I still say that Natural Selection's - Do Anything was a Prince song with him either writing it or singing it or both.

- It was given to MPLS radio in '91 right when Prince's Glam Slam '91 was given to MPLS radio as well.

-The vocals are very similar to Camille vocals

-The radio promo featured Ingrid Chavez, but then the later version didn't.

-The lyrics sound like something Prince would write.

So either Prince was heavily involved with this song or the guys in Natural Selection did a brilliant impersonation of his writing and singing style, which is unlikely. The Ingrid connection makes it even more likely.

I'll always consider this a Prince song and it's one of his most fun.

TonyC said:

I remember Controversy magazine at the time quoted a source "very close to Prince" as saying that it definately was him. IIRC it was the issue where they covered the TC Ellis/Eric Leeds Q&A session so I always assumed it was one of them.

The main thing that makes me doubt this is the "Raw Mix" that is featured on the CD single. It certainly isn't Prince's style to release a demo as a b-side.

No Involvement whatsoever

Rioub said:

Well, I don't think Natural Selection was Prince, I just think he was heavily involved in that one song for whatever reason. I wonder why Ingrid was on the original promo version, but then removed from the song. Just too many coincidences there to be just coincidences.

I remember when this tune came out, I bought it right away as I knew it was a very good prince rip off. I never thought it was prince but it sounded like some kids who grew up on prince imitating him. It's not really good enough to be Prince's, it sounds homemade, quality wise. And if you listen to the rap where the singer slides out of his prince imitation it's clear that it sounds nothing like prince. It's a very good pop song but doesn't even approach prince's level of creativity. In other words just an imitation. In fact, my best friend once said that Prince wouldn't even speak to the group when they came to see him, I guess he was insulted to have his style used in such a way. Unusual for him, Prince was never one to hold it against others when they copied him. There was a time when everyone stole pieces of his music.

mozfonky said:

Why not? "Jughead" and "Push" don't even approach Prince's level of creativity, yet he managed to release those dogs. Just acknowlege that somebody other than Prince is capable of releasing a great song once in awhile, which "Do Anything" is.

Why not? "Jughead" and "Push" don't even approach Prince's level of creativity, yet he managed to release those dogs. Just acknowlege that somebody other than Prince is capable of releasing a great song once in awhile, which "Do Anything" is.[/quote]

I'm not saying it's not a good song, great is going too far. Most pop music is nowhere near 'great' Do Anything is a good pop song. What i meant by saying the song was not in prince's league are the overall body of work he's done, not the duds. I would say the song is a prince ripoff configured in a pop single in a way that prince never would. It's good though. And yes I know, Prince isn't the only great artist out there, he's one among many.

Is this the awful song that has that "Just can't... just can't... just can't get enough" line?

yup, that's the one.

I love this song.. I never even caught the Prince vibe till you guys mentioned it.. I get it now.. I was so excited when I went to MPLS last year and I found this cd at El Cheapo or whatever it was called.. got it for like 3 bucks.

Damn thats an addictive pop song... make it smoothe to the groove like sandwhich bread...

Ahh the good old days.. the early 90's

Hmmm...maybe it wasn't Prince, but the timing with Glam Slam '91 and the Ingrid connection...I am not convinced, but I could see how it could just be a superbly executed imitation of his writing and vocal style.

Actually at that time, I knew a friend of Levi Seacer who said that Levi asked Prince if he was involved and he said he wasn't, but I still am not convinced.

I remember reading that Ingrid was not on the official release because Prince did not approve of her working with
Natural Selection. He did refer to them as a rip off of his
music.

i've never heard this tune carefully & take an interest in getting it also. plz would anyone bring it over to me,
both Ingrid's and Natural Selection's ??
[This message was edited Sun Jan 4 21:07:15 PST 2004 by Sappho]

mozfonky said:

Interesting...that reminds me of when Trent Reznor wanted to meet Prince and Prince wasn't interested. I wouldn't think Prince was a big NIN fan, considering the content of the music, but I just read an article where Reznor said that Prince had "broken" in his car for a long time and listened to it a lot...I can't see him digging "Heresy" though.
[This message was edited Mon Jan 5 5:28:51 PST 2004 by TonyC]

I remember in the fall of 1991,my sister told me about this song and she said "I heard that new Prince song "Do Anything" and it's great!" LOL...I guess many people assumed it was Prince.


Let's get this settled once and for all.who exactly are "Natural Selection"? Has anyone ever seen them? Are they for real,or just a Prince alter ego "band"?

I have the single and at the prompting of this thread I dug it out. Natural Selection is the name of the group and it also "features' someone named niki haris. Don't know if that's the singer or the girl who plays the love interest in the song. I'm certain it's not a prince product. I am certain that the person or people who created the song love Prince and have taken the time to assimilate many of his vocal stylings and style. I could list the credits on the cover if anyones interested in the production,writing,etc..I've listed to the tune about 10 times in the last few hours and it is very good. I still say, the production quality is low, a sure indication that it is not prince created. It sounds like it was done like many young musicians create, (myself included) in a basement on cheap equipement. Does not sound like the production had much of a budget at all. The intruments sound like a cheap keyboard and the drums sound like a cheap drum machine. I would say the particular style that they emulate here is the post purple rain style. Deep vocals, heavy funk, lots of signature prince rhythms in the vocals. Alot like his Sign o' the times voice or his Poplife voice. It's good, none of this is meant as derogatory, but there is no way it is Prince or Prince affiliated.

I just did some checking on the web and Niki Haris is a backup singer who has worked for Madonna,Vanessa Williams, and many others. I guess she was the black backup singer in The Truth Or Dare movie. The girl you know. Good singer. I just stashed the single away again and don't feel like digging it out, I don't think her voice is the main vocal on this song, it sounds like a many definitely, but it could be heavily effected. I guess her only contribution is her name and the talking on the song. Natural selection are not as easy to find on the web as her.

There's about as much Prince involvement in this song as the amount of cum you can squeeze from someone's TEETH.

i too liked this song very much when it first came out, because of the "prince" sound. and i remember specifically where i was when i heard the radio announcer tell the story about this song . . .

he said that the group recorded it much slower then we were hearing it. when they took it to their label they were told to speed it up so it would be more catchy. so they just took that version and literally just sped it up. hence the Camille, prince sound . . . but they said it had no prince involvement. gosh - that was a blast from the p.a.s.t.