What is Paisley Park Records?

Paisley Park Records was Prince's record label, associated with and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album Purple Rain.

Artists who recorded for Paisley Park include The Time, Sheila E, The Family, Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Carmen Electra, Jill Jones, The Three O'Clock, Ingrid Chavez, Dale Bozzio, and Taja Sevelle.

While Prince had great chart success in the 1980s, the success did not transfer to other acts; the label never had any commercial successes except for Prince's releases. In 1994, amid Prince's feud with Warner Bros., Warner ended its distribution deal with Paisley Park, effectively closing the label. Prince later started NPG Records.

The record label shares its name with Prince's recording complex Paisley Park Studios and the song "Paisley Park" on his 1985 Around the World in a Day album.

Paisley Park Records also released albums by Apollonia 6, Mazarati, Good Question, Madhouse, Eric Leeds, and the late Tony LeMans, whose debut album was produced by Scritti Pollitti. Also of note, the President of Operations for the label was Alan Leeds, brother of saxophonist Eric Leeds, who played sax in Sheila E's band, The Family and also toured with the NPG. Alan won a Grammy for writing the liner notes for a James Brown album, and at one point serving as Prince's former tour manager on several tours. Craig Rice also served as President shortly after Alan Leeds left.

Prince's management firm at the time, Cavallo, Ruffalo & Fargnoli, affectionately known as the "Spaghetti Bros." began signing artists to the label, at times even without Prince's knowledge or permission. That precipitated the beginning of the end to a successful partnership. Shortly after firing the management team, lawsuits ensued and it was discovered that the label was mismanaged from the outset, with Warner Bros. taking heavy losses due to exhorbitant advances paid to Prince & for the label. Warner Bros. also helped to pay for the Recording studio built in Chanhassen, a US$10 million world class recording facility that also was a soundstage. Warner executives insisted on a return on their investment, which resulted in several major artist recording their albums at Paisley Park Studios, at times even against Prince's wishes.

Paisley Park Records folded with Prince retaining the masters of all artists, artists advances that was kept by the company, and no support from the label. All releases are out of print, including releases by George Clinton, whose albums recorded on Prince's label are the only recordings of his that are currently out of print.

Although the label is viewed as an unsuccessful venture it should be noted that several notable singles were released on the label including:

• A Love Bizarre by Sheila E
• 100 MPH by Mazarati -recorded during the period when Mazarati also recorded the song Kiss which Prince would ultimately record lead vocals for himself (keeping their background vocals) and release, resulting in a number one hit.
• Nothing Compares 2 U -written by Prince but recorded by The Family and again later successfully recorded by Sinead O'Connor
• A string of Prince hits including but not limited to:

Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Sign of the Times which itself included the B-side "La,La, La,He,Hee,Heee", a legendary track said to be the response of a bet lost by either Sheena Easton or Morris Day — although Easton is credited on the release — who challenged Prince believing that he would be unable to produce a song based on the lyrics of the title. Prince in fact responded with a song over 10 minutes long. The song is also notable for the controversial single cover art of Cat Glover which was frequently mistaken as Prince in drag. There are two versions of the song that were released; an edited version which to many fans dismay was chosen over the long unedited mix on both of the Prince collections albums to date.), U Got The Look, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, and Alphabet Street. Paisley Park was used for all of the known authorized vinyl pressings of Prince's Camille tracks including the highly sought after, rare long versions of Shockadelica (from Camille but released as the B-side to If I Was Your Girlfriend on Paisley Park), Love or Money (B-side to "Kiss") and Scarlet Pussy (released as the B-side to I Wish U Heaven). These songs are regarded by fans as some of Prince's finest works. Contrary to belief there were catalog numbers for both the original pressing of The Black Album and for Camille, but they were cancelled and abandoned and, therefore, it can be said that both of those albums (which showcase the Camille alter ego) and certainly the numerous unreleased music and full length films and video work that are known to have been created in Prince's state of the art Paisley Park studios are among the rarest of the Prince catalog on the Paisley Park record label.

See also

• List of record labels
• Prince (musician)
• Sheila E.