This is Paisley Park sometime in the 90s, that is photographer Steve Parke

He really made sure the couch stayed in good condition

It looks better in the more recent photo

OldFriends4Sale said:

He really made sure the couch stayed in good condition

Purple Royalty! ....

yeah the first photo is a grainier older image. the latter photos are from 2015 with a better quality camera

iveivan said:

It looks better in the more recent photo

OldFriends4Sale said:

He really made sure the couch stayed in good condition

I hope this thread takes off but the forum seems like it's dying out.

I love photos of Paisley Park and was particularly fascinated with the ones that came out after Prince died. They seemed like the perfect metaphor for things seeming OK, shiny and glamorous on the surface but in a state of desrepair and rather roughshod beneath the veneer.

herb4 said:

I hope this thread takes off but the forum seems like it's dying out.

I love photos of Paisley Park and was particularly fascinated with the ones that came out after Prince died. They seemed like the perfect metaphor for things seeming OK, shiny and glamorous on the surface but in a state of desrepair and rather roughshod beneath the veneer.

well let's focus on keeping threads alive and sharing with those who are sharing

If I had to guess I'd say that the first picture is from 1997. The murial on the wall behine Steve Parke appears to be based on artwork produced for the Emancipation CD Booklet.

OldFriends4Sale said:

herb4 said:

I hope this thread takes off but the forum seems like it's dying out.

I love photos of Paisley Park and was particularly fascinated with the ones that came out after Prince died. They seemed like the perfect metaphor for things seeming OK, shiny and glamorous on the surface but in a state of desrepair and rather roughshod beneath the veneer.

well let's focus on keeping threads alive and sharing with those who are sharing

Yeah, I'm down.

I just don't have any new pix to share of Paisley Park and would love to see some is all I'm saying.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Pre Love 4 One Another/NPG Music Club

Studio C, now Purple Rain room

Nice photos, and excellent thread topic!

>

I recently came across an approximately 47-minute presentation (by what looks to me as post-Graceland management) of the facility that examines the history of and visions of the future for Paisley Park Studios. Cheif Development Officer Fri Forjindam of Mycotoo converses in Studio A with the PP Executive Director Alan Seiffert; and around other sites with PP Legacy Preservationist Mitch Maguire. It looks great and sounds promising! If U haven't already done so, check this fascinatng converation here: https://www.youtube.com/w...p;index=14.

>

A transcript of an interview done by Jill Riley of MN Public Radio's The Current with Mr. Sieffert on the 2021 anniversary of Prince's transition appears here--a shorter taste if you're into reading:

https://www.thecurrent.or...n-seiffert.

[Edited 9/5/21 8:46am]

herb4 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

well let's focus on keeping threads alive and sharing with those who are sharing

Yeah, I'm down.

I just don't have any new pix to share of Paisley Park and would love to see some is all I'm saying.

circa 1988

Like someone said above, I like seeing old pics of Paisley Park.

In Studio B, I liked the previous 60's inspired mural more than the 3EG photos, but that's where his mind was when he passed. I'm sure it would have been redone again had he lived.

motherfunka

those images definately feel like mid-late 80s the Deco colors (a little Miami Vice/Florida) I love it

thanks 4 sharing

Motherfunka, Those are some Cool A$$ pics!

OldFriends4Sale said:

motherfunka

those images definately feel like mid-late 80s the Deco colors (a little Miami Vice/Florida) I love it

thanks 4 sharing

You bet! That is what Paisley Park looked like when I started going to parties in early 1992. It stayed that way until Steve Parke did his thing in 1996. All those photos on the wall were artists who recorded there. In the 3rd pic you can see a huge Carmen Electra photo taken on the back steps at Glam Slam.

All the early parties were held in the Atrium. They used to push all those couches up against the walls and the tile area was the dance floor. They would set up a DJ booth and bring out these huge speakers. They would have food catered from the Loon Cafe, which was right across the street from Glam Slam, and set up in the kitchen area. I only saw Prince dance one time and that was the very first party I went to. Most of the time he would just hang out by the DJ booth. When there was someone he liked that was doing a show in Minneapolis, he would usually have a party for them. I remember parties for Naughty By Nature, 2Pac, Lenny Kravitz, and the Joffrey Ballet. I'm sure there were more, but that's all I'm remembering at the moment. Chilli from TLC used to come and hang out pretty often 94/95. When he started opening Paisley to the public in 1995, then the parties moved to the soundstage, and then in 1996 to the L4OA/NPGMC room or soundstage, or both. Such great times!!!

Upstairs, the fuzzy bed that reminds us of Prince's fuzzy white books. He told his assistant-manager Ruth Azarte that he wanted a round bed and like all things Prince, he meant "now". So she found the only deliverable round bed within 50 miles.
She thought she'd get a pink slip; he loved the thing.
On the left, the "gossip seat" from the Black Sweat video.

[Edited 9/9/21 18:24pm]

THe 90s redecoration done by Mayte(?) really gave the place some character, and made it so much more Princey.

always thought it was a weird looking place, inside and out.

didnt seem esp princey.

or even that 'warm' or anything.

quite boxy, 80s style.

strange place.

also always thought it weird that all his best records were actually made elsewhere, much as i like the 90s stuff (and i do as that was my era).

laytonian said:

Upstairs, the fuzzy bed that reminds us of Prince's fuzzy white books. He told his assistant-manager Ruth Azarte that he wanted a round bed and like all things Prince, he meant "now". So she found the only deliverable round bed within 50 miles.
She thought she'd get a pink slip; he loved the thing.
On the left, the "gossip seat" from the Black Sweat video.

[Edited 9/9/21 18:24pm]

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

always thought it was a weird looking place, inside and out.

didnt seem esp princey.

or even that 'warm' or anything.

quite boxy, 80s style.

strange place.

also always thought it weird that all his best records were actually made elsewhere, much as i like the 90s stuff (and i do as that was my era).

You sparked off my curiosity again, trying to figure what the first year of P's Paisley Park recordings sound like. Such a change in environment, with everything tailored to making music in every way possible, decor and furniture set up perfectly the way he wanted it, and everyone on hire, on demand in one place, must surely have had an impact on where his musical sound went next.

He started recording there in July '87 with Melody Cool, not groundbreaking to say the least, but within one year he had recorded the entire Lovesexy album, Cool Love, Pink Cashmere, God is Alive! No obvious sign of his musical quality suddenly regressing.

[Edited 9/10/21 11:18am]

fortuneandserendipity said:

leecaldon said:

THe 90s redecoration done by Mayte(?) really gave the place some character, and made it so much more Princey.

Mayte didn't redecorate; Steve Parke did the design.