Well, it's short. My standard for sax instrumentals from this general era is "Lily Was Here". This is no "Lily Was Here". 2/5
More proto-Madhouse jazz fusion. Generally enjoyable; hard to write about. Eric Leeds really kicks ass on it, though. 3.2/5
'Susannah's Pajamas" - 4/5 this is a stand-out to the rest of the album, the magic is in Eric Leeds and how quickly he adapted to Prince's musical language. I'd take a whole album of tracks like this. Prince's musicology was without peers back then.
Wendy and LIsa get a lot of press for their collaboration with Prince in this period; but when you think about it, Eric Leeds really is almost just as important an influence on his music from here on.
Great interview with Eric Leeds here about his time with Prince, if anyone is interested and hasn't read it (there is a link to part two also) - Interview: Eric Leeds [Part One] - The Last Miles
Susannah's Pajamas It's well executed but I'm not a fan of this type of lounge jazz funk (especially with synth-drum beats). 1/5
I think tracks like Susannah’s Pajamas, songs that have no real commercial considerations and are just pure music, are the best indication possible of what the inside of Prince’s head probably sounded like at any given moment. Just quirky, witty, fun music. So I really enjoy it. The little keyboard blurbs remind me of background music from Under The Cherry Moon and Parade. Eric’s sax work is wonderful and makes me look forward to the Madhouse era. 3.5/5
"Susannah's Pajamas" is fine but doesn't really imprint itself on my brain. Nice sax, but the rest is rather vanilla. 2.9/5
Susannah’s Pajamas is another instrumental jam with Eric Leeds. This is another track without Clare Fischer. According to Eric he kinda just played along with the playback of the track, because Prince didn’t give him the time to learn the song. It gives a slight idea of the most spontaneous (fushion jazz funk) direction Prince was looking for at the time. He would develop it further with The Flesh and Madhouse. There’s also a slightly different mix of the track, then still called BMW. For me, this is music to be in the mood for. Sometimes I really like it, sometimes it’s just good. Compared to Yes and most of the Madhouse albums, this is slightly less. Since I gave Yes a minor 4, I will rate this lower. So, 3 out of 5 for Susannah’s Pajamas.
Nothing Compares to You Very weak performance and arrangement. Sound design is also terrible. If I had never heard Sinead’s version I would not have recognized hit potential in the song. In general, arrangement and sound design are at least as important as the song itself, but probably more. (Which is why to my ears Depeche Mode without Alan Wilder are mediocre at best). 2/5 (Sinead=10/5) Susannah’s Pajamas Another snooze fest from The Family. I think with a different producer and less Prince involvement the song (and album) could have potentially been much better. Prince’s biggest problem was a lack of ability to edit and critique his own ideas and run them through different filters. His way or the highway sort of thing. 2/5
Today's song is "Desire", written by Prince and credited on the album to Paul Petersen; produced by Prince and credited to David Z & the Family. Orchestrations arranged and directed by Clare Fischer. Lyric. The basic track of this was recorded on June 27th at Flying Cloud Warehouse in Eden Prairie, Minnesota , the same day as "High Fashion" and "Mutiny." Vocals were added the next day and Paul Petersen's lead vocals were recorded in late summer, while Clare Fisher's orchestrations were added in October 1984. St. Paul Petersen: vocals Susannah Melvoin: vocals Eric Leeds: saxophone Prince: all other instruments
Desire Not a fan. The song is a droning, tedious, Prince castoff. Again feels unfinished (like the whole album). I desire...for the song to end. 1/5
I really like this one; I think that more often than not Prince doesn't deliver me the goods on his R&B ballads but this one delivers me the good, hlped along by the awesome strings and a rpetty good, heartfelt vocal by Paul Petersen; lyric is very likable too. Could use a dial-down on the sax, perhaps, though. 3.7/5
Desire A beautiful opening to this one and a killer melody and lyrics. This is a magical Prince masterpiece. 5/5
