Strange Relationship

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Strange Relationship

from the album Sign O’ The Times from the album Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition from the album Piano & A Microphone 1983 Song details Performer: Prince First Released: 30 March 1987 - Sign O’ The Times album Album(s): Sign O’ The Times One Nite Alone... Live! Writer(s): Prince Producer(s): Prince Live Appearances First and last live appearance: 24 August 1986: New Morning, Paris, France 28 February 2016 (show 2): Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA, USA Performed regularly on tour: Lovesexy Tour One Nite Alone... Tour Performed occasionally in shows: 1986, 1987, 1988, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2016 (solo piano)

Strange Relationship is the third track on the second disc of Prince’s ninth album Sign O’ The Times. In 2001, a 1987 live version was included as part of NPG Ahdio Show # 4, and the same version was offered as an individual download in 2005. In 2002, a live version was also included as the sixth track on the second disc of One Nite Alone... Live!, Prince’s first live album (along with Muse 2 The Pharaoh, Mellow and The Other Side Of The Pillow from the same show). A brief solo piano rehearsal of the track was released on the 2018 posthumous album Piano & A Microphone 1983, preceded by Mary Don’t You Weep, which also includes some lyrics from Strange Relationship. Initial tracking is believed to have taken place on 14 March 1983 at Prince’s Kiowa Trail Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman reworked the track heavily in one or more sessions in mid-late June and July 1985, adding Fairlight CMI sitar and other overdubs at The Complex Studios, Los Angeles, California. This overdubbed version was included as the seventh track on a late April 1986 configuration of Dream Factory. The song was edited down as the album expanded and was included as the sixth track on the first disc on the 3 June 1986 and 18 July 1986 configurations. When the Revolution disbanded, Prince remixed the song at Sunset Sound in Hollywood, California, to minimize Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman’s involvement. Eric Leeds recorded a saxophone overdub, but Prince removed it from the final mix, which was included as the third track on the 5 November 1986 configuration of the Camille album (to be credited to Camille). A few weeks later, it was included as the sixth track on the second disc of the triple-album Crystal Ball on the 30 November 1986 configuration, which was eventually pared down and became Sign O’ The Times. Probably after its release on Sign O’ The Times, Prince commissioned Shep Pettibone to remix the song, possibly around the same time he also remixed Hot Thing. The 1987 Shep Pettibone Club Mix remained unreleased at the time, but was released on Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition in 2020 as the thirteen and final track of Vault Tracks part 3, one of the discs with previously unreleased tracks. The Super Deluxe Edition set also included (as the sixth track of Vault Tracks part 1) the initial Wendy & Lisa overdubbed version, called Original Version here, although the true original version was recorded in 1983 and remains unreleased. Recording Information Recording Sessions Date Studio Additional info 14 March 1983 (estimate) Kiowa Trail Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA Tracking Late Summer - Autumn 1983 Kiowa Trail Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA Rehearsal recording - (Piano & A Microphone 1983 Version) Late April / early May 1984 Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse, Eden Prairie, MN, USA overdubs 15 & 17 June 1985 (estimate); 21 June 1985; 1 July 1985 The Complex Studios, Los Angeles, CA, USA (Wendy & Lisa) Overdubs, mix (15th), Overdubs, edits (17th); Overdubs, mix (21st, 1st), 15 March 1986 Galpin Blvd Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA Mix 17 or 18 April 1986 Galpin Blvd Home Studio, Chanhassen, MN, USA Mix 25 August 1986 Dierks Studio Mobile Trucks @ Le Zénith, Paris, France Live soundcheck recording 3 November 1986- 5 November 1986 Sunset Sound- Studio 3, Hollywood, CA, USA Mix, minimizing Wendy & Lisa contributions (3rd); Guitar and saxophone overdub, creating instrumental (4th); overdubs, mix (5th) Mid-Late 1987 (assumed) Mastermix Studio, New Jersey remix, additional production, editing by Shep Pettibone Recording Personnel Released versions Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted (credited as Camille for vocals) Wendy Melvoin - tamborine, congas Lisa Coleman - sitar, wooden flute (both from Fairlight) Susan Rogers - engineer Piano & A Microphone 1983 version Prince - all vocals and piano Don Batts - engineer Unreleased original 1983 recording Prince - all vocals and instruments (assumed) Don Batts - engineer Versions Released Versions Title Length Released Version Additional info Strange Relationship 4:04 Sign O’ The Times Studio Strange Relationship 4:04 Sign O’ The Times (Super) Deluxe Edition Studio Remastered in 2020 Strange Relationship 2:38 Piano & A Microphone 1983 'Rehearsal' a.k.a. Strange Relationship (Piano & A Microphone 1983 Version) Strange Relationship (Live '87) 4:41 NPG Music Club .wma download Live 21 March 1987, First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota; edited from full live version Strange Relationship 4:24 One Nite Alone... Live EP promo Live 11 March 2002, Murat Theatre, Indianapolis, IN, USA; longer version than below; begins with spoken intro from previous song, slightly longer audience noise at end without spoken transition Strange Relationship 4:12 One Nite Alone... Live! Live 11 March 2002, Murat Theatre, Indianapolis, IN, USA; slightly alternate edit than above Strange Relationship (Live In Las Vegas) 3:52 Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas promo Live 15 December 2002, Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas, NV, USA Strange Relationship (Original Version) 6:41 Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition Studio Strange Relationship (1987 Shep Pettibone Club Mix) 7:07 Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition Remix Video Versions Title Length Released Version Additional info Strange Relationship 2:30 Lovesexy Live 1 VHS Live 9 September 1988, Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, West Germany Strange Relationship T.B.C. Live At The Aladdin Las Vegas DVD Live 15 December 2002, Aladdin Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, USA Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in... Title Length Released Version Additional info Mary Don’t You Weep 4:42 Piano & A Microphone 1983 album pre-order download Rehearsal Contains lyrical interpolation of Strange Relationship Unreleased Versions Title Version Additional Info Strange Relationship Studio Original 1983 recording Strange Relationship Studio ’sitar' version, edit, as placed on Dream Factory Strange Relationship Studio 1986 mix with saxophone by Eric Leeds (removed for release) Strange Relationship (instrumental) Studio instrumental Strange Relationship Live 21 March 1987, First Avenue, MN, USA; full live and uncensored 13-minute version before editing for download.

Additional Information See also Trivia Sign O’ The Times album Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe Edition album Dream Factory unreleased album Camille unreleased album Crystal Ball unreleased album The “yeah-yeah” in the song is sampled from the song The Visitor of Mick Fleetwood’s 1981 album The Visitor. Probably added by Wendy and Lisa’s reworking in June 1985. Notably some of the drums sounds, best audible in the Wendy and Lisa’s 1985 reworking in June 1985 are from the LinnDrum (sometimes also referred to as LM-2), the successor, of the LM-1. Wendy and Lisa have stated they received the song with the drum parts in place, as well as vocals & piano, and it is unclear if these included the LinnDrum, or that was added by them. References 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) Prince and the Parade/Sign O’ The Times Era Studio Sessions 1985 and 1986, Duane Tudahl (2021)

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