Sign o' the Times (film)

Infobox_Film
name = Sign o' the Times


image_size =
imdb_id = 0093970
writer = Prince
starring = Prince, Sheena Easton, Sheila E.
music = Prince
director = Prince, Albert Magnoli (uncredited)
producer = Robert Cavallo, Steven Fargnoli, Joseph Ruffalo
distributor = Cineplex Odeon Films
released = 1987
runtime = 85 min.
language = English

"Sign o' the Times" (or "Sign "☮" the Times") is a film written and directed by Prince. In 1987, to capitalise on his growing success in Europe, Prince toured extensively to promote the album "Sign o' the Times" and sales increased accordingly. However America remained resistant to his latest album, and sales began to drop; it was at this point that Prince decided to film a live concert promoting the new material, for eventual distribution to theaters in America.

Featuring the band that accompanied Prince on his 1987 Sign o' the Times tour, including dancer Cat Glover, drummer Sheila E. and former members of The Revolution, the film sees the group perform live on stage (although U Got The Look is represented by its promotional music video).

The film was originally intended to consist of live material filmed in the Ahoy' in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on June 26, 27 and 28 and in the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium on June 29. However, the footage from these concerts was deemed unsatisfactory: one of the reasons for this was that the film was grainy and unusable. Secondly, some of the sound had been recorded on different channels and was virtually inaudible. Consequently, the live performance was reshot at Prince's Paisley Park Studios (where the between-song segues were also filmed). According to saxophonist Eric Leeds, around 80% of the final film was drawn from the Paisley Park reshoot. [Hahn, A: "Possessed: The Rise & Fall Of Prince", Billboard, 2003.]

Most of the songs are linked by a themed narrative and many film critics were quick to praise Prince as being a better actor live than in the previous year's unsuccessful romantic comedy "Under the Cherry Moon". In total, 13 songs appear on the video - 11 from "Sign o' the Times" and 2 others - a brief piano version of "Little Red Corvette" and a cover version of Charlie Parker's "Now's the Time" (performed without Prince and showcasing each member of the band). Initially, there had been plans to include the full concert which featured many other non-"Sign o' the Times" songs (including "Kiss", "1999", "Purple Rain", "When Doves Cry", "Girls & Boys" and "Let's Go Crazy") but these songs were eventually dropped.The film was eventually premiered in Detroit on October 29, 1987 and released nation-wide on the November 20 in 250 key locations. The film did not perform very well and quickly slipped out of theaters; the sales of the album were not really boosted by the film and it quickly slid out of view in America. Nonetheless, when the film was released on VHS the following year it became extremely popular and received rave reviews, particularly in Britain. "Q Magazine" gave it 4 stars, whilst "Sky Magazine" suggested that it "was the greatest concert movie ever made". The film was released in early 2005 on DVD, although the cut songs still failed to appear with the rest of the footage.

etlist

*"Sign o' the Times"
*"Play In the Sunshine"
*"Little Red Corvette"
*"Housequake"
*"Slow Love"
*"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
*"Hot Thing"
*"Now's the Time"
*"U Got the Look"
*"If I Was Your Girlfriend"
*"Forever in My Life"
*"It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night"
*"The Cross"

Trivia

*In the musical coda for "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man", the horn section lifts a section from "Rockhard In a Funky Place", a "Camille" track also on the "Crystal Ball" track listing, but lost when the 3-LP set was trimmed down. It would later be heard on "The Black Album".

Notes