Sad Puppet Dance is a song by Ingrid Chavez, recorded with an improvised musical backing by Prince in mid-December 1987, at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota (shortly after cancelling the release of “The Black Album”, during the same set of sessions as Reason Enough, Heaven Must Be Near, Crystal City Cry, Wintersong, Whispering Dandelions, Slappy Dappy, Candle Dance, Elephant Box, Touch Of Love, Blue Boy, Jadestone, Standing In The Rain and Cross The Line). Prince’s backing consisted of sound effects, identical to the synths in the beginning of No (recorded a few days before, on 11 December 1987), and a synth bass tone. Levi Seacer, Jr. recorded a new musical backing for the track in early April 1991, at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California (along with Spiritual Storm). While the 1991 version of Sad Puppet Dance was released as the tenth track on Ingrid Chavez’s eponymous album (also known as May 19, 1992), the released version contains no input by Prince, and this listing includes details only of the version with input by Prince, which remains unreleased.
The song includes a sample of a track from the 1976 compilation Out Of This World - Atmospheric Sounds And Effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Passing Clouds, credited to Roger Limb, that was also used on No, while other effects and sounds from the same album were used on Heaven Must Be Near and Sad Puppet Dance, and possibly also on Slappy Dappy and Jadestone.
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