That's a Groove, You Know?

September 24, 2020 1:43 PM

In the end, Sign O' The Times was a Frankenstein's monster, stitched together from the remains of three completed, but discarded albums: Dream Factory, Camille and the triple-disc Crystal Ball set. Now, 33 years on, Prince's estate is releasing an expanded version of Sign O' The Times which includes 45 unreleased tracks from the recording sessions. To get a better understanding of how it came together, here's a history of the record and its subsequent tour, featuring new and archive interviews from the musicians who were there, and some of Prince's most famous fans. Prince's Sign O' The Times: An oral history [BBC]

Prince’s Vault Reveals a Brilliant Trove With ‘Sign O’ the Times’ [NYT]
Prince’s ‘Sign ‘o’ the Times’ Box Set Offers a Rich Image of the Pop Master at His Absolute Peak [Rolling Stone]

posted by chavenet (9 comments total)

Related, from Quinn Moreland at Pitchfork: “What It Was Like to Be Prince’s Personal Photographer”
posted by Going To Maine at 2:08 PM on September 24, 2020 [3 favorites]

I watched the film a couple of months ago because pandemic and I stumbled on it channel-surfing. First time I'd seen it in 20 or 25 years and holy shit that band could throw down.

Thanks for this, chavenet.
posted by soundguy99 at 3:21 PM on September 24, 2020 [4 favorites]

Some of his best lyrics IMO. What would he have said about 2020? Ok going to read the links now.
posted by Coaticass at 4:05 PM on September 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

The Current 88.5 (Twin Cities, MN) also did an 8 part podcast about SOTT, in collaboration with the Prince Estate.

The Story of SOTT- Episode 1

FB Link announcing it
posted by gregglind at 4:12 PM on September 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

holy shit that band could throw down.

Like, that version of 'I could never take the place of ur man'? That one, right? Jeezus. I got to see him in L A when he did 30...SOLD OUT, dates in a row, for free, to raise money to upgrade the Coliseum (like tix weren't free, he did it for free. 30 shows.) He did that song...with Sheila E. ...I thought I died and went to heaven.
posted by sexyrobot at 5:56 PM on September 24, 2020 [5 favorites]

I have just driven to my local record shop where the SOTT Vinyl SDS has been on order since the second it was announced, and I've unboxed it at home but am not going to play it until I have a quiet few hours :)

We heard the album a few years ago on Classic Album Sundays in London on £50K worth of hifi and it showed that we hadn't missed anything, the original album master really was pretty low-fi, so while I am excited about the new material, I am WAY more excited that the remaster will be magical. I hope I'm not in for a massive letdown.

If you go to Mixcloud and hear the mind-blowing sonic quality of the SOTT rehearsals, you'll understand. Please please please just go and listen to the first fifteen seconds, honestly:

https://www.mixcloud.com/moontroll/prince-sign-o-the-times-rehearsals-february-1987/

If the remaster's quality even comes anywhere vaguely near that, I will melt into a puddle of amino acids.
posted by bookbook at 6:12 AM on September 25, 2020 [1 favorite]

The CD box set is my partner's Candlenights present (he knows that's what he's getting). I'm pretty sure it's the best gift I'll ever buy him.
posted by minsies at 6:30 AM on September 25, 2020

The Purple Rain super deluxe edition (a much smaller but still excellent collection), has already more than tripled in value. Snatch this up now or have regrets (because jerks like me are buying multiple copies as an investment).
posted by the bricabrac man at 8:17 AM on September 25, 2020

Unlike many remasters I've heard of classic albums, the new one is not simply "louder".. in fact, direct comparison shows that it's a bit warmer, slightly "softer", and isn't as harsh. I really really love it so far.
posted by Chickenring at 12:35 PM on September 25, 2020