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Thread started 07/26/20 7:13am

mattj

BBC Radio 6 - SOTT in full

Mary Anne Hobbs celebrates Prince’s critically acclaimed album Sign o’ the Times, 33 1/3 years after it was first

Our 33 1/3 celebrations explore iconic albums when they turn 33 and 1/3 years old, which also happens to be the speed that vinyl albums are played at. Sign O’ The Times was released on the 30th March 1987 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. It followed Parade, Prince’s final recording with The Revolution, and the commercial breakthroughs, 1999 (released in 1982) and Purple Rain (1984). Rolling Stone described it as ‘tough and inventive and exuberantly experimental’ while the New York Times said that ‘virtually all by himself’ Prince was ‘more versatile, more eclectic than ever.’

Across the show we’ll hear from Susan Rogers, who was right at the heart of the album's creation, and Duane Tudah, senior researcher for the Prince Estate Archives, who knows many of the stories from behind the scenes. We will reflect on the incredible influence of the record across all four sides of the vinyl which embraces funk, pop, rock, gospel, dance music, slow jams and more and hear from some of the musicians who’ve been inspired by Prince.

In part shaped by the reception to his previous two projects, 1986’s Parade and the film Under The Cherry Moon, the stories surrounding Sign O The Times include smashed guitars, the dissolution of The Revolution, record label battles and happy accidents in the studio with engineer Susan Rogers.

Show less
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Reply #1 posted 07/26/20 11:19am

flinty

Thank you for pointing this out. I heard the advertisment this morning, such an amazing radio station as well!!

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Reply #2 posted 07/27/20 4:10am

RJOrion

BBC Radio...


do you what the acronym BBC stands for, in America???...

there's a radio station for that?

pause
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Reply #3 posted 07/27/20 4:13am

NouveauDance

avatar

RJOrion said:

BBC Radio... do you what the acronym BBC stands for, in America???... there's a radio station for that? pause

Never heard that one before, you should do this professionally.

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Reply #4 posted 07/27/20 6:20am

VaultCurator

avatar

mattj said:

Across the show we’ll hear from Susan Rogers, who was right at the heart of the album's creation, and Duane Tudah, senior researcher for the Prince Estate Archives, who knows many of the stories from behind the scenes.


This will be nice. biggrin

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Reply #5 posted 07/29/20 7:07am

telecode101

thanks. added to my links to listen to.

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Reply #6 posted 07/29/20 7:34am

BalladofPeterP
arker

RJOrion said:

BBC Radio... do you what the acronym BBC stands for, in America???... there's a radio station for that? pause

I damn near cracked a rib laughing! lol

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Reply #7 posted 07/30/20 5:54am

mattj

BalladofPeterParker said:

RJOrion said:

BBC Radio... do you what the acronym BBC stands for, in America???... there's a radio station for that? pause

I damn near cracked a rib laughing! lol

Listening live - program is so good

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Reply #8 posted 07/30/20 8:01am

maplenpg

mattj said:

BalladofPeterParker said:

I damn near cracked a rib laughing! lol

Listening live - program is so good

Agreed. It was awesome music

[Edited 7/30/20 8:02am]

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Reply #9 posted 07/30/20 9:00am

PURPLEIZED3121

that really was spectacular. Never forget how blessed we were.

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Reply #10 posted 07/30/20 11:00am

GirlBrother

avatar

I'm bemused at how they left some f-bombs in place, but masked others, like the "Sure ain't fucking for no kicks" line in Adore got masked.

But during IT, "fucking on your mind" was clearly audible.

And I don't know what was going on during Sheila's rap on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night... Maybe my connection was just buffering. lol
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Reply #11 posted 07/30/20 11:12am

JoeyCococo

I loved it but Duane's comment about SOTT being his best (something to that effect) bugged me (Slightly). While I believe this album should have received all of the accolades, I don't believe it is his best work. I think it deserves celebration b/c this was a young artist that had shown consistently exponential development for 9 straight years. He showed us he could do funk, that he could do it using totally new technology (1999 and drum machines, synths), that he could pick up a guitar and do a guitar heavy album (Purple Rain), that he was courageous enough to do a left turn with ATWIAD and Parade ......then deliver SOTT which had all styles across one package. It is amazing that a young guy could do it convincingly (not like a ventiloquist as is Bruno Mars' 90s sounding Uptown FUnk and FInesse).

Susan Rogers said it best here when she described how easily Prince could write melody and hooks. I loved her description of how he could play the instruments with such skill yet, did not include a guitar solo in every track...or sing his ass off on everything. No one else could resist showing off all skillsets like he.

Truly amazing and I wonder how it is possible to get interest in his music to the new generation. I still thinkallowing his songs to be used in holloywood productions...Disney, Pixar etc will help but I also think they need to get into his vault and show off his greatness on video. I'm still impressed by James Brown videos despite him being 'over' by the time I was coming up. To see him dance and sing and control the band is still awesome. There is WAY more video available of Prince and I think the more that is released, the more the young gen may take interest.

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Reply #12 posted 07/30/20 11:32am

Romeoblu

I only heard the last half of Adore.

I played it over two sonos play 1's as a stereo pair and it sounded very good. Better than I remember the CD sounded.

Could it be they were playing the remastered version?
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Reply #13 posted 07/31/20 2:00am

Edance

Romeoblu said:

I only heard the last half of Adore. I played it over two sonos play 1's as a stereo pair and it sounded very good. Better than I remember the CD sounded. Could it be they were playing the remastered version?

I was thinking the same thing. In several songs I heard little details that I had not heard before. And I've listened to this album hundreds of times since march 1987.

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Reply #14 posted 07/31/20 3:06am

Romeoblu

Edance said:



Romeoblu said:


I only heard the last half of Adore. I played it over two sonos play 1's as a stereo pair and it sounded very good. Better than I remember the CD sounded. Could it be they were playing the remastered version?


I was thinking the same thing. In several songs I heard little details that I had not heard before. And I've listened to this album hundreds of times since march 1987.



I streamed Adore later from Qobuz to the same speakers and I definitely think the Radio 6 version sounded better.

It sounded fuller, not as thin, more like the vinyl version. Maybe they just did something there end.
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Reply #15 posted 07/31/20 4:41am

trickyjoe7777

Romeoblu said:

Edance said:



Romeoblu said:


I only heard the last half of Adore. I played it over two sonos play 1's as a stereo pair and it sounded very good. Better than I remember the CD sounded. Could it be they were playing the remastered version?


I was thinking the same thing. In several songs I heard little details that I had not heard before. And I've listened to this album hundreds of times since march 1987.



I streamed Adore later from Qobuz to the same speakers and I definitely think the Radio 6 version sounded better.

It sounded fuller, not as thin, more like the vinyl version. Maybe they just did something there end.


The “driiiing” in Dorothy Parker sounded a million times clearer to me than it ever has before
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Reply #16 posted 07/31/20 5:38am

Nasalhair

GirlBrother said:

I'm bemused at how they left some f-bombs in place, but masked others, like the "Sure ain't fucking for no kicks" line in Adore got masked. But during IT, "fucking on your mind" was clearly audible. And I don't know what was going on during Sheila's rap on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night... Maybe my connection was just buffering. lol



I noticed that too - sounded like random bits of the rap were reversed, like they were garbling something, but I don't remember there being any bad language or anything controversial in there. Hopefully the remastered album version won't be like that.

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Reply #17 posted 07/31/20 6:52am

Militant

avatar

moderator

Romeoblu said:

Edance said:

I was thinking the same thing. In several songs I heard little details that I had not heard before. And I've listened to this album hundreds of times since march 1987.

I streamed Adore later from Qobuz to the same speakers and I definitely think the Radio 6 version sounded better. It sounded fuller, not as thin, more like the vinyl version. Maybe they just did something there end.


BBC have world class, in-house, purpose built hardware including compressors and EQ and pretty much everything you can think of. Big, chunky, hardware units.

I used to work there - and my former band at one time got a lot of play on BBC Radio 1 (and still to this day on BBC Asian Network). Everything sounds better through their systems.


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Reply #18 posted 07/31/20 3:16pm

TrcikyChristop
her

mattj said:

Mary Anne Hobbs celebrates Prince’s critically acclaimed album Sign o’ the Times, 33 1/3 years after it was first

Our 33 1/3 celebrations explore iconic albums when they turn 33 and 1/3 years old, which also happens to be the speed that vinyl albums are played at. Sign O’ The Times was released on the 30th March 1987 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. It followed Parade, Prince’s final recording with The Revolution, and the commercial breakthroughs, 1999 (released in 1982) and Purple Rain (1984). Rolling Stone described it as ‘tough and inventive and exuberantly experimental’ while the New York Times said that ‘virtually all by himself’ Prince was ‘more versatile, more eclectic than ever.’

Across the show we’ll hear from Susan Rogers, who was right at the heart of the album's creation, and Duane Tudah, senior researcher for the Prince Estate Archives, who knows many of the stories from behind the scenes. We will reflect on the incredible influence of the record across all four sides of the vinyl which embraces funk, pop, rock, gospel, dance music, slow jams and more and hear from some of the musicians who’ve been inspired by Prince.

In part shaped by the reception to his previous two projects, 1986’s Parade and the film Under The Cherry Moon, the stories surrounding Sign O The Times include smashed guitars, the dissolution of The Revolution, record label battles and happy accidents in the studio with engineer Susan Rogers.

Show less

I'm wondering why that glitch at the very beginning of "Strange Relationship" wasn't fixed. Maybe that's more to do with the mix rather than the remaster?

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Reply #19 posted 08/02/20 4:32am

tecstar

avatar

The drums in Slow Love sound reallly good
"Lisa, i'm gonna give u the brush, and u're gonna paint the side of the train..."
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Reply #20 posted 08/02/20 4:38am

fearnleyp

Nasalhair said:



GirlBrother said:


I'm bemused at how they left some f-bombs in place, but masked others, like the "Sure ain't fucking for no kicks" line in Adore got masked. But during IT, "fucking on your mind" was clearly audible. And I don't know what was going on during Sheila's rap on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night... Maybe my connection was just buffering. lol



I noticed that too - sounded like random bits of the rap were reversed, like they were garbling something, but I don't remember there being any bad language or anything controversial in there. Hopefully the remastered album version won't be like that.



I think Prince has the audience chanting “Can’t nobody.... fuck with us” in the background of Sheilas rap... so I presume that’s what’s being masked rather than Sheilas words (which are the poem, “The Table and The Chair” by Edward Lear - and I don’t think he used any profanities!).
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Reply #21 posted 08/02/20 6:46am

GirlBrother

avatar

fearnleyp said:


I think Prince has the audience chanting “Can’t nobody.... fuck with us” in the background of Sheilas rap... so I presume that’s what’s being masked rather than Sheilas words (which are the poem, “The Table and The Chair” by Edward Lear - and I don’t think he used any profanities!).


How have I never noticed this before?
:lol:

I've just played it now. It's super-audible at the 5:50 mark.

As for the overall sound of the album broadcast, I just figured it was due to the compression that most radio stations apply

https://www.soundonsound....mp;t=64486
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Reply #22 posted 08/02/20 7:08am

Kares

avatar

Militant said:

Romeoblu said:

Edance said: I streamed Adore later from Qobuz to the same speakers and I definitely think the Radio 6 version sounded better. It sounded fuller, not as thin, more like the vinyl version. Maybe they just did something there end.


BBC have world class, in-house, purpose built hardware including compressors and EQ and pretty much everything you can think of. Big, chunky, hardware units.

I used to work there - and my former band at one time got a lot of play on BBC Radio 1 (and still to this day on BBC Asian Network). Everything sounds better through their systems.


.

Everything sounds uniform through their systems – and that is exactly the point of automated broadcast processors, to try to keep everything consistent. But while a lot of stuff benefits from the heavy processing, others suffer from it – for example a heavily brickwalled, really hot master will actually end up sounding even worse through radio as the automated processors will push it down in volume and mess it up some more. And of course as soon as the audio is broadcasted through FM, it is even more messed up by the frequency modulation itself.
.
And as nowdays most radio stations are converted to playing (lossy) compressed files (most often mp3) I guess the BBC is doing the same too.
.

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

The Paisley Park Vault spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/zzWHrU
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Reply #23 posted 08/02/20 3:42pm

fortuneandsere
ndipity

GirlBrother said:

I'm bemused at how they left some f-bombs in place, but masked others, like the "Sure ain't fucking for no kicks" line in Adore got masked. But during IT, "fucking on your mind" was clearly audible. And I don't know what was going on during Sheila's rap on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night... Maybe my connection was just buffering. lol


It's what happens when DJ in club goes off to the restroom/loo and his mate standing in the booth gets a free try at messing with the disc. I actually met a student once who said "I can't mix but I can definitely scratch". I think because she had a DJ older brother and felt a bit inadequate.

Like seriously though, it doesn't sound like the original.

The world's problems like climate change can only be solved through strategic long-term thinking, not expediency. In other words all the govts. need sacking!

If you can add value to someone's life then why not. Especially if it colors their days...
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Reply #24 posted 08/02/20 4:58pm

VaultCurator

avatar

GirlBrother said:

I'm bemused at how they left some f-bombs in place, but masked others, like the "Sure ain't fucking for no kicks" line in Adore got masked. But during IT, "fucking on your mind" was clearly audible. And I don't know what was going on during Sheila's rap on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night... Maybe my connection was just buffering. lol


Back masking more F Bombs.

The crowd were chanting "Can't nobody, fuck with us".

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Reply #25 posted 08/02/20 8:02pm

williamb610

GirlBrother said:

I'm bemused at how they left some f-bombs in place, but masked others, like the "Sure ain't fucking for no kicks" line in Adore got masked. But during IT, "fucking on your mind" was clearly audible. And I don't know what was going on during Sheila's rap on It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night... Maybe my connection was just buffering. lol

Thanks! In my years of being a Prince fan, I never knew that he said the F word on Adore or It! I somehow blocked it out! Weird.

Also, I haven't listened to Sign all the way through for about 20 years. Waiting anxiously for the remaster!

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