A review by nickscoby
Prince and the Parade and Sign O' the Times Era Studio Sessions: 1985 and 1986 by Duane Tudahl

5.0

You take my all-time favorite artist and add my all-time favorite album (or albums) and it's a recipe for five stars. Tudahl's chronological format is well-suited for these particular years and this era within the Prince canon. So this book contains much more than just the making of some songs. For starters, Prince was creating music NON-STOP. Almost new songs every day for two consecutive years. To that end, we learn the backstory to some hits (like "Kiss") and other nuggets like happy accidents (see "Forever in My Life"). We also see the impact that Prince's work ethic had on others including, of course, his on/off-again fiancee, Susannah Melvoin, but notably engineer Susan Rogers.
Like I've mentioned elsewhere, Prince was a real piece of work. Anti-social, insecure, controlling and kind of jerk. Doesn't make me love his work any less though. It does appear as though Duane is planning a third book--and I can't wait to see which albums it covers.