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The Latest Fashion is the 13th track on Prince’s twelfth album Graffiti Bridge (the fourth track on the album to be credited to The Time, and the only track to be credited to The Time with Prince). Four and a half months after the album’s release, the track was included as the b-side of Shake!, the album’s fifth and final single (and first and only by The Time). A performance of the track was shot for the movie Graffiti Bridge but not kept on the final cut.
While specific recording dates are not known, basic tracking took place in early April 1987 at Prince’s Galpin Blvd Home Studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota (during the same set of sessions that produced So Strong, shortly before departing for Europe for Sign O’ The Times Tour rehearsals). Along with So Strong, it was sent to Dale Bozzio for possible inclusion on her album Riot In English, but the track was rejected.
In July or August 1989, Morris Day recorded co-lead vocal overdubs at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota as Prince and Day worked on The Time’s Corporate World album (during the same sessions that produced Murph Drag, Nine Lives, Donald Trump (Black Version), Love Machine, Shake!, Corporate World and Release It).
Candy Dulfer added saxophone to the track at Paisley Park Studios in late July 1989 (along with saxophone overdubs on Love Machine, My Summertime Thang, Release It, Murph Drag, Donald Trump (Black Version), Data Bank and My Baby Knows). The song was included as the eighth track on the Corporate World album in early September 1989, as planned for release in November 1989. The album was abandoned when Warner Bros. wanted to involve the other original members of The Time, but many of the tracks were saved for Pandemonium and Graffiti Bridge.
The Graffiti Bridge version of The Latest Fashion used completely different music to the Corporate World version. The song was heavily reworked (most likely solely by Prince) and reuses the music from My Summertime Thang (also intended for release on Corporate World and finally included on Pandemonium). Parts of Morris Day’s vocals (as well the crowd noise) from the versions intended for the Corporate World album of The Latest Fashion and (the longer version of) My Summertime Thang were also used to create a 'duet' with Prince.
The track was remixed in September or October 1990 at Larrabee Sound Studios in North Hollywood, California, during recording and remix sessions for the New Power Generation maxi-single.
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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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| Early April 1987
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Galpin Blvd Home Studio,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Tracking
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| Late July 1989
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Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Saxophone overdubs by Candy Dulfer
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| July - August 1989 (assumed)
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Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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Co-lead vocal overdubs by Morris Day
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| September 1989 - early 1990
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Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
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re-recording of lead vox to My Summertime Thang music
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| September - October 1990
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Larrabee Sound Studios,
North Hollywood, CA, USA
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Remix by Michael Koppelman, Prince and Sylvia Massy (and vocal overdubs by Prince)
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Recording Personnel
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Released version
Unreleased 1987 version
- Prince - all vocals and instruments (assumed)
Unreleased The Time version
- Morris Day - lead vocals
- Prince - all instruments, except where noted
- Candy Dulfer - saxophone
- Unidentified female vocalist(s) - background vocals
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Versions
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Released Versions
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Video Versions
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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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| The Latest Fashion
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0:20
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Graffiti Bridge film
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Studio
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Used as background music. Released on VHS and DVD.
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Broadcasts/streaming (only)
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Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
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Unreleased Versions
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| Title
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Version
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Additional Info
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| The Latest Fashion
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Studio
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Original 1987 version
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| The Latest Fashion
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Studio
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1989 version before saxophone overdubs
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| The Latest Fashion
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Studio
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Original Corporate World version; completely different music
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