The "Diamonds and Pearls" Music Through the Years (Pt.2)
Released on Patreon 10/22/2021
Run Time: 1 HRS 37 MIN
This is Part 2 of another 2 part "Music Through the Years" episode, featuring the music from Prince's 1991 album "Diamonds and Pearls".
We discussed in SEGMENT 17 “Diamonds and Pearls” (Pt.1) and SEGMENT 17 “Diamonds and Pearls” (Pt.2), the 1991 album “Diamonds and Pearls” was one of Prince’s biggest selling albums, and that was intentional on Prince’s part.
When Prince started writing and recording “Diamonds and Pearls”, his first album with “The New Power Generation” band, he set out to make it a commercially successful record. Prince was coming off of the lack-luster “Graffiti Bridge” album and movie, that despite the years of effort Prince put towards the project, was not as successful as he had hoped.
Prince was determined to create a mainstream, commercially successful record, because he really wanted a hit. And he accomplished this with “Diamonds and Pearls”.
Prince enlisted the help of his backing band, “The New Power Generation”: Levi Seacer, Jr., Sonny Thompson, Michael Bland, Rosie Gaines, and Tommy Barbarella; in the writing of the music of “Diamonds and Pearls”. The background dancers known as “The Game Boys”: Tony Mosley, Kirk Johnson, and Damon Dickson, also contributed to the sound of the album. Tony Mosley wrote and performed raps for the album, which made the music appealing to R&B and Hip Hop fans.
This Part 2 features Prince performing the hit "Gett Off" (Including the infamous 1991 MTV Video Music Awards performance) through the years as well as the single release "Money Don't Matter 2Night".
In this episode, we view 2 of the 3 versions of the promotional video "Money Don't Matter 2Night", directed by Prince's long time friend, film director Spike Lee.
Coming up in Part 5 of "The Ritualistic Life and Murder of Prince" series, we will discuss the lifelong (and beyond) friendship between Prince and film director Spike Lee. The two first became close friends, when Prince along with a group of other black celebrities; provided Spike the funding to complete his 1992 movie, "Malcolm X", when Warner Brothers Pictures cut off funding halfway through production.
Prince and Spike would continue to collaborate on projects through the years, including 3 versions of the promotional video for "Money Don't Matter 2Night" and Spike Lee's 1996 film, "Girl 6". The soundtrack of "Girl 6" was composed of songs from Prince's music catalogue, as well as an original Prince song, "Girl 6", the theme song of the movie.
This Part 2 features the second half of the album:
"Diamonds and Pearls" (1991)
"Gett Off"
"Walk Don't Walk"
"Jughead"
"Money Don't Matter 2Night"
"Push"
"Insatiable"
"Live 4 Love"
We see Prince perform these songs through the years: the music videos, television performances, and of course LIVE from tours spanning his 39-year career.
Episodes of "The..." Music Through the Years are available to view ONLY on The SPOOKY ELECTRIC XPOSED Patreon channel, for patrons of the "Lovesexy" Tier and higher.
