Power Fantastic is the 20th and final track (second of two previously-unreleased tracks) on The B-Sides compilation (included as the third and final disc on The Hits / The B-Sides).
The song was based on a track called Carousel, written by Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman in 1985. Before recording Prince came up with a melody and wrote lyrics for the song. Wendy & Lisa names were left off the credits on the initial release on The Hits / The B-Sides, and the song was initially registered at ASCAP as a Prince solo composition. However this was corrected in September 1993.
The track was recorded live on 19 March 1986 (the same day as And How) at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, during the the first session that yielded material for the Dream Factory album. Prince first recorded a rough vocal guiding the band through the song and later in the same session mixed an instrumental and a version where he re-recorded his vocal (this version was released on The Hits / The B-Sides).
The song was not included on the initial, late April configuration of the Dream Factory album, but was included on a configuration made on 3 June 1986, before being removed again for the July configuration. The instrumental intro to the song was removed when the track was placed on The Hits / The B-Sides in 1993.
In September 2020, the initial take with Prince guide vocal and instructions, and preserving the original intro, was released on Sign O’ The Times Super Deluxe as Power Fantastic (Live In Studio).
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