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Coffee Break

Coffee Break: Sign O' The Times

Prince, 'Sign O' The Times'
Prince, 'Sign O' The Times'Warner Records

by Jill Riley and Anna Weggel

September 25, 2020

"I feel that we're on the brink of something. It is going to be strict and wild and pretty." -- Prince, 1986

The Prince estate and Warner Records have released the expansive super deluxe edition of Prince's 1987 double album Sign O' The Times. It contains 63 previously unreleased tracks, all from Prince's vault.

Primarily recorded between the end of 1985 and beginning of 1987, the era saw the dissolution of his band The Revolution, the end of his engagement to Susannah Melvoin, and the creation (and ultimate abandonment) of the albums Dream Factory, Camille, and Crystal Ball.

The Super Deluxe Edition includes all the audio material that Prince officially released in 1987, as well as 45 previously unissued studio songs recorded between May 1979 and July 1987, a live audio performance from the June 20, 1987 stop on the Sign O' The Times Tour at Stadium Galgenwaard in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and a DVD containing the complete New Year's Eve benefit concert at Paisley Park on December 31, 1987, which was Prince's final performance of the Sign O' The Times Tour stage show and his only on-stage collaboration with Miles Davis.

You can follow along with the entire story of Sign O' The Times by listening to "Prince: The Story of Sign O' The Times" -- an audio documentary and podcast series brought to you by The Current in collaboration with the Prince Estate, Paisley Park, and Warner Records. Hosted by Local Show host Andrea Swensson, it airs Thursdays at 8 pm central on The Current, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts. Episode 5, called " It Be's Like That Sometimes" dropped yesterday, and it examines just what happened between Prince and Warner Bros. executive Lenny Waronker who had to call Prince and tell him that Warner would not release his triple album Crystal Ball--and would convince him to edit it down into a more concentrated double album.

So for today's 9:30 Coffee Break, what do you want to hear from the super deluxe edition of Prince's 1987 double album Sign O' The Times?

Respond with your song ideas in the comments below.

And if that's not enough for you, Purple Current will be digging into the box set and take us on a journey of the albums that never were starting at 10 am today.

Have an idea for a Coffee Break topic? Submit your idea for a future theme and browse past Coffee Breaks in our archive.

Songs played

Prince - Wally
Prince - Power Fantastic (Live In Studio)
Prince - Can I Play With U feat. Miles Davis
Prince - It Be's Like That Sometimes
Prince - All My Dreams
Prince - In A Large Room With No Light