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Prince / Sign O’ The Times reissue

By Paul Sinclair

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Remastered • 8CD+DVD or 13LP+DVD super deluxe •  45 unreleased vault tracks • 2LP peach vinyl • Plus: 2CD, 3CD and 4LP sets,

Prince‘s 1987 album Sign O’ The Times will be reissued by Warner Records in September and amongst the formats are two enormous CD and vinyl super deluxe editions that offer a massive 63 previously unreleased tracks, including 45 studio ‘vault’ tracks. Read on for all the details…

Getting straight down to it, the super deluxe edition box sets comprise the following:

  • CD1 or LP 1- Sign O’ The Times (Remastered)
  • CD2 or LP 2 – Sign O’ The Times (Remastered)
  • CD3 or LP 3 & 4 – Singles Mixes / Edits / B-Sides (Remastered)
  • CD4 or LP 5 & 6 – Vault Tracks (Unreleased)
  • CD5 or LP 7 & 8 – Vault Tracks (Unreleased)
  • CD6 or LP 9 & 10 – Vault Tracks (Unreleased)
  • CD8 or 9 / LPs 11-13 – Live In Utrecht June 20th 1987 (Unreleased)
  • DVD – Live at Paisley Park December 31st 1987 (Unreleased Sign O’ The Times show ft Miles Davis)

The 45 vault tracks are full of unreleased gems including a 1979 version of ‘I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man‘, two unreleased versions of ‘Strange Relationship‘ (including a Shep Pettibone club remix!), alternate versions of ‘The Ballad of Dorothy Parker‘ and ‘Forever in My Life‘ and a fantastic amount of songs that Prince simply never issued, many of which were destined for three aborted albums conceived in 1986:  The Dream Factory, Camille and Crystal Ball. These songs include ‘Rebirth of the Flesh‘, two completely different versions of ‘Witness 4 the Prosecution‘ and ‘Wonderful Day‘ (again two versions, one of which is a 12-inch remix). Full track listing can be found below.

It’s an embarrassment of riches and of course as well as all this unreleased material, the super deluxe editions contain a CD (or two LPs) of all the commercially released seven-inch edits, 12-inch remixes, B-sides, dub mixes and more. Like the album itself these have all been remastered by Bernie Grundman.

The box sets also deliver an entire previously unreleased audio recording of Prince’s Sign O’ The Times tour performance in Utrecht from 20 June 1987 and a DVD (NTSC, region free) with a complete previously unreleased recording of Prince’s benefit performance at Paisley Park, 31 December 1987 (featuring Prince’s only on-stage collaboration with Miles Davis).


Sign O’ The Times 8CD+DVD super deluxe with 120-page book (click image to enlarge)

Both vinyl and CD boxes are presented in a 12″ x 12″ sets and come with a 120-page hardcover book featuring brand new liner notes from various parties including Lenny Kravitz (who provides a foreword), audio engineer Susan Rogers, Dave Chappelle and Minneapolis music scene commentator Andrea Swensson. There are also detailed notes on the vault tracks by Prince scholar Duane Tudahl and the book also includes previously unseen photos and Prince’s handwritten lyrics.

As well as the two big boxes, 3CD and 4LP packages offer remastered album alongside the single mixes, edits and B-sides while the album-only editions come on limited 2LP peach-coloured vinyl and 2CD. All formats except 2CD and 2LP are ONE TIME ONLY pressings. Once the initial run sells out that’s it! Once the 2LP peach vinyl is gone, it will be replaced with a black vinyl version. Fans will be well aware that the 1999 super deluxe editions are now out of print less than a year after release. The vinyl sets will come with a download code!

Sign O’ The Times 13LP+DVD super deluxe with 120-page book (click image to enlarge)

Additionally, a special seven-inch singles box set on peach vinyl, with some vault tracks included, is limited to 1987 units and is exclusive to the Prince store and Third Man Records.

SDE has had an exclusive preview of some of the vault tracks and discussed this reissue with vault archivist Michael Howe. Stay tuned for more coverage!

Sign O’ The Times is  reissued on 25 September 2020 by Warner Music.

CD1 / LP1: Remastered Album (Disc 1)

1 Sign O’ The Times
2 Play In The Sunshine
3 Housequake
4 The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker
5 It
6 Starfish And Coffee
7 Slow Love
8 Hot Thing
9 Forever In My Life

CD2 / LP2: Remastered Album (Disc 2)

1 U Got The Look
2 If I Was Your Girlfriend
3 Strange Relationship
4 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
5 The Cross
6 It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night
7 Adore

CD3 / LP3&4: Single Mixes & Edits

1 Sign O’ The Times (7” single edit)
2 La, La, La, He, He, Hee (7” single edit)
3 La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive) (12” version)
4 If I Was Your Girlfriend (7” single edit)
5 Shockadelica (“If I Was Your Girlfriend” B-side)
6 Shockadelica (12” long version)
7 U Got the Look (Long Look) (12” edit)
8 Housequake (7” edit)
9 Housequake (7 Minutes MoQuake) (12” edit)
10 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (Fade 7” edit)
11 Hot Thing (7” single edit)
12 Hot Thing (Extended Remix)
13 Hot Thing (Dub Version)

CD4 / LP5&6: Vault, Part 1

1 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man (1979 version)
2 Teacher, Teacher (1985 version)
3 All My Dreams
4 Can I Play With U? (featuring Miles Davis)
5 Wonderful Day (original version)
6 Strange Relationship (original version)
7 Visions
8 The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker (with horns)
9 Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 1)
10 Power Fantastic (live in studio)
11 And That Says What?
12 Love And Sex
13 A Place In Heaven (Prince vocal)
14 Colors
15 Crystal Ball (7” mix)
16 Big Tall Wall (version 1)
17 Nevaeh Ni Ecalp A
18 In A Large Room With No Light

All tracks previously unreleased

CD5 / LP7&8: Vault, Part 2

1 Train
2 It Ain’t Over ‘Til The Fat Lady Sings
3 Eggplant (Prince vocal)
4 Everybody Want What They Don’t Got
5 Blanche
6 Soul Psychodelicide
7 The Ball
8 Adonis And Bathsheba
9 Forever In My Life (early vocal studio run-through)
10 Crucial (alternate lyrics)
11 The Cocoa Boys
12 When The Dawn Of The Morning Comes
13 Witness 4 The Prosecution (version 2)
14 It Be’s Like That Sometimes

All tracks previously unreleased

CD6 / LP9&10: Vault, Part 3

1 Emotional Pump
2 Rebirth Of The Flesh (with original outro)
3 Cosmic Day
4 Walkin’ In Glory
5 Wally
6 I Need A Man
7 Promise To Be True
8 Jealous Girl (version 2)
9 There’s Something I Like About Being Your Fool
10 Big Tall Wall (version 2)
11 A Place In Heaven (Lisa vocal)
12 Wonderful Day (12” mix)
13 Strange Relationship (1987 Shep Pettibone Club Mix)

All tracks previously unreleased

CD7&8 / LP11-13: Live In Utrecht – June 20, 1987

1 Intro/Sign O’ The Times
2 Play In The Sunshine
3 Little Red Corvette
4 Housequake
5 Girls & Boys
6 Slow Love
7 Take The “A” Train/Pacemaker/I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
8 Hot Thing
9 Four
10 If I Was Your Girlfriend
11 Let’s Go Crazy
12 When Doves Cry
13 Purple Rain
14 1999
15 Forever In My Life
16 Kiss
17 The Cross
18 It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night

All tracks previously unreleased

DVD: Live At Paisley Park – December 31, 1987

1 Sign O’ The Times
2 Play In The Sunshine
3 Little Red Corvette
4 Erotic City
5 Housequake
6 Slow Love
7 Do Me, Baby
8 Adore
9 I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
10 What’s Your Name Jam
11 Let’s Pretend We’re Married
12 Delirious
13 Jack U Off
14 Drum Solo
15 Twelve
16 Hot Thing
17 If I Was Your Girlfriend
18 Let’s Go Crazy
19 When Doves Cry
20 Purple Rain
21 1999
22 U Got The Look
23 It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night Medley (featuring Miles Davis)

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