Difference between revisions of "Nothing Compares 2 U"

14 September 1993 - The Hits 1 album (Prince and the New Power Generation version)
19 April 2018 - Nothing Compares 2 U single (Prince version)

The Hits 1
The Hits / The B-Sides
One Nite Alone... Live!
4Ever
Originals

• 13 August 1985: First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota (first performance by The Family); 30 April 1990: Rupert’s, Golden Valley, MN, USA (first performance by Prince)
  
• 14 April 2016 (Show 2): Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA, USA

• Nude Tour
  
• Diamonds And Pearls Tour
  
• Act II (as part of medley)
  
• New Power Soul Tour
  
• New Power Soul Festival Tour
• Hit N Run Tour
  
• A Celebration
  
• One Nite Alone... Tour
• World Tour 2003
• Musicology Live 2004ever
• Per4ming Live 3121
• 21 Nights In London : The Earth Tour
• Prince 20TEN Tour
• Welcome 2 Canada Tour
• Welcome 2 Australia Tour
• Hit And Run Part II

• 1990, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 (solo piano)

Nothing Compares 2 U is the sixth track on The Family’s first and only album The Family. Prince wrote seven of the eight songs on the album, but Nothing Compares 2 U is the only track for which Prince took official credit.

After becoming a worldwide number one single when covered by Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, Prince began playing the song live, and in 1993, he released a live version (sharing lead vocals with Rosie Gaines) as the eleventh track (one of two new tracks) on The Hits 1.

He played it live consistently from 1990 onwards, and in 2002, released another live version as the twelfth track on the second disc of his first live album, One Nite Alone... Live! (along with Xenophobia, Extraordinary, Avalanche, Family Name, Raspberry Beret, The Everlasting Now, Wanna B Ur Lover, Diamonds & Pearls, The Beautiful Ones and How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore from the same show).

Basic tracking for Prince’s original version took place on 15 July 1984 at the Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. with Susannah Melvoin on backing vox (a slighlty altered mix of the original version was released posthumously in 2018). St. Paul Peterson and Susannah Melvoin overdubbed vocals onto the track in late 1984 - early 1985, and Clare Fischer added orchestral overdubs during the same period.

Miles Davis had requested an instrumental of Nothing Compares 2 U to record his trumpet on. But Prince wasn’t keen on that and thought it was corny just to do a trumpet on top of a song that already existed. So around 1991 Prince re-cut it and gave it a different flavor.

Prince was partly inspired in writing the the song by Sandy Scipioni, his personal assistant in the 1980s, who had to leave suddenly after her father’s death (Prince and Scipioni were not in a romantic relationship, however).

Prince’s live version from The Hits 1 went on to be simulcast on US radio stations at 5:07 p.m. CT (6:07 ET/3:07 PT) on 4 May 2016, marking exactly "7 hours and 13 days" since Prince was pronounced dead.

In 2018, a new mix of Prince’s original version was made and released on 19 April 2018 as download file on Tidal and Apple Music as well as streaming on Spotify and Deezer, and on youtube with an accompanying video made up of Flying Cloud Drive Warehouse rehearsal footage. A (limited to 1984 copies) purple vinyl single was available on 21 April 2018 at Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, while a picture disc was available through The Prince official store. A normal black 7 inch single of the song was subsequently available from 25 May. In 2019, Prince’s version was included as the fifteenth and last track on the posthumous album Originals.

The Family version

• St. Paul Peterson - vocals
• Susannah Melvoin - vocals
• Prince - all instruments, except where noted (uncredited)
• Eric Leeds - saxophone
• Clare Fischer - string orchestration
• Jellybean Johnson - credited, but did not contribute
• Jerome Benton - credited, but did not contribute
• Miko Weaver - credited, but did not contribute

Prince and the New Power Generation version

• Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
• Rosie Gaines - co-lead vocals, keyboards
• Michael B. - drums
• Sonny T. - bass guitar
• Levi Seacer, Jr. - guitar
• Brian Gallagher - saxophone
• Kathy Jensen - baritone saxophone

Original version

• Prince - all vocals and instruments, except where noted
• Susannah Melvoin - background vocals
• Eric Leeds - saxophone
• St. Paul Peterson - (inaccurately credited for background vocals on 2018 7" release)

Unreleased 1991 version

• Prince - all instruments (assumed)

• The Family album
• The Family
• The Hits 1 album
• Nothing Compares 2 U promo
• Nothing Compares 2 U 2018 single release
• Nothing Compares 2 U video
• Diamonds And Pearls / Nothing Compares 2 U (Live At Glam Slam) single

• Businessman and future US presidential candidate Donald Trump was in the 200-person audience for the 27 January 1992 (a.m.): Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA live version that was included on The Hits 1. By coincidence, when the track was simulcast on US radio stations at 5:07 p.m. CT (6:07 ET/3:07 PT) on May 4 2016, marking exactly "7 hours and 13 days" since Prince was pronounced dead, Trump had just secured the Republican party nomination for US president a few hours earlier.

• 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)
• http://thelastmiles.com/interviews-alan-leeds.php