Difference between revisions of "Desire"

• 13 August 1985, First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota (first performance by The Family)
  
• This song is not believed to have been performed live by Prince

• none

• 1985 (by The Family)

Desire is the eighth and final track on The Family’s first and only album The Family. The song was written by Prince, but credited to St. Paul Peterson.

Basic tracking of this track, initially as an instrumental with the working title Ecstasy, took place on 27 June 1984 at the Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse in Eden Prairie, MN, USA (five days after recording Mazarati – later renamed Susannah’s Pajamas, on the same day High Fashion and Mutiny).

St. Paul Peterson and Susannah Melvoin overdubbed vocals onto the track in late 1984 - early 1985, and Clare Fischer added orchestral overdubs during the same period. Saxophone overdubs by Eric Leeds were recorded a few days later, on 2 July 1984. It was the first song written by Prince that Eric Leeds worked on.

Phrases from the track were later used by Eric Leeds on his track Aguadilla on his 1993 album Things Left Unsaid, and co-writing credit was given to Prince as a result, but Prince was otherwise not directly involved in the track. An earlier version of Aguadilla, titled Portofino, was considered for the Times Square album (supplanted by Lines), but it is unclear however if it already had the Desire reference.

• St. Paul Peterson - vocals
• Susannah Melvoin - vocals
• Prince - all instruments, except where noted (uncredited)
• Eric Leeds - saxophone
• Clare Fischer - string orchestration
• Jellybean Johnson - credited, but did not contribute
• Jerome Benton - credited, but did not contribute
• Miko Weaver - credited, but did not contribute

• The Family album
• The Family

• The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)
• Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions 1983 and 1984 (Expanded Edition, paperback), Duane Tudahl (2018)