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Thread started 05/21/20 2:24am

mattj

Jean-Baptiste Mondino - Lovesexy cover

With Prince you did just one shot, but it certainly made its mark… How did that cover come about?
Before I met him, I was completely under Prince's spell. There was no one above him. Sure there'd been Talking Heads, Devo, and a few others… But Prince! He was doing pop, electro, funk, he sang like an angel, he could play everything, he had the look, he had Wendy and Lisa… I fell head over heels in love with Prince. He asked me to make a video for him. I spent a week in his company at the time of Lovesexy. We were in the studio in Minneapolis and he said we were leaving the next day for Los Angeles and suggested I do the album cover. We were supposed to talk and find ideas in the plane. But then we weren't together and so when we got to L.A. he invited me to come find and him at a club that night. And there he was with his Los Angeles entourage, Sheila E, Mike Tyson… As the night went on I began to get anxious, the studio was booked. Later he told me we'd talk over breakfast. Obviously I didn't sleep a wink. So I went to the essence of a choir boy: the Sistine Chapel. Prince's discourse is pretty apocalyptic, Sign O' The Times, 1999, and yet at the same time kind of tantric, that way he talks about spirituality and sexuality. I did a little drawing during the night, starting from the idea of a nude. In the morning he said, "It's perfect." That same night we chose just one Ekta which I took back to Paris with me. Then I scanned that photo and used the only machine that could retouch in Paris. It was my friend Kiki Picasso who had the demonstration model. Prince took a plane and we all found ourselves in the kitchen, the kids horsing around with his bodyguards. In the end Prince destroyed everything, and he said to me, "I think what you did with the flowers was best." The cover came out and got banned in quite a few States. It's a religious image par excellence.

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Reply #1 posted 05/21/20 5:07am

vinaysfunk

A very interesting read. Thanks so much for sharing. It's nice to read it from Mondino's perspective. In his own words. And I can imagine it happening just like he said. Impressive, in many ways....

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Reply #2 posted 05/21/20 7:18am

Wolfie87

"In the end Prince destroyed everything"

What is this line supposed to mean?
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Reply #3 posted 05/21/20 7:34am

rednblue

Wolfie87 said:

"In the end Prince destroyed everything" What is this line supposed to mean?


Destroyed some of the photo material? That's what crossed my mind, but it's nothing more than a guess.

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Reply #4 posted 05/21/20 7:40am

BartVanHemelen

avatar

And of course no effort to link to the original source.

.

https://i-d.vice.com/en_u...-his-spell

.

© 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 #5 posted 05/21/20 7:55am

Kares

avatar

Wolfie87 said:

"In the end Prince destroyed everything" What is this line supposed to mean?

.
All of the unused shots.

Friends don't let friends clap on 1 and 3.

The Paisley Park Vault spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/zzWHrU
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Reply #6 posted 05/21/20 8:02am

udo

avatar

Thanks for this information.

Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill... If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry.
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Reply #7 posted 05/21/20 8:11am

rednblue

A comment on this Housequake post says that it's a transcription of subtitles from a video interview. So, the comment describes a transcription of a translation, though perhaps noting all that here on my post is excessive.

The video is linked in the comment, but the link doesn't work for me.

https://www.facebook.com/housequake/photos/a.361699067247157/1115435581873498/?type=1&theater

See comment by Jean-Yves André (fourth comment down)

[Edited 5/21/20 8:39am]

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Reply #8 posted 05/21/20 8:32am

Poplife88

avatar

Cool story.

Even though I totally get it and love the artful cover NOW...I thought the dude completely lost it when it was released back in 88. i remember being embarrassed buying it. What can I say, it was 1988, I was 18, and VERY insecure wink.

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Reply #9 posted 05/21/20 10:17am

luv4u

Moderator

avatar

moderator

Always always always provide a link to the source. And give credit.

Post ONE paragraph and provide the link with it. Posting an entire article is copyright infringement when you don't have written permission from the source to post the article in its entirety.


Any threads created that do not include a link will get the lock



Thank you Bart who provided a link.

canada

Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture!
REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince
"I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben
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Reply #10 posted 05/21/20 10:34am

poppys

mattj said:

With Prince you did just one shot, but it certainly made its mark… How did that cover come about?

Before I met him, I was completely under Prince's spell. There was no one above him. Sure there'd been Talking Heads, Devo, and a few others… But Prince! He was doing pop, electro, funk, he sang like an angel, he could play everything, he had the look, he had Wendy and Lisa… I fell head over heels in love with Prince. He asked me to make a video for him. I spent a week in his company at the time of Lovesexy. We were in the studio in Minneapolis and he said we were leaving the next day for Los Angeles and suggested I do the album cover. We were supposed to talk and find ideas in the plane. But then we weren't together and so when we got to L.A. he invited me to come find and him at a club that night. And there he was with his Los Angeles entourage, Sheila E, Mike Tyson…

As the night went on I began to get anxious, the studio was booked. Later he told me we'd talk over breakfast. Obviously I didn't sleep a wink. So I went to the essence of a choir boy: the Sistine Chapel. Prince's discourse is pretty apocalyptic, Sign O' The Times, 1999, and yet at the same time kind of tantric, that way he talks about spirituality and sexuality. I did a little drawing during the night, starting from the idea of a nude. In the morning he said, "It's perfect."

That same night we chose just one Ekta which I took back to Paris with me. Then I scanned that photo and used the only machine that could retouch in Paris. It was my friend Kiki Picasso who had the demonstration model. Prince took a plane and we all found ourselves in the kitchen, the kids horsing around with his bodyguards. In the end Prince destroyed everything, and he said to me, "I think what you did with the flowers was best." The cover came out and got banned in quite a few States. It's a religious image par excellence.

heart this, thanks for posting. Getting banned made it even more rapturous!

Strange, when people here post in favor of censoring Prince, my standard sarcastic reply is - Should we paint clothes on the Sistine Chapel murals too? Never knowing the Lovesexy cover was inspired by one of those images.

"if you can't clap on the one, then don't clap at all"
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Reply #11 posted 05/21/20 12:34pm

rednblue

poppys said:

mattj said:

With Prince you did just one shot, but it certainly made its mark… How did that cover come about?

Before I met him, I was completely under Prince's spell. There was no one above him. Sure there'd been Talking Heads, Devo, and a few others… But Prince! He was doing pop, electro, funk, he sang like an angel, he could play everything, he had the look, he had Wendy and Lisa… I fell head over heels in love with Prince. He asked me to make a video for him. I spent a week in his company at the time of Lovesexy. We were in the studio in Minneapolis and he said we were leaving the next day for Los Angeles and suggested I do the album cover. We were supposed to talk and find ideas in the plane. But then we weren't together and so when we got to L.A. he invited me to come find and him at a club that night. And there he was with his Los Angeles entourage, Sheila E, Mike Tyson…

As the night went on I began to get anxious, the studio was booked. Later he told me we'd talk over breakfast. Obviously I didn't sleep a wink. So I went to the essence of a choir boy: the Sistine Chapel. Prince's discourse is pretty apocalyptic, Sign O' The Times, 1999, and yet at the same time kind of tantric, that way he talks about spirituality and sexuality. I did a little drawing during the night, starting from the idea of a nude. In the morning he said, "It's perfect."

That same night we chose just one Ekta which I took back to Paris with me. Then I scanned that photo and used the only machine that could retouch in Paris. It was my friend Kiki Picasso who had the demonstration model. Prince took a plane and we all found ourselves in the kitchen, the kids horsing around with his bodyguards. In the end Prince destroyed everything, and he said to me, "I think what you did with the flowers was best." The cover came out and got banned in quite a few States. It's a religious image par excellence.

heart this, thanks for posting. Getting banned made it even more rapturous!

Strange, when people here post in favor of censoring Prince, my standard sarcastic reply is - Should we paint clothes on the Sistine Chapel murals too? Never knowing the Lovesexy cover was inspired by one of those images.


heart music lol

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Reply #12 posted 05/21/20 6:15pm

laytonian

It wasn't banned in several states but several retailers either refused to stock it or kept it behind the checkstand.

The ONE mistake made with the Lovesexy cover is that he should have taken a cue from John Lennon and Yoko, who sold many more copies of Two Virgins than were expected. Why? Because of the plain brown wrapper. People (including me) bought it just for the curiosity. But unlike Prince's Lovesexy music, Two Virgins was terrible.

The plain brown wrapper would have insured it was stocked in all the stores.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.
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Reply #13 posted 05/22/20 5:00am

JorisE73

Kares said:

Wolfie87 said:

"In the end Prince destroyed everything" What is this line supposed to mean?

.
All of the unused shots.


I think only the mock ups for the alternate covers with other shots were saved, the rest was indeed destroyed.

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Reply #14 posted 05/22/20 7:51am

ThirdStrike

avatar

luv4u said:

Always always always provide a link to the source. And give credit.

Post ONE paragraph and provide the link with it. Posting an entire article is copyright infringement when you don't have written permission from the source to post the article in its entirety.


Any threads created that do not include a link will get the lock



Thank you Bart who provided a link.

Yeah, but dude could have done it without being a total dick. Just sayin'...

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Reply #15 posted 05/22/20 8:03am

udo

avatar

ThirdStrike said:

Yeah, but dude could have done it without being a total dick. Just sayin'...

.

Confusing the message with the shape of the message...

Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill... If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry.
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Reply #16 posted 05/22/20 8:08am

ThirdStrike

avatar

udo said:

ThirdStrike said:

Yeah, but dude could have done it without being a total dick. Just sayin'...

.

Confusing the message with the shape of the message...

...seems the message is shaped like a dick then...

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Reply #17 posted 05/22/20 8:21am

udo

avatar

ThirdStrike said:

udo said:

.

Confusing the message with the shape of the message...

...seems the message is shaped like a dick then...

.

If you see things that way, this tells more about you than about the message.

.

Did you know that on the Lovesexy cover only hints of dicks are visible?

Or perhaps non-meaty variants of genitalia?

Pills and thrills and daffodils will kill... If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry.
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Reply #18 posted 05/22/20 8:25am

ThirdStrike

avatar

udo said:

ThirdStrike said:

...seems the message is shaped like a dick then...

.

If you see things that way, this tells more about you than about the message.

.

Did you know that on the Lovesexy cover only hints of dicks are visible?

Or perhaps non-meaty variants of genitalia?

Wait...I was talking about Bart. Do you think I was talijng about the photog?

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Reply #19 posted 05/26/20 6:04pm

lavendardrumma
chine

Wolfie87 said:

"In the end Prince destroyed everything" What is this line supposed to mean?


I think he's trying to say that all the work they did at Kiki Picasso's while Prince with them was thrown away, and he liked the original flower that Jean-Baptiste had done to begin with.

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Reply #20 posted 05/26/20 6:07pm

lavendardrumma
chine

mattj said:

he was with his Los Angeles entourage, Sheila E, Mike Tyson…


Iron Mike?

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Reply #21 posted 05/28/20 2:39am

Krid

lavendardrummachine said:

mattj said:

he was with his Los Angeles entourage, Sheila E, Mike Tyson…


Iron Mike?

That would be an interesting photo - Mike Tyson and Prince next to each other - the skinny mf with the high voice and Iron Mike ?????? biggrin

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