The stage and lighting rig must have been insanely expensive...he probably lost a fortune only touring in Europe for ~36 dates...

Crazy...

I saw it up-close-and-personal at Rupert's Nightclub in Minneapolis.

becase frankly SOTT was a bit of a flop commerically, he then got all mad because rap was outselling him and so did the Black Album. Then has his acid trip w/Ingrid and found God, pulls the Black Album and did Lovesexy......then unexpectedly he gets nominated (and almost wins) for Album of the year but by this time he had moved from SOTT mentally and aethetically. We got the LoveSexy tour instead.

He never gave a reason and based on events, I don't think there was a single reason. That said, these events would have played a part.

1. He was promoting a cut down album from what he wanted to release.

2. He started promotion in the U.S., including the tour, but the album never really took off.

3. He returned to a 'safe space' in Europe but toured too early and bad weather effected the 'vision'.

4. Once he decided on a movie of the concert in June 87, I think he felt he could move on.

5. He was in a bad place relationship wise.

6. He took the 'white' label badly and was heading down the 'Black Album' path.

7. He was hearing/seeing rap, RnB and pop moving in a different direction to him.

8. Its Prince. He's done with a project 6 months before it gets released.

SquirrelMeat said:

Not bringing this tour to the USA was one of his biggest career mistakes,imo.By the fall of '87,this album was doing extremely well after a slow start."U Got The Look" and "ICNTTPOYM" were Top 10 smash hits.He would have had a hugely successful soldout tour.Yeah,he gave us the excellent concert film,but an actual tour would have been preferable.

..

[Edited 6/12/20 0:44am]

SantanaMaitreya said:

I think it was Eric Leeds who said that not touring in America to promote Sign O' the Times was the biggest mistake Prince ever made.

My 2 cents: by all accounts P got fed-up at the end of the PR tour. He got bored easily, playing the same setlist over and over bored him, so I guess he was just fed-up with the concept by the end of the european leg. WB reportedly wanted him to tour the US because they felt it would push sales, that they needed time to promote SOTT for a longer while than P usually gave them. They really didn't want another album as early as Spring 88 (TBA didn't really count as "the new Prince album" since it was this uncredited experimental release without singles, more of a Madhouse type of thing in their eyes).

Of course retrospectively this seems odd given that P would spend most of the last 20 years of his career playing the same hits over and over again, but that was out of economic necessity and, by 87, P still felt he ruled the world and that he could just do whatever he felt like doing without worrying about how much it cost.

He was extremely prolific in the studio, say compared to the early 80s. Touring constantly, despite the mobile recording truck, would have been an annoyance if he was hearing songs in his head all day.
Which was well documented to happen during this time. The recording sessions prove it. So he limited the dates. And that's a fact. You can quote me.

A few reasons why I believe he only toured for SOTT in Europe...

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1. He fell in love with Europe during the Parade era, and he wanted to further grow his fanbase there

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2. Touring in Europe gave him a fresh start after The Revolution split...It represented a new beginning

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3. WB and his inner circle may have indicated there was not major interest for a tour in the US

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4. He was ready to move on to his next project

I agree with Soul...By late '87, MTV was playing the album's videos in moderate rotation. "Adore", "Slow Love", "S.O.T.T" and "Housequake" were being played heavily on R&B radio (...well at least in the Tri State area). I think a late summer/early fall U.S tour would have been sucessful.

emesem said:

Imagine if he released U GOT THE LOOK as a first or second single???

soladeo1 said:

Most likely is...

He wanted to stay at home and play with all the new toys at Paisley Park.

It was in the process of being finished and I would think that he would want to be around for that just like a homeowner would for their own home.

jmfd said:

Most likely is...

He wanted to stay at home and play with all the new toys at Paisley Park.

It was in the process of being finished and I would think that he would want to be around for that just like a homeowner would for their own home.

^^^^ THIS
He couldn't wait to use the soundstage so recreated the tour there.
I also wonder about injuries on that tour.

jmfd said:

Most likely is...

He wanted to stay at home and play with all the new toys at Paisley Park.

It was in the process of being finished and I would think that he would want to be around for that just like a homeowner would for their own home.

yep,this seems very likely

ICNTTPOYM should have been the 2nd single then U Got The Look then IIWYG, Strange Realtionship, and Aodre the last single.

slyjackson said:

ICNTTPOYM should have been the 2nd single then U Got The Look then IIWYG, Strange Realtionship, and Aodre the last single.

Honestly I don't think that Adore would have been a good single's choice, and releasing IIWYG as a single was a mistake imo, Housequake and Play in the sunshine with a great psychedelic video ( a bit like Rasperry Beret) would have been hits, especially Housequake.

" We were doing our shows and something drastic happened. I can't remember what country we were in, but, there was a thunderstorm. Mind you, we were performing outside. But, the show must go on. Prince and I were on wireless microphones. There was rain, lightning and thunder. A bolt of thunder struck one of the signs over Boni Boyer's keyboard and it fell. That's when we said "That's it" and Prince decided to put "Sign o' the Times" on film.

I was in my panties. Okay? I was cold. Everyone else was in clothes. You know how my clothes were. I was cold, I was freezing, but, I was professional. When that sign fell and it took a chunk out of Boyer's keyboard, Prince said "That's it." I think God said "I'm going to save you guys."

As a responsible person, Prince was really concerned with all of the band members. He didn't want anyone to get hurt. He didn't want any of the fans to get hurt. Water, lightning and mikes, what do they equal? Disaster. The wind was blowing so hard we couldn't even see. We actually performed as long as we could until we stopped. "

-Cat Glover

I can't answer the "why" but it would make a great alternative reality where the black album was stealth released before Christmas 1987, and the SOTT tour played America, Japan and Australia

IDK I feel blessed to see him in London in 86 & 88, but was gutted as had '87 tix for the cancelled show

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The Sign 'O' The Times tour at Wembley in '87 would have been my first time seeing Prince live.

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I was lucky enough to see him many times after that but the cancellation of that concert is still a real disappointment.

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rusty1 said:

emesem said:

becase frankly SOTT was a bit of a flop commerically, he then got all mad because rap was outselling him and so did the Black Album. Then has his acid trip w/Ingrid and found God, pulls the Black Album and did Lovesexy......then unexpectedly he gets nominated (and almost wins) for Album of the year but by this time he had moved from SOTT mentally and aethetically. We got the LoveSexy tour instead.

Prince made a huge mistake putting out the wrong second single but could've still toured the US. When "u got the look" became a huge hit, the album went back into the top 50 for a bit. Plus, the album had 3 top 10 hits & still sold a million copies. I still feel if he would've put out the right 2nd single, then everything could've been different.

Yes, it was a baffling choice. Not only did the song bomb, but as discussed before on the org it confused people. During the anti-gay backlash of the mid-80s America, the last thing the homophobes wanted to hear is a guy singing about wanting to be someone's girlfriend. It must have made them feel too gay to actually listen to the lyrics to discover what he was talking about. Prince was already polarizing, and this didn't help things. People talked so much smack about Prince back then, I do think there was a fairly low commercial ceiling for the album and tour in the US. A different single would have improved it's prospects, but it still probably wouldn't have been the smash that it deserved to be.