"Glam Slam" is a song by American musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, and the second single from his tenth album, ''

Lovesexy ''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late Jan ...

'' (1988). The song has sexual overtones with a spiritual undertone and fits the ''Lovesexy'' theme of integrating God and sex. The song is complex musically, recalling "Life Can Be So Nice" from ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

''. It ends with a chorus of strings (played on the keyboard). A

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

of the song by

Shep Pettibone Robert "Shep" Pettibone (born 10 July 1959) is an American record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. Career Shep Pettibone surfaced after his work with Arthur Baker on Afrika Bambaataa & the Jazz ...

and Steve Peck mainly includes dance beats and extra instrumentation and samples. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "Escape (Free yo mind from this rat race)", is somewhat of a remix, sampling the

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

from "Glam Slam", but adding all new

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

and a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

. The theme of "Escape" is more anti-drugs and gangs and is generally more of a dance number than "Glam Slam". The edit of "Escape" was included on 1993's ''

The Hits/The B-Sides ''The Hits/The B-Sides'' is a box set by American recording artist Prince. It was released on September 10, 1993, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is a comprehensive three- disc set consisting of many of his hit sin ...

''. The opening lines to "Escape" were lifted from the '' Camille''

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...

, "Rebirth of the Flesh". These lines also kicked off the Lovesexy World Tour, before leading into "

Erotic City "Erotic City ("Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive")" is a song by American musician Prince, released as the B-side to the 1984 single "Let's Go Crazy" and the 12" version of the 1986 single " Girls & Boys". It was both written and produced by ...

". Prince recorded a new version in 1991 called "Glam Slam '91" that later was the basis of "

Gett Off "Gett Off" is a song written and produced by American musician Prince, released in June 1991 by Paisley Park and Warner Bros. as the lead single from his thirteenth album, '' Diamonds and Pearls'' (1991). The album was his first with his backing ...

" from ''

Diamonds and Pearls ''Diamonds and Pearls'' is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, and the first with his backing band The New Power Generation. It was released on October 1, 1991, by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. T ...

''.

Glam Slam nightclubs

In late 1989, Prince and Gilbert Davison (Prince's former manager and president of

Paisley Park Records Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album '' Purple Rain''. Th ...

) opened a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

named after the song and partially decorated with paintings by Brian Canfield Mitchell. After eight years of frustration vis-a-vis its more established rival First Avenue, he then sold his 10% stake in the club and Gilbert Davison renamed it The Quest. The club became one of the premier nightspots in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

, rivaling First Avenue as a live music venue, before closing in 2006 due to a fire in the club. The building was reconfigured following the closure and reopened as the nightclub Epic. Other Glam Slam clubs opened in Miami (Glam Slam East), Los Angeles (Glam Slam West), and Yokohama (Glam Slam Yokohama); all have since closed, or closed and reopened under new management not tied to Prince.

''Glam Slam Ulysses''

The Glam Slam moniker was extended in 1993 with Prince's ''

Glam Slam Ulysses ''Glam Slam Ulysses'' was a 1993 musical production by Prince, loosely based on Homer's ''Odyssey'', featuring a combination of live performances and video, with twelve previously unreleased songs. Each song represented an element from Homer's '' ...

'', a combination of live performances and video loosely based on

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

''.

Critical reception

American magazine ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' complimented "Glam Slam" as "a very unique sounding, yet commercially promising tune." Jerry Smith from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' wrote, "His royal maestro delivers this tasty gem from his number one-selling ''

'' album and, although a slow, sinuous track, it's captivatingly insidious nature should ensure another success in time for his British dates."

Track listing

* 7" single / Cassette single # "Glam Slam" (edit) – 3:28 # "Escape" (edit) – 3:31 * 12" single # "Glam Slam" (remix) – 8:52 (remixed by Shep Pettibone and Steve Peck) # "Escape (Free Your Mind From This Rat Race)" – 6:26 * Mini CD single # "Glam Slam" (edit) – 3:28 # "Escape" (edit) – 3:31 # "Glam Slam" (remix) – 8:52 (remixed by Shep Pettibone and Steve Peck)

Personnel

Credits from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud *

– lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars,

Roland D-50 The Roland D-50 is a synthesizer produced by Roland and released in April of 1987. Its features include digital sample-based subtractive synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analog synthesis-styled layout desig ...

, synthesizers, bass guitar, drums, Dynacord ADD-One,

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

, percussion * Cat Glover – backing vocals

Charts

References

{{authority control 1988 singles Paisley Park Records singles Prince (musician) songs Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Songs written by Prince (musician) Warner Records singles 1988 songs Psychedelic songs Dream pop songs