"プリンスと日本 Prince & Japan: 4ever In My Life" was just released in Japan.
There are some interesting stories from Japanese musicians, celebrities, writers and people who used to work for newspapers, magazines and Warner Music Japan. Only non-Japanese person who contributed an interview is Dr. Fink.



There used to be Prince Japanese Fan Club (1983-1994/pre-internet) and Warner Music Japan even allowed FC member to use their meeting rooms for some activities like showing music videos etc.
Mr. Jun Sato who was at WMJ (1993-1990) says that some FC members even translated lyrics and those lyrics were included The Hits/The B-Sides.

Japanese leg of Nude Tour started on Aug 30 1990. Graffiti Bridge album was just released days before but Prince was busy finishing touches on Graffiti Bridge movie in LA. While band members arrived earlier, Prince arrived hours before the first conert. From the airport to Tokyo Dome, he was going to use a helicopter but due to a helicopter crush killed Stephen Ray Vaughan a few days earlier, a driver of limousine had to speed 140km/ph (87mph) along shoulder of the highway. This limousine story is very famous among Japanese fans since.

Some of FC members at Tokyo Dome on Aug 31 1990 (second night) held request boards. Prince found them and performed "Bambi" for the first time in years. This concert was filmed and aired on Asahi TV as you might have seen on bootlegs.
During a short stay in Tokyo, Prince with Levi Seaser Jr & Michael B. recorded basic tracks for Money Don't Matter 2Nite, Willing & Able, Strollin", 5 Women and Something Funky (This House Comes) at Warner Pioneer Studio.

Mr Sato remembers that Prince never went sightseeing but mostly played piano in his hotel room. He was in charge of releaseing and advirtising Prince's LP/CD and taking care of Prince and crew while they were in Japan. Hiring a helicopter was not the first time as Prince originally wanted to appear the stage from a helicopter at Yokohama Studium/Parade Tour in 1986. Mr Sato says that working for Prince was not easy because there was no interviews and photos for promotiong like any other artists but his biggest joy was to recieve an advanced cassette before the master arrived, before anyone else. He also remembers when The Black Album was cancelled, they were asked to destroy the master, take pictures and send them for a proof. He thought they were joking but they were not...

[Edited 2/18/19 21:57pm]

Please include a link to the article, thanks

luv4u said:

Please include a link to the article, thanks

This is 240 page book and written in Japanese but I transrale some interesting parts.

This is publisher's site about this book.

https://www.shinko-music....id0646096/

amokeru said:

luv4u said:

Please include a link to the article, thanks

This is 240 page book and written in Japanese but I transrale some interesting parts.

This is publisher's site about this book.

https://www.shinko-music....id0646096/

Thank you so much for providing the link and translating

amokeru said:

"プリンスと日本 Prince & Japan: 4ever In My Life" was just released in Japan.
There are some interesting stories from Japanese musicians, celebrities, writers and people who used to work for newspapers, magazines and Warner Music Japan. Only non-Japanese person who contributed an interview is Dr. Fink.



There used to be Prince Japanese Fan Club (1983-1994/pre-internet) and Warner Music Japan even allowed FC member to use their meeting rooms for some activities like showing music videos etc.
Mr. Jun Sato who was at WMJ (1993-1990) says that some FC members even translated lyrics and those lyrics were included The Hits/The B-Sides.

Japanese leg of Nude Tour started on Aug 30 1990. Graffiti Bridge album was just released days before but Prince was busy finishing touches on Graffiti Bridge movie in LA. While band members arrived earlier, Prince arrived hours before the first conert. From the airport to Tokyo Dome, he was going to use a helicopter but due to a helicopter crush killed Stephen Ray Vaughan a few days earlier, a driver of limousine had to speed 140km/ph (87mph) along shoulder of the highway. This limousine story is very famous among Japanese fans since.

Some of FC members at Tokyo Dome on Aug 31 1990 (second night) held request boards. Prince found them and performed "Bambi" for the first time in years. This concert was filmed and aired on Asahi TV as you might have seen on bootlegs.
During a short stay in Tokyo, Prince with Levi Seaser Jr & Michael B. recorded basic tracks for Money Don't Matter 2Nite, Willing & Able, Strollin", 5 Women and Something Funky (This House Comes) at Warner Pioneer Studio.

Mr Sato remembers that Prince never went sightseeing but mostly played piano in his hotel room. He was in charge of releaseing and advirtising Prince's LP/CD and taking care of Prince and crew while they were in Japan. Hiring a helicopter was not the first time as Prince originally wanted to appear the stage from a helicopter at Yokohama Studium/Parade Tour in 1986. Mr Sato says that working for Prince was not easy because there was no interviews and photos for promotiong like any other artists but his biggest joy was to recieve an advanced cassette before the master arrived, before anyone else. He also remembers when The Black Album was cancelled, they were asked to destroy the master, take pictures and send them for a proof. He thought they were joking but they were not...

[Edited 2/18/19 21:57pm]

Thx

I never knew that Bambi was exclusive to that Tokyo concert.

There are at least 2 promo versions of that Tokyo show. The Japanese broadcast featured the whole show, while a shorter (1 hour long, with the songs' order changed) edit was later sold to European channels (not sure if it was ever aired in the US).

2 other Spanish shows were also aired earlier that summer, one on Spanish TV and another on Spanish radio. Prince apparently wanted to expand his fanbase in Spain, not sure why (one WB exec once mentioned Prince complaining about an album's low sales in Spain, but didn't say which album).

Parts of at least 3 European shows were also sent to various European TV channels in order to promote the tour, but those are hard to track down with certainty, besides it's not sure what was sent vs. what was aired.

where can i order that book?

databank said:

amokeru said:

"プリンスと日本 Prince & Japan: 4ever In My Life" was just released in Japan.
There are some interesting stories from Japanese musicians, celebrities, writers and people who used to work for newspapers, magazines and Warner Music Japan. Only non-Japanese person who contributed an interview is Dr. Fink.



There used to be Prince Japanese Fan Club (1983-1994/pre-internet) and Warner Music Japan even allowed FC member to use their meeting rooms for some activities like showing music videos etc.
Mr. Jun Sato who was at WMJ (1993-1990) says that some FC members even translated lyrics and those lyrics were included The Hits/The B-Sides.

Japanese leg of Nude Tour started on Aug 30 1990. Graffiti Bridge album was just released days before but Prince was busy finishing touches on Graffiti Bridge movie in LA. While band members arrived earlier, Prince arrived hours before the first conert. From the airport to Tokyo Dome, he was going to use a helicopter but due to a helicopter crush killed Stephen Ray Vaughan a few days earlier, a driver of limousine had to speed 140km/ph (87mph) along shoulder of the highway. This limousine story is very famous among Japanese fans since.

Some of FC members at Tokyo Dome on Aug 31 1990 (second night) held request boards. Prince found them and performed "Bambi" for the first time in years. This concert was filmed and aired on Asahi TV as you might have seen on bootlegs.
During a short stay in Tokyo, Prince with Levi Seaser Jr & Michael B. recorded basic tracks for Money Don't Matter 2Nite, Willing & Able, Strollin", 5 Women and Something Funky (This House Comes) at Warner Pioneer Studio.

Mr Sato remembers that Prince never went sightseeing but mostly played piano in his hotel room. He was in charge of releaseing and advirtising Prince's LP/CD and taking care of Prince and crew while they were in Japan. Hiring a helicopter was not the first time as Prince originally wanted to appear the stage from a helicopter at Yokohama Studium/Parade Tour in 1986. Mr Sato says that working for Prince was not easy because there was no interviews and photos for promotiong like any other artists but his biggest joy was to recieve an advanced cassette before the master arrived, before anyone else. He also remembers when The Black Album was cancelled, they were asked to destroy the master, take pictures and send them for a proof. He thought they were joking but they were not...

[Edited 2/18/19 21:57pm]

Thx

I never knew that Bambi was exclusive to that Tokyo concert.

There are at least 2 promo versions of that Tokyo show. The Japanese broadcast featured the whole show, while a shorter (1 hour long, with the songs' order changed) edit was later sold to European channels (not sure if it was ever aired in the US).

2 other Spanish shows were also aired earlier that summer, one on Spanish TV and another on Spanish radio. Prince apparently wanted to expand his fanbase in Spain, not sure why (one WB exec once mentioned Prince complaining about an album's low sales in Spain, but didn't say which album).

Parts of at least 3 European shows were also sent to various European TV channels in order to promote the tour, but those are hard to track down with certainty, besides it's not sure what was sent vs. what was aired.

When Aug 31st show was aired on TV, they somehow changed order of songs and it started from "Take Me With U". They also didn't air "The Question Of U" which was the only new song from new album "Graffitti Bridge". Non-cut version of the show was aird on FM around the same time.

Prince estate added this performance of TQOU (without piano intro of Venus De Milo) on youtube last September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwRKFQaWaBM

rafael said:

where can i order that book?

Official site has amazon Japan link but not sure if they deliver to your country.

https://www.shinko-music.co.jp/item/pid0646096/

amokeru said:

databank said:

Thx

I never knew that Bambi was exclusive to that Tokyo concert.

There are at least 2 promo versions of that Tokyo show. The Japanese broadcast featured the whole show, while a shorter (1 hour long, with the songs' order changed) edit was later sold to European channels (not sure if it was ever aired in the US).

2 other Spanish shows were also aired earlier that summer, one on Spanish TV and another on Spanish radio. Prince apparently wanted to expand his fanbase in Spain, not sure why (one WB exec once mentioned Prince complaining about an album's low sales in Spain, but didn't say which album).

Parts of at least 3 European shows were also sent to various European TV channels in order to promote the tour, but those are hard to track down with certainty, besides it's not sure what was sent vs. what was aired.

When Aug 31st show was aired on TV, they somehow changed order of songs and it started from "Take Me With U". They also didn't air "The Question Of U" which was the only new song from new album "Graffitti Bridge". Non-cut version of the show was aird on FM around the same time.

Prince estate added this performance of TQOU (without piano intro of Venus De Milo) on youtube last September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwRKFQaWaBM

Ok now that's getting interesting.

I haven't sorted that out entirely for my website but I just checked and I have no less than four different versions of it.

I have the short (60mn) version that was aired on European TV, it begins with TMWU and it does have TQOU. I know this one was aired for sure because it was aired on french TV and I has recorded it on cassette back then.

Then I have three different versions of the entire show in order. Not sure how they are different: one comes from a bootleg (unfortunately I've lost the video but still have the audio) and it begins with a few images of the band backstage, it's 1h24mn long. The other two don't have this intro and come from the big 2013 video leak.

One is labeled "Love Or Money" and is 1h23mn, it doesn't feature end credits so I suspect it's a bootleg of some sort.

The other is labeled "TV" and is 1h28mn. Both have TQOU. I have no idea what was aired where but the "TV" one has titled crediting "Sa Za Le" and other titles in Japanese which is why I assumed it was the original Japanese TV broadcast as such.

The Vault book acknowledges the fact that the original show was aired in its entirety in Japan (they are unclear whether in sequence or not) and that a later, shorter and out sequence edit was sold to TV channels worldwide. They also acknowledge the radio broadcast. This does not explain at all why we have three different versions of the full show in order.

So now if we add your version beginning with TMWU but without TQOU, we have five versions, which is driving me crazy. Are you 100% certain TQOU wasn't in it and that it was aired at the time? Could it be that Japan later aired the European edit but that the original "TV" version was aired earlier.

[Edited 2/19/19 1:01am]

It wasn't... he performed it on multiple european shows too... maybe it was only performed at this Japanese show....

databank said:

I never knew that Bambi was exclusive to that Tokyo concert.

databank said:

amokeru said:

When Aug 31st show was aired on TV, they somehow changed order of songs and it started from "Take Me With U". They also didn't air "The Question Of U" which was the only new song from new album "Graffitti Bridge". Non-cut version of the show was aird on FM around the same time.

Prince estate added this performance of TQOU (without piano intro of Venus De Milo) on youtube last September.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwRKFQaWaBM

Ok now that's getting interesting.

I haven't sorted that out entirely for my website but I just checked and I have no less than four different versions of it.

I have the short (60mn) version that was aired on European TV, it begins with TMWU and it does have TQOU. I know this one was aired for sure because it was aired on french TV and I has recorded it on cassette back then.

Then I have three different versions of the entire show in order. Not sure how they are different: one comes from a bootleg (unfortunately I've lost the video but still have the audio) and it begins with a few images of the band backstage, it's 1h24mn long. The other two don't have this intro and come from the big 2013 video leak.

One is labeled "Love Or Money" and is 1h23mn, it doesn't feature end credits so I suspect it's a bootleg of some sort.

The other is labeled "TV" and is 1h28mn. Both have TQOU. I have no idea what was aired where but the "TV" one has titled crediting "Sa Za Le" and other titles in Japanese which is why I assumed it was the original Japanese TV broadcast as such.

The Vault book acknowledges the fact that the original show was aired in its entirety in Japan (they are unclear whether in sequence or not) and that a later, shorter and out sequence edit was sold to TV channels worldwide. They also acknowledge the radio broadcast. This does not explain at all why we have three different versions of the full show in order.

So now if we add your version beginning with TMWU but without TQOU, we have five versions, which is driving me crazy. Are you 100% certain TQOU wasn't in it and that it was aired at the time? Could it be that Japan later aired the European edit but that the original "TV" version was aired earlier.

[Edited 2/19/19 1:01am]

Oops, my mistake. Sa Za Re version was aired in Japan with TQOU. I used to listent to an old boot called "Live In Tokyo" that was not included TQOU. I listened to that CD too many times in early 90's so I thought they originally didn't air TQOU but that is not the case. Sa Za Re is a real estate company and one of Nude Tour's sponcers. I'm sure that they only aired once here. I have no idea about other versions and the book doesn't mention much about it...

TQOU. OMG. !

Thanks for sharing

luv4u said:

amokeru said:

This is 240 page book and written in Japanese but I transrale some interesting parts.

This is publisher's site about this book.

https://www.shinko-music....id0646096/

Thank you so much for providing the link and translating

Actually the topic is misleading.its not true that Prince performed Bambi for the first time in years in Tokyio.

b4 Tokyio Prince performed Bambi on more than 3 or 4 ocassions during Nude tour.one of them was at London Wembley 10 July 1990.

That version he played in Tokyo is by far one of my favorite versions of Bambi.

It´s nice to hear a bit more from a Japanese perspective. He had a very strong fanbase there and I´d like to know a bit more about that special relationship with Japan.

I was actually at this show! Late August 1990. Tokyo's Big Egg.

It was my first Prince concert and I was SUPER EXCITED. I went with my best friend and his girlfriend. We were all military brats in high school at a nearby US Army Base.

I remember coming in on the subway and seeing large Prince Nude Tour posters everywhere.

The stadium was PACKED and we had crap seats...

I remember the show was thunderous and super exciting...

I distinctly remember the opening guitar chords of BAMBI starting and thinking, "Wow, he's gonna play that song!".

Amazing that this show is considered to be one of his iconic performances.

NorthC said:

The book Prince: The Dutch Experience tells us that Prince started playing Bambi again because Lois Lane were part of the tour as the opening act and Prince found out that one of the sisters, Suzanne Klemann, was a lesbian. According to the book (and I'm sure Princevault can back this up), it was first played in Barcelona. [Edited 2/20/19 13:05pm]

I have a Dutch friend who used to work in the arts and media in Rotterdam, and she told me Suzanne once hit on her back in the early/mid 90's

soladeo1 said: