33 years ago today Prince released the soundtrack to Graffiti Bridge, the sort-of sequel to 1984's Purple Rain.
Prince resurrects his character "The Kid" and once again Morris Day plays his nemesis, both professionally and romantically. But this time instead of Appolonia, the object of their desire is "Aura," played by Ingrid Chavez. Oh, and she's an angel. No, really. An actual angel.
Yeah, it's not great. It did not come close to Purple Rain's box office or critical acclaim. But Prince told USA Today in 1991:
"(It was) one of the purest, most spiritual, uplifting things I've ever done. It was non-violent, positive and had no blatant sex scenes. Maybe it will take people 30 years to get it. They trashed The Wizard of Oz at first, too."
The good news is, you do once again get The Time, plus appearances by the magnificent Mavis Staples and funk master George Clinton.
But the soundtrack did much better, with fans and critics alike.
There are 17 songs on it, and in addition to Prince, Morris Day and The Time, Mavis and George, there's also a then-teenaged Tevin Campbell, with his Prince-produced hit, "Round and Round."
But for today's SoundTRAX selection I'm going with the final tune recorded for the film, one that was added as almost an afterthought. One that was a Top Ten hit on the singles chart and #1 on the R&B chart.
From the Graffiti Bridge soundtrack, it's Prince with "Thieves in the Temple."
