable really. That's kinda what I liked about Vanity though.

She was a talker, that's for sure

Once a thread gets to this level, it's over. Don't give a rat's ass about who supposedly said what to who 40 years ago.

[Edited 10/23/18 20:03pm]

Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince
Chapter Four: PAWNS

November 1981 - March 1982: Controversy tour of the United States

pg 49-50

Even as he struggled with the Time, Prince began planning another side project -an all-female group that would, again, perform his music and adopt a persona he created. Prior to the Controversy tour, three women were selected, rather, arbitrarily: girlfriend Susan Moonsie, wardrobe assistant Brenda Bennett (the wife of set designer Roy), and Jamie Shoop, an employee of Cavallo, Ruffalo & Fargnoli. Only Bennett had any singing experience. Prince planned to have the group, called the Hookers, wear lingerie onstage and sing sexually charged lyrics.

During the tour, plans shifted when Prince one evening at a club noticed an especially sexy woman; she was copper-skinned, sultry, and had an overall appearance very much like Prince's own. "It's been said that when they met, they both stopped in their tracks; looking at each other, it was like seeing themselves, but of the opposite sex," Alan Leeds. A scout was sent over to ask if she wanted to meet Prince, and she agreed.

The young woman, Denise Matthews, had show business aspirations and was thrilled when Prince said he wanted to construct a band around her. Prince was also wildly attracted to her, and they quickly became involved. Over the coming weeks, he explained to her the concept for the Hookers. She was taken aback, however, by the stage name he suggested for her: Vagina, albeit with the "I" pronounced as a long "E." She refused, but agreed to the name Vanity.

Work on the project began immediately after the Controversy tour. Since Prince wanted only three members, Jamie Shoop, who was more interested in learning the business of music than prancing about in her garters, bowed out, leaving a trio of Vanity, Moonsie, and Bennett. Prince dubbed the goup Vanity 6, a sly reference to the number of breasts in the ensemble.

The newly christened Vanity was neither and experienced nor talented singer, but she did have a charismatic stage presence. She also had a tough, sarcastic edge to her personality -seemingly just the trait required for the situation she found herself in.

In musical terms, Vanity 6, released in August 1982, finds Prince mining the same upbeat funk territory as on the Time. While hardly among his best works, the album does have some strong moments, such as the lubricious "Nasty Girl." The vocals are the projects weak point, as Vanity lacks the musical talent to pull off her role with much credibility Moonsie and Bennett handle lead chores as well on parts of the album, with neither showing much in the way of vocal chops.

But regardless of its deficiencies, Vanity 6, like The Time before it, demonstrated Prince's ability to turn side projects into commercial successes. The album reached No. 6 on the Black Chart and No. 45 on the Pop Chart, selling nearly 500,000 units during its initial run and achieving gold status in 1985. The group's titillating image generated media attention and helped pave the way for other female artists...

The album's cover credits were for the most part fictional. The so-called Starr Company (ostensibly an enterprise of the elusive Jamie Starr) and Vanity 6 split the credit for production and arrangment, while the songs themselves are credited to one or more members of the group, in collaboration with (on some songs) certain members of the Time. At the ASCAP copyright office, however, seven of the eight songs are registered as Prince compositions. (Dez Dickerson gets full credit for "She's So Dull," and Time members Terry Lewis and Jesse Johnson each get partial credit on a song.) Still, Prince's team parroted the party line that Vanity 6 was an independant group and that he had not been involved..

Richard Avedon photograph used on the cover of an issue of Rolling Stone magazine

poppys said:

Once a thread gets to this level, it's over. Don't give a rat's ass about what who supposedly said what to who.
Fun while it lasted. out.

Vanity 6 performing "He's So Dull" on Soul Train

the words 2nd Coming are apart of the lyrics of the song Sexuality by Prince
both dealing with apocolyptic themes

Stand up, everybody, this is your life
Let me take U 2 another world, let me take U 2night
U don't need no money, U don't need no clothes
The second coming, anything goes


Prince - The second coming Live November 21st 1981 Warner
http://www.youtube.com/wa...0eDkCNDr6E

The Second Coming Film
The Second Coming was planned to be a documentary film and live album from Prince's Controversy tour in 1981. The tour was professionally filmed but the project was abandoned, likely due to Prince's schedule producing The Time and Vanity 6. The title comes from a prerecorded a cappella intro to the tour, immediately preceding the song "Uptown."

The Second Coming
This prerecorded a cappella track by Prince opened the Controversy tour set. It concerns the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and a warning to all His children to learn how to love, in addition to gun control (a similar topic in "Annie Christian"). A film concept of the same name was considered by Prince to document the Controversy Tour but was eventually canceled.

It won't be long
All of God's children must learn 2 love
It won't be long (I said it won't be long)
Before the Second Coming, yeah
It won't be long, no, it won't be long

How many more good men must die before there's gun control
U've got 2 love your brother if U want 2 free your soul (Soul, soul, soul)

It won't be long (It won't be long)
All of God's, all of God's children must learn 2 love



Chuck Statler's small film crew who worked on the pseudo-concert film 'The Second Coming' - the Prince documentary film that never saw the light of day...

9th December, 1981
The concert in Houston is filmed for a planned documentary, tentatively called 'The Second Coming'. Several concerts on the tour were filmed by rock video pioneer Chuck Statler, who had worked with Devo and Elvis Costello. His Minneapolis-based Location Services filmed Prince in concert and off-stage, but the resulting documentary was never released.
- Entry taken from Per Nilsen's 'Prince - A Documentary'


Part I]
Hey, thanks RC! Gee, I'm probably gonna use up all my good stories within a week, but here goes...

I didn't work on Purple Rain, but in 1982 I did work on the unreleased film that preceeded it. This was originally just going to be a simple concert film and Chuck Statler was hired as the director. I had worked as a grip/gopher on a few of Chuck's shoots so I got this gig too.

We were filming Prince at (I think) the St Paul Civic Center. They were using multiple cameras and real film, not video, so that meant that every 10-15 minutes a fresh film magazine was needed for each camera. My job was to ferry an exposed magazine from a camera on the floor in the middle of the crowd, all the way to backstage. There a couple of guys did nothing but remove the exposed film from the magazines inside black bags, and put fresh film in. Then I would bring a fresh magazine back to the camera in the crowd. Fortunately one of the bouncers kind of adopted me, and blazed a trail thru the crowd each time.

So, then the concert's over and we're done, right? Wrong! A few weeks later, I hear from Chuck that Prince has now decided to film some scenes to "frame" the concert sequences. For one scene, he wants a roomfull of dolls. So Chuck and I go to this nutty old doll collector's house to rent a roomfull of dolls. She's got a lot of 'em, all right, although she also has a wildly inflated idea of what they're worth. I don't collect dolls, but I do collect other stuff, and these were mostly pretty cheesy dolls. But anyway, Chuck worked out a deal with her and we scored the dolls.

Then a couple of days later, the film crew heads out to Prince's house in Chanhassen, where the filming was going to take place. The house wasn't purple yet, it was just a fairly ordinary large suburban house, kind of sparsely furnished really -- but there was a grand piano in the living room in front of a mirrored wall.

So we spend a few hours getting the props and equipment set up. The gaffer (electrician) decides to tap into Prince's power line ahead of the meter and get some free power. Then we took a break to eat before we started filming. In the early evening we're just getting started, about 8000 watts of lights get fired up, and then all of a sudden, pweeeenngg! All the lights go out. The power load was too much for Prince's transformer and completely fried it.

We're way out in the sticks and it takes forever just to figure out who to contact, and by now it's getting a little late. We finally get a hold of the right guy and he says he'll send somebody out.

So we've got time to kill, and for a while we sit around in the living room while Prince plays that grand piano. Finally the power guys get there, and luckily the gaffer remembered to remove his line tap so they didn't see what he was up to. They replace the transformer and leave. It's kind of late, but we decide to keep going and get at least something done.

So we get started again, get stuff set up again, get those 8000 watts of lights fired up again, and then all of a sudden, pweeeenngg! All the lights go out AGAIN! The new transformer was fried too! So we have to go thru the whole mess again, and of course this time it's even later and the power company guys are not at all happy -- especially when they get to the house. This time the gaffer forgot to remove his line tap so they realized what he was doing. Boy were they pissed! Everything finally gets straightened out without too much bloodshed, but this time it's so late that we decide to bag it for the night and pull an all-nighter the next evening instead.

Did we ever get any filming done? If so, why didn't the film ever come out? And how does Vanity 6 fit into the picture? These questions and more will be answered in my next post -- suspenseful, huh? Meanwhile, here's a Polaroid of Prince that I fished out of the trash at the shoot . It was just taken to check the light so you can only see his silhouette -- but it's him. Take my word for it!



[Part II]
OK, here's the second half of the story I'm calling "Purple Ruin."

After the disastrous first night of filming (or trying to), we all went home and slept thru the day and then regrouped again in the late afternoon and made another trek out to Prince's house in Chanhassen. This time the gaffer brought along a portable generator so we could avoid burning out Prince's transformer a 3rd time. Good idea!

And I should say that, although his patience was sorely tested by other people's screw-ups, director Chuck Statler never lost his cool. He was always totally professional, even under the most trying conditions. It was a privilege to work with him.

Anyway, we got out to the house and this time we actually did get some filming done! The main scene involved the aforementioned roomful of dolls and (surprise!) two women in lingerie. One of them, named Susan, shortly thereafter turned up in Vanity 6. I always thought this scene was the germ of Prince's whole Vanity 6 idea. I don't know who the other woman was -- as far as I know, she didn't show up in subsequent Prince projects, but I could be wrong about that.

Oddly enough, Prince never discussed his concept of the film with me, but here's what I was able to glean from working on the scene: two women clad in lingerie spend most of their time in a roomful of dolls, pining for their lover (Prince, duh!) and awaiting his return from his far-flung wanderings. When he does finally show, he's cloaked in fog and an aura of mystery. After that, I have no specific knowledge... but presumably there was sex.

So we're going to film the scene of Prince's return. Susan is supposed to crawl on her hands and knees over to the door, which then mysteriously opens as if by itself. An eerie fog wafts into the room and Prince is revealed standing in the doorway.

To create the effect, a wall of paper was put up about 2 or 3 feet back from the door. Then a huge bank of lights was set up on the other side of the paper. (The paper was to diffuse the light.) In effect, this created a small closet with one paper wall, which had the proverbial 8000 watts of light on the other side. The picture of Prince in my previous post shows him standing in the doorway, with light shining thru the paper wall behind him.

They wanted smoke drifting around when Prince walked in, and even curling out from under the closed door before it opened, so somebody had to get into that little closet and pump it full of smoke with a smoke machine. Now, even though it was supposed to be Prince on the other side of the door, for some reason he didn't care to get into this hot stuffy closet full of smoke. Guess what? I got the job.

So I'm standing in this blindingly bright and blazing hot little room, pumping it full of (cancer-causing, no doubt) smoke. And all I can think of is, "Wow! I'm really making movies now!"

I pump the closet full of smoke, Susan crawls over, the door slowly opens, and cut. We do that a half-dozen times or so, and finally Susan complains a little about having to crawl over to the door again and again. "Hey, baby, it's rock and roll," Prince says. I was really tempted to retort, "Well, why aren't YOU in here then?" -- but I restrained myself.

And really, that was one of the few times that Prince made any sort of audible comment. Usually, if he had anything to say he would just speak quietly to Chuck. And most of the time he just observed what was going on. Even when the whole electrical disaster of the first night was going on, I never heard him complain. (Not to say he never did, but if he did he was discreet about it.)
Prince was aloof, but not in an arrogant or mean-spirited way. He just seemed kind of self-involved and removed from the mundane details of what we were doing. He was no glad-hander, for sure, but I certainly didn't come away from the experience thinking he was a prick, either. (Unlike some others -- Steve Nieve comes immediately to mind).

We finally finished filming in the early morning, packed up, and headed home. Some time later, I was told that Warner Brothers had pulled the plug on the whole project -- supposedly because the concert footage wasn't that good. I heard that one problem was that Prince hadn't allowed the cameras out onstage, which limited the shots the camera operators could get. I also heard that supposedly one camera operator's footage was out of focus, but I don't know if that's true. In any case, the film was shelved.

But then, a year or two later, Prince gave the world "Purple Rain." And then he gave it "Under the Cherry Moon." Oh, well...

For your edification, I'm including a couple of Polaroids of Susan and the other lingerie-clad woman in the roomful of dolls. The pictures were taken just to check the lighting and they've deteriorated over the years, but I think you'll get the idea:

OldFriends4Sale said:

We finally finished filming in the early morning, packed up, and headed home. Some time later, I was told that Warner Brothers had pulled the plug on the whole project -- supposedly because the concert footage wasn't that good. I heard that one problem was that Prince hadn't allowed the cameras out onstage, which limited the shots the camera operators could get. I also heard that supposedly one camera operator's footage was out of focus, but I don't know if that's true. In any case, the film was shelved.

But then, a year or two later, Prince gave the world "Purple Rain." And then he gave it "Under the Cherry Moon." Oh, well...

For your edification, I'm including a couple of Polaroids of Susan and the other lingerie-clad woman in the roomful of dolls. The pictures were taken just to check the lighting and they've deteriorated over the years, but I think you'll get the idea:

Didn't Prince have this same problem in 1987 when some of his SOTT shows were filmed for the concert film? The footage wasn't any good and couldn't be used so he went to Paisley Park and re-filmed it.

SoulAlive said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

the words 2nd Coming are apart of the lyrics of the song Sexuality by Prince
both dealing with apocolyptic themes

Stand up, everybody, this is your life
Let me take U 2 another world, let me take U 2night
U don't need no money, U don't need no clothes
The second coming, anything goes


Prince - The second coming Live November 21st 1981 Warner
http://www.youtube.com/wa...0eDkCNDr6E

The Second Coming Film
The Second Coming was planned to be a documentary film and live album from Prince's Controversy tour in 1981. The tour was professionally filmed but the project was abandoned, likely due to Prince's schedule producing The Time and Vanity 6. The title comes from a prerecorded a cappella intro to the tour, immediately preceding the song "Uptown."

The Second Coming
This prerecorded a cappella track by Prince opened the Controversy tour set. It concerns the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and a warning to all His children to learn how to love, in addition to gun control (a similar topic in "Annie Christian"). A film concept of the same name was considered by Prince to document the Controversy Tour but was eventually canceled.

It won't be long
All of God's children must learn 2 love
It won't be long (I said it won't be long)
Before the Second Coming, yeah
It won't be long, no, it won't be long

How many more good men must die before there's gun control
U've got 2 love your brother if U want 2 free your soul (Soul, soul, soul)

It won't be long (It won't be long)
All of God's, all of God's children must learn 2 love



Chuck Statler's small film crew who worked on the pseudo-concert film 'The Second Coming' - the Prince documentary film that never saw the light of day...

9th December, 1981
The concert in Houston is filmed for a planned documentary, tentatively called 'The Second Coming'. Several concerts on the tour were filmed by rock video pioneer Chuck Statler, who had worked with Devo and Elvis Costello. His Minneapolis-based Location Services filmed Prince in concert and off-stage, but the resulting documentary was never released.
- Entry taken from Per Nilsen's 'Prince - A Documentary'


Part I]
Hey, thanks RC! Gee, I'm probably gonna use up all my good stories within a week, but here goes...

I didn't work on Purple Rain, but in 1982 I did work on the unreleased film that preceeded it. This was originally just going to be a simple concert film and Chuck Statler was hired as the director. I had worked as a grip/gopher on a few of Chuck's shoots so I got this gig too.

We were filming Prince at (I think) the St Paul Civic Center. They were using multiple cameras and real film, not video, so that meant that every 10-15 minutes a fresh film magazine was needed for each camera. My job was to ferry an exposed magazine from a camera on the floor in the middle of the crowd, all the way to backstage. There a couple of guys did nothing but remove the exposed film from the magazines inside black bags, and put fresh film in. Then I would bring a fresh magazine back to the camera in the crowd. Fortunately one of the bouncers kind of adopted me, and blazed a trail thru the crowd each time.

So, then the concert's over and we're done, right? Wrong! A few weeks later, I hear from Chuck that Prince has now decided to film some scenes to "frame" the concert sequences. For one scene, he wants a roomfull of dolls. So Chuck and I go to this nutty old doll collector's house to rent a roomfull of dolls. She's got a lot of 'em, all right, although she also has a wildly inflated idea of what they're worth. I don't collect dolls, but I do collect other stuff, and these were mostly pretty cheesy dolls. But anyway, Chuck worked out a deal with her and we scored the dolls.

Then a couple of days later, the film crew heads out to Prince's house in Chanhassen, where the filming was going to take place. The house wasn't purple yet, it was just a fairly ordinary large suburban house, kind of sparsely furnished really -- but there was a grand piano in the living room in front of a mirrored wall.

So we spend a few hours getting the props and equipment set up. The gaffer (electrician) decides to tap into Prince's power line ahead of the meter and get some free power. Then we took a break to eat before we started filming. In the early evening we're just getting started, about 8000 watts of lights get fired up, and then all of a sudden, pweeeenngg! All the lights go out. The power load was too much for Prince's transformer and completely fried it.

We're way out in the sticks and it takes forever just to figure out who to contact, and by now it's getting a little late. We finally get a hold of the right guy and he says he'll send somebody out.

So we've got time to kill, and for a while we sit around in the living room while Prince plays that grand piano. Finally the power guys get there, and luckily the gaffer remembered to remove his line tap so they didn't see what he was up to. They replace the transformer and leave. It's kind of late, but we decide to keep going and get at least something done.

So we get started again, get stuff set up again, get those 8000 watts of lights fired up again, and then all of a sudden, pweeeenngg! All the lights go out AGAIN! The new transformer was fried too! So we have to go thru the whole mess again, and of course this time it's even later and the power company guys are not at all happy -- especially when they get to the house. This time the gaffer forgot to remove his line tap so they realized what he was doing. Boy were they pissed! Everything finally gets straightened out without too much bloodshed, but this time it's so late that we decide to bag it for the night and pull an all-nighter the next evening instead.

Did we ever get any filming done? If so, why didn't the film ever come out? And how does Vanity 6 fit into the picture? These questions and more will be answered in my next post -- suspenseful, huh? Meanwhile, here's a Polaroid of Prince that I fished out of the trash at the shoot . It was just taken to check the light so you can only see his silhouette -- but it's him. Take my word for it!



[Part II]
OK, here's the second half of the story I'm calling "Purple Ruin."

After the disastrous first night of filming (or trying to), we all went home and slept thru the day and then regrouped again in the late afternoon and made another trek out to Prince's house in Chanhassen. This time the gaffer brought along a portable generator so we could avoid burning out Prince's transformer a 3rd time. Good idea!

And I should say that, although his patience was sorely tested by other people's screw-ups, director Chuck Statler never lost his cool. He was always totally professional, even under the most trying conditions. It was a privilege to work with him.

Anyway, we got out to the house and this time we actually did get some filming done! The main scene involved the aforementioned roomful of dolls and (surprise!) two women in lingerie. One of them, named Susan, shortly thereafter turned up in Vanity 6. I always thought this scene was the germ of Prince's whole Vanity 6 idea. I don't know who the other woman was -- as far as I know, she didn't show up in subsequent Prince projects, but I could be wrong about that.

Oddly enough, Prince never discussed his concept of the film with me, but here's what I was able to glean from working on the scene: two women clad in lingerie spend most of their time in a roomful of dolls, pining for their lover (Prince, duh!) and awaiting his return from his far-flung wanderings. When he does finally show, he's cloaked in fog and an aura of mystery. After that, I have no specific knowledge... but presumably there was sex.

So we're going to film the scene of Prince's return. Susan is supposed to crawl on her hands and knees over to the door, which then mysteriously opens as if by itself. An eerie fog wafts into the room and Prince is revealed standing in the doorway.

To create the effect, a wall of paper was put up about 2 or 3 feet back from the door. Then a huge bank of lights was set up on the other side of the paper. (The paper was to diffuse the light.) In effect, this created a small closet with one paper wall, which had the proverbial 8000 watts of light on the other side. The picture of Prince in my previous post shows him standing in the doorway, with light shining thru the paper wall behind him.

They wanted smoke drifting around when Prince walked in, and even curling out from under the closed door before it opened, so somebody had to get into that little closet and pump it full of smoke with a smoke machine. Now, even though it was supposed to be Prince on the other side of the door, for some reason he didn't care to get into this hot stuffy closet full of smoke. Guess what? I got the job.

So I'm standing in this blindingly bright and blazing hot little room, pumping it full of (cancer-causing, no doubt) smoke. And all I can think of is, "Wow! I'm really making movies now!"

I pump the closet full of smoke, Susan crawls over, the door slowly opens, and cut. We do that a half-dozen times or so, and finally Susan complains a little about having to crawl over to the door again and again. "Hey, baby, it's rock and roll," Prince says. I was really tempted to retort, "Well, why aren't YOU in here then?" -- but I restrained myself.

And really, that was one of the few times that Prince made any sort of audible comment. Usually, if he had anything to say he would just speak quietly to Chuck. And most of the time he just observed what was going on. Even when the whole electrical disaster of the first night was going on, I never heard him complain. (Not to say he never did, but if he did he was discreet about it.)
Prince was aloof, but not in an arrogant or mean-spirited way. He just seemed kind of self-involved and removed from the mundane details of what we were doing. He was no glad-hander, for sure, but I certainly didn't come away from the experience thinking he was a prick, either. (Unlike some others -- Steve Nieve comes immediately to mind).

We finally finished filming in the early morning, packed up, and headed home. Some time later, I was told that Warner Brothers had pulled the plug on the whole project -- supposedly because the concert footage wasn't that good. I heard that one problem was that Prince hadn't allowed the cameras out onstage, which limited the shots the camera operators could get. I also heard that supposedly one camera operator's footage was out of focus, but I don't know if that's true. In any case, the film was shelved.

But then, a year or two later, Prince gave the world "Purple Rain." And then he gave it "Under the Cherry Moon." Oh, well...

For your edification, I'm including a couple of Polaroids of Susan and the other lingerie-clad woman in the roomful of dolls. The pictures were taken just to check the lighting and they've deteriorated over the years, but I think you'll get the idea:

This is great!! Thanks OF4S! I'd never read this.

Krystalkisses said:

SoulAlive said:

Didn't Prince have this same problem in 1987 when some of his SOTT shows were filmed for the concert film? The footage wasn't any good and couldn't be used so he went to Paisley Park and re-filmed it.

I remember reading that somewhere.

Yes, Susan Rogers has discussed the mess of video that they tried to capture during the SOTT tour in Europe. They ended up using some of the audio, but had to re-shoot the concert and vignette scenes at PP. They also hired a bunch of extras in LA to record "audience" singing and voices for the Forever In My Life performance.

SoulAlive said:

It’s interesting that Prince—-one of the greatest live performers ever—-kept having all these technical issues whenever he attempted to make a concert film,lol

I believe a lot of it was lack of proper planning. Susan Rogers stated his decision to make the concert film of SOTT was very last minute. She said they had to scramble to make it happen with very little time. Then the weather was really bad when they were touring in Europe, which is one reason Prince cut the tour short.

I Need A Man is an unreleased song recorded in Summer 1981 at Prince's Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota (during the same set of sessions that produced Make-Up, Wet Dream and Drive Me Wild). The track contained lead vocals by Jamie Shoop, and was intended for an album by The Hookers, but was abandoned when The Hookers developed into Vanity 6.

-PrinceVault