I was just wondering if anyone knows what’s going on with The Cinderella Theory and Hey Man, Smell My Finger… Both have been out of print for over 3 decades and remain unavailable on streaming platforms.
From what I know from investigating those matters as a Prince fan, the masters for those albums reverted to Prince when WB shut down Paisley Park Records, meaning in all likelyhood, the Prince Estate now owns them.
Very obviously, they won’t bother doing anything with them, but with the 35 years law allowing artists to reclaim their masters, George could already have claimed TCT, and in 2 years he can claim HMSMF.
Does anyone know anything about this? George has famously regained some masters in the past, and he’s still in a legal battle over royalties with Armen Boladian AFAIK, so I’m surprised he didn’t make any move about those two records.
Those albums probably won’t be worth reissuing unless they both feature unreleased tracks. Tracks from HMSMF leaked out prior to the album’s official release. Tracks that were far superior than what was released.
Even without proper physical rereleases (though, yes, of course, deluxe versions with outtakes would be cool, but I really wasn’t even thinking that far), I think they should at the very least be on streaming services. Many people only listen to music though those nowadays, so it’s a sad gap to have in George’s discography for casual listeners. And maybe on LP, too, since the format is back in fashion. But streaming at least would be essential. But I wouldn’t count on the Prince Estate to bother with this.
What I’ve been doing is saving music to my phone and tablet. Then listening to them via local files on Spotify. I know it doesn’t help anyone else, but I at least have them available if I want to listen to them.
I can tell you now that the Paisley Park albums are a low priority for George and his people at this time. Even with the promotion that the second PP album received, overall, that period is definitely of low importance.
Since we’re talking about the Paisley Park albums, I thought you would appreciate this. The reel consists of the original version of Serious Slammin’ without the extra sound effects. Very clean mix.
I always thought it was strange that these albums weren’t streaming. Maybe it has something to do with the contract at the time, making it unclear if it’s WB or the Prince estate that owns the rights to them.. but don’t know.
Picked some random Paisley Park releases around the same time (none core Prince releases) and none of them were up on Spotify. TC Ellis - True Confessions (1991), Ingrid Chavez - May 19 1992 (1991) and Mavis Staples - The Voice (1993). So it doesn’t appear to be specific to GC.
That’s exactly what I’ve been doing . But with another app. Maybe I should try doing it with Spodify..
I bought them on CD at the time and now have a digital copy of them. I don’t even use streaming platforms. I was more concerned about those album’s legacy.
Cool, I wasn’t aware of any demo of TCT circulating, this must be an interesting listen indeed
It’s a pity those albums are left to oblivion. I know they weren’t either critical nor commercial successes, but I happen to love them. TCT, in particular, sounds remarkably futuristic for 1989 IMHO. And Paint The White House Black is the JAM!!
No, most, if not all of those records now most likely belong to the Prince Estate. It’s all the more certain with George’s and Mavis’ given that their second PP albums were both rereleased on NPG Records in 1995. WB (well, WR, now) owns a few PP albums (mostly early ones) and doesn’t seem to care much for them except for The Time and Sheila E., though.
Alan Leeds once explained it: after the first few releases, where the acts were signed directly to WB, they were signed to PP, and the deal said that those records’ masters would revert to Prince if WB ever shut the label (which they did in 1994), and other clues (including the aforementioned rereleases) confirmed this. There may be exceptions, some records being joint ventures with Reprise and TDK, and TC Ellis also said something confusing about signing with WB not Prince in an interview, but it seems most of those albums are now in the hands of the Estate, who clearly doesn’t care about them. Not that they have great commercial potential, but so many obscure albums by obscure artists get rereleased… And Paisley Park was an important part of Prince’s mythology at the time.
Which is even more noteworthy since that album was largely complete by 1987. At least, that’s what was always claimed. Some songs date back to the early 80s.
Was it? I always assumed the change of sound (which is really blatant IMHO) between the Capitol era (including side-projects such as 1988’s Incorporated Thang Band and 1989’s Our Gang Funky and Otis Day & The Knights, which sound more Capitol than Paisley Park IMHO) and TCT were motivated by the change of label (I think I remember an interview where George said Prince’s only request was something in the line of “do something electronic”), and I thought the PP deal was only made in 1988. But IDK, it’s possible that most of the material started in 87, then was overdubbed/modified later. Serious Slammin’ can’t be from 87, since it’s a cover of a 1988 Pointer Sisters song.
Is that Serious Slammin’ one of the reels Carolina Soul sold off? Very cool. I live right by them, so I’ve had the rare treat of winning an auction and waltzing right on over to pick it up. Cool records but no reels for me unfortunately!
The timeline of the 80s projects fascinates me. French Kiss has gotta be mid-80s at latest. I believe it was going to be on one of the aborted Brides albums, plus it’s got the same power drill sounding synth sample that’s on the Tackheads album.
. But with another app. Maybe I should try doing it with Spodify..
