larry graham, the aforementioned hall of famer...i thought that was funny!!!

i didnt know it had been shut for most of this decade. strange. wouldnt that cost him even more to just have it sitting there and not beng used??

i didnt know it had been shut for most of this decade. strange. wouldnt that cost him even more to just have it sitting there and not beng used??

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1371/4843375.html


Prince or no, Paisley Park is still a go
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
June 25, 2004 LOC0625





The gold and platinum record plaques on the wall were dust-free. The caged doves were still breathing. The copies of Entertainment Weekly in the waiting room were current, including (of course) the issue with Him on the cover. There was even a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer using one of the studios that day.
All signs at Paisley Park last week -- when Prince took the shutters off his multi-million-dollar studio compound in Chanhassen -- indicated that the place is still alive and kicking. In fact, it's getting ready to kick into high gear again.
The Twin Cities' best-known recording facility has more or less been closed for most of the '00s. Prince held his Xenophobia celebration there in June 2002, but not much else has gone on there, at least to public knowledge.
This June -- after the flight of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to Los Angeles suggested that the Twin Cities' recording industry has ebbed -- the scene at Paisley tells a different story. For the afternoon "pre-parties" before Prince's Xcel Energy Center concerts last week, tour guides took fans for a walk in the Park. They showed off one all-new, all-digital recording room, Studio D, which is purportedly as up-to-date as J. Lo's divorce lawyer. There was also new equipment added in some of the older studio rooms.
"They're getting ready to make this a fully operating facility again," a staff member, Kris, told visitors (none of the staffers give their last name or talk with the press on the record).
Prince's pal Larry Graham -- the aforementioned Hall of Famer -- was working in an older studio room. I found out that Jason Mraz also recently worked out there before kicking off his summer tour at the Orpheum in May. The invitation is reportedly going out for other artists to use the place at will.
The Paisley staff, which had dwindled to five employees, is being rekindled with new bodies. One saleswoman who took the tour, Cindy Babcock of Eden Prairie, said she had applied at Paisley years earlier and might do so again.
Staffers were vague about how much of Prince's new "Musicology" CD was recorded there (my guess: very little), but they made it clear he's planning to work there from here on out. He showed his hometown dedication at last week's after-parties there, too, booking local talent for openers, including Kip Blackshire and Jazzmine's jammers Conversation Piece, with Prince alumni past and present. He mingled with them all on stage, too, playing "No Diggity" with CP the first night.
During his first Xcel Center concert, Prince made comments that suggest he has been spending plenty of time at home. They came while introducing "Call My Name," the video of which hit TV this week. The single, his best in years, will be a good indicator of his commercial potential beyond the old hits.
"We'd like to play it for you here, because we know radio won't -- at least not in the Twin Cities," he said. "It's all Clear Channel ... clearing the channel from funk."
Thankfully, it seems, even bad radio won't stop good music from being made here in town.