Lovesexy

As an artistic statement, the initial CD release of the album was not split into tracks, but was instead tracked as one single 45:07 track, designed to be listened to as a whole (track titles were included, however). Later releases of the CD split the album into the nine named tracks, however.

**Sessions and compiling**
The album was written and recorded hastily in response to Prince’s decision in early December 1987, to cancel *“The Black Album”*, which Prince deemed too dark. One of the tracks from that album, When 2 R In Love, recorded in October 1987, was kept for inclusion on **Lovesexy**, and the remaining eight tracks were recorded in the following two months. File:Eye88.png No, Dance On and Positivity were recorded in mid-December 1987.
Also recorded in mid December was Luv Sexy, an early version of **Lovesexy** with the same hook-line but faster in pace, in a different key and with mostly different lyrics. It was not used for the album but Prince borrowed parts from it for **Lovesexy** that was done in late January 1988.
Alphabet St. was recorded at the end of December 1987, while Glam Slam and Anna Stesia were both recorded at some point in December 1987, but specific dates for these tracks are unknown. I Wish U Heaven was recorded in late January 1988, as the final track recorded for the album.
While Sheila E. appears on drums for many of the album’s tracks, the album was largely recorded solely by Prince. His full live band appeared on File:Eye88.png No, and some band members appeared in minor roles on Alphabet St., Anna Stesia, **Lovesexy** and Positivity. The album marks Cat and Boni Boyer’s first appearances on a Prince album.
A first sequence of the album was done on 21 January 1988. The exact sequence of this version is unknown, but likely had the first four songs (Side A of the album) as it was later released, although some versions (including Glam Slam and Anna Stesia were possibly edited or mixed differently at this point. The other songs on there were Dance On, When 2 R In Love, Luv Sexy, The Line and Positivity, most likely in that order.
Positivity at this stage included Cat rapping J.M. Silk’s "Music Is The Key", previously incorporated into Cindy C. which was removed from the version as it was released. Prince likely worked on mixing the tracks over the next week.
A version of the album was compiled and printed as an acetate on 26 / 27 January 1988. Possibly with its 'predecessor', the ill-fated untitled *“The Black Album”* in mind it was made without an artist or title presented.
The album now had eight songs, omitting The Line from its earlier configuration. All four tracks on side A, as well as Dance On and When 2 R In Love were now edited as on the released version, although the mix was possibly slightly different still on some. Luv Sexy was the penultimate track on the album, with Positivity still with the "Music Is The Key" rap included. I Wish U Heaven was yet to be recorded and therefore not on this configuration.
On 29 January 1988, two days after the acetate was made, Prince cut **Lovesexy** from scratch, using the lyrics he wrote as *The Most Vital* (but did not put to music as such) and taking various elements from Luv Sexy, including the hook-line and the varispeed dialogue at the end.
I Wish U Heaven was recorded two days after **Lovesexy** on 31 January 1988.
In early February 1988 a new test pressing of the album is made, now including both the newly recorded **Lovesexy** and I Wish U Heaven. Before its final release I Wish U Heaven was remixed once more and replaced a guitar part with a keyboard part, while Cat’s "Music Is The Key" rap was omitted from Positivity.
**Promotion**
The album produced three commercially-released singles, Alphabet St. (which preceded the album), Glam Slam and I Wish U Heaven.
Prince supported the album with a major European, North American and Japanese tour, the Lovesexy Tour, which focused largely on the album (while including many songs from Prince’s back catalog).

**Charts**
The album reached number 11 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums Chart, and number 5 on the Billboard Top Black Albums Chart. It fared much better in Europe, reaching number 1 in the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. The album also did well in New Zealand, where it also reached number 1.

**Certifications**
The album was certified gold by RIAA seven months after release, on 5 December 1988. **Lovesexy** was Prince’ lowest and weakest selling album in the United States since Controversy. Prince was so disappointed in the less-than-stellar impact of the album in the U.S. that he decided to postpone the American tour that was planned. Instead, he opted to go to Europe before taking the show to the US, hoping that the momentum and anticipation would build.

1. **File:Eye88.png No** (5:46)
2. **Alphabet St.** (5:38)
3. **Glam Slam** (5:04)
4. **Anna Stesia** (4:57)
5. **Dance On** (3:43)
6. ****Lovesexy**** (5:49)
7. **When 2 R In Love** (4:02)
8. **I Wish U Heaven** (2:43)
9. **Positivity** (7:16)
* Side 1:
1. **Eye No No** (5:46)
2. **Alphabet St.** (5:38)
3. **Glam Slam** (5:04)
4. **Anna Stesia** (4:57)
* Side 2:
1. **Dance On** (3:43)
2. ****Lovesexy**** (5:49)
3. **When 2 R In Love** (4:02)
4. **I Wish U Heaven** (2:43)
 All songs written by Prince.

* Sheila E. - drums on Eye No No and Alphabet St., drums (uncertain involvement) on Glam Slam and I Wish U Heaven, drums and background vocals on Anna Stesia, Dance On and Positivity
* Miko Weaver - guitar on Eye No No and Dance On
* Levi Seacer, Jr. - bass guitar on Eye No No and Dance On
* Dr. Fink - keyboards on Eye No No and Dance On
* Boni Boyer - keyboards on Eye No No and Dance On, vocals on Eye No No,Alphabet St., Anna Stesia, Dance On and Positivity
* Eric Leeds - saxophone and spoken voice ('party' segue) on Eye No No, saxophone on Alphabet St., **Lovesexy** and Positivity
* Atlanta Bliss - trumpet and spoken voice ('party' segue) on Eye No No, trumpet on Alphabet St., **Lovesexy** and Positivity
* Wally Safford - spoken voice ('party' segue) on Eye No No
* Greg Brooks - spoken voice ('party' segue) on Eye No No
* Ingrid Chavez - spoken intro on Eye No No and vocals on Alphabet St. (credited for "spirit child")
* Cat - vocals on Alphabet St., Glam Slam and Anna Stesia
* Unidentified woman - vocals on **Lovesexy**
* Joe Blaney - engineer
* Eddie Miller - engineer and mix
* Bernie Grundman - mastering
* Jean Baptiste Mondino - cover photo

US press advert published in Billboard (Vol. 100 No.20) on 14 May 1988   US press advert published in Rolling Stone (info needed) in 1988
* Department store giant Wal-Mart refused to carry the album or decided to stock it discreetly in their 1,100 stores across the USA because of the "provocative pose" of Prince on the cover that they thought was "too hot to handle". Interviewed by Billboard, a representative from the chain declared that their refusal of stocking the album was due to "the album cover itself", something that was "offensive" and that they didn’t want to carry anything in their stores containing "graphics of this nature". In a similar way, a Minneapolis based company, Musicland Group, advised the managers of their 616 stores to keep the LP behind the counter, while cassettes and CDs were being displayed routinely. Asked about the controversy, Warner VP Dennis said that the label had no intent in redesigning the cover as they "didn’t see anything wrong with it", pointing that Time Magazine printed the cover on the second week of may 1988.

* **"Lovesexy" Too Sexy For Some, Prince’s Album Art Meets Resistance** *by Chris Morris (LA) & Geoff Mayfield (NY)* (Billboard Vol. 100 NO. 21: 21 may, 1988)
* **Copyright:** US Copyright Office / SR0000085595 / 1988-06-17 Supplemented by: US Copyright Office / SR0000097032 / 1988-09-27
* **Charts:** UK Charts / Prince, Hitparade.ch / Lovesexy, Austriancharts.at / Lovesexy, Dutchcharts.nl / Lovesexy, Swedishcharts.com / Lovesexy, Norwegiancharts.com / Lovesexy, Australian-charts.com / Lovesexy, Charts.org.nz / Lovesexy and www.billboard.com / Lovesexy
* **Certifications:** http://www.riaa.com/, http://www.bpi.co.uk, BVMI / Gold & Platinum Awards