Private Joy
"Private Joy" | |
---|---|
Song by Prince | |
from the album Controversy | |
A-side | "Do Me, Baby" |
Released | July 16, 1982 |
Recorded | August 16, 1981 |
Studio | Sunset Sound Recorders |
Genre | Post-disco, dance-pop |
Length | 4:25 |
Label | Warner Bros. |
Songwriter(s) | Prince |
Producer(s) | Prince |
"Private Joy" is a song by American musician Prince from his 1981 album Controversy, released as the B-side of the single "Do Me, Baby". The song describes how Prince will never reveal the identity of his secret lover. This is the first time Prince used the LM-1 machine, which he would use throughout his career.
In this bouncy disco-pop number, Prince explains that his lover is no one's but his. He sings about what they do together, and the times they share. He claims that he "strangled Valentino", and that she was "his ever since" and that she "belongs to Prince".
The song ends with guitar riffs and feedback from Prince, and segues into "Ronnie, Talk to Russia", the next track on Controversy. These guitar sounds were sampled and used in "Orgasm", a song on Prince's 1994 album Come.
Track listings
- "Do Me, Baby" (edit) – 3:57
- "Private Joy" – 4:25
Personnel
Sourced from Benoît Clerc and Guitarcloud.[1][2]
- Prince – lead and backing vocals, Oberheim OB-X, ARP Omni, electric guitar, bass guitar, Linn LM-1, Pearl SY-1 Syncussion
La Toya Jackson version
"Private Joy" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by La Toya Jackson | ||||
from the album Heart Don't Lie | ||||
Released | 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Genre | Pop, R&B, soul, dance | |||
Length | 4:49 | |||
Label | CBS, Sony Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Prince | |||
Producer(s) | Amir Bayyan | |||
La Toya Jackson singles chronology | ||||
|
American singer La Toya Jackson covered this song for her 1984 album Heart Don't Lie. Her single had limited release in Japan as a 7" single. Her U.S. hit single "Heart Don't Lie" can be found on the B-side.
According to Jackson, Prince's publishing company, Controversy Music, "approached me about recording songs of his that hadn't gone over too big the first time around. They submitted several songs and I picked 'Private Joy' because it sounded so up-to-date." Though "Private Joy" was Jackson's favorite song from Heart Don't Lie, it was never released as a single outside Japan. Said Jackson at the time, "I loved the song and my record company loved it, but my father manages me and it was his decision to not release that cut."[3]
The Los Angeles Times stated that "note for note, she matches Prince's intensity with her own hard-edged snap, crackle and pop."[4]
Track listings
- Japan 7" (#07 SP 815)[5]
- "Private Joy" – 4:51
- "Heart Don't Lie" (7") – 3:29
Cheyne version
Artist Cheyne recorded a version for the soundtrack of the 1985 film Weird Science.
Track listings
- U.S. 12" vinyl (#MCA-23583)[6]
- "Private Joy" (extended version) – 5:30
- "Private Joy" (instrumental) – 5:44
- "Private Joy" (bonus beats plus bass) – 4:28
References
- ^ Clerc, Benoît (October 2022). Prince: All the Songs. Octopus. ISBN 9781784728816.
- ^ "Controversy". guitarcloud.org. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
- ^ JOHNSON, CONNIE (13 January 1985). "Rock Stars Turn Out Their Versions Of Princely Songs". Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via LA Times.
- ^ JOHNSON, CONNIE (13 January 1985). "Rock Stars Turn Out Their Versions Of Princely Songs". Retrieved 23 April 2018 – via LA Times.
- ^ "Latifaheaston.co.uk". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "Cheyne - Private Joy". Discogs. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
- v
- t
- e
- "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?"
- "Still Waiting"
- "Sexy Dancer"
- "Uptown"
- "Dirty Mind"
- "Do It All Night"
- "Gotta Stop (Messin' About)"
- "Controversy"
- "Let's Work"
- "Do Me, Baby"
- "1999"
- "Little Red Corvette"
- "Delirious"
- "Let's Pretend We're Married"
- "When Doves Cry"
- "Let's Go Crazy"
- "Purple Rain"
- "I Would Die 4 U"
- "Take Me with U"
- "Paisley Park"
- "Raspberry Beret"
- "Pop Life"
- "America"
- "Kiss"
- "Mountains"
- "Anotherloverholenyohead"
- "Girls & Boys"
- "Sign "O" the Times"
- "If I Was Your Girlfriend"
- "U Got the Look"
- "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man"
- "Alphabet St."
- "Glam Slam"
- "I Wish U Heaven"
- "Batdance"
- "Partyman"
- "The Arms of Orion"
- "Scandalous!"
- "The Future"
- "Thieves in the Temple"
- "New Power Generation"
- "Gett Off"
- "Cream"
- "Diamonds and Pearls"
- "Money Don't Matter 2 Night"
- "Insatiable"
- "Thunder"
- "Sexy MF"
- "My Name Is Prince"
- "7"
- "Damn U"
- "The Morning Papers"
- "Pink Cashmere"
- "Nothing Compares 2 U"
- "Peach"
- "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World"
- "Letitgo"
- "Space"
- "Purple Medley"
- "I Hate U"
- "Gold"
- "Dinner with Delores"
- "Betcha by Golly Wow!"
- "The Holy River"
- "The Truth"
- "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold"
- "U Make My Sun Shine" (with Angie Stone)
- "When Will We B Paid?" (with Audio Stepchild)
- "Supercute"
- "The Work, pt. 1"
- "Days of Wild"
- "Controversy (Live in Hawaii)"
- "Musicology"
- "Cinnamon Girl"
- "S.S.T."
- "Te Amo Corazón"
- "Black Sweat"
- "Fury"
- "Guitar"
- "F.U.N.K."
- "Dance 4 Me"
- "Rocknroll Loveaffair"
- "Breakfast Can Wait"
- "Fallinlove2nite"
- "Breakdown"
- "This Could B Us"
- "Free Urself"
- "When You Were Mine"
- "Erotic City"
- "Nothing Compares 2 U"
- "Love Sign" (with Nona Gaye)
- "Somebody's Somebody"
- "It's About That Walk"
- "Call My Name"
- "The Song of the Heart"
- "Guitar (original "demo" version)"
- "Get Wild"
- "The War"
- "Come On"
- The Beautiful Experience
- NYC
- 1999: The New Master
- "I Feel for You"
- "Partyup"
- "Private Joy"
- "International Lover"
- "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"
- "The Beautiful Ones"
- "Computer Blue"
- "Darling Nikki"
- "Baby I'm a Star"
- "17 Days"
- "Around the World in a Day"
- "Sometimes It Snows in April"
- "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker"
- "Starfish and Coffee"
- "Adore"
- "Don't Talk 2 Strangers"
- "I Can't Make U Love Me"
- "La, La, La Means I Love U"
- "One of Us"
- "Everyday Is a Winding Road"
- "A Case of U"
- "Crimson and Clover"
- "Moonbeam Levels"