... 94 East's Minneapolis Genius was released:



Tracklisting:
1. If You Feel Like Dancin'
2. Lovin' Cup
3. Games
4. Just Another Sucker
5. Dance To The Music Of The World
6. One Man Jam

A mix of six tracks from, according to DMSR, December 1975 - February 17, 1979 (i.e. after For You was both recorded and released).

Does anyone still listen to this album? How does it sound now? Has Prince ever commented on it? I got rid of my copy ages ago, but I did then pick up the 2CD set Symbollic Beginnings, which has these tracks (in rawer form, I believe) and many others.

BTW, I'm taking the release date from Uptown's Days Of Wild, if anyone is interested. I've seen different dates from different sources, but I trust DOW.

i used to have a copy of that on tape but i gave it to cheapo... it was pretty bleh.

I still got mine. Oddly enough I found a copy of it on cassette back in Jan. of 97 in a bin full of obscure cassette tapes. What made me look through every single one of them I have no idea, but I found 94 East in the process!

Just listening to these tracks now. If You Feel Like Dancin' has some great Prince guitar - and, much like Prince later did with many of his best guitar solos, it's low in the mix (like Alphabet St.). The guitar itself is across between I'm Yours from For You and Bambi from Prince, though, which makes sense since it was recorded on Feb 17th, 1979 - between the two albums.

I still have that on LP.

Prince's guitar, keyboard and drums on Lovin' Cup from 1978, meanwhile, aren't enough to save the track from sounding like a bland Donald Fagen hotel lobby muzak track.

Just can't edit enough, of your lovin' cup
[This message was edited Thu Feb 12 12:08:01 PST 2004 by booyah]

Games, from the earliest Prince sessions to be released, from December 1975 - January 1976, has some more killer guitar riffs hidden away.

Don't ask why I'm giving a track-by-track review of Prince's involvement in 94 East - just a slow day, I guess.

I liked "Just Another Sucker" and "Dance to the Music of the World" the best.

the3rddoctor said:

I'm listening to Just Another Sucker now. It's the only track he co-wrote, with Pepe Willie. From 1978, he also plays guitar, drums and keyboard - and that must be his voice too. Of all 94 East tracks, this is the most Princely, and if it had remained an outtake, fans would have wanted it like We Can Work It Out or Make It Through The Storm. I like those tracks more than this one, though...

Yeah, Dance To The Music Of The World, from 1978, is probably my favorite of the tracks. Guitar, drums and keyboards by Prince. Early Prince instrumental funk, even if he didn't write it.

booyah said:

That version with vocals could be scrapped, though.

One Man Jam, recorded on Feb. 17th 1979, with Andre on bass and Prince on everything else (overdubbed synths were added later by Pepe), is dull - just not interesting.

Forgivable, though, since it was recorded on the same day as I Feel For You.