in a booth. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich; Prince ordered spaghetti and orange juice, which was one of his favorite meals. I launched into the same pitch I’d given Cavallo the day before: A kid from the other side of the tracks, someone that’s not appreciated, he’s in this wonderful musical world, and he’s got parent problems. PRINCE (to Tavis Smiley, 2009) My father was so hard on me. I was never good enough. It was almost like the Army when it came to music.…I wasn’t allowed to play the piano when he was there because I wasn’t as good as him. So when he left, I was determined to get as good as him, and I taught myself how to play music. And I just stuck with it, and I did it all the time. And sooner or later, people in the neighborhood heard about me and they started to talk. MAGNOLI Prince and I then walked out the door and got in the car. He started to drive and didn’t say a word. We were on a freeway for about five seconds, and then we got off, and I swear to God we were driving in a complete vac-

uum of blackness. There was about five minutes of complete silence, and then he said, “Do you know me? Have you read anything about me?” I said no. So he said, “Do you know my music?” And I said, “1999,” “Little Red Corvette.” And he said, “That’s it? How is it that you can tell me my whole life in seven minutes?” When he dropped me off at the hotel, he says, “I have over a hundred songs produced. Maybe you can come by tomorrow and listen to them, because I think some of them might be good for the movie.”

Magnoli signed on to direct the film and rewrite Blinn’s screenplay. In August 1983, he relocated to Minneapolis, where he conducted interviews with Prince, the Revolution, and the Time, and immersed himself in the local music scene.

DAVID Z. (producer, Prince collaborator) Minneapolis was a very reclusive, isolated place for a long time. We were trying to get a hit record out there for 35 years, and nothing would happen. Nobody would come and see us, ’cause they all thought we had nothing going on in our backyard. And then two things happened: [Lipps Inc.’s] “Funkytown” and Prince. COLEMAN “Funkytown” was more along the lines of what was considered the Minneapolis sound, because it was tight, funky, gizmo-synth kind of stuff. But it’s funny, because “ Funkytown” was about wanting to get out of Minneapolis and being miserable there.

PAUL PETERSON (keyboardist, the Time, 1983– 85) I’ve lived there my entire life. The musicians that were around then all pretty much knew each other. We all sat in together at different clubs. There were the different cliques—Soul Asylum, the Replacements, and all those people. We

didn’t necessarily interact with those guys, but
in the funk scene, we all hung out.

THE MOVIE

Shot list from the production (right). Rarely seen
photos from unit photographer Robert Reiff (clockwise
from top right): director Magnoli; Prince; Apollonia
Kotero, Morris Day, unidentified actress, and Jill Jones
at First Avenue. Scenes from the film (bottom row).

COURTES Y ALAN LEEDS SHOT LIS T ; ROBER T REIFF BEHIND THE SCENES ; WARNER BROS. COUR TES Y EVERE T T COLLEC TION SCREENSHOTS

56 JULY 2009 EVERYONE WHO’S ANYONE READS SPIN.COM