Symbol segues

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Symbolpurple.png segues

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from the album SymbolSmallerBlue.png

Album segues details


Performer: Prince and the New Power Generation
First Released: 13 October, 1992 - SymbolSmallerBlue.png album
Album(s): SymbolSmallerBlue.png
Writer(s): Prince (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation)
Producer(s): Prince (credited to Prince and the New Power Generation)

SymbolSmaller.png segues are a series of segues included on Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation. The two segues included on the album are staged telephone conversations between Prince and a reporter, Vanessa Bartholomew (played by actress Kirstie Alley), in which she attempts to interview Prince and ask him about his relationship with Mayte, whom she describes as the 16-year-old "crown princess of Cairo".

Recording of the segues took place in early 1992, most likely at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, although Alley’s parts were recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles, California.

Various other segues not included on the album were also recorded, which more fully explained the story Prince had planned with the album; a March, 1992, and a May, 1992, configurations of the album contained nine segues, and a late-Summer, 1992, configuration contained eight; most of these were removed from the album prior to release to make room for EyeBlue.png Wanna Melt With U, which was recorded in July, 1992.

Except for the Album intro, the segues were not given a known specific titles. Of the nine initial segues (from March, 1992, configuration):
- 2 were released as individual tracks on the SymbolSmallerBlue.png album (listed as Segue [# 1] and Segue [# 2] below)
- a conversation between Prince and Vanessa Bartholomew was included at the end of Damn U on the official release (while it was initially planned to be a separate track before Arrogance). This segue is not listed below.
- 6 segues were not included on the album (listed as Album Intro, and Unreleased Segue # 1 to Unreleased Segue # 5)
Two of these segues were included on the 3 Chains O’ Gold home video and/or the 7 video to explain the story of the album in more detail.

Additionally, a dialogue between Prince and Kirk Johnson was added at the end of My Name Is Prince on the album and in the Sexy M.F. but seems to never have been considered as an individual track.


Recording Information
Recording Sessions
Date Studio Additional info
Early 1992 Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA or Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, USA (unverified) Segue recordings
Early 1992 Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA or Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA, USA (unverified) Segue recordings (Kirstie Alley vocals)
Recording Personnel

Titles
Segue # 1

Segue [# 1] is the sixth track (between The Max and Blue Light) on Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

After hearing a telephone ring, the listener hears a conversation between Prince and Vanessa Bartholomew; Prince is initially interested in talking and flirts with her, until she lets him know that she is recording the conversation, at which time he hangs up.

This segue was included as the 9th track on the March, 1992 configuration (between Blue Light and However Much U Want) and as the eighth track on both the May, 1992, and the late-Summer, 1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png (between The Max and Blue Light), before many of the other segues were removed before the album’s release.

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue 0:21 SymbolSmallerBlue.png Segue



Sampled/Quoted in...

Title Length Released Version Additional info
3 Chains O’ Gold 2:37 3 Chains O’ Gold VHS/laserdisc Promo video Orchestral parts of 3 Chains O’ Gold mixed with Kirstie Alley’s voice lifted from the Symbol album segues and a new storyline by Mayte



Segue # 2

Segue [# 2] is the 17th track (between 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor) on Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

After hearing a telephone ring, the listener hears a second conversation between Prince and "Vanessa Bartholomew"; Prince is now using a "tongue box" to disguise his voice ("Oh, like in the movie Barbarella?" Bartholomew asks), but he avoids her multiple questions and responds with riddles, saying that he is 420 years old.

The original version of this segue was longer, and has Bartholomew explaining that there is a "half a million dollar reward" for the capture of the thieves of the "three chains of Turin" (mentioned in other unreleased segues).

The original version of this segue was included as the 11th track on the March, 1992 configuration (between However Much U Want and Sweet Baby) and as the 10th track on the May, 1992, configuration of SymbolSmallerBlue.png (between Blue Light and Sweet Baby). The edited version was included as the 23rd track on the late-Summer, 1992, configuration, before many of the other segues were removed before the album’s release

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue 1:29 SymbolSmallerBlue.png Segue


Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue - Unreleased Segue Edited for release (see notes above)




Sampled/Quoted in...

Title Length Released Version Additional info
3 Chains O’ Gold 2:37 3 Chains O’ Gold VHS/laserdisc Promo video Orchestral parts of 3 Chains O’ Gold mixed with Kirstie Alley’s voice lifted from the Symbol album segues and a new storyline by Mayte



Album Intro

Album Intro is an unreleased segue recorded for Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

Intended to open the album, the intro (with an unidentified male speaking) sets the time and place as Minneapolis in 1997.

A boy called Michael digs in some dirt and finds a box containing the "three chains of Turin" (which, as shown on the 3 Chains O’ Gold home video, together make up the symbol SymbolSmaller.png). He takes them to show his mother, the "Egyptian princess" Mayte, but is distracted by TV reporter Vanessa Bartholomew, who is reporting that Prince and the New Power Generation are embarking on "a series of concerts in which they perform an opera of entirely new music".

Michael then shows the chains to his mother, who remembers back five years to 1992, at which point My Name Is Prince begins. This segue contains a string sample lifted from Violet The Organ Grinder.

The track was included as the first track on the March,1992, the May, 1992, and the late-Summer, 1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png, but was removed for the final release.

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Album Intro - Unreleased Segue


Unreleased Segue # 1

The unreleased Segue [# 1] was recorded for Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

Intended to fit between Sexy M.F. and Love 2 The 9’s, the segue consists of a man (possibly Tommy Barbarella) handing a tape to Prince on behalf of Mayte. The man says that she’s gone and he couldn’t stop her as she had seven goons with her. The tape contains a message by Mayte over a synth sound that was also used for the intro of The Max. Starting by "Hello darling, so finally we meet" (later sampled on 2 Whom It May Concern), Mayte says that she went back to Egypt. She announces him that he now has in his possession the three chains of Turin and ask him to keep them safe because they are all she has in this world, besides him.

The track was included as the 4th track on the March, 1992, the May, 1992, and the late-Summer, 1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png, but was removed for the final release.

Mayte’s videotaped message was included in full in the 3 Chains O’ Gold home video between My Name Is Prince and Sexy M.F..

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue [# 1] - Unreleased Segue Sampled on 2 Whom It May Concern and partially included on the 3 Chains O’ Gold home video.



Unreleased Segue # 2

The unreleased Segue [# 2] was recorded for Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

Intended to fit between Sweet Baby and The Continental, the segue consists of Kirk Johnson telling Prince to cheer up and to hang out with the band.

Prince then hears Mayte saying "they’re all I have in the world", referring to the chains of Turin, before a choir says "3 chains o’ gold" (lifted from the song).

The track was included as the twelfth track on the March, 1992, and late-Summer, 1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png, but was removed for the final release.

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue [# 2] - Unreleased Segue


Unreleased Segue # 3

The unreleased Segue [# 3] was recorded for Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

Intended to fit between The Flow and 7, the segue consists of Mayte telling Prince that she is the sole heir to a $10 million estate that her father left her when he was killed by the seven men who are her bodyguards; she believes they are now after her and the chains of Turin.

She states "They must never find them. They must never find us. If anything should happen to you..." before 7 begins. This segue is used as the intro for the video of 7.

The track was included as the 19th track on the March, 1992, configuration and the as the 18th track on the May, 1992, and late-Summer, 1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png, but was removed for the final release.

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue [# 3] - Unreleased Segue Used as the intro of the 7 video and included as such in the 3 Chains O’ Gold home video.



Unreleased Segue # 4

The unreleased Segue [# 4] was recorded for Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

Intended to fit between 7 and And God Created Woman, the segue consists of Mayte saying to Prince "Look now into the mirror. If you are the beginning, I am the end, and all things in between are reflected therein..."

The segue was included as the 21st track on the March, 1992, configuration and as the 20th track on the May, 1992, and late-Summer, 1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png, but was removed for the final release.

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue [# 4] - Unreleased Segue


Unreleased Segue # 5

The unreleased Segue [# 5] was recorded for Prince’s 14th album SymbolSmallerBlue.png, the second album to be credited to Prince and the New Power Generation.

Intended to fit between 3 Chains O’ Gold and The Sacrifice Of Victor, the segue consists of Prince and Mayte on an airplane on their way to Minneapolis, where they live and have a child (Michael, from the Album Intro). It features the same (unidentified) narrator from the Album intro and Vanessa Bartholomew asking why don’t you tell me the truth? from Segue [# 2].

The segue was included as the 24th track on the March, 1992, and as the 23rd track on the May,1992, configurations of SymbolSmallerBlue.png, but was removed for the late-Summer, 1992, configuration, and for the final release.

Versions

Title Length Released Version Additional info
Segue [# 5] - Unreleased Segue


 
Additional Information

See also Trivia

  • Prince’s use of segues on SymbolSmallerBlue.png was the first time segues had been included on an album released under his own name.

References
All Songs All Segues Carmen Electra album segues