The lack of bassline (correct spelling) in When Doves Cry was intentional - not out of place or an oddity in any way.

VaultCurator said:

Mistakes that Prince kept in... The flat audio quality on Ballad of Dorothy Parker, the mic quality on If I Was Your Girlfriend, and the backing vocals being delayed by two bars on Forever In My Life. Sign "O" The Times was littered with cock ups.

The mic quality? Most of the Camille tracks sounded like that, just from the tape manipulation. The sqawks and squeals all sound distorted.

As far as Dorothy Parker, it's almost like they unintentionally created a new sound, from just having half the board not working properly (or at all). Very cool moment, while still a mistake.

And to the OP: "When Doves Cry" is purposeful, not an anomaly.

Why does "America" go all mono at the end?

Also, one of the most unnoticeable mistakes in his music that he left in was at the end of "The Morning Papers," just before the last go-round of "Naaa na na naaananaaa". There's a break in the drums, then it comes back with "GON, GET IT" or whatever. That was Michael B.'s headphones falling off his head. He reached back, put them back on and came back in on the next down beat. Prince liked the pause so much, he left it in. It happens around the 3:28 mark. Michael B. told that story, by the way, so it's true.

Also, I always thought the noise from the stools or chairs they were sitting on in "Sometimes It Snows In April" was interesting to hear.

VaultCurator said:

Hi Monarch, There's a skit on the NPG Exodus album that contains a short pause in the audio. For years I assumed that something was being censored (possibly for legal reasons) but it turns out this was actually an error due to an issue with the glass master. This album was more commonly pressed in Europe, but apparently there are a few Australian pressings in circulation that do not contain this error. Annoyingly this pause is so common to most CDs that even the digital download on Tidal still contains it.

Another one is "Still Waiting" on Prince, which has a longer fade out on the LP than the CD.

On the LP it is approx. 4 min 25 sec.

On the CD it is approx. 4 min 16 sec.

AFAIK all CD releases are like this. I do not know about the LP reissue or digital/streaming copies.

I've always assumed the LP was the correct version and the CD was a mistake, but for all I know Prince might have taken the opportunity to "fix" it if he didn't like the original fade.

Either way, it's an odd anomaly.

djThunderfunk said:

There's a misprint of Rave that contains two errors in the form of extended silent segues, and it's very common (maybe even more common than the real version). We had a thread about it about a year ago.

VaultCurator said:

Mistakes that Prince kept in... The flat audio quality on Ballad of Dorothy Parker, the mic quality on If I Was Your Girlfriend, and the backing vocals being delayed by two bars on Forever In My Life. Sign "O" The Times was littered with cock ups.

Isn't the backing vocal on Forever in My Life actually ahead of the vocal?

"Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful" was incorrectly listed as "Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful" on the album listing. This seems far too obvious to have been a mistake, I mean how could no one notice that?

Does anyone have anymore details on this? Was it intentional?

[Edited 1/22/20 22:45pm]

ufoclub said:

Isn't the backing vocal on Forever in My Life actually ahead of the vocal?

Sorry. That's what I meant. Quite right.

TrivialPursuit said:

The mic quality? Most of the Camille tracks sounded like that, just from the tape manipulation. The sqawks and squeals all sound distorted.

Hi Trivial,

Actually the Camille voice was created using a box that could distort pitch on the fly. It's the same box used to create the Bob George voice. As such they didn't have to perform any tricks with speeding up / slowing down tape.

[EDIT: Retracted. I don't know what I'm talking about!]

[Edited 1/23/20 6:13am]

databank said:

djThunderfunk said:

HDtracks has the LP version. The CD version is in fact a single edit from back then, but I never knew why it was put on the CD.

I believe it's actually a promo edit rather than a single edit? I don't mean to correct you just to be pedantic since I literally just double checked I was right using your site but I've always found it's such a strange version to end up as the go-to.

Anyway, not mistakes but they should be - that dreadful edit in the middle of If the Kid Can't Make You Come and the edit at the end of I Don't Wanna Leave You, sloppy as fuck.

On the third verse of "What's My Name," his mouth is making some very noticeable saliva-y noises, almost as if he'd been chewing gum during pauses in his vocal delivery. (It's very noticeable after he says, "Or do u live 4 love?")

VaultCurator said:

TrivialPursuit said:

The mic quality? Most of the Camille tracks sounded like that, just from the tape manipulation. The sqawks and squeals all sound distorted.

Hi Trivial,

Actually the Camille voice was created using a box that could distort pitch on the fly. It's the same box used to create the Bob George voice. As such they didn't have to perform any tricks with speeding up / slowing down tape.

What, really? When was this confirmed?

ufoclub said:

VaultCurator said:

Mistakes that Prince kept in... The flat audio quality on Ballad of Dorothy Parker, the mic quality on If I Was Your Girlfriend, and the backing vocals being delayed by two bars on Forever In My Life. Sign "O" The Times was littered with cock ups.

Isn't the backing vocal on Forever in My Life actually ahead of the vocal?

Surely that was intentional... was it not?

jaawwnn said:

VaultCurator said:

Hi Trivial,

Actually the Camille voice was created using a box that could distort pitch on the fly. It's the same box used to create the Bob George voice. As such they didn't have to perform any tricks with speeding up / slowing down tape.

What, really? When was this confirmed?

Susan has mentioned that Prince used an early DSP based effect box on occasion (forget the name), but the Camille voice sounds like tape manipulation to me. There's usually some tell-tale artifacts when using FFT based pitch shifting. I might be wrong though.

[Edited 1/23/20 5:27am]

fen said:

jaawwnn said:

What, really? When was this confirmed?

Susan has mentioned that Prince used an early DSP based effect box on occasion (forget the name), but the Camille voice sounds like tape manipulation to me. There's usually some tell-tale artifacts when using FFT based pitch shifting. I might be wrong though.

[Edited 1/23/20 5:27am]

Hi Fen,

Yep, it was tape. I just double checked.

Here is an interview with Susan Rogers where she talks about 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' & 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker'...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ON0nQCQF08

Time stamps:

1:09:55 - Prince - “If I was Your Girlfriend”

1:14:52 - Recording "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"

Surprised no one has mentioned the fucked up edit of Let's Go Crazy where the sermon is playing over the beginning of the song (and, thus, itself).

VaultCurator said:

fen said:

Susan has mentioned that Prince used an early DSP based effect box on occasion (forget the name), but the Camille voice sounds like tape manipulation to me. There's usually some tell-tale artifacts when using FFT based pitch shifting. I might be wrong though.

[Edited 1/23/20 5:27am]

Hi Fen,

Yep, it was tape. I just double checked.

Here is an interview with Susan Rogers where she talks about 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' & 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker'...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ON0nQCQF08

Time stamps:

1:09:55 - Prince - “If I was Your Girlfriend”

1:14:52 - Recording "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"

Oh, cool - I could listen to Susan talking about studio technicalities all day.

Yeah, as someone who dabbles in DSP and sound design I can usually tell. There’s also the issue of latency when using DSP based pitch shifting – I suspect that manual manipulation was simply better suited most of the time. I recall Susan talking about the device that you’re thinking of though – it was some kind of early digital harmonizer. I’d love to know where he used it – wish that I could remember the name.

fen said:

ufoclub said:

Isn't the backing vocal on Forever in My Life actually ahead of the vocal?

Surely that was intentional... was it not?

It wasn't what Prince wanted Susan Rogers to do; she misunderstood his direction. But he liked it so much that he kept her "mistake". And I agree - it's awesome. I've never heard anything like that in any other song.

VaultCurator said:

fen said:

Susan has mentioned that Prince used an early DSP based effect box on occasion (forget the name), but the Camille voice sounds like tape manipulation to me. There's usually some tell-tale artifacts when using FFT based pitch shifting. I might be wrong though.

[Edited 1/23/20 5:27am]

Hi Fen,

Yep, it was tape. I just double checked.

Here is an interview with Susan Rogers where she talks about 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' & 'The Ballad of Dorothy Parker'...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ON0nQCQF08

Time stamps:

1:09:55 - Prince - “If I was Your Girlfriend”

1:14:52 - Recording "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"

Oh how interesting, thanks

There are a couple of songs (can't think of them at the moment) that I swear I can hear a telephone ringing. edit: U Got The Look sounds like two telephone rings at 4:26 and 4:29.

Also, I Wanna Melt With U, I think I can hear coughing at around the 2:52-2:53 point.

[Edited 1/23/20 10:05am]

[Edited 1/23/20 10:07am]

VaultCurator said:

Hi Monarch, There's a skit on the NPG Exodus album that contains a short pause in the audio. For years I assumed that something was being censored (possibly for legal reasons) but it turns out this was actually an error due to an issue with the glass master. This album was more commonly pressed in Europe, but apparently there are a few Australian pressings in circulation that do not contain this error. Annoyingly this pause is so common to most CDs that even the digital download on Tidal still contains it.

Is this where someone in the skit says something like "Same way I saw your mama last night"? On my vinyl it's complete but on my CD it's paused out. At first I thought it was just my CD but it's definitely a glitch. Thanks for confirming this.

[Edited 1/23/20 12:03pm]

RodeoSchro said:

fen said:

Surely that was intentional... was it not?

It wasn't what Prince wanted Susan Rogers to do; she misunderstood his direction. But he liked it so much that he kept her "mistake". And I agree - it's awesome. I've never heard anything like that in any other song.

I always felt that it was such a clever idea to foreshadow the lyrics rather than echo them, I just assumed that it was conceived that way. It works beautifully.

dannyd5050 said:

VaultCurator said:

Hi Monarch, There's a skit on the NPG Exodus album that contains a short pause in the audio. For years I assumed that something was being censored (possibly for legal reasons) but it turns out this was actually an error due to an issue with the glass master. This album was more commonly pressed in Europe, but apparently there are a few Australian pressings in circulation that do not contain this error. Annoyingly this pause is so common to most CDs that even the digital download on Tidal still contains it.

Is this where someone in the skit says something like "Same way I saw your mama last night"? On my vinyl it's complete but on my CD it's paused out. At first I thought it was just my CD but it's definitely a glitch. Thanks for confirming this.

[Edited 1/23/20 12:03pm]

That's it. Up until now I actually had no idea the end of that sentence was "last night". I've never heard the missing piece.

VaultCurator said:

dannyd5050 said:

Is this where someone in the skit says something like "Same way I saw your mama last night"? On my vinyl it's complete but on my CD it's paused out. At first I thought it was just my CD but it's definitely a glitch. Thanks for confirming this.

[Edited 1/23/20 12:03pm]

That's it. Up until now I actually had no idea the end of that sentence was "last night". I've never heard the missing piece.

There was a debate here awhile back as to whether it was a "glitch" (mistake) or an intentional censor.

I've always believed it was a glitch because:

Originally, the gap was only on the EUR (GER?) CD, the vinyl from the same region released on the same day did not have the gap. And, the Australian CD does not have the gap.

Other than that, considering the language on the CD, it would make no sense that this was censored and nothing else was.

I have both the LP & CD released in EUR/GER, and a rip of the AUS CD. I really wish they would reissue this one so I could get a CD without the glitch.

djThunderfunk said:

I have both the LP & CD released in EUR/GER, and a rip of the AUS CD. I really wish they would reissue this one so I could get a CD without the glitch.

I can't believe that the glitched version is the one on Tidal. How sloppy is that?