This SHOW:DVD/CD photos, background info everything etc, need to be released on 8.3.2020

Dazza said:

I personally hate the studio version. Sounds much better in his lower register. I feel the same about Witness 4 the prosecution. The solo version is so weak

They're all solo versions.

people... be happy you have both.... the love version (which I prefer is more raw and emotional) and the studio is cleaner. Had we had the studio version first, people would be complaining about the lover version....so...

mediumdry said:

different strokes. Could (and can) never listen to the live version all the way through. It just bores me to tears. The studio version I kind of dig. Not his best song ever, but solid.

I agree. No surprise to me why he pulled and replaced it with TBO. My favorite thing about this song is watching him perform it live at First Ave in '83. LOVE that entire iconic show, and I also agree that ALL of the First Ave shows (video) should be released as one package. I've seen the '83, '86, and '87 shows and they're all fantastic. Still waiting for the '84 birthday show (anybody...anybody??? org note me!!) and would love to see the '82 show if it was filmed.

Ramzoo said:

When the PR Deluxe was released, I saw that the Estate mentioned "Studio Version". This notation meant for me that the Estate was well aware that "a live version" was circulating. So why not then an official release?

First Avenue 83 was originally slated for Purple Rain Deluxe (it was the second live show that was mentioned in the press release) but the Estate decided auction it off separately along with the rights to make a documentary out of the rehearsal footage. Apple ended up winning so expect it on Apple TV+ eventually. As far as everybody knows, the concert is already "remastered" and the documentary is finished.


People with better connections than me also swear up and down that the concert will get a standalone CD/DVD release.

[Edited 11/9/19 12:34pm]

Live/rehersal version is THE version imo. Studio one was so disappointing when I first heard it, but its grown on me.

Strive said:

Ramzoo said:

When the PR Deluxe was released, I saw that the Estate mentioned "Studio Version". This notation meant for me that the Estate was well aware that "a live version" was circulating. So why not then an official release?

First Avenue 83 was originally slated for Purple Rain Deluxe (it was the second live show that was mentioned in the press release) but the Estate decided auction it off separately along with the rights to make a documentary out of the rehearsal footage. Apple ended up winning so expect it on Apple TV+ eventually. As far as everybody knows, the concert is already "remastered" and the documentary is finished.


People with better connections than me also swear up and down that the concert will get a standalone CD/DVD release.

I got a free year of Apple TV+ with my iPhone 11, so I hope they hurry the f*** up with it.

Genesia said:

Strive said:

First Avenue 83 was originally slated for Purple Rain Deluxe (it was the second live show that was mentioned in the press release) but the Estate decided auction it off separately along with the rights to make a documentary out of the rehearsal footage. Apple ended up winning so expect it on Apple TV+ eventually. As far as everybody knows, the concert is already "remastered" and the documentary is finished.


People with better connections than me also swear up and down that the concert will get a standalone CD/DVD release.

I got a free year of Apple TV+ with my iPhone 11, so I hope they hurry the f*** up with it.

A free year of Apple TV+ seems like a good reason to upgrade my iPhone. I find it odd that Apple is quiet abpout a eventual release of this doc/show.

srodaz said:

Electric Intercourse is FAR superior than the studio version. Don't get me wrong the studio version is good but doesn't capture that emotion or passion that the live version does. I was a little underwelmed when I first heard studio version as I had huge expectations that it would be similar to the one performed live.

This may or may not be a controversial opinion, but I think what you've said could be applied to Prince's music in general. There'll be a long list of exceptions of course, but again, in general, his live performances transmitted more energy and passion than his studio recordings, maybe 'cause he didn't have to go through playing all the instruments himself.

The best version of Electric Intercourse is the one he played in Birmingham, 2014. And no, I'm definitely not just saying that because I was there. (Cries pitifully).

SanMartin said:

srodaz said:

Electric Intercourse is FAR superior than the studio version. Don't get me wrong the studio version is good but doesn't capture that emotion or passion that the live version does. I was a little underwelmed when I first heard studio version as I had huge expectations that it would be similar to the one performed live.

This may or may not be a controversial opinion, but I think what you've said could be applied to Prince's music in general. There'll be a long list of exceptions of course, but again, in general, his live performances transmitted more energy and passion than his studio recordings, maybe 'cause he didn't have to go through playing all the instruments himself.

The best version of Electric Intercourse is the one he played in Birmingham, 2014. And no, I'm definitely not just saying that because I was there. (Cries pitifully).

The one people say was terrible and CENSORED BY LARRY because he didn't say the word "intercourse"? (I was there also)

Strive said:

SanMartin said:

purplepolitician said:

To jaawwnn and violetcrush: in reality what I said was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. When Prince played Electric Intercourse in Birmingham I didn't know what it was, and it was only later that I realised I'd seen a video of the 1983 performance, so it wasn't *technically* the first time I heard the song. I haven't heard either of the live versions since then. And there was me thinking that the first part of my comment was the bit people would take issue with, haha

For the record, if the only censored lyric in the 2014 version is that he removes the word 'intercourse', I don't imagine that would bother me very much. Another slightly off-topic comment I'll make is that I often see a strange double-standard on the Org. There are people who adore stuff like The Cross and Anna Stesia but are unreasonably intolerant of religious content in Prince's later songs, just because he was a JW. This is more of a general reflexion; I'm not saying it specifically applies to either of the users who replied to my post.

SanMartin said:

To jaawwnn and violetcrush: in reality what I said was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. When Prince played Electric Intercourse in Birmingham I didn't know what it was, and it was only later that I realised I'd seen a video of the 1983 performance, so it wasn't *technically* the first time I heard the song. I haven't heard either of the live versions since then. And there was me thinking that the first part of my comment was the bit people would take issue with, haha

ah dude, I was kidding as well! I just remember how good it was and then people started saying he was "censoring" himself and I was like, "no he wasn't! It was such an impassioned performance."

SanMartin said:

FrankieCoco1 said:

99.9% of the time, I prefer the studio versions of songs, but in this case, I think the live version is far superior. The lower vocal choice nails it for me.

Interestingly, when Prince pulled it out of the bag live in 2014, he went for the lower 'live' sound than the studio take.

SquirrelMeat said:

violetcrush said:

purplepolitician said:

I dunno I like all the versions. Y everything gotta be released all the time now. Did decent quality boots go out of style all of a sudden? New generations get to hear it yadda yadda. Screw all that. You heard it? 😎

If you were asking me based on my post above - I’ve seen the video of the entire show. It’s amazing and needs to be released

Isn't a series or box set ideal for all the shows at First Avenue?

Wolfie87 said:

And there is no way he knew that The Beautiful Ones would have an greater impact on the album than Electric Intercourse based on that performance in '83. No fucking way. He gave as much energy in that performance as he did in The Beautiful Ones. I truly believe there was a 50/50 situation on which song that should've been on PR. He got lucky there.

Such bold and ridiculous assumptions.

It doesn't take Stevie Wonder to understand how much "Electric Intercourse" is second cousin to "Do Me Baby", whereas "The Beautiful Ones" is revolutionary, starting with its structure (the absence of a chorus), and a coda that still has no equivalent in pop.

Whereas the chorus of "Electric Intercourse" is him repeating "Electric Intercourse, don't U wanna?".
Well, errr... Yes, but No.

The lyrics, as funny as some imagery is ("Technicolor climax" sounds like a seventies porn series name, the kind saturated with browny pinks and bushes of hair), get knocked out on the first round with just "If we got married, wouldn't that be cool?", a line that aims at the fifties, Elvis and Jerry Lee, the sixties even ("Wouldn't It Be Nice" by Brian Wilson).

This simple line brings the subject of marriage as a bargain, a trick that has been in the rockers sleeves since the beginnings. We're exactly at the crossing of the profane and sacred, and our hero is playing with fire, he sure must be the subject of real, unarrestable passion to play the last card in the game.

Compared to this dangerous tension, lines such as "This is the kind of love that takes two" don't stand a chance and seems to be taken straight out of a 16 year old Skipper’s notepad.

The problem with "Electric Intercourse" is precisely that. It never goes anywhere ; as exciting as the tension created is, there's no resolution. And the affected pose the live version displays, when considering the weak lyrics, is borderline ridiculous.

OK, SKipper has a boner. It's an emergency. He obviously suffers.
But there's nothing more to get from the song. It's just a big wank.

On the studio version, it's an excellent wank, because the climax climbs and climbs and all of a sudden Prince leaves the falsetto and turns into a Purple crooner in the ad lib.
Cleverly, instead of replicating "Do Me Baby",
it does the opposite, the excitement turning Prince back into macho man.
Still, the song has no point outside of Prince claiming his frustrated desire over and over, something he was about to achieve much better lyrically in later songs ("Tamborine", "Temptation").

What makes the live version even weaker is the exaggeration on the synth counterpoint, so levelled up it sounds like a gag. It seems to imply those two notes are the ultimate riff since, I don't know, "Satisfaction"? Sorry, but far from it. It's just a gimmick.

"...gave as much energy in that performance as he did in The Beautiful Ones".
That's a laugh. Very few songs, in all gargantuesque Prince's repertoire,
approach the coda in TBO.

Energy? Really?
Prince was always energetic.
There was no difference between live and studio, false debate.
Given his speed in the studio, they're all live takes.
This claim that he was better live has no grounds.
You confuse video and audio, dearly beloved.

Any performance of "God" from the Purple Rain Tour sends EI down the drain in terms of passion or energy.
"How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" does the same, and it started with the 1999 tour.
Of course it's fascinating to see Prince believing in such a sub-par song so much, but again, he always did believe in his songs, and that is one defining aspects of Prince.
The Man had always love for his babies.
Even the dumb, deformed ones, like, with a head like a jug.

So yeah, you can fantasize to death on Your Own Private Purple One sweating his mascara off while he's panting "I want U and I'm not afraid" (since when Prince has been afraid of sex? All of a sudden we're in MJ territories here, and it just makes no sense), but the song is not legendary, sorry. It's just a very good testimony of Prince starting to find this perfect balance between Soul, Blues, Electro and Rock, in other words perfecting the composition style that glues the album "Purple Rain" in one cohesive opus.


You want to rewrite history, but the truth is "The Beautiful Ones" came almost a year after "Electric Intercourse", and it was one of the songs specifically written for the movie.

The Org has always spread some mysticism around it, saying it was for Susannah Melvoin, for Vanity. As always, Prince's experiences and his songs are intertwined, and he says himself the initial inspiration comes from Denise's departure from the project.

Like "When Doves Cry", "The Beautiful Ones" was born out of script necessity, and not some divine intervention.
And this fact makes them even more astounding, and Prince's abilities jaw-dropping.
"Electric Intercourse", fine sexual ballad as it is, got shelved in The Vault with no second thought when considered staying next to these two gems (not to mention the other ones on the album).

50/50? Mph.

[Edited 11/17/19 7:29am]

[Edited 11/17/19 8:14am]

bonatoc said:

To be clear, I love the song!

I just don't think it deserves this kind of legendary status it's been given over the years.
It's a very fine tune, but not "extraordinaire" (everything Prince does is.
I'm saying "extraordinaire for Prince" here).

If "Purple Rain" had been a double album and the movie cut differently,
I think it could have fit perfectly in the barn scene.
Maybe even in the basement crotch grabbing one.
But as it is, of course "God (Instrumental)" helps laying down (hum) a romantic layer
over an explicit scene and turns it into a passionate one, not an x-rated one.

The whole "Purple Rain" project is a big intertwining
of Prince's personal life and... a script that resembles Prince's personal struggles.
If you add to that Prince being adamant about writing songs born out of experiences,
of course, it appears "The Beautiful Ones" is very autobiographic.
But its genesis could also be very pragmatic.
We only have contradictions to mess with.
Clever Kid.

You absolutely can, and should, compare the two EI's - studio v/s live. Let's accept the fact that the song is not as good as its PR replacement, The Beautiful Ones, AND that the lyrics are a bit dated - thanks technicolor! But this idea that both versions of EI are the same is ridiculous. It's the difference, if I may run with the technicolor here for a sec, is a boy who just learned his dick gets hard, and a man who knows what to do with it. The studio version sounds like a wank w/ no pay off, a boy quick diddling his way through a new feeling and reaching into his toy bag thinking that if he throws it all on the table, he's a stud. Meanwhile, with far less energy as the studio version, by the way, the live version brings soul, baby. Gone is the rushed, almost fractured vocal phrasings of the horned up studio version. This man singing, he wants to take his time and feel the electricity jump from your body to his in a slow, hypnotizing, distraction-free grind and sings it like he don't care what you're wearing because it's all hitting the floor anyway. You can't help it, he can't help, it's just the way it's gonna be tonight. Sing live to me, P, this is romance, baby.