Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions

Duane Tudahl is an award-winning author who has worked in entertainment for over thirty years. He has produced and/or directed documentary programming for the History Channel, CBS, GTV, Fox, Discovery, Pax, the Gospel Music Channel, the Food Channel, Tru-TV, and HGTV, among others.

• PrefaceJanuary 1985February 1985March 1985April 1985May 1985June 1985July 1985August 1985September 1985October 1985November 1985December 1985January 1986February 1986March 1986April 1986May 1986June 1986July 1986August 1986September 1986October 1986November 1986December 1986Epilogue

In this second Prince Studio Sessions series, Tudahl continues to explore the annals of Prince’s voracious creative drive, even while touring the Purple Rain album at a pinnacle of his stardom. Working day-by-day and session-by-session, Tudahl meticulously recreates Prince’s daily timeline in 1985 and 1986 while layering in a heap of technical information about the production process, equipment, and mixes that were created (many vaulted, still unheard). Brief snippets of information provide context for Prince’s surroundings, the people he worked with, and concurrent events, but the focus remains on the music and how it poured out of Prince wherever he was, whether on the road or back at the studio. While these years weren't all glory—Prince sustained blows like the failure of his directorial debut Under the Cherry Moon, his decision not to participate in the “We Are the World” recording, and wavering public opinion after strutting around with his bodyguards at awards shows—it seems to have had little effect on his creativity and productivity. Compulsively readable and hugely useful to researchers, this dense chronology will command the rapt attention of casual fans and scholars alike.