New Prince Album Originals Compiles Demos Of Songs He Gave To Other Artists

New Prince Album Originals Compiles Demos Of Songs He Gave To Other Artists

Prince spent the entirety of the ’80s cranking out hit after hit, and he didn’t even keep all of his best songs for himself. Prince was, of course, a vastly prolific songwriter, and he nurtured a whole supporting cast of all-star proteges: Morris Day & The Time, Sheila E., Vanity 6. One of the coolest things about Purple Rain, Prince’s breakout movie, is that the Time, the movie’s villains, put on performances that are almost electrifying as the once Prince is giving. And those performances are so great, at least in part, because the Time are doing songs that Prince wrote for them. But Prince didn’t just work within his own circle, either. He also wrote songs that became massive hits for other artists, like Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and the Bangles’ “Manic Monday.”

Prince recorded demos of all those songs that ended up in other people’s hands. And pretty soon, we’ll get to hear Prince’s own versions of those songs. Prince’s estate has just announced the impending release of Originals, a new collection of those demos. The album will feature 15 songs, and all but one of them are previously unreleased. (The estate shared Prince’s original of “Nothing Compares 2 U” last year, and it’s incredible.) Music-industry veteran Troy Carter compiled the album on behalf of the Prince Estate and Jay-Z, the guy who brought Prince’s music to streaming when Prince was still alive.

Here’s the Originals tracklist, which looks ridiculously dope.

TRACKLIST
01 “Sex Shooter” (Apollonia 6)
02 “Jungle Love” (The Time)
03 “Manic Monday” (The Bangles)
04 “Noon Rendezvous” (Sheila E.)
05 “Make-Up” (Vanity 6)
06 “100 MPH” (Mazarati)
07 “You’re My Love” (Kenny Rogers)
08 “Holly Rock” (Sheila E.)
09 “Baby, You’re A Trip” (Jill Jones)
10 “The Glamorous Life” (Sheila E.)
11 “Gigolos Get Lonely Too” (The Time)
12 “Love… Thy Will Be Done” (Martika)
13 “Dear Michaelangelo” (Sheila E.)
14 “Wouldn’t You Love To Love Me?” (Taja Sevelle)
15 “Nothing Compares 2 U” (The Family/Sinéad O’Connor)

Originals will be streaming on Tidal, as an exclusive, 6/7. The album will have a wide release on Warner Bros., on all the streaming platforms, 6/21. It’ll be out in a deluxe physical edition, on CD and 180-gram purple vinyl, 7/19.

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