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Movie Star is a song recorded by Prince on 27 March 1986 at his Galpin Blvd Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota (on the same day as Witness 4 The Prosecution). Although this track was not included on a late April 1986 configuration of the Dream Factory album, it was included as the seventeenth track (fifteenth song) on the 3 June 1986 configuration (segueing directly into A Place In Heaven, which includes the final line of dialogue from Movie Star in its opening bars) and as the seventeenth track on the 18 July 1986 configuration (with a complete ending). It was dropped, however, when the project evolved into the Crystal Ball triple LP (completely separate from the 1998 release of the same name).
A cassette containing the song (along with Witness 4 The Prosecution and Chocolate was given to Miles Davis in March 1987. Davis did nothing in the studio with these tracks but he included Movie Star in his live repertoire. He notably played it during a concert given at the Gasteig Philharmonie in Munich, Germany on 18 July 1987, broadcast live by ZDF. This broadcast, more than 10 years before the release of the studio version by Prince, contributes to consider Movie Star as being first officially "released" by Miles Davis. An other live version performed at Montreux, Switzerland in July 1988 was included on the posthumous release The Complete Miles Davis At Montreux 1973-1991 in 2002 (and on a 10-DVD set in 2011).
Prince’s studio version was included as the eighth track on the first disc of his 20th album Crystal Ball (his fourth using the name  ). The album is not clearly divided between Prince tracks and tracks, and the liner notes' discussion of this track does not use either name, but the recording date places it clearly as a "Prince" track, so it is listed as such here. The Crystal Ball liner notes state that the song was chosen for inclusion because it was "D'Angelo’s favorite bootleg". The liner notes also state that the song was written for The Time, although the band was no longer together when Prince recorded the track, and it is unknown if the song was considered for the band when Prince and Morris Day began work on the Corporate World album in 1989. The version released on Crystal Ball contains an opening which samples Jam Of The Year in the background of a party scene.
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Recording Information
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Recording Sessions
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| Date
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Studio
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Additional info
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| 14 March 1986
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Galpin Blvd Home Studio,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Probable tracking, overdubs, mix
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| 15 March 1986
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Galpin Blvd Home Studio,
Chanhassen, MN, USA (assumed)
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Overdubs, mix
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| 15 April 1986
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Galpin Blvd Home Studio,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Overdubs, including horns, mix
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| 20 April 1986
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Galpin Blvd Home Studio,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Possible vocal overdubs, mix
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| 18 July 1987
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Gasteig Philharmonie,
Munich, Germany
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Live recording by Miles Davis and his band (broadcast)
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Recording Personnel
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Miles Davis live version (1987)
Miles Davis live version (1988)
Prince version
- Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
- Wendy Melvoin - spoken vocals (uncredited)
- Unidentified male - spoken vocals
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Versions
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Released Versions
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Broadcasts/streaming (only)
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| Title
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Length
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Released
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Version
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Additional info
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| Movie Star
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6:20
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Live performance broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Gasteig Philharmonie, Munich, Germany on 17 July 1987
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Unreleased Versions
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