| First posted 3/9/2021. |
The Aborted Albums from 1986 |
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A Brief History: In between the release of Parade in 1986 and Sign ‘O’ the Times in 1987, Prince was incredibly prolific, recording material for three different proposed albums. All were aborted, but songs from all three projects survived to see the light of day on Sign ‘O’ the Times. The Albums: These three albums are spotlighted on this page. Appearing after song titles are the songwriters in italicized parentheses, running times in brackets, and when relevant, the date the song was released as a single and its peaks on various charts.
Finally, there are raised number codes indicating what album(s) the songs eventually appeared on.
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Dream FactoryPrince |
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Intended Release Date: mid-1986 Recorded: 1982 – July 1986 Charted: NA Peak: NA Sales (in millions): NA Genre: R&B/funk |
Tracks (April 1986 configuration): Song Title [Time] (Writers)
Written by Prince unless noted otherwise. Tracks (June 3, 1986 configuration): Song Title [Time] (Writers)
Written by Prince unless noted otherwise. Tracks (July 18, 1986 configuration): Song Title [Time] (Writers)
Written by Prince unless noted otherwise. These songs were released in some version or another on the following albums: The Players:
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Rating:  2.137 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)
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About Dream Factory: After the release of 1986’s Parade, Prince recorded a wealth of material. Prior to the double album release Sign ‘O’ the Times in 1987, Prince put together what could have been two more albums with Dream Factory and Camille. The former represented the last hurrah for his backing band, the Revolution, whom had worked with him since the 1999 album in 1982. On October 7, Prince fired Wendy, Lisa, Bobby Z, and Mark Brown. MM-61 Vibe magazine did a feature in March 2009 on “51 Albums That Never Were” and included Dream Factory on its list as a “coulda-been classic.” WK-1 The April Configuration: He pieced together the first version, an 11-track album, in April 1986. Alternate double-album versions surfaced in June and July. Most of the songs were recorded in 1986, but versions of “Strange Relationship,” “Teacher Teacher,” and “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” date back to the summer of 1982. PV-1 The title cut was recorded in December 1985. In mid-March of 1986, Prince set to work recording in his new home studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. From then through mid-April, he recorded “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker,” “Power Fantastic,” “A Place in Heaven,” “Movie Star,” and Witness 4 the Prosecution.” PV-1 During this same time, he recorded “And That Says What?” at Washington Avenue Warehouse in Edina, Minnesota. PV-1 In mid-April, Prince recorded “Crystal Ball,” “Starfish and Coffee,” “Big Tall Wall,” and “Visions.” PV-1 The June Configuration: After putting together the tentative 11-track listing for Dream Factory in late April, Prince went on recording, laying down “In a Large Room with No Light” and “It.” This led to the second configuration of the album in June. It was even mastered, but Prince didn’t consider it final. PV-1 The July Configuration: In mid-June and early July, Prince recorded “Slow Love,” “The Cross,” and “Sign ‘O’ the Times.” He also reworked “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.” The third and final track listing for Dream Factory was put out on July 18, but the project never surfaced. Releases: The songs from all three configurations of Dream Factory eventually surfaced on Sign ‘O’ the Times in 1987, the archival box set Crystal Ball in 1998, or the super deluxe edition of Sign ‘O’ the Times in 2020. “Train” was also released in 1989 by Mavis Staples on her Time Waits for No One album. Wendy & Lisa released “Visions” on a limited edition bonus CD with their album Eroica. An edited version of “Power Fantastic” showed up on Prince’s The B-Sides compilation in 1993. The 1982 version of “Teacher Teacher” was released on the deluxe edition of 1999 in 1982. PV-1 “Witness 4 the Prosecution” was released as a promo single for the super deluxe edition of Sign ‘O’ the Times on August 14, 2020.
Art Work: While it was long believed that no work was done on the packaging, in 2017 Susannah Melvoin showed some color pencil sketches she made in 1986 for an album cover idea. It depicted “sort of a time-warp flash surrounded by a an array of flowers and a border of little hearts.” PV-1 There’s a rainbow at the bottom of the flash and Susannah is holding open the door to the “Dream Factory.” PV |
CamillePrince |
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Intended Release Date: January 1987 Track Listing Announced: November 5, 1986 Recorded: 1981 – October 1986 Charted: NA Peak: NA Sales (in millions): NA Genre: R&B/funk |
Tracks: Song Title [Time] (Writers)
All songs by Prince (credited as Camille) unless noted otherwise. The Players:
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Rating:  1.304 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)
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About Camille: After Prince released Parade in 1986, he and his band The Revolution went to work on the potential follow-up, Dream Factory. By October, Prince had sacked the band and went to work on a new project, Camille, which was marked by his use of distorted pitched-up vocals that gave him a more androgynous sound. Prince intended to release the album under the pseudonym “Camille” and not acknowledge his identity. WK-2 While most of the songs were recorded in late 1986, “Feel U Up” dated back to 1981 and “Strange Relationship” to 1983. PV-2 Wendy and Lisa, from the Revolution, appear on the latter track but Prince buried their contributions in the mix. PV-2 Two other songs were recorded during this era, but were not planned for inclusion on the Camille album. “U Got the Look” ended up on Sign ‘O’ the Times and “Scarlet Pussy” was released as the B-side of the 1988 single “I Wish U Heaven.” WK-2 Prince compiled a track listing for the proposed album on November 5, 1986 and set for released in January 1987. It was to be proceeded by the single “Shockadelica.” PV-2 This project was also aborted, possibly because Prince’s record company wasn’t sold on the idea of releasing a Prince album without attributing it to him. WK-2 All the tracks except “Feel U Up” were then slated to appear on his next proposed project, a three-disc album called Crystal Ball. When the record company vetoed a three-disc set, he whittled it down to the two-disc Sign ‘O’ the Times, released in March 1987. Of the eight cuts from Camille, three (“Housequake,” “Strange Relationship,” “If I Was Your Girlfriend”) survived to Sign. “Shockadelica” was released as a B-Side for “If I Was Your Girlfriend.” “Good Love” emerged as a cut from the Bright Lights Big City soundtrack in 1988 and “Feel U Up” surfaced as a B-side to Prince’s 1989 single “Party Man.” “Rock Hard in a Funky Place” was slated for The Black Album, which was intended for release in late 1987, but didn’t surface until 1994. “Rebirth of the Flesh” was released as a live rehearsal in 2001, but didn’t see a studio release until the 2020 release of the Sign ‘O’ the Times super deluxe edition. “The album cover has been described as having a stick figure with X’s for eyes. However, rather than a fully developed design this is believed to have been only in the stage of Prince drawing on the white unmarked sleeve of a test-pressing, much like the 12" to Gett Off. The labels of the vinyl would have been the first with the new Paisley Park design and featured the song titles in Prince’s own writing, as well as the name Camille with the C as a crescent moon. And an x instead of the dot on the i. The name Prince would not have been on the record.” PV-2 |
Crystal BallPrince |
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Intended Release Date: early 1987 Track Listing Announced: November 30, 1986 Recorded: date Charted: NA Peak: NA Sales (in millions): NA Genre: R&B/funk |
Tracks: Song Title [Time] (Writers)
The Players:
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Rating: 2.062 out of 5.00 (average of 3 ratings)
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About Crystal Ball: After aborting Dream Factory and Camille, Prince prepared a three-disc collection which incorporated songs from both projects. Of the cuts from Camille, only “Feel U Up” didn’t make it to Crystal Ball. Nine songs from Dream Factory made the cut. Six more songs were brand new to this album – “Joy in Repetition,” “The Ball,” “Forever in My Life,” “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night,” “Adore,” and “Play in the Sunshine.” Prince submitted the album to Warner Bros. in late 1986, but they rejected it, wanting it to be reduced to a double album. 15 of the 22 songs from Crystal Ball eventually ended up on Sign ‘O’ the Times alongside “U Got the Look,” which was recorded in December 1986. This included four of the six songs specifically recorded for Crystal Ball. “Joy in Repetition” was eventually released on the 1990 soundtrack for Graffiti Bridge and “The Ball” was released on the super deluxe edition of Sign ‘O’ the Times in 2020. The latter song first appeared as “ No” on Lovesexy in 1988 in a reworked version. It is unlikely there was any proposed artwork for the album cover as the project didn’t get to that stage when Warner Bros. declined to release Crystal Ball. PV-3 The artwork featured on this page is from the 1998 box set Crystal Ball, which features a vastly different track listing of archival material.
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