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America is the twentieth Prince video to have been released for broadcast; it is the fourth live recording used for a Prince video, but the first live performance video shot at a show staged especially for the video.
On a day off of filming Under The Cherry Moon Prince hired off the Théâtre de Verdure in Nice, France and had it announced on local radio that 2,000 free tickets would be available for the shoot.
Members of The Revolution, including Eric Leeds who was a Revolution regular by now, augmented by Eddie M. from Sheila E.'s band, were flown in for the shoot. The performance shows Prince wearing black pants with white buttons down the legs and a long overcoat. On his head he wears a red bandanna. By the end of the video Prince takes this coat of and is shown to be bare-chested.
From the outset Prince is playing the blue floral airbrushed Fender Telecaster guitar. Prince leads the band through the song as he would normally do with a live performance. By the end of the song he takes over the drums from Bobby Z..
The music of the video is that of the actual live performance, rather than overdubbed with a studio recording of the song. The only graphic element of the song is a forerunner of the Prince symbol, the amalgam of the male and female symbol, projected diagonally reading 'peace' underneath that is projected on screen with Prince cueing 'Peace' for he song to begin.
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