If I Could Get Your Attention
{{song|
|song name = If I Could Get Your Attention
|album image = 
from the album Taja Sevelle
|single image = 
artwork for Tidal release
|performer = Taja Sevelle; Mayte
|first released = 19 September, 1987 - Taja Sevelle album
|album(s) = Taja Sevelle
|writer(s) = Prince and Taja Sevelle (credited to Taja Sevelle)
|producer(s) = Prince (credited to Chico Bennett)
|previous song = If A Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)
|next song = If I Love U 2 Nite
|introduction = If I Could Get Your Attention (a.k.a. If Eye Could Get Ur Attention) is the sixth track on Taja Sevelle's first album Taja Sevelle.
The track was written by Prince, although credited to Taja Sevelle, who wrote additional lyrics, and was produced by Prince (although credited to the album's main producer, Chico Bennett).
In November 2015, a re-recording of the track by Prince (now titled If Eye Could Get Ur Attention) was available to stream as Tidal's Purple Pick of the Week. A few weeks later, on 3 December, 2015, Tidal opened a download store which included If Eye Could Get Ur Attention among many other previously-streamed tracks by Prince (including Stare, Stones (by The Golden Hippie) and Pretzelbodylogic Reloaded, along with the updated version of the album The Chocolate Invasion).
Recording process
Initial tracking of the original version (with Prince on vocals) took place on 10 May, 1986, at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA (four days after recording incidental music for Under The Cherry Moon, on the same day as Frustration, the day before Boy U Bad and It). Recording dates and studio information for Taja Sevelle's vocal overdubs are not known.
In mid-September, 1993, the song was tried out during early sessions for Mayte's first album at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, and was included as the fifth track on an early version of the album, which was titled Latino Barbie Doll at the time. The track was removed when the album evolved into Child Of The Sun, however.
A re-recording of the track with Prince on lead vocals (now titled If Eye Could Get Ur Attention), which was believed to have been recorded in Autumn, 2014, at Paisley Park Studios (during sessions for the Judith Hill album Back In Time), was premiered over the PA prior to an unannounced Prince show at Paisley Park Studios on 16 November, 2014 (am) (along with Revelation, The X's Face, a new recording of A 1,000 Hugs And Kisses, Ain't About 2 Stop and a remix of Pretzelbodylogic), following a show by FKA twigs in a different room.
A 21-second snippet of the same recording was made available almost a year later on Prince's Soundcloud account on 4 November, 2015, five days before the full track was made available on Tidal.
It has been speculated that this new recording was intended for inclusion on Hitnrun Phase Two, but it is not on that release. |recording info = |- align="left" |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|10 May, 1986 |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Initial tracking |- align="left" |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Mid-1986 - mid-1987 |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Studio information needed |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Jill Jones vocal overdubs |- align="left" |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Mid-1986 - mid-1987 |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Studio information needed |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Taja Sevelle vocal overdubs and additional lyrics |- align="left" |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Mid-September, 1993 |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Mayte vocal overdubs |- align="left" |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Autumn 2014 (assumed) |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA |style="border-top:1px dotted #ccc;"|Re-recording |recording personnel = Taja Sevelle version
- Taja Sevelle - vocals
- Prince - all other instruments, except where noted (uncredited)
- Greg Porter - guitar
Mayte version
2014 version
- Prince - lead vocals and all instruments, except where noted
- John Blackwell - drums
- Andrew Gouché - bass guitar
- Dominique "Xavier" Taplin - keyboards
- Marcus Anderson - vocoder saxophone
|released versions =
| Title | Length | Released | Version | Additional info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If I Could Get Your Attention | 3:41 | Taja Sevelle | Studio | Taja Sevelle version |
| If Eye Could Get Ur Attention | 2:43 | Tidal download | Studio | Prince version, 2014 re-recording |
|unreleased versions = |- |style="color:#AB3E00" |Unreleased Versions
|- | valign="top"|
| Title | Version | Additional Info | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| If I Could Get Your Attention | Studio | Jill Jones version, recorded in May '86
|
