Thirteen

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The Third Heart Of The Octopus Menstrual Cycle Originally Dropped From The Moon   < < < Non-Prince Songs All Prince Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   Thirteen And ¼
Thirteen

16 album.jpg
from the album 16
13 single.jpg
single art for 13
Song details
Performer: Madhouse
First Released: 18 November 1987 - 16 album
Album(s): 16
Writer(s): Prince (credited to Madhouse)
Producer(s): Prince (credited to Madhouse)
Live Appearances
First and last live appearance:
  • This track is not believed to have been performed live by Prince or Madhouse
Performed regularly on tour:
  • none
Performed occasionally in shows:
  • none

Thirteen is the fifth track on Madhouse’s second and final album 16, and, four months after the album’s release, 13 was released as the album’s second and final single. Thirteen was written and produced by Prince (credited only to Madhouse), with saxophone and musical input by Eric Leeds.

While specific recording dates are not known, basic tracking took place in the last day of July or the first few days of August 1987 at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota; it is likely that the title was assigned only after the final sequence had been arranged for the album. The album version opens with a sampled line of dialogue by James Caan as Santino 'Sonny' Corleone from the 1972 movie The Godfather (a movie also sampled on Eleven and Sixteen). The chanted opening to the extended The Paisley Park Remix is the second use of vocals (other than sampled) to be used on a Madhouse track (the first being Five). Other than the similarity in numbering and in music style, Thirteen is not related musically to the single b-side Thirteen And ¼.


Recording Information
Recording Sessions
Date Studio Additional info
End of July or early August 1987 Paisley Park Studios,
Chanhassen, MN, USA
Tracking
Recording Personnel

Versions
Released Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Thirteen 4:46 16

13 single (as 13)

Studio
13 (Edit) 2:57 13 single Edit
13 (The Paisley Park Mix) 7:49 13 single Extended version Remix by Susan Rogers
Video Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
13 2:55 Promotional release only Promo video See 13 video for more details
Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Thirteen And ¼ 5:47 13 single Studio Contains sampled vocals and horn lines from 13 (The Paisley Park Mix)
 
Additional Information

See also Trivia

  • It is notable that while the track’s title is Thirteen (written), the single’s title is 13 (numeric).
  • The sampled gunshot sounds in the song are standard samples from the Fairlight CMI synthesizer. They are the same as used in Bob George and in the opening sequence of an unreleased version Play In The Sunshine.

References
The Third Heart Of The Octopus Menstrual Cycle Originally Dropped From The Moon   < < < All Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   Thirteen And ¼