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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 on 24 March 1987 (the evening before Davis’ show at the Orpheum Theater, Minneapolis, MN, USA, which Prince attended). Davis did nothing in the studio with these tracks but he included Movie Star in his live repertoire when he resumed touring in May 1987. He notably played it during a concert given at the Roman Amphitheatre
Caesarea, Israel on 3 June 1987, broadcast live by Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). This broadcast and others that followed in 1987 and 1988, more than 10 years before the release of the studio version by Prince, contribute to consider Movie Star as being first officially "released" by Miles Davis. His version contains additional sound effects (street and car sounds) and horn lines. 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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| 3 June 1987
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Roman Amphitheatre,
Caesarea, Israel
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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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5:41
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Live performance broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Roman Amphitheatre, Caesarea, Israel on 3 June 1987 (broadcast by IBA)
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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, (West) Germany on 17 July 1987 (broadcast by ZDF)
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| Movie Star
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5:49
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Live performance radio broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Fabrik, Hamburg, (West) Germany on 24 November 1987 (broadcast by NDR)
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| Movie Star
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5:35
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Live performance radio broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Palais Paul Videl, Miramas, France on 16 February 1988
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| Movie Star
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3:58
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Live performance radio broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Melbourne Concert Hall, Melbourne, Australia on 2 May 1988 (broadcast by ABC-FM radio)
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| Movie Star
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5:40
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Live performance broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Sala Kongresowa, Warsaw, Poland on 30 October 1988 (broadcast by TV-Polska)
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| Movie Star
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4:58
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Live performance radio broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Indigo Blues, New York NY, USA on 18 December 1988 (boradcast by American Public Radio)
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| Movie Star
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4:58
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Delayed live performance radio broadcast
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Live
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Miles Davis and his band at Jardin des Arènes de Cimiez, Nice, France on 14 July 1988; (broadcast by France Musique in 2015)
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Unreleased Versions
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