|
When Doves Cry is a Prince and the Revolution video released for broadcast and to promote the single.
It is Prince’s first video that was not just a simple performance of the song but a fully produced and staged video with its own (although vague) storyline and different backdrops. The video was shot at the A & M Records soundstage in Los Angeles. Photographer Larry Williams, who also worked on other projects for Prince that year including the covers for The Glamorous Life, Ice Cream Castle and Apollonia 6 was hired as director for the video. Before the first shots, Prince let Simon Fields (producer) know that Williams’ presence was not needed: "Prince said to me "He (Larry) doesn’t have to be here." So I gave Larry some magazines and he sat outside and did some reading." Prince handled the directing and the choreography.
Of note, this is the first video to feature the The Revolution with Wendy Melvoin. When Doves Cry also incorporates scenes from the Purple Rain movie two months before its theatrical release in the USA.
Two versions of the video were created for broadcast : the full 5:58 version and an edited 3:45 minute version. Prince reproduced parts of the video on the Purple Rain Tour by using the same costume, props and choreography.
| 
