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Thread started 02/03/20 4:47am

Miitch

Art Official Age Album Cover

One of my favorite Prince album covers is Art Official Age, and I have 2 questions about it.

Firstly, does anyone know if there's a full picture of the particular outfit he's wearing? It's a pretty cool-looking getup, and I just wondered if a full, possibly unedited shot exists.

My second question is, What are the records in the background? They all seem to be the same, and if you play with the exposure and change the picture to negative mode, you can almost see the writing on the vinyls, particularly the one in the bottom right. I can't help thinking that they're actual records, not just a nondescript image for the album cover.

Hope I don't sound like too much of a conspiracy theorist. lol

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Reply #1 posted 02/03/20 5:10am

jaawwnn

They're the diamond or platinum or whatever awards for Purple Rain aren't they? The photo was taken by the "Lovesex is my" jam lady if I recall correctly, ehhhh.... some minor youtube celeb whose name has slipped my mind, she's talked about it before.

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Reply #2 posted 02/03/20 7:45am

ludwig

Well you could have used google (like me) to find the following thread, that answers all your questions:

https://prince.org/msg/7/450109

[Edited 2/3/20 7:45am]

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Reply #3 posted 02/03/20 8:08am

jaawwnn

LOL, prince.org, home of google scolds.

[Fixed the link - luv4u]

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Reply #4 posted 02/03/20 9:08am

RODSERLING

The Purple Rain deluxe 30 th anniversary was supposed to be released in 2014. In exchange, WB accepted to release two albums no major wanted to sign : "AOA" and Plectrum Electrum".
.
It s like Prince saying to his fans" I won't release the PR deluxe edition you want, but instead you can see them saying goodbye to all of you"
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Reply #5 posted 02/03/20 9:51am

PurpleColossus

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At first I wasn't sure what to make of it, but now I quite like the AOA cover too.

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Reply #6 posted 02/03/20 10:57am

Doozer

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What bothers me about this cover is how crooked his glasses are. The left side (Prince's right) of the glasses are far higher than the right side (Prince's left).

The conspiracy should be "Who sat on Prince's glasses?"

Prince-Art-Official-Age-Warner-Bros-Album-Image.jpg

[Edited 2/3/20 10:57am]

Check out The Mountains and the Sea, a Prince podcast by yours truly and my wife. More info at https://www.facebook.com/TMATSPodcast/
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Reply #7 posted 02/03/20 2:01pm

barnswallow

Somewhere, recently, I saw an article about the clothing designers. You can buy some of their designs on the estate website.

Here's the blurb from there:

Coinciding with the release of the highly-anticipated Super Deluxe reissue of Prince’s iconic double album, 1999, the Estate has commissioned the Toronto design duo of Cathy Robinson and Lori Marcuz—known by their studio name Call & Response—to create an evocative, hand-crafted collection of custom jackets, vests and hand-dyed tunics exclusively for Prince’s fans.

I'm not sure if this link will take you directly to the clothing.

https://store.prince.com/...229_106534

Scroll half way down and you will see the outfit you're referring to. There's a close-up of a portion of it but, unfortunately, not the whole piece.

I'll look for the article. Someone here posted a link to it, I think... Bart??? Not sure if this is the same:

https://www.refinery29.co...collection

[Edited 2/3/20 14:11pm]

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Reply #8 posted 02/03/20 7:11pm

Phase3

RODSERLING said:

The Purple Rain deluxe 30 th anniversary was supposed to be released in 2014. In exchange, WB accepted to release two albums no major wanted to sign : "AOA" and Plectrum Electrum".
.
It s like Prince saying to his fans" I won't release the PR deluxe edition you want, but instead you can see them saying goodbye to all of you"

Was Prince's album sales really that bad that no label wanted to put them out? I mean he was Prince after all.
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Reply #9 posted 02/03/20 8:12pm

ufoclub

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Doozer said:

What bothers me about this cover is how crooked his glasses are. The left side (Prince's right) of the glasses are far higher than the right side (Prince's left).

The conspiracy should be "Who sat on Prince's glasses?"

Prince-Art-Official-Age-Warner-Bros-Album-Image.jpg

[Edited 2/3/20 10:57am]

It was MUCH worse when he wore them in live appearances, they were so crooked in the exact same way!

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Reply #10 posted 02/04/20 3:14am

OperatingTheta
n

Phase3 said:

RODSERLING said:

The Purple Rain deluxe 30 th anniversary was supposed to be released in 2014. In exchange, WB accepted to release two albums no major wanted to sign : "AOA" and Plectrum Electrum".
.
It s like Prince saying to his fans" I won't release the PR deluxe edition you want, but instead you can see them saying goodbye to all of you"

Was Prince's album sales really that bad that no label wanted to put them out? I mean he was Prince after all.


Well, Tidal put out HitnRun Phase 1 and many other exclusives so it's highly likely Prince would've found a distributor for AOA. And these were distribution deals only - Prince owned his masters and cut a new deal with Warner Bros that suited him.
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Reply #11 posted 02/04/20 3:58am

TheEnglishGent

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Doozer said:

What bothers me about this cover is how crooked his glasses are. The left side (Prince's right) of the glasses are far higher than the right side (Prince's left).

The conspiracy should be "Who sat on Prince's glasses?"

[Edited 2/3/20 10:57am]

Ears aren't normally at equal heights so glasses won't sit squarely if they aren't adjusted properly.

I'd never noticed it before, so if you hadn't made this post I would still be in ignorance of Prince's dodgy glasses.

RIP sad
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Reply #12 posted 02/05/20 7:52pm

ufoclub

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Reply #13 posted 02/06/20 4:43am

Miitch

ufoclub said:

Doozer said:

What bothers me about this cover is how crooked his glasses are. The left side (Prince's right) of the glasses are far higher than the right side (Prince's left).

The conspiracy should be "Who sat on Prince's glasses?"

Prince-Art-Official-Age-Warner-Bros-Album-Image.jpg

[Edited 2/3/20 10:57am]

It was MUCH worse when he wore them in live appearances, they were so crooked in the exact same way!

People aren't symmetrical, you know? wink

I've seen people with much more asymmetry than him, so I'd say it's perfectly normal. Nobody's perfect amiright?

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Reply #14 posted 02/06/20 4:50am

Miitch

barnswallow said:

Somewhere, recently, I saw an article about the clothing designers. You can buy some of their designs on the estate website.

Here's the blurb from there:

Coinciding with the release of the highly-anticipated Super Deluxe reissue of Prince’s iconic double album, 1999, the Estate has commissioned the Toronto design duo of Cathy Robinson and Lori Marcuz—known by their studio name Call & Response—to create an evocative, hand-crafted collection of custom jackets, vests and hand-dyed tunics exclusively for Prince’s fans.

I'm not sure if this link will take you directly to the clothing.

https://store.prince.com/...229_106534

Scroll half way down and you will see the outfit you're referring to. There's a close-up of a portion of it but, unfortunately, not the whole piece.

I'll look for the article. Someone here posted a link to it, I think... Bart??? Not sure if this is the same:

https://www.refinery29.co...collection

[Edited 2/3/20 14:11pm]

Somebody please buy me everything on that page. lol

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Reply #15 posted 02/06/20 6:44am

BartVanHemelen

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© Bart Van Hemelen
This posting is provided AS IS with no warranties, and confers no rights.
It is not authorized by Prince or the NPG Music Club. You assume all risk for
your use. All rights reserved.
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Reply #16 posted 02/06/20 10:46am

dsimp8

They took this picture in the area at Paisley Park where the album rooms are. On the tour they showed the exact spot. Always thought that was cool
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Reply #17 posted 02/06/20 4:01pm

Doozer

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Miitch said:

ufoclub said:

It was MUCH worse when he wore them in live appearances, they were so crooked in the exact same way!

People aren't symmetrical, you know? wink

I've seen people with much more asymmetry than him, so I'd say it's perfectly normal. Nobody's perfect amiright?


Yes, I realize that people are asymmetrical. I wear glasses and have one ear noticeably lower than the other. However, you can adjust glasses so that they still sit straight on your face, especially if you might be, I dunno, posing for an album cover.

Check out The Mountains and the Sea, a Prince podcast by yours truly and my wife. More info at https://www.facebook.com/TMATSPodcast/
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Reply #18 posted 02/06/20 9:30pm

ISaidLifeIsJus
tAGame

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Maya took the photo.

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Reply #19 posted 02/06/20 10:16pm

benjaminira

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After looking at these two pics with his crooked glasses on...are his eyes closed in the group picture? And on the album cover it almost looks like you can see the white of his eyes but he's doing a side glance? Looks funny seeing it that way anyway, to me. Ha

If it breaks when it bends, U better not put it in!
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Reply #20 posted 02/07/20 10:23am

nayroo2002

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a third eye with more vision that two crooked human eyes?

...just tryin' to roll with the silliness smile

"Whatever skin we're in
we all need 2 b friends"
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Reply #21 posted 02/08/20 12:00pm

herb4

I'm a graphic designer and illustrator and to me what stands out the most is how it's a composition of circles (the hair, the records, the glasses, the font). I like the album a lot and also the cover.

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