I'm not a huge fan of Graffiti Bridge as it is, but I'd enjoy an album that included these songs:

• Can't Stop This Feeling I Got (86)
• We Can Funk (86)
• Joy In Repetition
• The Line
• Pink Cashmere
• Girl O My Dreams (86)
• Data Bank (86)
• Crucial
• Emotional Pump

VaultCurator said:

dodger said:

I enjoy the Grafitti Bridge album and even like the non-Prince songs. That being said it was a mistake to make it not a strong Prince only album. You put the Mavis song (Melody Cool) on the Mavis album, you put the Tevin song (Round and Round) and put the Time songs on the album Pandemonium to make what is a decent album even stronger.

Pink Cashmere which would have made an video sequence in the film. I see it as the "take me with u" of the song, and could imagine a romantic bedroom sequence - satin sheets and pink filters. This and question of U we have two strong romantic songs and sequences in the film.

I find a place for "come electra tuesday" "your love is so hard" "play with me" " By alien means" "Good man" "dance with the devil" I put "Wally" on the soundtrack (yeah I said it), old friends 4 sale will be on this song (most people wont note it was on UTCM and those who do know will be glad to see it featured properly). Finding homes for tracks I like that can do better than being track 3 on some re-release. And also a duet of Love thy will be done (with Martika). I even consider a re-released version of "She's always in my hair" (because I want success in this film) He has goodwill after Batman and this album actually went to number 1 in the UK. The secret is to crack the US. It needs songs and a credible film.

I call the album "Thieves in the Temple" so I have a lead single that reflects the film title. (I toyed with focussing the film on romance and calling it Pink Cashmere but didn't think my idea had the legs but I did like the idea of having a film called Purple Rain and a film called Pink Cashmere for continuity).

I take out Grafitti Bridge the song. I don't hate it as a song, but it does not fit the album or the tone of the film I am making.

The Film.

As above I take away the title of the film, and the (stupid) idea of having some spiritual bridge.

I take away the horrible sound stage setting. It is completely not the same world as the gritty Purple Rain movie. And though I have time for musicals and the spirtiual west side story with Morris and Prince battling for Aura's love (this was a complete mess on the film.

The whole battling for the Billy's clubs seems to be a lose lose situation. They haven't made it big, nobody digs there music but themselves and the twenty weirdly dressed extras.

The film is now about Morris and Prince battling it out for the biggest concert, for the biggest movie, for the best performance on the Oscars. Prince appears on a talkshow to release his single and the Time arrive to battle him. They are competing for a love interest, and the actress is Martika, which puts way for Prince to perform a duet of love thy will be done in the film and also Martika's kitchen.

Robin Powers stays the fuck away from this film. Hated her song "number 1", and this way I give a bigger role to the cool Jill Jones in my film.

Clare fisher does the non-Prince soundtrack for this film.

Oh and Spike Lee directs the film. Prince walks away from the auteur schtick.

Oh and the B sides can be your choice of unreleased tracks.instead of some of the remixes (my personal choice.

Still thinking about the Killer track that might be the title track for this project, but I am tired now so feel free to suggest one. I may edit this to add some more ideas.

Finally, I keep Prince's look, tone down the nineties style of the times clothes and Morris' hair and complete redo the artwork.

I swear the artwork after the bad press of the film was a killer stopping people giving this album a chance. I use album art that uses Prince's look from this era.

Prince never wears the shaman zebra outfit for elephants and flowers in this film.

I put some major acting talent in this film with Prince. I maybe get Wesley Snipes as Prince's tour manager or Denzel Washington (I know good luck with that). Either way the cast Spike Lee had in his films around this time could present some quality casting. The secret is the film can't be Prince playing (katrina's) paper dolls with his friends, it has to compete.

Bonus surprise instead of Carmen Electra in a couple of years, GB is used to launch another Jill Jones album!

Whew, I am going to take a lie down.

rnb said:

I would have put some real money in the production - the film budget would have been for at least 15-20 million. By increasing the budget more effort would have been put in the script and the music performance. That alone would have approved the execution of the movie.

Wow really? I wouldn't have put a single penny more into this thing - that money would be wasted. You can't always spend your way to success when the source material is so limited. The whole concept of the project was such hubris; a paper-thin, indulgent vanity project. Let's face it, budgetary constraints were not the main problem here.

I'm sure it must have gone through some tortuous revisions and rewrites, perhaps there was an earlier draft that was more coherent.Based on what we ended up with though, it kinda blows my mind anyone ever put money into this thing.

[Edited 7/26/20 2:59am]

Oh, I thought you meant the movie and was about to make a big effort post where I shit all over it.

AS for the album, simplest thing is to keep the Prince songs (minus the title track which is awful) and maybe offer Round and Round, Shake, Melody Cool and Release It as bonus tracks or b-sides. It's a strong album (featuring arguably his best song - Joy In Repetition) but has way too much filler.

Theives was a good lead single choice but I think We Can Funk should have been the second.

I'd also do something about that art/cover because yikes.

rnb said:

I would have put some real money in the production - the film budget would have been for at least 15-20 million. By increasing the budget more effort would have been put in the script and the music performance. That alone would have approved the execution of the movie.

In his 1990 Rolling Stone interview,Prince says "man,what I could do with a $30 million budget" I think the main thing he needed was a director and an entirely different script,lol

SoulAlive said:

I would not of filmed at Paisley... the sets looked cheesey and cheap

I would of casted a mainstream Hollywood actress to play Aura

Tick Tick Bang and Melody Cool they woudn't of even made the sountrack

Remove George, Mavis and Tevin - No purpose whatsoever

I would of had them battle over First Ave with a dying Billy calling the shots

Less performnces

macaylasdad said:

I would of casted a mainstream Hollywood actress to play Aura

well,he tried to get Kim Basinger to do it,but she declined

yeah,that quote is from the 1990 Rolling Stone interview,a few months before the film came out."People keep saying "Prince's big gamble",he said."What gamble? I'm sitting here editing a film that I made with someone else's money"

databank said:

Later on after the movie bombed, P was quoted in an interview bragging about wasting X million dollars of other people's money (Warners) to do what he wanted to.

macaylasdad said:

I would not have filmed at Paisley... the sets looked cheesey and cheap

I agree.That little "town" they lived in looked so cheap and phony,smh.The movie should have used real outdoor locations,like Purple Rain.

SoulAlive said:

rnb said:

I would have put some real money in the production - the film budget would have been for at least 15-20 million. By increasing the budget more effort would have been put in the script and the music performance. That alone would have approved the execution of the movie.

In his 1990 Rolling Stone interview,Prince says "man,what I could do with a $30 million budget" I think the main thing he needed was a director and an entirely different script,lol

Yeah, that movie's budget was the least of its problems. Although, admittedly, some more money may have squashed some of the audible laughter in the theater during the "bridge" scenes and a few others. All the money in the world couldn't have saved that script, the terrible acting and general goofiness.

I was (and remain) a fan of the album for the most part though, similar to UTCM/Parade and was similaraly frustrated in 1989 when Prince managed to undermine the momentun of his own musical release with another terrible tie in.

Points for trying though. He made 3 "theatrical" releases which is more than I'll ever accomplish so whatever. I just wish they weren't so much of a dark cloud hanging over and detracting from some really great music since they're so easy to laugh at and poke fun with.

SoulAlive said:

macaylasdad said:

I would not have filmed at Paisley... the sets looked cheesey and cheap

I agree.That little "town" they lived in looked so cheap and phony,smh.The movie should have used real outdoor locations,like Purple Rain.

Purple Rain had a real director.

Hell, even UTCM had some great cinematography and more than a few cool sets - exterior and interior.

None of that can save terrible scriptsnand shoddy acting, however.

Unfortunately I think the writing was on the wall when Prince was only able to get the project green-lit by making it a sequel to Purple Rain.

It wasn't originally intended to be that.

He should have fought harder for his original vision, or be willing to either burn the idea completely or make it independently in order to stick to making the original movie. That way, we wouldn't have had the mish-mash of parts of his original movie idea crossed with the continuation of The Kid VS The Time.

And even if that was literally the only way to get it made, it should then have been shot on location, like Purple Rain, and not on the cheap looking sets. It gives the whole film a totally different feel to Purple Rain and yet it's supposed to be a sequel?

Finally, I agree with the idea of nixing the songs from The Time, Mavis, etc. Make a full Prince album out of it, plus some other stuff from the vault or from the original planned movie (Beatown, Pink Cashmere, The Grand Progression, etc).

A better edit could have somewhat salvaged it, but not completely. As Ernest pointed out, I maintain that cutting the "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" intro was a huge mistake. That intro sets the tone better than what ended up in the movie.

SoulAlive said:

macaylasdad said:

I would of casted a mainstream Hollywood actress to play Aura

well,he tried to get Kim Basinger to do it,but she declined

and we ended up with Ingrid Chavez who couldn't play dead. smh.

I think if he continued with making new songs for the movie, (most are songs from the previous Prince time period), and not let it be a PR pt 2 which it is not. Had the Lovesexy band or at least the SNL band or just not made it

macaylasdad said:

SoulAlive said:

well,he tried to get Kim Basinger to do it,but she declined

and we ended up with Ingrid Chavez who couldn't play dead. smh.

OldFriends4Sale said:

I think if he continued with making new songs for the movie, (most are songs from the previous Prince time period), and not let it be a PR pt 2 which it is not. Had the Lovesexy band or at least the SNL band or just not made it

Well, since we're going down the sequel to PR rabbit hole (and I think I've written this before), I'd have made the movie sort of a reversal of the rivalry set in PR and have Morris experiencing trouble and needing help after the Kid became a superstar. Maybe have Morris run on hard times in some way and really in need of Prince's help but make him still angry and jealous about his success and all that.

Prince is caught up in the trappings of fame and realizing it's not all it's cracked up to be. He's WON but he's lost Appolonia, love, his parents while his band members, management and friends are turning on him (writing tell all books and splintering off to do solo stuff) so Morris seeks him out but has to overcome Prince's trust issues.

Prince props him up and helps him out only to be betrayed again (or maybe he thought he was. Have the record execs and managers be the bad guys playing them off one another). Prince brings in Morris to be his opening act as a favor and the Time starts blowing him off the stage as Prince's band splinters and wants bigger pieces of the pie. Morris listens to and believes all the bullshit people are telling him about the Kid's backstabbing ways and behind the scenes wheeling and dealing - cheating him out of money, etc.

They wind up uniting by combining the band or something into a bigger and better show in ways that help each other, ultimately deciding what to share, what to fight over and (most importantly) who to trust. They're better together than they are apart but outside forces drive the wedge between them and Prince feels betrayed even though he helped Morris out. Sure, throw a love interest in there I guess. Get rid of that dumb "who has the coolest club" and "i'm an angel sent from heaven to write poems" horseshit.

Just make it about the music industry, fame, sex, drugs, money, art, loyalty, friendship, rock and roll, and power. You know, like Prince actually lived and what his on again off again freindship with Morris was actually like.

GirlBrother said:

macaylasdad said:

and we ended up with Ingrid Chavez who couldn't play dead. smh.

and it was written for Madonna and she LMAOed

bluegangsta said:

1. Graffiti Bridge (with Clare Fisher Strings)
2. Joy in Repetition (Kick Drum Intro)
3. The Question of U
4. Thieves in the Temple
5. We Can Funk
6. New Power Generation
7. Elephants & Flowers
8. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got
9. Tick, Tick, Bang
10. Still Would Stand All Time

Nice one, this is pretty close to how I'd run it also.

I really like "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got", though, and I think you've got too many 'light' or mid-tempo tunes off the top three, so I'd probably stick "Can't Stop" in second after the title track.

If I could, I'd also take the 1988 'Small Club' aftershow version of "Still Would Stand All Time" (which is amazing) and edit it down a bunch to put as the closer of this one.

******

This thread is timely (no pun intended), as just last night I watched Graffiti Bridge for, basically, the first time. My God, it's bad.

And yet, it's not as bad as the loathesome Under the Cherry Moon and is somehow much more likeable. I think it's because Prince (The 'Kid'... even though he was 31) and Aura and Robin and a few other characters are all very cute and funny in Graffiti, whereas every character is an asshole in Under the Cherry Moon.

-

Certainly would change that horrible cover art, which looked already outdated at the time,

(as I remember very well when I bought it).

It could've been a two LP/CD set, with one clear Prince album, and then a second album with all the associates.

Like that it could've been a overall more cohesive project.

This is what I made out of it;

-

LP 1

Side A :

1. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

2. We Can Funk

3. The Question Of U

4. Thieves in the temple (extended version)

5. Pink Cashmere

6. Still Would Stand All Time

-

LP 1

Side B :

1. Joy In Repetition (+intro with that kick drum)

2. Elephants & Flowers

3. Tick, Tick, Bang

4. Grafitti Bridge (+Clare Fisher orchestration)

5. New Power Generation (both versions as one)

6. The Grand Progression

-

LP 2

Side A :

1. Shake!

2. Melody Cool

3. Round And Round

4. Release it

(I remixed it as a longer version)

-

LP 2

Side B :

1. Love Machine

2. Train (Mavis Staples)

3. Soul Psychodelicide (G. Clinton)

4. Oobey Doop (Elisa Fiorillo)

5. 7 Corners (Ingrid Chavez)

-

...and before "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" i added fade-in sea shore sounds.

With the second part of (New Power Generation pt II' I left off the outtro.

I also added some score sounds from the film here and there as segues.

Would love to get my hands on the original verion of 'Round And Round' (the original configuration of the GB album had it as the sith track and not (re)mixed by Jr. Vasques).

Have to say, the second LP works pretty well for a non Prince LP.

Try it.

And I just love my own compilated Grafitti Bridge LP.

Sounds way more cohesive.

-

[Edited 7/30/20 4:09am]

The Album:

1) Take out the super-annoying intro bit from Eye Know that is plastered all over the beginning of Joy In Repetition.

2) Erase the title track FOREVER. Even the three seconds of it that I like.

3) Quite happy to lose Tick, Tick Bang, Elephants & Flowers, SWSAT and ICSTFIG too.

4) Put back all the nice vocals and piano from The Bold Generation - basically demix NPG pt1.

5) Look behind the sofa, under the microwave and in the loft to see if we could find George Clintons vocals on We Can Fuck. If found add back in.

This track also has a bit of remix feel to it, a bit like some of the tracks from TGE. Sounds like they have been given to a 3rd party to make them feel more relevant to the musical landscape of the day. But fail.

Just can't decide if I like all the other artists tracks on there though.

The Film:

I'd go back in time and say to Prince - please don't shoot the film on the PP soundstage. It will look like you shot the film on a soundstage no matter how many blue and orange gels your DOP uses... it will still look cheap.

Then I'd say:

The Persian: "There's just one change you need to make in the script, Mr Nelson, sir."

Prince: "What change?"

The Persian: "The words?"

Prince: "Which words?"

The Persian: "All of them."

Prince: "£$%#!"

Vannormal said:

-

Certainly would change that horrible cover art, which looked already outdated at the time,

(as I remember very well when I bought it).

It could've been a two LP/CD set, with one clear Prince album, and then a second album with all the associates.

Like that it could've been a overall more cohesive project.

This is what I made out of it;

-

LP 1

Side A :

1. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

2. We Can Funk

3. The Question Of U

4. Thieves in the temple (extended version)

5. Pink Cashmere

6. Still Would Stand All Time

-

LP 1

Side B :

1. Joy In Repetition (+intro with that kick drum)

2. Elephants & Flowers

3. Tick, Tick, Bang

4. Grafitti Bridge (+Clare Fisher orchestration)

5. New Power Generation (both versions as one)

6. The Grand Progression

-

LP 2

Side A :

1. Shake!

2. Melody Cool

3. Round And Round

4. Release it

(I remixed it as a longer version)

-

LP 2

Side B :

1. Love Machine

2. Train (Mavis Staples)

3. Soul Psychodelicide (G. Clinton)

4. Oobey Doop (Elisa Fiorillo)

5. 7 Corners (Ingrid Chavez)

-

...and before "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" i added fade-in sea shore sounds.

With the second part of (New Power Generation pt II' I left off the outtro.

I also added some score sounds from the film here and there as segues.

Would love to get my hands on the original verion of 'Round And Round' (the original configuration of the GB album had it as the sith track and not (re)mixed by Jr. Vasques).

Have to say, the second LP works pretty well for a non Prince LP.

Try it.

And I just love my own compilated Grafitti Bridge LP.

Sounds way more cohesive.

-

[Edited 7/30/20 4:09am]

.

Why not keep the much superior Still Will Stand All Time instead of Grand Progression? For bonus points it even has something to do with the movie.

Vannormal said:

-

Certainly would change that horrible cover art, which looked already outdated at the time,

(as I remember very well when I bought it).

It could've been a two LP/CD set, with one clear Prince album, and then a second album with all the associates.

Like that it could've been a overall more cohesive project.

This is what I made out of it;

-

LP 1

Side A :

1. Can't Stop This Feeling I Got

2. We Can Funk

3. The Question Of U

4. Thieves in the temple (extended version)

5. Pink Cashmere

6. Still Would Stand All Time

-

LP 1

Side B :

1. Joy In Repetition (+intro with that kick drum)

2. Elephants & Flowers

3. Tick, Tick, Bang

4. Grafitti Bridge (+Clare Fisher orchestration)

5. New Power Generation (both versions as one)

6. The Grand Progression

-

LP 2

Side A :

1. Shake!

2. Melody Cool

3. Round And Round

4. Release it

(I remixed it as a longer version)

-

LP 2

Side B :

1. Love Machine

2. Train (Mavis Staples)

3. Soul Psychodelicide (G. Clinton)

4. Oobey Doop (Elisa Fiorillo)

5. 7 Corners (Ingrid Chavez)

-

...and before "Can't Stop This Feeling I Got" i added fade-in sea shore sounds.

With the second part of (New Power Generation pt II' I left off the outtro.

I also added some score sounds from the film here and there as segues.

Would love to get my hands on the original verion of 'Round And Round' (the original configuration of the GB album had it as the sith track and not (re)mixed by Jr. Vasques).

Have to say, the second LP works pretty well for a non Prince LP.

Try it.

And I just love my own compilated Grafitti Bridge LP.

Sounds way more cohesive.

-

[Edited 7/30/20 4:09am]

This sounds good to me. What program do you use to edit your files?

herb4 said:

Well, since we're going down the sequel to PR rabbit hole (and I think I've written this before), I'd have made the movie sort of a reversal of the rivalry set in PR and have Morris experiencing trouble and needing help after the Kid became a superstar. Maybe have Morris run on hard times in some way and really in need of Prince's help but make him still angry and jealous about his success and all that.

Prince is caught up in the trappings of fame and realizing it's not all it's cracked up to be. He's WON but he's lost Appolonia, love, his parents while his band members, management and friends are turning on him (writing tell all books and splintering off to do solo stuff) so Morris seeks him out but has to overcome Prince's trust issues.

Prince props him up and helps him out only to be betrayed again (or maybe he thought he was. Have the record execs and managers be the bad guys playing them off one another). Prince brings in Morris to be his opening act as a favor and the Time starts blowing him off the stage as Prince's band splinters and wants bigger pieces of the pie. Morris listens to and believes all the bullshit people are telling him about the Kid's backstabbing ways and behind the scenes wheeling and dealing - cheating him out of money, etc.

They wind up uniting by combining the band or something into a bigger and better show in ways that help each other, ultimately deciding what to share, what to fight over and (most importantly) who to trust. They're better together than they are apart but outside forces drive the wedge between them and Prince feels betrayed even though he helped Morris out. Sure, throw a love interest in there I guess. Get rid of that dumb "who has the coolest club" and "i'm an angel sent from heaven to write poems" horseshit.

Just make it about the music industry, fame, sex, drugs, money, art, loyalty, friendship, rock and roll, and power. You know, like Prince actually lived and what his on again off again freindship with Morris was actually like.

interesting ideas

I love it. Completely. It could use a remix, not a remaster. It's mixed terribly in that it sounds like a digital sheet gets thrown over my speakers every time I listen to it. It's got amazing things on it, but it sounds really bad.

a few of you would have added "The Grand Progression" to the album/movie.I have mixed feelings about this song.It's nice....but it kinda drags.I think "Still Would Stand All The Time" is the better song.