Pumpin’ The Big Noise In The 90’s
Graffiti Bridge is a bad album. There is no other way to say it. It is not as bad as the movie that shares its name, but that’s not saying much. In the end, the album was doomed right along with the movie.
Some Notes On The Film
One of the tragedies of filmmaking is that it is virtually impossible to do if you are lazy. If you have somehow managed to create a ninety-minute feature film that can be screened in a theater, there is simply no way you have not done a tremendous amount of work. Allowing for differences in budget, it takes basically the same amount of work to make a good film as a bad one. The main difference is the reliability of air conditioning at the hotel at the end of the day. The idea that it took almost the same amount of work to create Dead Poets Society as it did to create Graffiti Bridge should give us all shivers.
During post-production for Graffiti Bridge, Prince gave an interview during which he was asked if he had learned anything from the failure of Under the Cherry Moon. He replied:
“I learned I can’t direct anything I didn’t write.”
Graffiti Bridge should have taught him he also couldn’t direct something he had written. Also, he couldn’t write.
These are not in themselves things to be embarrassed about. I can tell you from personal experience that screenwriting is a difficult, sometimes frustrating process that takes time to figure out, even if someone has a natural inclination, years of fiction writing under their belt, and experienced teachers. Actually directing a film is hundreds of times harder than that. If you don’t believe me, google something called the “180 Rule.” This rule is fundamental to shooting scenes in a way that allows you to edit things together later in a way that makes sense to an audience. Even if it seems simple, trust me it’s not. I have seen groups of graduate students, all of whom were intelligent and talented, many of whom were brilliant, all standing around on sound stages and locations, and once in the middle of a street, trying to figure out where the hell the 180 line is. And that’s just one rule.
The fact that Prince could not simply walk on to a set and direct a film is not something to laugh at him for. The fact that he genuinely seems to have believed he could do so is absolutely ridiculous. Pure hubris. He was in far over his head, and it shows in every single frame of Graffiti Bridge. The story wanders, the pace is non-existent, the stakes are unclear, and the jokes are positively the opposite of comedy. For example:
This movie seems to have been percolating since some time in 1987. The first draft of the screenplay (or possibly it was just a treatment) was put together in September 1987 and was intended to have Madonna as Prince’s love interest. When she passed on the project it was shelved and Prince did not return to it until the summer of 1989. Shooting took place in February and March 1990, after Prince rewrote the script to make it into a sequel to Purple Rain in order to make it easier to secure financing from Warner Bros.
By September, Warner Bros. had brought in their own editor in an effort to save the film, and reshoots had been commissioned to take place on a Hollywood soundstage. In all, Warner Bros. spent about $14.5 million on Graffiti Bridge, largely because they thought a low-budget sequel to Purple Rain couldn’t miss. They were incorrect. It made about $4.5 million. And so, mercifully, Prince’s career as a filmmaker came to an end.
I’m Testing Positive For The Funk
As suggested above, Prince put a tremendous amount of creative focus on the film, which actually put a dent into his usually constant musical creativity. Much of the music on Graffiti Bridge came from the vault. The usual process was to reach into the pile of vault material for something that would do what the script required.
It makes a certain amount of sense how this happened. While writing the script, he reached a point that essentially had a space that read “Song Here,” and since he was a person who valued speed above all things in his creative process, he used a song he had already written, spruced it up with whatever he thought was a “90’s” sound and dropped it into the movie. It also allowed him to focus on his other musical goals for the project.
It’s pretty clear Prince wanted to address the failings of Lovesexy with Graffiti Bridge, or at least make a start at making the latest movements in music a part of his sound. The two genres he seems to have been most interested in were house and hip-hop, or at least they are the ones he most spoke of, and certainly they are reflected in his music. Sadly, in the case of hip-hop, it would be several years before Prince got to grips with how best to utilize the genre to the best effect in his work. Even then, his efforts were always hit-or-miss.
Spoiler Alert: In album, they will all miss.
The other goal he seems to have had is mostly something that I believe happened, but cannot find any direct evidence for. I think he was trying to make Paisley Park Records more than just a “vanity label.” In the past few years, he had signed several artists, including a young Tevin Campbell, as well as legendary artists George Clinton and Mavis Staples. Unlike Purple Rain, he seems to have had a real interest in featuring other artists on the soundtrack to Graffiti Bridge.
As a final note before diving into the tracklist there is one thing I would like to say. Yes, Graffiti Bridge is a bad album, but there are several parts of this album that are greater than the whole. My favorite song by Prince is on this album if you can believe that. So even though it’s a terrible album, look through the tracklist, because honestly, it’s not solid terrible music. It’s just that the bad stuff is really, really terrible.
Tracklist
Can’t Stop This Feeling I Got
If album openers tell you anything about the content of the rest of the album, this one tells you what you’re about to hear is a resounding “meh.” As with most of the songs credited to “Prince” on the album, this one is a vault track, and is one of the older ones, dating all the way back to 1982. Well, I say that, but this is a complete re-recording made in 1990, to be perfectly fair. It’s only real fault is a terminal lack of any special qualities. It’s a Prince rock-influenced pop track. That’s it.
New Power Generation (pt I)
Normally, I don’t link to any music here, because I’m trying to encourage a reader to track down large chunks of Prince’s work, because I think most of the time the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I’m making an exception here. But, ideally, you’d listen to maybe at most a minute of this song.
Now, let me ask you: What is this song doing as the second track of this album? Never mind the cheezy production, ignore the MC Hammer impersonator trying to convince you that this will be the sound that defines the decade. Is this not obviously the statement of intent for this group of songs in exactly the same way “Let’s Go Crazy” was, or “Sign O The Times” was? It really says something about Prince’s artistic focus that he could make so elementary a mistake on this album.
This is another song from the 1999 sessions, where it was originally called “Bold Generation.” This re-recording benefits from the changed lyrics. On the other hand, one review I read of this album and movie noted the lyrics “the only thing that’s in our way is you. Your old fashioned music / your old ideas. We’re sick and tired of you telling us what to do,” and retorted, “Please. This brother’s over thirty.” Hard to argue with that.
Side note: Morris Day is on the drums here.
Release It – The Time
This is a track originally written and recorded in 1989 for the Corporate World album that made its way here. This might be Prince’s first truly overt effort at hip-hop. Morris does make a marginally better MC than Prince. The beat is a sample of “Squib Cakes” by Tower of Power – a great song worth checking out. Candy Dulfer provided sax, Jerome did some vocals, and everything else (as usual) was Prince.
The Question Of U
This is one of the songs on the album that keep the whole thing from being worthless. It’s a fantastic, sad ballad with one of Prince’s finest guitar performances and some really clever arrangements. This is a vault track, originally recorded in 1985, this version is a re-recording began in 1986 and finished with overdubs in 1987. According to Princevault.com, Clare Fischer did record some orchestral parts, but they were only utilized on the Nude Tour (which was the closest thing to a tour for this album).
Elephants & Flowers
Another song that does its best to save this doomed album. Originally recorded in 1988 for an album called Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, when that was abandoned, it was shifted over to this project. It has some of Prince’s trippiest, most psychedelic lyrics.
Round And Round – Tevin Campbell
It’s unclear exactly how much of an interest Prince took in Tevin Campbell’s early career, but he definitely saw a lot of potential in him, because he gave his most radio – ready song in this project to him. “Round And Round” is exactly what it should be – a frothy, danceable, attractive yet approachable song that promotes hard work and aw-shucks good old American values. If it hadn’t been attached to this absolute stink bomb, it would have been a hit.
We Can Funk – George Clinton & Prince
This one dates back to New Year’s Eve 1983, where it had a much more NSFW title. I’m certain you can do the math on that one. That original version has only Prince on vocals, and a much simpler arrangement. Also it goes on for about ten minutes. The version that appears here is not a complete remake. It is the 1983 studio version cut down, overdubbed to make it “We Can Funk” (which I’m certain took quite a while to do), and given some extra instrumentation by Prince and co-lead vocals by George Clinton. All pretty much par for the course. In an unusual turn, however, he then gave the recording to George, who went off to Detroit with his band and did further production and tracking with his band – with no input from Prince. And that version appears here. As far as I know, that’s pretty much the only time something like that ever happens.
Joy In Repetition
This is my favorite Prince song. I remember the first time I listened to this album. I was just beginning to accept that one of the pitfalls of being enamored of a prolific artist is they can’t all be Sign O The Times and then this song came on. The structure of this song is weird, the production feels a little off somehow, and the crowd noise is obviously the same recording used at the end of “Eye No” but none of it matters. Also, this song contains one of the tastiest guitar solos you have never heard. The whole song is just so good.
Love Machine – The Time
Originally recorded in 1989 as a duet with Prince and Jill Jones, this was then recorded with Morris Day and Elisa Fiorillo on vocals. Which is a shame, because Elisa Fiorillo would be associated with Prince until his passing, working with him on and off in various capacities. It makes me sad that this is her first appearance. The only bright side is that at least this didn’t end up on The Time’s album, where it might have been made a single in a moment of madness.
Tick, Tick, Bang
Probably my least favorite Prince song. Sort of the opposite of “Joy In Repettition.” I’m pretty sure this is the oldest song on the album, dating from 1981, when it sounded like an imitation Ramones song. In 1990, it was completely remade, I assume to its disadvantage. I don’t often say this about Prince songs, but in this case I must: It’s terrible.
Shake – The Time
I kinda like this one, in spite of the cheezy production and throwaway lyrics. Somehow it’s exactly the sort of thing that Morris Day can really sell the hell out of. Most of the best music on this album was written during the time the script was being written, rather than shoehorned into the style Prince was shooting for on the album.
Thieves In The Temple
If you’ve heard a song from this album, it’s probably this one. It is the last song recorded for the album, just about a week before the last draft of the script was completed. It is the one indication that maybe Prince still had some ideas left after the decade with which he would always be most associated had ended. What I think makes it so effective is the total lack of any effort to sound “contemporary.” He is always at his best when he is just doing whatever seems right at the time. Unfortunately, it would still take him a few years to learn that lesson once and for all, but this is a clear sign that he had the ability to do so.
The Latest Fashion – The Time with Prince
This is the track that makes me wish Prince and Morris Day had found a way to work together at least one more time. This is a great track. If you’ve been listening along to these essays, you will notice that this song is built on the same basic tracks as The Time’s “My Summertime Thang” from last week, but all the vocal tracks have been pulled and tons of other instrumentation and other stuff has been done. The original version of this song dates back to 1987, but was much slower and down-tempo. This version is much more of a dance track. Even though Prince does have some vocals on this, Morris is very much front and center, as he should be. The lyrics are clearly meant to be delivered with his trademark swagger. Again, should have been a single.
Melody Cool – Mavis Staples
Prince loved to hear Mavis Staples sing. I think he signed her to Paisley Park just to get the opportunity to hear her more often. A similar situation existed with The Steeles, who sing backup here, and all of these people are such experienced, talented gospel singers, they roll through everything Prince can throw at them with an apparent lack of effort even Prince cannot manage. Not Prince’s best writing, but nevertheless worth listening to just to hear these legendary singers.
Still Would Stand All Time
There are two ballads back to back on the album, this is the first, and probably the best. It’s definitely a lamentation of the state of the world, and does have that naïve Prince quality that characterizes his worldview. It does predate work on the film, but only by a few months. It was originally recorded in October 1988, and a year later overdubs and background vocals were added, completing the track. The Steeles, Jill Jones, and weirdly The Time minus Morris Day are the choir in the background.
Graffiti Bridge
This is the other ballad. It dates from the original 1987 treatment for the film, and is actually the earliest song completely recorded at Paisley Park with Prince vocals to be released. The problem is “Still Would Stand All Time” fulfills the function of “Purple Rain” so much better than this song, that it becomes redundant. This is not what you want from your title track.
New Power Generation (pt II)
Once again, we have further evidence that it’s obvious that New Power Generation should have been the album opener. Who bookends an album with the second track and the last track? It makes no sense.
As he tried to find a way to get hip-hop into his work, it seemed (for some reason) that one good way to achieve that goal, if Prince did not have the street cred, was to hire a stunt rapper. In this case, he got T.C. Ellis, who very much fit the “M.C. Hammer” mold, and here raps about the dangers of cocaine and how following Jesus saved his life. How this translates to street cred I’m not sure, but in 1990, this was Prince’s plan.
Singles
Thieves In The Temple
Now that we’re in the 90’s, the variety of singles and material on them will explode, so I’m going to do my best, but to be fair, the “singles” section of any of these entries from here on out should be considered non-exhaustive.
The 12 inch and CD-Maxi singles of “Thieves In The Temple” have an interesting “extended” eight-minute version of the original album track. It amounts to a long coda recorded by Prince himself that is worth listening to. Parts of this are featured in the video for the song, as well as the film.
Also there is a house mix as well as the house dub. Like most “house” mixes of the time, this one basically makes “Thieves In The Temple” sound a bit like “Vogue.”
Round And Round – Tevin Campbell
This one is supposed to have a “Soul Mix” that sounds like it would be a remix in line with what is expected for the time, which is to say the entire backing track stripped out and replaced. In this case, it really seems to be a remix in the more classical sense: the original backing tracks with the levels and EQ’s set differently.
Yup, there’s a house mix. Yup, it makes “Round And Round” sound like “Vogue.”
New Power Generation
The Maxi-Single of “New Power Generation” is something of an experiment. There is a mild remix of the album track in place of what would normally have been the A-Side, and several tracks’ worth of non-album B-Sides, all of which use at least some tracks from “New Power Generation” as their base. It amounts to something between a 12-inch single and an EP release. The tracks are:
1 New Power Generation (Funky Weapon Remix) - A five-minute version of “New Power Generation” that combines material from parts I & II from the album, while omitting the rap verse.
2. TC’s Rap – The rap verse from part II split up with choruses interspersed. It feels even more like MC Hammer in this form.
3 Brother With A Purpose – Another hip-hop adjacent version of the song, this one notable for being the first track to feature Tony Mosely, who would soon join Prince’s band.
4 Get Off – Not to be confused with “Gett Off,” one of Prince’s more famous A-Sides, this B-Side is probably best forgotten.
5 The Lubricated Lady – Essentially a slowed-down dub version of “Get Off”
6 Loveleft, Loveright – Another throwaway song that is more of interest for the noodly, experimental nature of the instrumentation than anything in the lyrics or melody.
Melody Cool – Mavis Staples
I am a little lukewarm on “Melody Cool,” but the B-Side is “Time Waits For No One” which is a stone classic. Track that one down. Meanwhile, the usual remixes accompany the 12 inch single, including one by Junior Vasquez which trades making the song sound like “Vogue” for making it sound like any song by Technotronic.
Shake! – The Time
Again, routine remixes, the real point of interest being the B-Side. “The Latest Fashion” gets a light remix that extends the song by about two minutes. Apart from that, you get the routine remixes. Which is a little sad, because this is the last mention The Time will get in this series. I feel like they’re going with more of a whimper than a bang.
NEXT WEEK: Madhouse almost returns!
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