Balearic Mike is taken with Prince’s best edits, remixes and dancefloor deep dives…

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Prince is perhaps to blame for my ‘unhealthy’ relationship with records and the main reason I’ve spent a substantial part of my life in darkened rooms, losing myself to the pulsating rhythms of dance music. 

And yet, His Royal Badness had an often uneasy, and at times downright contemptuous relationship with modern forms of dance music – namely hip hop and house – which emerged during the 1980s; the decade he owned. On ‘The Black Album’ alone he goes from adopting the rap section from J.M. Silk’s 1985 house classic ‘Music is the Key’, to dissing rap music on ‘Dead On It’. He struggled to come to terms with these styles as they dominated the 90s but slowly made peace with them as the millennium dawned. 

It’s rare that I DJ and don’t play a Prince track. Here’s why…

‘When Doves Cry’ (Derrick Carter’s live mix)/‘When Doves Cry Miura’ (Compact Disco Edit)

One of the greatest dance records ever made, and yet it has no bassline! This small issue didn’t bother Larry Levan, who famously played it at Paradise Garage, but as dance music got heavier in the house and techno era, DJs and producers increasingly found it hard to programme and found some innovative ways around it. Star of Chicago’s second wave, Derrick Carter blew our collective minds at clubs like Bugged Out and Back To Basics with this live mix, layering ‘When Doves Cry’ over the top of a Roger Sanchez dub mix of UK acid jazz combo Raw Stylus. Some years ago, Luke Una gifted me a superb re-edit by Glasgow DJ and producer Martyn Henderson, aka DJ MASH, which smashes the track into Metro Area’s ‘Miura’ to stunning effect!

‘17 Days’ (East Coast Love Affair/Athens Of The North Version) and Rahaan ‘Down Comes The Rain’ Edit)

Originally released as the flip of ‘When Doves Cry’, and one of his Royal Badness’ best B-sides. But when an early demo version was discovered and released as ‘Piano & A Microphone 1983’, it was just too tempting for some talented producers. Chicago’s Rahaan was first to try his hand with a nice live sounding take on GAMM, before the mysterious Mighty Zaf turned up this blue label 12-inch, rumoured to be the work of the soulful Edinburgh label Athens Of The North’s house band, East Coast Love Affair. It’s more of a classic house take, which suits the source material beautifully – all pounding, churchy pianos and Prince’s soaring voice. 

‘The Future’ (Mark Moore & William Orbit Mix)

The ‘Batman’ soundtrack LP gets an unfairly rough ride imho. Although it was absolutely done because Prince was a) skint, and b) fulfilling a contractual obligation, it nevertheless has some great songs. This European-only 12-inch, released almost a year after the album, takes two of the finest cuts, ‘The Future’ and ‘Electric Chair’, and in getting the UK duo of Mark Moore and William Orbit to remix, really does show us a glimpse of the future, predicting the tougher, electronic sounds that the UK house scene would begin producing and still sounding contemporary.

‘The Bootleg of Dorothy Parker’ (Creative Use)

Stoke On Trent’s finest dance production duo, Kelvin Andrews and Danny Spencer, launched their highly regarded re-edit label Creative Use with this superb reworking of one of Prince’s most beloved deep cuts. Much more than an edit, they added tougher drums and an enhanced bassline, as well as loads of dub effects to create an underground classic. Killer in the released dub form, but a full vocal version also exists and really needs to see the light of day!

‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ (Dimitri From Paris edit / Mille & Mr. Hirsch – Preset Stomp)

Now this is some imaginative editing alright! Prince’s first substantial hit single from 1979, peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and stalled at 41 in the UK. It’s a gorgeous slice of soulful disco, sung falsetto style, and one of only a handful of early tracks he always kept in his live sets. Dimitri turns in an all-time classic edit by managing to seamlessly stitch together an exhilarating live version – complete with ecstatic crowd cheers – to the original, creating an end of night anthem. On a deeper, darker, more underground tip, Leipzig duo Mille & Mr. Hirsch take the groove of the track and turn it into a head-nodding, sublime and sexy slice of house.

‘Sexy Dancer’ (Long Version)

Another from Prince’s self-titled 1979 album given a near nine-minute remix on this UK-only 12-inch. A gorgeous, lush, organic sounding disco groove of nagging bassline, insistent Chic-inspired guitars and squelchy synths, with a minimal falsetto vocal. This was the only Prince track included in David Mancuso and Cosmo’s Loft 100 chart.

‘Just As Long As We’re Together’ (Soft Rocks Purple Rinse Mix)

There’s a Jim Burgess Disco Mix of this cut from debut LP ‘For You’, but it’s not a patch on this killer version from Brighton-based Balearic collective Soft Rocks. Pioneers of the re-edit in the 00s, this was their first release and turns a lightweight track into a driving dancefloor beast by disposing of most of the song and bringing the groove from the end of the track right up front. 

‘Erotic City’ (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive)

A contender for the greatest B-side ever! Prince watched Parliament/Funkadelic perform ‘(Not Just) Knee Deep’ at LA’s Beverly Theatre and went straight to the studio and recorded this in five-and-a-half hours. It’s pretty much the blueprint for early house records by Jamie Principle et al but recorded in March 1984. Sung as a duet with Sheila E, it has a driving Linn LM-1 beat, and some seriously rude lyrics.

‘All the Critics Love U In New York’/Moodymann: ‘U Can Dance if U Want 2’

The ‘1999’ album is part of the DNA for Chicago’s early house music, and this killer slab of machine-funk is a standout. So much so that Detroit’s Kenny Dixon Jr. turned it into a super-heavy house tune in the mid 90s. U can dance if U want 2!

‘Gett Off’ (Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley ‘Houstyle’ Mix)

After a couple of sub-par releases (‘Batman’ and ‘Graffiti Bridge’), 1991 found Prince back on top form. Not only that, but he’d also enlisted house music pioneer Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley to twiddle some knobs, and his Royal Badness is actually RAPPING! This record conquered the UK club scene, although a bit more funk than house. Had Prince made peace with hip hop and house?

Balearic bonus cut: 

Madhouse: ‘Eight’

Madhouse was Prince’s jazz influenced side project with saxophonist Eric Leeds, but this closing track from the first of their two LPs is not jazz. Inspired by Eno & Byrne’s ‘My Life in the Bush Of Ghosts’ and the Art Of Noise’s ‘Moments in Love’, it’s a dreamlike track, built around a sample of Prince’s voice, live drums, Fairlight and Prophet VS synth. Leeds then plays lovely flute parts over the top. The result is a truly beautiful Café del Mar-style track, with a definite new-age and Scandi-jazz sound. 

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Read: Prince's Early Years

Read: Prince's Imperial Phase

Read: Prince's Last Hurrah

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This article first appeared in Disco Pogo issue 9

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