Difference between revisions of "Power Fantastic"

Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition

• 23 June 2002 (a.m.): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA
  
• 11 May 2011: Troubadour: Hollywood, CA, USA

• none

• 2002, 2009, 2011

Power Fantastic is the 20th and final track (second of two previously-unreleased tracks) on The B-Sides compilation (included as the third and final disc on The Hits / The B-Sides).

The song was based on a track called Carousel, written by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman in 1985. Before recording Prince came up with a melody and wrote lyrics for the song. Wendy & Lisa names were left off the credits on the initial release on The Hits / The B-Sides, and the song was initially registered at ASCAP as a Prince solo composition. However this was corrected in September 1993.

The track was recorded live on 19 March 1986 (the same day as And How) at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, during the the first session that yielded material for the Dream Factory album. Prince first recorded a rough vocal guiding the band through the song and later in the same session mixed an instrumental and a version where he re-recorded his vocal (this version was released on The Hits / The B-Sides).

The song was not included on the initial, late April configuration of the Dream Factory album, but was included on a configuration made on 3 June 1986, before being removed again for the July configuration. The instrumental intro to the song was removed when the track was placed on The Hits / The B-Sides in 1993.

The song was mentioned in an early draft (from October 1987) of Graffiti Bridge, but it is not known if the song was re-recorded however. In this version of the script, Power Fantastic was supposed to be sung by the character "Ruthie Washington", who Prince hoped would be played by Madonna.

In September 2020, the initial take (labeled Power Fantastic (Live In Studio)) with Prince guide vocal and instructions, and preserving the original intro, was released as the tenth track of Vault Tracks part 1, one of the discs with previously unreleased tracks included with the Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition.

• Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
• Wendy Melvoin - guitar
• Lisa Coleman - keyboards
• Bobby Z. - drums
• Eric Leeds - flute
• Atlanta Bliss - trumpet

• The Hits / The B-Sides album
• Dream Factory album
• Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition album

• The Hits / The B-Sides liner notes incorrectly state that this song was recorded at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
• The released mix of the Live In Studio version was done by Niko Bolas specifically for the Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition release. It was made to replicate the original mix from the time the song was initially tracked, as much as possible. So even when a slightly different mix of this track might exist, the now released version is not considered a true alternate mix of the track.

• The Vault: The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince (2004)
• Prince Graffiti Bridge Script with Handwritten Notes Auction