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Hear Prince’s original version of “Nothing Compares 2 U”

The newly unearthed 1984 track will be released as a 7" single on May 25

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Prince’s original 1984 recording of “Nothing Compares 2 U”, the song made famous by Sinéad O’Connor, has been made available by the Prince estate.

Hear it below, accompanied by a video of unseen Prince & The Revolution rehearsal footage from the same year.

“I spotted the 2″ multitrack reel in the vault some weeks back while doing a 1984-era inventory,” said the Prince Estate’s official vault archivist Michael Howe. “After retrieving my jaw from the floor, we took the reel upstairs, analysed it, put it up on the Studer 24-track machine, and digitized it to 24/192. Even our ‘faders up’ rough mix was compelling enough to indicate that this was something very special indeed.”

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The song was originally given to Prince proteges The Family before it became a worldwide hit for Sinéad O’Connor in 1990. Prince issued a live version of it on his 1993 compilation The Hits/The B-Sides, but this original 1984 version has never been released before.

The track was recorded at the Flying Cloud Drive ‘Warehouse’ in Eden Prairie by Prince’s long-time engineer Susan Rogers, and was composed, arranged and performed in its entirety by Prince, aside from the backing vocals by Susannah Melvoin and Paul ‘St. Paul’ Peterson. Also featured on the original track is saxophone work by Eric Leeds.

It is available digitally now, or on 7″ vinyl on May 25. A limited picture disc version will also be available.

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The June 2018 issue of Uncut is now on sale in the UK – with the Rolling Stones on the cover. Elsewhere in the issue, you’ll find exclusive new interviews with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Françoise Hardy, Eric Burdon, James Taylor, Public Enemy, Eleanor Friedberger and many more. Our free CD showcases 15 tracks of this month’s best new music, including Courtney Barnett, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Ryley Walker, Beach House, Wand, Simone Felice, Dylan Carson and The Sea And Cake.

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