CHAPTER THREE: RAVE UN2 THE JOYFUL PRINCE COMEBACK

Photo: Steve Parke

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic started out as Beautiful Strange
While O(+> was concerned with the Prince And The Revolution vault release and considerations of re-recording his Warner Brothers catalogue, the reason why nothing came of those projects might have been that his urge to record brand-new songs won out. Even before those projects were initiated, O(+> had begun work on a new album following on the heels of the 1998 Newpower Soul album credited to the New Power Generation. In fact, a couple of the songs included on this new album originated during the Newpower Soul sessions.

O(+>’s recording engineer H.M. Buff told biographer Matt Thorne for his 2012 book Prince that the song So Far, So Pleased was originally recorded during those May to August 1997 Newpower Soul sessions. So Far, So Pleased made it all the way through several incarnations of the new album until the new album finally got released as Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic in November 1999. The new album initially got the title Beautiful Strange after the song Beautiful Strange which had also been recorded during the Newpower Soul era, then was titled Madrid 2 Chicago for a while before O(+> got the idea to add the vault track Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic and make that the album title – an idea that didn’t come around until well into the process of making the album, H.M. Buff told Matt Thorne. Maybe the idea to title the album Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic came from O(+> having just worked on two other projects utilizing titles from unreleased 1980s albums, Crystal Ball and Roadhouse Garden, with Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic being the title track of an unreleased album made in 1988 in between the Lovesexy and Batman albums. (Joy Fantastic was the stage name originally proposed by Prince for his 1988 muse Anna Garcia.)

Anyway, when O(+> assembled an album entitled Beautiful Strange in 1998, only the title track and a cover of Twisted have been confirmed being on that album.

O(+>: Beautiful Strange (1998)
Tracklist unknown, but includes Beautiful Strange (4:55) and Twisted

There was a video clip of the original version of the song Beautiful Strange in the Beautiful Strange TV special which premiered on Channel 4 in England on 24 October 1998. The TV special also featured an edited version of an interview with O(+> conducted by Mel B. of the Spice Girls interspersed with footage from a show at Café De Paris in London the night to 28 August 1998 during the New Power Soul Tour. Beautiful Strange was also performed acoustically by O(+> in a Paisley Park studio. The TV special was released as a VHS home video on 24 August 1999, but it only became available through O(+>’s 1-800-NEW-FUNK website and O(+>’s store in Minneapolis.

Twisted was originally written as an instrumental by Wardell Gray in 1949 before getting lyrics added by Scottish jazz singer Annie Ross in 1952. It was released as a single the same year and later got included on the album King Pleasure Sings/Annie Ross Sings.

An album created during troubled times
O(+>’s wife Mayte wrote in her 2017 book My Life With Prince that in 1998, O(+> hired a girl who kind of looked like her to handle merchandising and charity work for him – jobs Mayte had been doing up until then. The girl was Manuela Testolini, a superfan who had connected with O(+> on Internet sites dedicated to all things Prince, and whom O(+> now seemed to bring everywhere and give expensive gifts. At the same time, bass player Larry Graham and his wife Tina had moved into O(+> and Mayte’s guesthouse and were busy converting O(+> to the Jehova’s Witness faith – a path Mayte wasn’t willing to follow along with him, but Manuela was. And suddenly, Mayte found herself being banished to live in a house in Spain while Manuela was the girl living with O(+> in Minneapolis. And to add insult to injury, occasionally Manuela would be mistaken for Mayte during public appearances.

O(+> occasionally visited his wife in Spain and Mayte revealed in her book that once he asked her to meet him in L.A. where he asked her to flush his pills out in the toilet when they left their hotel, suggesting that the drug problem that would kill Prince in April 2016 had already started then. In 2009, gossip magazines would report that Prince had taken antidepressants since that fateful and tragic time when his and Mayte’s son had died coinciding with the release of Emancipation in November 1996.

So when O(+> was working on the Beautiful Strange/Madrid 2 Chicago/Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album, he was undergoing big changes in his personal life – becoming a Jehova’s Witness, replacing Mayte with Manuela Testolini and developing a drug addiction. According to the gossip magazines in 2009, he was also taking pain killers because his Jehova’s Witnesses faith didn’t allow for him to get surgery and a new hip after years of performing in high heels. However, O(+> would tell Billboard in an interview published 6 November 1999 that “this album is an expression of many emotions, but it mostly comes from a place of pure joy and happiness.”

Beautiful Strange evolves into Madrid 2 Chicago
In November 1998, O(+> recorded the songs Madrid 2 Chicago and Breathe and the Beautiful Strange album morphed into a “smooth jazz” Madrid 2 Chicago album. “Madrid 2 Chicago and Breathe were one suite,” H.M. Buff recalled in the 2012 Prince book by Matt Thorne. “There was something else I forget and Man 'O’ War. And that would be the start of the album for a while, and then we’d take some from the previous batch into it and then he would reconsider and make new sequences.”

Prince: Madrid 2 Chicago (1998)
Track list unknown but “smooth jazz album”, includes Madrid 2 Chicago (3:14), Breathe (2:01) and Man ‘O’ War

A sample of Madrid 2 Chicago was made available as a download from O(+>’s Love4OneAnother website on 26 January 1999 along with a cover version of Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One with Marva King on co-lead vocals. On 3 March 1999, O(+> replied to a question from SonicNet about the inspiration behind those two songs: “Mayte now lives in Spain, and the flight eye have grown accustomed 2 is “Madrid 2 Chicago.” (...) “U’re Still the One” is a well-written pop song that begged 4 VOLUME. We gave it that.”

The Madrid 2 Chicago album became votable for release during Prince: A Celebration week at Paisley Park in June 2000. When it didn’t get released, the songs Madrid 2 Chicago and Breathe were released as a digital single in the NPG Music Club in January 2002.

Meanwhile, at a press conference in Madrid, Spain, on 11 December 1998, O(+> announced that he and wife Mayte were annulling their marriage. He read a statement that said that they would renew their vows in a ceremony free of legal contracts on their anniversary 14 February 1999. O(+> ostensibly based the decision to annul the marriage on his new belief that all contracts, including marriage vows, were morally wrong. The entire statement was published on the Love4OneAnother website on 1 January 1999.

Mayte wrote in her 2017 book My Life With Prince that “a legal marriage is not annulled just because an eccentric rock star says it in a press conference. (…) Over the course of the following year, there was never any mention of the annulment or a renewal of our vows. He continued to refer to me, publicly and privately, as his wife. I kept flying to wherever I had to go to meet up with him for red carpet and press events, and he kept promising to take time off to be with me in Spain.”

Apparently the announcement at the press conference was for O(+> to seem less guilty in the public eye about being unfaithful to his wife with other women.

Photo: Steve Parke

Madrid 2 Chicago evolves into Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
On 15 December 1998, O(+> launched a two-week European tour, the New Power Soul Music Festival Presents… The Jam Of The Year. He performed the new song Hypnoparadise as an instrumental. It is unknown if that song was included on the Madrid 2 Chicago album, but Steve Parke later said that he remembered working on the artwork for the album. By early 1999, that album morphed once more, though, becoming Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic but still including Man 'O' War.

O(+> wrote quite a few new songs for the project between January and April 1999, including Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do which has been likened to This Is Your Life which would also get included on early configurations of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, but left off the released version. This Is Your Life has been described as a mid-tempo pop/rock number with a Linn drum machine beat and a chorus consisting of the words “yes, this is your life.” H.M. Buff recalled This Is Your Life for Matt Thorne’s book: “It’s not quite as dramatic or as preachy as We March, but it was a ‘listen up, I’ll give you some good advice’ song.”

The Sun, The Moon And Stars was reportedly written in Marbella, Spain after a dinner with Mayte and Larry Graham and his wife Tina. The lovers in the lyrics want to throw their past onto a fire, just like O(+> wanted to do with Mayte. “We pretend it didn’t even happen,” he said of their marriage in an interview with Paper published in June 1999. “Like a lot of things in life I don’t like, I pretend it isn’t there and it goes away. We decided to go back to the Garden (of Eden).”

Other songs recorded were I Ain’t Gonna Run which remains unreleased and Strange But True, Hot Wit U, Tangerine, and Prettyman which would all make it to the released configuration. So would Undisputed which was lyrically similar to a track that didn’t make the album, Y Should Eye Do That When Eye Can Do This? that featured former member of O(+>’s NPG band Michael Bland on drums. Also, on 11 February 1999, O(+> recorded The Man In Your Life which would get left off the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album, but get re-recorded as If Eye Was The Man In Ur Life in 2003 and then get released on the 2004 Musicology album.

In 1999, O(+> also found time to record the song R U Ready? for his Jehova’s Witnesses mentor Larry Graham and it was performed live at Paisley Park on 8 May 1999, but it remains unreleased.

Looking for a record company to release Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
On 12 April 1999, O(+> announced on his Love4OneAnother website that his new album would be Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. At the beginning of the month, he had gone to New York for meetings with a few record company executives, including Arista Records founder and head Clive Davis, to discuss a possible deal for his next solo album. “Since leaving Warner Bros. in 1996 and ending a distribution deal with now-defunct EMI Records in 1997, The Artist has successfully marketed a constant stream of music via the Internet and other avenues,” USA Today reported on 13 April 1999. “But he’s hoping to put out his next album, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, on a major label as long as he retains ownership of the master tapes.”

“This business is really structured and rigid, and I had to get outside of it to see things differently and to see the effect it has on your psyche,” O(+> told USA Today of possibly working again with the companies he fought so hard to get away from. “Now it’s like going back to school and knowing that you don’t have to stay.”

He hadn’t decided on a release date but said the album would include some surprising collaborations - and, for the first time in his 21-year career, he would let somebody else produce him, although he wouldn’t say who. This led to a lot of speculation among fans about who the producer would be. Apparently, getting a producer was something O(+> had to agree to in his talks with the record company executives in order to get a deal. Was O(+> - who had always produced himself – selling out?

Back at Paisley Park in Minneapolis, O(+>’s Jehova’s Witnesses mentor Larry Graham replaced NPG bass player Rhonda Smith and at a show at Paisley Park on 17 April 1999, O(+> handed out copies of Watchtower, the Jehova’s Witnesses’ magazine. Watchtower was infamous for publishing prejudiced articles like “Reading superhero comics can turn you gay” and stuff like that. O(+> was transitioning from being an unaffiliated prophet preaching love to becoming a follower of a close-minded sect.

10 tracks for Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
On 19 April 1999, it was announced on the Love4OneAnother website that O(+> had 10 tracks completed for Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. Of the songs released on the final 15 track configuration, Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, Undisputed, Hot Wit U, Tangerine, So Far, So Pleased, The Sun, The Moon And Stars, Man ‘O’ War, Strange But True and Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do had assumably all been recorded at this time, although the tracks would get worked on further before release except for maybe Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do. Tangerine would get edited for the final configuration, but the full version would get released on the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic remix album made afterwards. And then This Is Your Life makes it 10 tracks, leaving out I Ain’t Gonna Run, Prettyman which was later said to have been intended for Morris Day and The Time, Y Should Eye Do That When Eye Can Do This? and The Man In Your Life.

“The title track is one I did 12 years ago, but it sounded so much like Kiss that I wanted to put it in the Vault and let it marinate for a while,” O(+> had told USA Today in the interview released 13 April 1999. It seems at this point that the album was a condensed experience that would have been stronger than the later expansion to 15 tracks which kind of watered it out a bit.

There is references to drinking in three consecutive tracks, Tangerine, So Far, So Pleased and The Sun, The Moon And Stars, increasing the album’s maudlin feel even at this early stage, though, coming from the usually abstemious O(+>.

On 23 April 1999, Hot 97 New York radio reported that O(+> was in town again, this time to record a track with Busta Rhymes for an album against police brutality, but no collaboration between the two was ever released. On 3 May 1999, O(+> also attended a Sheryl Crow concert in New York which probably inspired him to invite her for a guest spot on the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album when looking for the “surprising collaborations” he had already announced. O(+> attended the Sheryl Crow concert with MTV video jockey Ananda Lewis whom he spend a great deal of time with in New York in the spring and summer of 1999, often frequenting the Life club together.

O(+> and Mayte

The initial Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic configuration
Further work commenced on the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album with the Hornheadz doing overdubs on five songs on 17 May 1999: Hot Wit U, Man ‘O’ War, I Ain’t Gonna Run, R U Ready? and Y Should Eye Do That When Eye Can Do This?

Michael B. Nelson of the Hornheadz – previously known as the NPG Hornz – described I Ain’t Gonna Run as an upbeat track. It is uncertain if it was included on the initial configuration of the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album, though, and Y Should Eye Do That When Eye Can Do This? was probably left out because of its thematically linked lyrics with Undisputed while R U Ready? went to Larry Graham. The Love4OneAnother website announced on 20 May 1999 that Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic was now fully tracked and sequenced, with post-production and mixing remaining.

O(+>: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (20 May 1999)
Track list unknown but includes Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, Man ‘O’ War and This Is Your Life

O(+> had a history of adopting a new look for each new album, and during the night to 22 May 1999, O(+> debuted a look with braided hair and a piece of cloth at the end of each braid, plus a goatee, at a show at Paisley Park. He told the audience, “Some people say I’m out of touch. But I am the touch!” – quoting the lyrics for Undisputed.

At the end of May 1999, O(+> met with Arista Records head Clive Davis again and played him Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. Davis liked what he heard and a deal for the release of the album was worked out with O(+> reportedly receiving a $11 million advance. O(+>’s attorney L. Londell McMillan told The Los Angeles Times, published 8 August 1999, that O(+>’s agreement with Arista Records was for one album only and was a “straightforward licensing agreement for manufacturing, distribution and promotions” of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. However, Clive Davis would also exert some influence in the content of the album which became evident as the year progressed and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic got reworked to accommodate his wishes for proven hitmaking strategies.

On 12 September 1999, New York Times reported: “Clive Davis, the renowned founder and chief executive of Arista and a no-nonsense industry veteran, is betting that Rave will please Mammon as well as God. While he has supported outsiders like the Grateful Dead and Patti Smith, Davis is best known as a hit maker, a man with sharp commercial instincts and ambitions. Most recently, he signed the guitarist Carlos Santana - one of the Artist’s idols - to Arista, helped produce his new album Supernatural and guided him to the Top 10 for the first time in decades. And, of course, lest we not forget the consistent success he has bought to Whitney Houston: Yes, Clive Davis is the consummate hit-maker and that's exactly what Prince Rogers Nelson needs right now - hits.”

The New York Times continued: “Typically, the Artist professes no awareness of Davis’ relationship with Santana or anything else about Davis’ career. ‘I knew nothing about him,’ he said simply, explaining that their meeting came about at the suggestion of L. Londell McMillan, the Artist’s business partner. ‘But he knows me. We agreed that the album is full of hits. It was just a question of whether or not we would agree on how it should be put out.’”

Work on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic recommences
On 9 June 1999, O(+> and Mayte attended a gala event hosted by Donatella Versace in England. The party was also attended by Madonna and O(+>’s friend and colleague Lenny Kravitz. A few days later, O(+> and Mayte went to Marocco for a short visit. Reportedly, this trip provided some musical inspiration for the song The Greatest Romance Ever Sold. The title of the song is an obvious variation of The Greatest Story Ever Told, a book by Fulton Oursler about the life of Jesus, which is considered a classic, reverent work. The song was said to be the last song recorded for the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album.

A bit later, during the night to 19 June 1999, the DJ played some tracks from Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic while O(+> gauged audience reactions after a show at Paisley Park, and on 26 June 1999 former NPG drummer Michael Bland attended a show at Paisley Park where O(+> performed the title track of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. A few days later, on 1 July 1999, Michael Bland would play drums on two new O(+> songs, Baby Knows and Don’t Say No. Baby Knows was reportedly inspired by O(+>’s “hangout friend” Ananda Lewis at the Life club in New York. O(+> told Guitar Player for their January 2000 issue that with his guitar solo on Baby Knows, “I tried to go after Chuck Berry for that one. I think I used my Tele through a small amp.” Only Baby Knows would get added to Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic while Don’t Say No remains unreleased.

Also recorded on 1 July was the song What Should B Souled which O(+> performed live at Paisley Park during the night to 3 July 1999. Audience members described it as a funky jam-type number, but it would not get included on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, but on the 2000 Crystal Ball II compilation that remains unreleased.

Between mid-June and mid-July 1999, O(+> also recorded Silly Game, Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore and a cover of the Sheryl Crow song Everyday Is A Winding Road for the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album. H.M. Buff told Matt Thorne for his book, that those songs along with The Greatest Romance Ever Sold were written or recorded after the sequence had been set to round out and finish the album.

O(+> has reportedly said that Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore was partially inspired by his recollection of seeing his father accusing his mother of having another man when she returned home from shopping with her new dress on backwards.

The songs Man ‘O’ War and The Sun, The Moon And Stars received string overdubs as work on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic progressed.

Photo: Steve Parke

“Surprising collaborations” for Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
One of the agreements with Clive Davis for Arista Records to release Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic besides getting a producer was obviously for O(+> to have guest-stars on it to help it sell. By July 1999, O(+> was seriously setting out to get the promised “surprising collaborations” in the can. His friend Lenny Kravitz might have been an obvious choice, but O(+> went for Sheryl Crow instead. She was in Minneapolis on 1 July 1999 to record with O(+> on Baby Knows. “Sheryl Crow played harp on that song. She nailed it in one take,” O(+> told Guitar Player for their January 2000 issue. O(+>’s cover of Sheryl Crow’s song Everyday Is A Winding Road from her self-titled 1996 album may have repaid the contribution from Sheryl Crow, as she would receive writer’s royalties for the cover. O(+> debuted it by performing it live at a Paisley Park show the night to 3 July 1999.

On 3 July 1999, indie singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco played a show in Minneapolis and O(+> invited her and her saxophone player Maceo Parker to Paisley Park. Maceo Parker added saxophone to Prettyman and Ani DiFranco played a guitar part on Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore. In turn, O(+> would add backing vocals to the song Providence by Ani DiFranco which would get released on her To The Teeth album shortly after the release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. And Maceo Parker would record sax versions of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows in the style of the previously released 1994 and 1995 sax versions of The Most Beautiful Girl In The World by Brian Gallagher and Eric Leeds. Maceo Parker’s sax versions would get released on his 2000 album Dial M-A-C-E-O.

O(+> told Associated Press in an interview published 17 November 1999 that he admired Ani DiFranco for the way she maintained contractual independence and built a successful recording career on her own. "I love her guitar playing,” he said. It’s the most expressive acoustic playing that I’ve ever heard. She’s a risk-taker, and that appeals to me as well. These are the spirits you want to know in your life.” He told Minneapolis Star Tribune in an interview published 3 September 1999: "I wanted to meet Ani DiFranco and, lo and behold, she’s everything I expected. We jammed for four hours, and she danced the whole time. We had to quit because she wore us out.”

O(+> added to Guitar Player for their January 2000 issue about her contribution to Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore: “I showed her the chords to the song, but I didn’t tell her how it actually went. If I’d told her too much, then silence wouldn’t have been one of the sounds.”

“When we were doing Prettyman, I was singing ‘Maceo, blow your horn,’ and I thought, what if I could get him on it?” O(+> told Addicted To Noise in an interview published 30 October 1999. “So, I called him, and he came in and laid down an eight-minute solo that just killed. He came down for two to three hours of jamming and by the end Maceo was lying on his back on the stairs playing, and everyone just stopped, and we were just near tears. This is what life is about.”

The night to 10 July 1999, Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and her boyfriend attended a show at Paisley Park. “I saw Gwen jump up on David Letterman’s desk when they performed on his show, and I said, ‘I gotta know her,’” O(+> told MTV on 5 November 1999. Gwen Stefano remained in Minneapolis after the show to record her vocals on So Far, So Pleased. It is unknown if the track was included on the 20 May 1999 configuration of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, or if it was pulled out of the Vault from the 1997 Newpower Soul sessions because O(+> thought it would be perfect for him and Gwen Stefano. In return for her contribution, O(+> re-recorded the No Doubt song Waiting Room which they sent him on a tape on 10 July 1999. It got released on their 2001 album Rock Steady, but “vocal, keyboards and stuff” had been added by No Doubt to O(+>’s version.

Photos: Steve Parke

Winding up work on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Work on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic winded down in July 1999. To make room for the five new songs recorded for the album including Prettyman as a hidden track, Prettyman and Tangerine were edited shorter. O(+> told Minneapolis Star Tribune in an interview published 3 September 1999: “Prettyman is the new song that I originally wrote for the Time, but it was so good I kept it. In fact, I wish I had kept some other songs I gave them. I wish I had kept Cool or at least still had one like it.”

The deciding factor for O(+> to add Prettyman to Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic after all although as a hidden track was likely the opportunity to have Maceo Parker play on it. Strange But True also received some overdubs as revealed by H.M. Buff in the Matt Thorne book: “There’s a song on there that wouldn’t be on there if it wasn’t for me, Strange But True. I begged and pleaded for him to put that on there because I thought it was awesome, and then he had to add those scratches. Before it was just straight Prince 1980s stuff, which I loved.”

H.M. Buff added that him and Manuela Testolini also fought hard for the inclusion of Tangerine. “I tried to get The Sun, The Moon and Stars off. I thought it was terrible. And then he goes, ‘Hans, how’s your sex life?’ He thought he needed that to get laid.”

H.M. Buff also recalled: “There was one thing where he wanted to do something for Man ‘O’ War, this great guitar solo, and Clive said something to the effect of, ‘They won’t play it on urban radio.’ And Prince said, ‘Well, I’m a guitar player.’”

The song Beautiful Strange left over from previous incarnations of the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic album would also get reworked during July and would get released on the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic remix album following on the heels of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. With the album practically done, it was time to relax a bit and on 18 July 1999, O(+> and Mayte attended a Versace fashion show in Paris also attended by Madonna. The day after, O(+> accepted an award for Best Internet-only single, The War, at Yahoo! Internet Life Awards in New York. Afterwards, he played a show at the Life club attended by Clive Davis. Maceo Parker guested on stage for a jam based around Prettyman.

Photo: Steve Parke

A late addition to Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
While in New York in late July 1999, O(+> worked on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic at the Electric Ladyland studio in New York. He mixed So Far, So Pleased and Baby Knows at the studio. Baby Knows was edited shorter in the process.

The night to 7 August 1999, O(+> hung around the dance floor at a Paisley Park party where a DJ played several new songs, including Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic and his newly recorded cover of Public Enemy’s Fight The Power. Although the cover remains unreleased, Chuck D of Public Enemy added a rap to Undisputed at Paisley Park in mid-August 1999 – one more guest-star for Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic to also appeal to a black rap audience.

“It was a gigantic vibe session,” Chuck D told Addicted To Noise in an interview published 30 October 1999. “I guess Prince has his particular way, because he’s first and foremost a musician, and second and foremost a master producer. So we gelled on many ideas and mutually expressed our admiration for each other.”

Chuck D added that he wasn’t nervous when meeting the singer. Instead, it felt like meeting family, the rapper joked: “To be straight-up and honest, obviously I’m gonna have the utmost amount of respect and admiration for him. He’s a master at what he does, and he’s been in the business much longer as a trendsetter. So, I followed his lead, and now he’s following mine, of course.”

The resulting rap-funk song Undisputed says it all, according to Clive Davis: “Over the years, they’ve both thought of the other as the undisputed (best at what they do).”

Meanwhile, O(+>’s relationship with Manuela Testolini was getting serious. On 22 August 1999, he sang and played guitar for a performance of Everyday Is A Winding Road with Sheryl Crow at her concert in Toronto, Canada where Manuela Testolini was born.

Photo: Steve Parke

The producer of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic revealed
On 25 August 1999, a joint Arista/NPG Records press release announced the release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. It was revealed that the producer of the album was none other than Prince which caused quite a stir among fans. Was this just a ploy for Arista Records to have the name Prince appear on the cover of the album to help it sell? Or to gradually ease the name Prince back into the public consciousness now that his contract with Warner Bros. Records had expired and he needn’t go by the unpronounceable “O(+>” symbol anymore?

Because Arista/BMG would distribute Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic in a deal similar to the one with EMI for Emancipation, giving O(+> unrestricted ownership of the master tapes, it was trumpeted by the press as O(+>s return to a major label after his much-publicized departure from Warner Bros. and his recent effort to sell CDs via the Internet. "People are looking for drama in it. It’s for one album. There could be a second. The contract is this thick,” O(+> told Minneapolis Star Tribune in an interview published 3 September 1999 while holding his forefinger and thumb millimeters apart.

Prince also said that he met directly with Arista’s president, Clive Davis. “Record companies want to own their creations, but no one owns the creation but the creator. It’s an actual ideology and Clive agrees you should own your masters. He also told me, ’I have free will, too.’ Which was good that he said that to me.”

O(+> celebrated the impending release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic by performing his cover of Fight The Power as well as Prettyman and Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic during a show at Paisley Park the night to 4 September 1999. Two days later, O(+> performed at the Music Mill City Festival in Minneapolis with Mayte and Maceo Parker guesting on stage. O(+> performed his cover of Everyday Is A Winding Road and introduced Prettyman as being written for Morris Day: “But it was so funky, so I kept it.”

Photos: Steve Parke

Release of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold
Between 10 and 15 September 1999, O(+> wrapped up work on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic at the Electric Ladyland studio in New York by having rapper Eve record parts for Hot Wit U and The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Adam & Eve Remix featuring Eve) – the latter to be released on the first single off the album. “’Tell me that’s not a hit,’ O(+> insisted as the swelling choruses and Arabic scales of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold washed over us,” the New York Times reported on 12 September 1999 and continued: “Asked, ‘Is it fair to say that this upcoming album is something of a comeback effort for you?’ the Artist shot back, ‘A comeback from what?’”

On 15 September 1999, the Love4OneAnother website announced that Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic was complete and that the mastering process had begun. The day after, Arista founder Clive Davis hosted a listening party for Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic in a 500-capacity auditorium in The Equitable Building on Manhattan in New York. O(+> performed, but strangely didn’t play any of the new songs. The night to 26 September 1999, he did play Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic and Prettyman at a Paisley Park show, though.

Another Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic listening session was held on 9 October 1999 during the Billboard Monitor Radio Seminar at Fontainebleu Hilton Hotel, Miami Beach, with a performance by O(+>. This time he did play one song from the new album, Prettyman.

Meanwhile, The Greatest Romance Ever Sold single was released on 5 October 1999.

“The Greatest Romance Ever Sold is gonna cut through everything on radio” O(+> told Blues & Soul, published 14 December 1999. “Programmers won’t be afraid to play it." However, it only reached number 63 on Billboard’s Pop Chart and number 23 on the R&B Chart. The video for the song didn’t premiere until two months after the release of the single, which clearly contributed to the disappointing chart impact.

Mayte said in her 2017 book My Life With Prince: “The lyrics about ‘why Adam never left Eve’ were clearly about me and might have been another pang of hope, if not for that bitter little twist in the refrain – ‘the greatest romance that’s ever been sold’ – though I wasn’t sure who sold it to whom.”

Fans also paid attention to the typically arrogant O(+> lyric “this is where you end and you and I begin” – not “this is where we end” - because of course he didn’t end. All in all, the lyrics really weren’t that romantic. The song was seemingly written and released in the hopes of imitating the success of The Most Beautiful Girl In The World in 1994, but The Greatest Romance Ever Sold just wasn’t as romantically appealing.

Photographer Steve Parke told Matt Thorne for his Prince book: “I got to go to Spain to shoot Prince and Mayte at their house. A lot of the stuff for The Greatest Romance Ever Sold came from that.”

The Greatest Romance Ever Sold CD-single (1999)
1. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Radio Edit) (4:33)
2. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Album Version) (5:32)
3. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Radio Edit featuring Eve) (4:35)
4. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Adam & Eve Remix) (4:29)

The Adam & Eve Remix reuses the first verse of Silicon, a track recorded during the May to August 1997 Newpower Soul sessions according to H.M. Buff in Matt Thorne’s book. Silicon would get released in the NPG Music Club in 2001.

O(+> and Mayte photographed by Steve Parke

O(+> on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic being produced by Prince
For promotion to build excitement about the forthcoming release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, O(+> would give quite a few interviews. Of course, like the fans, the press was very interested in the album being produced by Prince and what that signified. Was Prince the other personality of the Gemini O(+>? 

The New York Daily News reported on 3 October 1999: “All he says about the music on Rave is that ‘it’s full of hits,’ and ‘it’s very daring.’ He chalks up part of this to the album’s producer, whom he credits as Prince - in other words, to his old persona. ‘He knows a hit,’ says the Artist, wryly. ‘He’s a good editor.’”

Arista head Clive Davis told the Philadelphia Inquirer for its 9 November 1999 publication that what struck him most about Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic was its balance: “It’s rare to find an artist who is both pushing frontiers and also making music for a large audience.” He added that it was no accident that the album was produced by Prince: “It was time for him to do a radio-friendly album” – suggesting O(+> hadn’t made any and that Arista had demanded something more akin to the albums O(+> had made back when he was known as Prince. Of course, O(+>’s take on the story was that “I just thought it would be interesting to show that genesis, to make the album sound like Prince again,” he told Pulse! for their February 2000 issue. “So, I went down and blew the dust off all the old instruments.”

“Ultimately, I think (the album) is different,” O(+> told MTV on 5 November 1999. “I think it is the past. I think it is kind of what I’ve been doing the whole time, and that’s why I gave production credit to Prince, because he was in charge of picking the instruments and saying the direction that the grooves should go, and he’s in charge of pulling out the old Linn drum machine and saying, ‘Let’s go with Old Faithful. Let’s not worry about what everybody else is doing. Let’s go with what we know,’ you know? That’s a hard thing to do, you know, to not let the collective consciousness move you in a particular direction. It’s hard if you don’t have God in your life.”

O(+> indirectly admitted to Music Connection, published 8 November 1999, that “I figured Prince produced my greatest hits, so who better than him to work with me on my first project for the new millennium? Creatively, he knows me better than anyone."

"Prince could make decisions that I wouldn't make," he continued. "Prince knows what it took to make those records. Those things were kicking, weren't they? For Rave, I wrote the material and I'm playing the instruments, but Prince made the creative decisions in the studio. I wanted him in there with me on this one."

O(+> told Blues & Soul, published 14 December 1999: “I didn’t want people to say to me 'Why don't you sound like your old stuff anymore?' I think in a lot of ways I still sound like I did before, so by having Prince produce it, it helps make that connection. (…) I think it’s alright to use the same chords and copy yourself sometimes. It's when you copy someone else you've got a problem!”

The unspoken admission was that O(+> was trying to emulate the success of Prince in producing hit records because O(+> hadn’t been as successful and he wanted a comeback with a hit album, so short of calling himself Prince again, he had somewhat folded to Clive Davis’ assumed advice that by using the name Prince again in some capacity, it might improve sales.

Release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
A few days before the release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, O(+> performed at Paisley Park the night to 6 November 1999 with live premieres of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows. Everyday Is A Winding Road was also played. During a 10-minute break, The Sun, The Moon And Stars was aired.

Between 6 and 8 November 1999, O(+> worked with director Malik Sayeed on a music video for The Greatest Romance Ever Sold. However, the premiere of the video got delayed by O(+> having to undertake a promotional tour of Europe in support of the album which finally saw release on 9 November 1999.

O(+>: Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (1999)
1. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (4:19)
2. Undisputed (4:20)
3. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (5:29)
4. Segue (0:04)
5. Hot With U (5:11)
6. Tangerine (1:31)
7. So Far, So Pleased (3:24)
8. The Sun, The Moon And Stars (5:15)
9. Everyday Is A Winding Road (6:12) – by Sheryl Crow, Jeff Trott & Brian McLeod
10. Segue (0:18)
11. Man ‘O’ War (5:14)
12. Baby Knows (3:18)
13. Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore (3:35)
14. Silly Game (3:30)
15. Strange But True (4:12)
16. Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (3:17)
17. Segue (0:43)
18. Prettyman (4:24)

The segue preceding Hot Wit U is four seconds of silence while the segue preceding Man ‘O’ War is part of the string overdubs recorded for the song. Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do was tracked with a lot of silence at the end so its actual total run time is 8:51. The 5 minutes and 30 seconds silence at the end were to separate the bonus track from the actual album tracks. The segue following the silence and preceding the bonus track Prettyman is an advertisement for 1-800-NEW-FUNK.

The album came with a poster. Photographer Steve Parke recalled in Matt Thorne’s book: “Those shots we took in Spain. I really liked the ones in the pool because I liked being out of the studio with him. I like the idea he’s in the water. At the time he was talking about bringing things to the Internet, making things virtual. I was thinking of the Kraftwerk album with the models for heads. I liked the idea with the hands: You think of connection, the organic with the digital.”

In the lyrics for the very beautifully performed Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore, O(+>’s wife Mayte was addressed by the lines, “I remember meeting you here in the good old days, I would never pick the flower of my favorite protégé.” Mayte spoke out about the song in her 2017 book My Life With Prince: “The lyrics are the bitter lament of a betrayed lover, and when people heard the lyrics, they leapt to the obvious conclusion that I’d been cheating on him.” For many fans, though, it seemed like an obvious attempt by O(+> to gain sympathy from his fans about his troubled marriage by presenting himself as the victim, when in fact, he was the one doing the cheating.

Fans generally enjoyed the same songs as H.M. Buff, Tangerine and Strange But True plus Hot Wit U, So Far, So Pleased, the rocking Baby Knows for those who liked Peach in 1993, Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do and Prettyman that all actually sounded like they might have been produced by Prince. Songs like Man ‘O’ War and Silly Game were syrupy R&B efforts in the vein of the worst of Emancipation, and the cover of Everyday Is A Winding Road was marred by the presence of Jehova preacher Larry Graham asking “do you love God?” But the album was generally better received than the previous one, Newpower Soul.

Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic met with mostly positive reviews too. Many critics felt it was one of O(+>’s strongest albums of the 90s. However, despite the positive response and O(+>’s promotional efforts by doing a lot of interviews and going on a European promotional tour, the album met with moderate success. Unquestionably, one reason for the album’s lack of impact was the failure of the first single, The Greatest Romance Ever Sold, and the lack of any further singles to get released although two further singles would get produced, Man ‘O’ War and The Hot Experience. Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic reached number 18 on Billboard’s Pop Chart and number 8 on the R&B chart. It ended up selling about 800.000 copies worldwide which was better than O(+>’s previous album Newpower Soul which was credited to The New Power Generation, Chaos And Disorder and The Vault… Old Friends 4 Sale, but less than Come, The Gold Experience and Emancipation. O(+>’s second attempt at major label distribution and promotion after leaving Warner Bros. would end as a disappointment for him. Many fans felt that an archival release of the 1988 configuration of Rave Unto The Joy Fantastic might have been a much more interesting and critically successful release, because the title track was so good, it made them want to hear the rest of that.

Photo: Steve Parke

The European PR tour for Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Having done quite a bit of press interviews to promote Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic in the United States, O(+> embarked on a two-week promotional tour of Europe in mid-November that would include a string of television appearances. The plan was to also do television appearances in the States upon his return. O(+> hadn’t engaged in this level of promotion since the release of Emancipation in 1996 and it was probably part of the agreement with Arista Records for them to release Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic.

The promotional tour of Europe started out with a new listening party for journalists on 15 November. It was held at the 600-capacity Mermaid Theatre in London. Clive Davis presented the songs and O(+> performed with The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows as the encore numbers. Those were the two songs O(+> would perform on various European TV shows, either one or the other or both of them. O(+> would occasionally lip-synch The Greatest Romance Ever Sold instead of performing it live.

 

While O(+> was on the PR tour of Europe, a maxi-single was released of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold on 23 November 1999. Original Radio Edit was the same as Radio Edit on the first single.

The Greatest Romance Ever Sold – The Remix CD (1999)
1. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Original Radio Edit) (4:32)
2. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Jason Nevins Remix Edit) (3:53)
3. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Neptunes Remix Edit featuring Q-Tip) (3:45)
4. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Jason Nevins Extended Remix) (6:48)
5. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Neptunes Extended Remix featuring Q-Tip) (5:07)

A 12” promo single of Jason Nevins’ mixes was also made. The Vocal version was identical to Jason Nevins Extended Remix on the officially released maxi single.

O(+>: The Greatest Romance Ever Sold – Jason Nevins Mixes 12” promo single (October 1999)
A) Vocal (6:40)
     Beats (6:47)*
B) Dub (5:49)*
     Instrumental (6:47)*

O(+> celebrated the release by giving a show in Madrid on 24 November 1999 which Mayte attended and shortly after, he cut the PR tour short and travelled back to Minneapolis where the video for The Greatest Romance Ever Sold finally premiered on MTV on 9 December 1999. O(+> said he made the video as a contrast to videos that are sex-oriented. However, in her 2017 book, Mayte observed: “The accompanying music video featured my husband getting down and dirty – and I mean VERY down and VERY dirty – with a girl I later discovered was a stripper from Le Crazy Horse. This was pushing the envelope, even for him.”

A couple of pages earlier in her book, Mayte had recounted how she got upset about O(+> bringing her, his wife to that particular strip club in Paris, so no wonder she took it personal. “Mama had blood in her eye after she saw that video,” Mayte continued. “Who would humiliate his wife in public that way? No good man! No son of mine!” her mother had said.

The unreleased 2nd single off Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
O(+>’s hangout friend at the Life club in New York earlier in the year Ananda Lewis was visiting O(+> at Paisley Park in December 1999 where she was among the VIP-guests for a The Time concert at Paisley Park on 17 December 1999 and a O(+> show there too the day after. The two shows were videotaped and the second on 18 December 1999 would make up the bulk of the Rave Un2 The Year 2000 TV special broadcast on pay-per-view on New Year’s Eve 1999/2000. Subsequent broadcasts followed in many countries, and it would get released on DVD in June 2000.

On New Year's Eve 1999/2000, O(+> also released One Song as a download on his Love4OneAnother website. The song lasted 3:28 but was preceded by almost six minutes of sermonizing about mankind’s artificial barriers between itself and God, making the download clock in at an 8:54 total. Many fans who were unhappy about O(+>’s Jehova’s Witnesses leanings weren’t thrilled about the speech and fan edits were made, cutting the speech off so it was just the song.

O(+>: One Song download (1999/2000)
1. One Song (8:54)

In the beginning of the new year, O(+> was working on a limited edition of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic titled Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic complete with a remix of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic titled Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic. The remix was possibly already remixed in December 1999. The limited edition would get postponed, though, and it wouldn’t get released until April 2001 where it was made available through the then Prince’s NPG Music Club.

By March 2000, Clive Davis flew to Minneapolis for a visit to Paisley Park. He had invested significant time and a $11 million advance in the Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic project, but according to Alex Hahn in his 2004 book Possessed – The Rise And Fall Of Prince, he was met by a O(+> who was frustrated with Arista’s promotional efforts. “Clive Davis and Arista Records allows Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic to languish at the netheregions of the chart (ain’t nobody really trippin’),” O(+> wrote on his Love4One Another website in early March. O(+> reminded the chairman of the hits he had promised. O(+> made it clear he wasn’t wasting any more time on promotion unless a second single was rushed out.

However, Associated Press had reported on 17 November 1999 that the deal with O(+> was one of the last Davis made before learn­ing that Arista parent BMG Enter­tainment was forcing him from his job. The New York Daily News reported that L. Londell McMillan, an attorney for the Artist, called Davis’s situation “a corporate media assassination at best and at worst, age discrimination.”

So, it’s possibly Clive Davis wasn’t in any position to greenlight further singles from Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic. Certainly, the second single choice Man ‘O’ War was only released as a promo single with the official remix single remaining unreleased.

O(+>: Man ‘O’ War promo single (2000)
1. Radio Edit (without guitar solo) (3:56)
2. Radio Edit (with guitar solo) (3:59)
3. Call Out Research Hook (0:10)

O(+>: Man ‘O’ War – The Remix Experience single (spring 2000)
Track list unknown

Photo: Steve Parke

Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic gets postponed
In March 2000, O(+> posted on his Love4OneAnother website that he had postponed a limited edition of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic with remixes and extended versions, a delay that “will give Mr. Davis time to make good on his promise to deliver a couple of real hit singles to the top of the charts.” It is therefore likely that besides the title track Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, the other remixes done for the limited edition were also done at this point: Undisputed (The Moneyapolis Mix), Chuck D.’s Rhyme which didn’t make the remix album, Hot Wit U (Nasty Girl Remix) of which an edit would make the remix album and The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Extended Version featuring Eve).

About the latter. H.M. Buff revealed in Matt Thorne’s Prince book that “there were two remixes of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Clive wanted to combine them to make something new, and I had passed that on, and Prince didn’t want to talk to him. And finally he was in the same room looking at me, and I gave him the puppy eyes, and he said, ‘Oh, that’s what you want? I’d rather be dragged through nails.’”

But he made it anyway. O(+> also made an NPG Records sampler cassette featuring a remix of Man ‘O’ War now that the single wasn’t released, but the track would get released on the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic remix album. The sampler also contained a couple of samples of songs recorded with Rosie Gaines who had just guested on O(+>’s New Year’s Eve Rave Un2 The Year 2000 TV special. Both songs would get released later. There was also a sample of an unreleased track for his Jehova’s Witnesses mentor Larry Graham and one from Chaka Khan’s 1998 album Come 2 My House. The two samples credited to The New Power Generation were previews of future releases while the two samples credited to Madhouse were retitled unreleased tracks from the abandoned 1995 Madhouse: 24 album.

O(+>: Man O War (Remix) NPG Records Sampler promo cassette (2000)
1. Man O War (Remix) (5:11)
2. The New Power Generation: Peace (Edit) (1:31)*
3. The New Power Generation: 2045: Radical Man (Edit) (2:18)*
4. Rosie Gaines: Hit U In The Socket (NPGMC Remix) (Excerpt) (1:18)
5. Rosie Gaines: Trouble (Never Give Up) (Excerpt) (1:15) – released as T.R.O.U.B.L.E.
6. Madhouse: Seventeen (Excerpt) (1:27)* - cover of Kamasutra/Overture #8
7. Madhouse: Eighteen (Excerpt) (1:49)* - cover of Promise/Broken
8. Chaka Khan: Come 2 My House (Edit) (1:49)*
9. Larry Graham: Do U Wanna Get Funky (Excerpt) (1:34)**

On 11 April 2000, the Maceo Parker album Dial M-A-C-E-O containing his sax versions of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows was released. A promo-single was made of his version of The Greatest Romance Ever Sold around the same time, containing two different edits of the track.

Maceo Parker: The Greatest Romance Ever Sold promo CD-single (Spring 2000)
1. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Radio Edit #1) (3:57)
2. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Radio Edit #2) (3:52)

Photos: Steve Parke

Release of Rave Un2 The Year 2000
On 20 March 2000, Mayte sent a letter to her husband about how unhappy she was and that it was obvious he didn’t love her anymore and wanted her out of his life and asked how he wanted to resolve the situation legally. She just wanted to move on, so she accepted the very first offer of settlement from his attorney, which was to get a little money and keep the house in Spain which she figured she could sell. In May 2000, Mayte signed the papers, and the divorce was officially announced. At the same time, O(+> made it official that his name was now Prince again with contractual ties to Warner Brothers having ceased. And of course, a Jehova’s Witness cannot be called by a heathen symbol.

Around the time of his divorce, Prince kept busy by recording a duet called Make That Move with former girl group TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. The song was left off her solo album by request from Prince, though, and it remains unreleased.

And then the New Year’s Eve Rave Un2 The Year 2000 TV special was released on DVD on 5 June 2000 with a running time of 132 minutes. Arista Records was not involved with the release, and now it was credited to Prince. Like on the European PR tour, the only Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic songs performed in the show were The Greatest Romance Ever Sold and Baby Knows.

The DVD is akin to the 1995 Home Video release The Sacrifice Of Victor of a 1993 aftershow in London where O(+> took the backseat to lots of guest stars on stage. This new bigger and bolder take on that is framed by O(+> performing abridged versions of some of Prince’s greatest hits, but any momentum the show might have built up is lost when O(+>’s Jehova’s Witnesses mentor, bass player Larry Graham takes center stage for three songs, and it’s not even any of the ones O(+> wrote for him. Then O(+> precedes a Purple Rain performance by telling the audience that “you only have one birthday” because Larry Graham told him so. And then they have to suffer through a duet with O(+> and Larry Graham performing The Cross, but with the lyrics changed to The Christ because Larry Graham told O(+> that Jesus didn’t die on a cross, but a stauros. It’s practically unwatchable. After that, there’s some blues playing and now the audience is just bored. It’s not until the performance of Baby Knows that interest is rekindled, but then the show is almost over. It was great seeing Rosie Gaines perform with O(+>, though, and Lenny Kravitz was great, too. Sax player Maceo Parker is also among the guest stars, and he would later join Prince’s band. Mercifully George Clinton’s performance and a fourth Larry Graham song were saved for the DVD extras, or the show would have dragged on.

Prince In Concert: Rave Un2 The Year 2000 (DVD)
Let’s Go Crazy
She’s Always In My Hair
U’ve Got The Look
Kiss
Jungle Love – feat. Morris Day and The Time
The Bird – feat. Morris Day and The Time
American Woman (Lenny Kravitz)
Fly Away (Lenny Kravitz)
Get Off – Gett Off/Gett Off (Houstyle) feat. Rosie Gaines
Medley (Rosie Gaines, Mike Scott, Maceo Parker)
It’s Alright
Everyday People (Cynthia Robinson & Gerry Martini)
Higher
Purple Rain
The Christ
Blues Medley (Maceo Parker & Johnny Blackshire) – Purple House
Nothing Compares 2 U – feat. Rosie Gaines
Take Me With U/Raspberry Beret
Greatest Romance
Baby Knows
1999 Intro
Baby I’m A Star
1999
Bonus features:
Innerviews
George Clinton: Fleshlight
Cathy Jenesen: The Undertaker (Sax solo)
Jimmy Russell: The Undertaker (Harmonica solo)
Larry Graham, Prince, NPG: Release Urself
Freedom Newz
Peep This

Freedom Newz is a couple of speeches about the music industry, and Peep This is an advertisement for The NPG New Funk Sampling Series which remains unreleased.

The NPG: New Funk Sampling Series (2000)
7 CD set of samples with discs entitled Bass, The Human Voice, Guitar, Keyboards, Loops & Percussion, Sound FX and Orchestral

The first song to be released by the re-christened Prince was CyberSingle. As the title implies, it was released digitally as a download from NPG Online on 14 July 2000.

Prince: CyberSingle download (14 July 2000)
1. CyberSingle (2:43)

On 21 July 2000, two samples of live tracks recorded at Paisley Park on 15 July 2000 were made available as downloads from NPG Online. Tell Me What It Is was a cover of a Graham Central Station song.

Prince: Live At Paisley Park 15 July 2000 download (21 July 2000)
1. Tell Me What It Is (2:30)
2. Good Life (2:27)

Photo: Steve Parke

The unreleased 3rd single and Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic
Even though the Man ‘O’ War single wasn’t released, that didn’t stop Prince from making a new one for Hot Wit U that didn’t get released either. As the song was on a O(+> album, The Hot Experience was also credited to O(+>. The new track on the single, Underneath The Cream which was inspired by a line in the lyrics to Hot Wit U, would get released in Prince’s NPG Music Club the following year. Nasty Girl Remix would get released on the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic remix album while the club/dance remix would get included in NPG Ahdio Show #11 which was released to members of the NPG Music Club on 17 January 2002. The hip hop-like Redefine Hot Remix would get bootlegged, leaving only the House mix of So Far, So Pleased unknown to fans. It has been described as a club/dance remix mixed with elements of the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic remix.

O(+>: The Hot Experience 12” single (pre 19 July 2000)
Hot Wit U (Nasty Girl Remix) (4:28)
Hot Wit U (Redefine Hot Remix) (6:32)
Underneath The Cream (4:02)
Hot Wit U (Club/Dance Remix)
So Far, So Pleased (House) (6:04)

A music video was made for Hot Wit U (Nasty Girl Remix). It featured a few sexy girls now that Prince was no longer a married man.

On 20 October 2000, a new in-house 12” single of Hot Wit U was made, supposedly for O(+>’s DJ to bring on tour to play for Prince. Lil Buddy Mix was new from the previous configuration, and the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic remix was added instead of one of the Hot Wit U remixes – it is uncertain which of the remixes that’s track 2 on side A.

Prince: Hot Wit U in-house 12” (20 October 2000)
A) Hot Wit U (Nasty Girl Remix) (4:28)
     Hot Wit U (6:57)*
     Hot Wit U (Underneath The Cream) (4:01)
B) Hot Wit U (Lil’ Buddy Mix) (3:43)*
     Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (5:15)
     So Far, So Pleased (House) (6:04)*

According to Alex Hahn’s book, Possessed – The Rise And Fall Of Prince, months after the release of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, Clive Davis told a reporter: “Prince made a great record, but it didn’t appeal to the thirteen- to nineteen-year-old age bracket, which means the demographics weren’t sufficient to create a hit. It wasn’t bad. I mean, it was a hit among a certain bracket. But it didn’t go down with the youth.”

On 29 April 2001, the Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic limited edition album finally became available through the NPG Music Club. The album was sent on CD to premium members during the first year of the club, and later became available for purchase from the club as a stand-alone item. It featured remixes and variant versions of Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic tracks, including the remixed version of Beautiful Strange from summer 1999 as an added incentive to buy the album. In turn, Everyday Is A Winding Road and Strange But True were removed from the album.

H.M. Buff told Matt Thorne for his Prince book: “It’s not that different. There were a couple of steps taken making Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, they were just undone.”

Supposedly he was referring to Tangerine, Baby Knows and Prettyman having been edited for inclusion on Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, but on Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic, they were the original unedited versions.

O(+>: Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (2000)
1. Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic (5:14)
2. Undisputed (The Moneyapolis Mix) (5:45)
3. The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Extended Version featuring Eve) (8:06)
4. Hot Wit U (Nasty Girl Remix) (4:23)
5. Tangerine (Extended Version) (2:13)
6. So Far, So Pleased (3:24)
7. The Sun, The Moon And Stars (5:18)
8. ManOwar (Remix) (5:12)
9. Baby Knows (Extended Version) (3:53)
10. Eye Love U, But Eye Don’t Trust U Anymore (3:33)
11. Beautiful Strange (4:55)
12. Silly Game (3:29)
13. Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do (3:16)
14. Prettyman (Extended Version) (5:35)

This Is Your Life, I Ain’t Gonna Run, R U Ready?, Don’t Say No, What Should B Souled, O(+>’s cover of Fight The Power and the Make That Move duet with Lisa Lopes remain unreleased, as does the early O(+> version of The Man In Your Life. Along with O(+>’s early solo versions of the songs he invited guest-stars on, the unreleased Hot Wit U remixes and the remix of So Far, So Pleased plus non-album tracks like One Song and CyberSingle, there’d be enough material for a Vault disc if Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic should ever receive the Super Deluxe Edition treatment by the Estate of Prince. The Beautiful Strange and Madrid 2 Chicago albums should get individual releases.