Difference between revisions of "Album: Robin Power And The Uptown Dames (1991)"

It is assumed that Robin Power's album would have been released on Paisley Park Records and that Prince would not have written all of the songs as in 1990 he made Power recruit a band of female musicians who contributed to the songwriting. The band was named “The Uptown Dames” and the album may have been released under the Robin Power & The Uptown Dames moniker. They were supposed to be the opening-act for Prince on a future tour and a regular live band at his Glam Slam Club.

The earliest track known to have been recorded with Robin Power is Undercover Lover in late 1989. The song was written by Prince and Levi Seacer, Jr. and was broadcast during The New Power Generation Radio Show in December 1989. Number One was recorded in 1990 and was included in the Graffiti Bridge movie (but not its soundtrack) in which Robin Power acted. A Positive Place was recorded for a configuration of the New Power Generation maxi-single, but was removed from the final release. It is not known if this song was considered for Power's album.

When The Uptown Dames were recruited in Late 1990, their keyboardist and musical director Liza Figueroa was asked to write new music for The Teacher, a rap Prince wrote for Power that they were rehearsing. Figueroa also wrote the music for "Woman's Touch" (the lyrics were written by a teenager named Kou). Other songs recorded during that time were "There's No Time To Spare", "Game Boys", "Power Beat", "It's Been A Long Time" and "Funky Gravy" (authors unknown).

When Prince met Carmen Electra and started to work with her in March 1991, he seemingly quickly lost interest in the Robin Power & The Uptown Dames project. Carmen Electra was the opening-act for Prince and the New Power Generation (on selected dates) during the Diamonds And Pearls Tour the following year and released her eponymous album in 1993. Except for the inclusion of Number One in the Graffiti Bridge movie, all of the songs recorded for the Robin Power & The Uptown Dames album remain unreleased.

The album was never completed but was believed to include:

• Number One ¹
• Undercover Lover ²
• The Teacher ³
• Woman's Touch ⁴
• There's No Time To Spare ⁵
• Game Boys ⁵
• Power Beat ⁵
• It's Been A Long Time ⁵
• Funky Gravy ⁵

All tracks written by Prince except where noted
¹ Written by Robin Power (lyrics) and Prince (music)
² Written by Prince and Levi Seacer, Jr.
³ Written by Prince (lyrics) and Liza Figueroa (music)
⁴ Written by Kou (lyrics) and Liza Figueroa (music)
⁵ Author(s) unknown

• Robin Power - lead vocals
• Prince – all instruments except where noted

The Uptown Dames

• Liza Figueroa– keyboards, background vocals (unidentified tracks)
• Lisa Briones (a.k.a. Lisa B.) – keyboard, background vocals (unidentified tracks)
• Joanie Haywood – bass, background vocals (unidentified tracks)
• Kim Griffen – drums (unidentified tracks)
• Tracy Konigson – guitar, background vocals (unidentified tracks)
• Alisa B. (Anderson), Kim Arland. (a.k.a. Kimberly Dionne), & Kimberly Rasheed - vocals
• Other performance details unknown

• Prince - producer (assumed)

• The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)