Prince: The Story of Sign O' The Times, Episode 1: It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night

https://www.thecurrent.or...m_content=

Let the Wendy and Lisa bashing begin!

THIRD!


https://prince.org/msg/15

https://prince.org/msg/15/464122

https://prince.org/msg/15/464113

maybe the fact that people keep putting this in the prince section should tell you all it belongs... in the prince section

lustmealways said:

maybe the fact that people keep putting this in the prince section should tell you all it belongs... in the prince section

I am with you on that; soon the podcast forum will be filled with multitudes of the same thread.

lustmealways said:

maybe the fact that people keep putting this in the prince section should tell you all it belongs... in the prince section

Seriously, this podcast was shared by the estate and contains the first ever pristine clip of "In A Large Room With No Light" (among other tracks). Why is it being buried in a sub for fan-made material that few people on this site frequent?

Sorry folks. Didn't realize there was a separate Arts/Podcasts/Fan Content forum!

motherfunka said:

Sorry folks. Didn't realize there was a separate Arts/Podcasts/Fan Content forum!

it's ok, no one does.

So, to respond to the actual thread; I looooooooved the podcast. I loooooooved hearing the snippets of genius songs like Large Room and All My Dreams; I am already SO hyped about all of this, I can't wait for it to be end of September, when my vinyl box will arrive.

I got goosebumps, when Prince's voice streamed out of my headphonesinstructions at the beginning of Power Fantastic, the snippet that opens the podcast. I always loved the desription of the recording session in the liner notes of The Hits/The B-sides, with Lisa alone in the living room.
And now that image is expanded, with Prince in the corner, singing the vocal take he would ultimately re-do.

I loved hearing about how he worked with Wendy & Lisa, as some of their collabs are awesome (Power Fantastic, Mountains), while others leave me cold (Teacher, Teacher, the overdubs on an already perfect Witness 4 The Prosecution). It makes the music we get even more precious.

But again; the remastered songs... dayummmm. (on a sidenote; it is amazing to hear the remastered singles box songs; the work done on the album and the singles we know is amazing; to have the bass where it belongs and losing the shrillness of the horrid digital versions we had to content with for so long)

motherfunka said:

Let the Wendy and Lisa bashing begin!

Come on; it is OBVIOUS their close relationship with Prince, the bond he had with Wendy's sister and the leiway he gave them in the studio and how he responded/expanded on their input is a very special moment in his career. And it is AWESOME how they're willling to share their memories with us all.

It's always great to hear them talk about him; Lisa's choice of words and the joy in her voice when she talks about him and Wendy's awe and gigantic love for him; what's not to love?

What a pain in the neck. I saw this thread and when I went ot come back to it it was gone. So stupid.

In any case, now that it's back where it belongs, here are the songs previewed in this episode:

Sign O' The Times (Album version)

Wonderful Day (not sure if its the regular or 12" version)

Teacher Teacher

A Place In Heaven (Lisa Vocal)

A Large Room With No Light

Strange Relationship (early version, presumably not the remix)

Dream Factory

Visions

Colors

Nevaeh ni ecalp A

All My Dreams

Power Fantastic

It's Gonna be a beautiful night (album version)

Forever in my life (album version)

emesem said:

This is wonderful. Sigh what could have been. The SD version of all my dreams sounds awesome. A fully realized Dream factory may hav been even better than SOTT. Omg that Power Fantastic live track. I’m shaking.

It's the same as the released version, except Prince obviously redid the vocals. Maybe without Susan Rogers being around. It's ALWAYS lovely to hear his voice, but the released vocal of Power Fantastic has wayyyy more layers to it.
Same as with Forever; the released version is superior, which does not take anything away from this newly released version, which is awesome as well, just not as spectacular as the album version.
I do wish they'd included the extended album version of Forever....

muleFunk said:

As predicted Prince's greatest album has been turned into a Lisa and Wendy produced event.

They're a huge part of the thing you claim to love. Love is blind, it seems. Their contributions do not take anything away from the beauty that is; the moaning about the stories behind the creation do, though.

HamsterHuey said:

I do wish they'd included the extended album version of Forever....

.

It might not exist. As you can hear, the drums and acoustic guitar used on the album version are in the "early vocal runthrough" version as well. So the album version is a particular mix of the multitrack. It then depends on when they put the fade out in, while mixing. They may have faded out that particular mix where we hear it today, meaning there is no longer version, unless you recreate the mix and let it run (which parts to use and which parts to mute then?). They haven't been very good at recreating mixes this far, in my opinion..

muleFunk said:

As predicted Prince's greatest album has been turned into a Lisa and Wendy produced event.

Well, this part 1 does focus on Vault disc 1 which is predoninantly the tracks with the Revolution, so their input is to be expected and probably the best source.

I'm sure we'll hear less from them and more from Susan Rogers as we get into the material on disc 2 and 3.

muleFunk said:

As predicted Prince's greatest album has been turned into a Lisa and Wendy produced event.

My thoughts exactly, after listening to that.

The '11 of the 16 tracks were done while he was with The Rev' line is misleading. Technically correct but they're actually only on 2 of the 16. It's making the album sound like something it's not.

Not 'bashing' just saying

dodger said:

muleFunk said:

As predicted Prince's greatest album has been turned into a Lisa and Wendy produced event.

My thoughts exactly, after listening to that.

The '11 of the 16 tracks were done while he was with The Rev' line is misleading. Technically correct but they're actually only on 2 of the 16. It's making the album sound like something it's not.

Not 'bashing' just saying

.

And crazily enough they were also around all the time and thus CAN PROVIDE ACTAL INSIGHT. Who the fuck doesn't want to hear from the very people who Prince so trusted that he told them to play around with his tracks and add their own ideas UNSUPERVISED?

.

Meanwhile there are whiners who ask why the SOTT band isn't interviewed here, ignoring that a) that band didn't exist in 86 and b) that band played on ZERO recordings.

.

Prince had DECADES to provide his side of the story, and didn't.

.

JFC some of you pretend that W&L were a footnote, meanwhile Prince remained obsessed with them for decades and dedicated songs to them and blamed them for the RG debacle (which of course they had zero involvement in) etc.

.

And every goddamn time you complainers open your mouth, it is crystal clear that you lot IMAGINE things and insert your own goddamn imaginary agendas into their words. You lot take words out of context and then bitch about it.

.

You lot offer zero insight and pollute threads with this bullshit. I'd urge the Org mods to either ban you lot or apply timeouts whenever you post this bullshit.

BartVanHemelen said:

dodger said:

My thoughts exactly, after listening to that.

The '11 of the 16 tracks were done while he was with The Rev' line is misleading. Technically correct but they're actually only on 2 of the 16. It's making the album sound like something it's not.

Not 'bashing' just saying

.

And crazily enough they were also around all the time and thus CAN PROVIDE ACTAL INSIGHT. Who the fuck doesn't want to hear from the very people who Prince so trusted that he told them to play around with his tracks and add their own ideas UNSUPERVISED?

.

Meanwhile there are whiners who ask why the SOTT band isn't interviewed here, ignoring that a) that band didn't exist in 86 and b) that band played on ZERO recordings.

.

Prince had DECADES to provide his side of the story, and didn't.

.

JFC some of you pretend that W&L were a footnote, meanwhile Prince remained obsessed with them for decades and dedicated songs to them and blamed them for the RG debacle (which of course they had zero involvement in) etc.

.

And every goddamn time you complainers open your mouth, it is crystal clear that you lot IMAGINE things and insert your own goddamn imaginary agendas into their words. You lot take words out of context and then bitch about it.

.

You lot offer zero insight and pollute threads with this bullshit. I'd urge the Org mods to either ban you lot or apply timeouts whenever you post this bullshit.

The school bully running snitching to the teacher asking for bans or people to go on the timeout step

Curious who 'you lot' are

BartVanHemelen said:

dodger said:

My thoughts exactly, after listening to that.

The '11 of the 16 tracks were done while he was with The Rev' line is misleading. Technically correct but they're actually only on 2 of the 16. It's making the album sound like something it's not.

Not 'bashing' just saying

.

And crazily enough they were also around all the time and thus CAN PROVIDE ACTAL INSIGHT. Who the fuck doesn't want to hear from the very people who Prince so trusted that he told them to play around with his tracks and add their own ideas UNSUPERVISED?

.

Meanwhile there are whiners who ask why the SOTT band isn't interviewed here, ignoring that a) that band didn't exist in 86 and b) that band played on ZERO recordings.

.

Prince had DECADES to provide his side of the story, and didn't.

.

JFC some of you pretend that W&L were a footnote, meanwhile Prince remained obsessed with them for decades and dedicated songs to them and blamed them for the RG debacle (which of course they had zero involvement in) etc.

.

And every goddamn time you complainers open your mouth, it is crystal clear that you lot IMAGINE things and insert your own goddamn imaginary agendas into their words. You lot take words out of context and then bitch about it.

.

You lot offer zero insight and pollute threads with this bullshit. I'd urge the Org mods to either ban you lot or apply timeouts whenever you post this bullshit.

I think you over state it when you say Prince was 'obsessed' with them. However, I do agree that anyone discounting W&L's influence at this time is understating things. The ladies deserve credit...and where i'd previously thought they were angling for credit in the Prince world, I feel they just want the record set straight a little more then it has been.

My only gripe, and it has nothing to do with W&L, is that his mid 80s work is so focused on when he did incredible work all throughout his career. I'd love to see the focus change a bit to include works all through his career.

BartVanHemelen said:

dodger said:

My thoughts exactly, after listening to that.

The '11 of the 16 tracks were done while he was with The Rev' line is misleading. Technically correct but they're actually only on 2 of the 16. It's making the album sound like something it's not.

Not 'bashing' just saying

.

And crazily enough they were also around all the time and thus CAN PROVIDE ACTAL INSIGHT. Who the fuck doesn't want to hear from the very people who Prince so trusted that he told them to play around with his tracks and add their own ideas UNSUPERVISED?

.

Meanwhile there are whiners who ask why the SOTT band isn't interviewed here, ignoring that a) that band didn't exist in 86 and b) that band played on ZERO recordings.

.

Prince had DECADES to provide his side of the story, and didn't.

.

JFC some of you pretend that W&L were a footnote, meanwhile Prince remained obsessed with them for decades and dedicated songs to them and blamed them for the RG debacle (which of course they had zero involvement in) etc.

.

And every goddamn time you complainers open your mouth, it is crystal clear that you lot IMAGINE things and insert your own goddamn imaginary agendas into their words. You lot take words out of context and then bitch about it.

.

You lot offer zero insight and pollute threads with this bullshit. I'd urge the Org mods to either ban you lot or apply timeouts whenever you post this bullshit.

BRA-FARKEN-VO!

BartVanHemelen said:

dodger said:

My thoughts exactly, after listening to that.

The '11 of the 16 tracks were done while he was with The Rev' line is misleading. Technically correct but they're actually only on 2 of the 16. It's making the album sound like something it's not.

Not 'bashing' just saying

.

And crazily enough they were also around all the time and thus CAN PROVIDE ACTAL INSIGHT. Who the fuck doesn't want to hear from the very people who Prince so trusted that he told them to play around with his tracks and add their own ideas UNSUPERVISED?

.

Meanwhile there are whiners who ask why the SOTT band isn't interviewed here, ignoring that a) that band didn't exist in 86 and b) that band played on ZERO recordings.

.

Prince had DECADES to provide his side of the story, and didn't.

.

JFC some of you pretend that W&L were a footnote, meanwhile Prince remained obsessed with them for decades and dedicated songs to them and blamed them for the RG debacle (which of course they had zero involvement in) etc.

.

And every goddamn time you complainers open your mouth, it is crystal clear that you lot IMAGINE things and insert your own goddamn imaginary agendas into their words. You lot take words out of context and then bitch about it.

.

You lot offer zero insight and pollute threads with this bullshit. I'd urge the Org mods to either ban you lot or apply timeouts whenever you post this bullshit.

Potty mouth.

This is Epsiode 1. The album started with them in the mix. I'm pretty sure once they get to the part where they are booted and Prince starts assembling the post-revolution elements of record and the new band, they wont be interviewed as much. Just a hunch.

HamsterHuey said:

muleFunk said:

As predicted Prince's greatest album has been turned into a Lisa and Wendy produced event.

They're a huge part of the thing you claim to love. Love is blind, it seems. Their contributions do not take anything away from the beauty that is; the moaning about the stories behind the creation do, though.

BartVanHemelen said:

muleFunk said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Point is Bastard Prince is dead. Their contributions are no greater than Shelia, Jill, or others. Prince was the straw that stirred the drink. How many number one songs did they have after leaving? How many number one albums? Prince had hit songs a long goddamn time after whatever contributions they gave him. I happen to like them and their post Revolution music but goddamn they didn't make this album or Prince. Its PRINCE and the Revolution. Not The Revolution and it will BE like that forever.

You can't be serious.

[Edited 8/28/20 7:03am]

Ok, a few things:

1. I'm gonna assume that the other episodes will explore different aspects of the album besides the influence of The Revolution.
.
2. I really liked the 1999 podcast by the current, so I look forward to the rest of this.
.
3. Hearing Prince's directions before Power Fantastic was really cool.
.
4. The role of the Revolution and W&L and lack of input from the later band is clearly overstated. I've never jumped on an anti-W&L backwagon, but Wendy and Eric both turned me off on this episode. As much as I like Eric's playing, his interviews are routinely obnoxious. Eric's line that the later band "had nothing to do with any of the music on that was on Sign o the Times album" was preposterous, but at least he tempered it with "at least to my knowledge." Revolution = Bobby Z, BrownMark, Lisa, Wendy, and Dr. Fink. SotT band = Sheila E., Levi Seacer Jr., Miko Weaver, Dr. Fink, Boni Boyer, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, Cat, Greg Brooks, and Wally Safford. Um, which band has more musicians on tracks that made SotT? Yep, the SotT band. The highest charting song on the album featured a member from which band? Yep, Sheila E. from the SotT band. The drummer for which band appears on more tracks? Yep, from the SotT band. I could go on. Then you have 11 of 16 tracks comment. Well, the vast majority of the songs were recorded in 1986. And guess who was already playing with Prince by then? Mico Weaver, Levi Seacer Jr, Sheila E., Dr. Fink, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, Greg Brooks, and Wally Safford. So how many of the tracks were recorded when members of that band were around? More than 11. But again, some of their roles and presence will probably be explored in later episodes. I guess the one thing you could say is that the SotT band was being formed during the recording and wasn't a band exclusive of BM, W, L, and BZ until 1987. But the core of the SotT band was already playing with Prince while SotT was being recorded. Those musicians and that band had a role and influence on that album. All that said, I still like hearing from The Revolution members, and they had a role and influence. It's just that members of the other band did, too.
.
5. The solo guitar piece by Wendy and solo piano piece by Lisa both sounded pretty cool.
.
6. An album in the late 1980s featuring some of the vault tracks plus a few more recent tracks would've been great. Yes, we got some songs on GB in 1990, so that's something, but there was music for another great album hanging around.
.
7. I hope this topic doesn't get moved to the Art, Podcasts, etc. forum for the third time. I mean c'mon. This is obviously about Prince music and more.

controversy99 said:

Ok, a few things:

1. I'm gonna assume that the other episodes will explore different aspects of the album besides the influence of The Revolution.
.
2. I really liked the 1999 podcast by the current, so I look forward to the rest of this.
.
3. Hearing Prince's directions before Power Fantastic was really cool.
.
4. The role of the Revolution and W&L and lack of input from the later band is clearly overstated. I've never jumped on an anti-W&L backwagon, but Wendy and Eric both turned me off on this episode. As much as I like Eric's playing, his interviews are routinely obnoxious. Eric's line that the later band "had nothing to do with any of the music on that was on Sign o the Times album" was preposterous, but at least he tempered it with "at least to my knowledge." Revolution = Bobby Z, BrownMark, Lisa, Wendy, and Dr. Fink. SotT band = Sheila E., Levi Seacer Jr., Miko Weaver, Dr. Fink, Boni Boyer, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, Cat, Greg Brooks, and Wally Safford. Um, which band has more musicians on tracks that made SotT? Yep, the SotT band. The highest charting song on the album featured a member from which band? Yep, Sheila E. from the SotT band. The drummer for which band appears on more tracks? Yep, from the SotT band. I could go on. Then you have 11 of 16 tracks comment. Well, the vast majority of the songs were recorded in 1986. And guess who was already playing with Prince by then? Mico Weaver, Levi Seacer Jr, Sheila E., Dr. Fink, Eric Leeds, Atlanta Bliss, Greg Brooks, and Wally Safford. So how many of the tracks were recorded when members of that band were around? More than 11. But again, some of their roles and presence will probably be explored in later episodes. I guess the one thing you could say is that the SotT band was being formed during the recording and wasn't a band exclusive of BM, W, L, and BZ until 1987. But the core of the SotT band was already playing with Prince while SotT was being recorded. Those musicians and that band had a role and influence on that album. All that said, I still like hearing from The Revolution members, and they had a role and influence. It's just that members of the other band did, too.
.
5. The solo guitar piece by Wendy and solo piano piece by Lisa both sounded pretty cool.
.
6. An album in the late 1980s featuring some of the vault tracks plus a few more recent tracks would've been great. Yes, we got some songs on GB in 1990, so that's something, but there was music for another great album hanging around.
.
7. I hope this topic doesn't get moved to the Art, Podcasts, etc. forum for the third time. I mean c'mon. This is obviously about Prince music and more.

THIS

Yeah! Everyone knows that it was Wally who really played piano on Power Fantastic!


Wendy & Lisa are, for the millionth time, CANCELLED.

jaawwnn said:

Yeah! Everyone knows that it was Wally who really played piano on Power Fantastic!


Wendy & Lisa are, for the millionth time, CANCELLED.