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The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold)
Sony Legacy
PosthumousVersace got it going on in the gold mesh
The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) was created by Prince at Paisley Park Studios as a sampler cassette intended to aid the promotion of his then two upcoming albums The Gold Experience and Exodus. The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) was given out to the 300 attendees to the Versace collection showcased at the 22nd Paris Fashion Week, 8-10 July 1995. Prince, then under the name Prince love symbol, sat in the first row next to Gianni Versace next to the catwalk set up at the Ritz on 8 July with The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) played as the soundtrack in each of the three appearances of the Versace catwalk show. Frustrated that the album itself was still yet unreleased, Warner Brothers did eventually release The Gold Experience that September.
Appreciating its mystical value, Sony Legacy reissued The Versace Experience, again in cassette format and for one day only, on 13 April 2019 to mark Record Store Day – the first occasion The Versace Experience received a commercial release, albeit with limited distribution. A full commercial release on CD and vinyl followed that September 13th.
The song Chatounette Controle is spoken track/remix of P. Control from The Gold Experience, its title translates in French as ‘Little kitten control’ and was recorded at Paisley Park Studios on 25 July 1994. It namechecks the models participating in that show: Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Shalom Harlow, Amber Valetta, Christy Turlington, Stephanie Seymour, Stella Tennant, Valeria Mazza and Eva Herzigová. Chatounette Controle features French vocals by Veronica Webb, a Victoria’s Secret model. Webb would later “interview” Prince on stage at Wembley Arena for BBC2’s The Sunday Show on 5 March 1995, it aired on 12 March – although he refused to speak.
Rootie Kazootie dates from 7 July 1993 and was intended for Madhouse’s third album, named 24. And despite the original artwork announcing the release of The Gold Experience for 12 September 1995, as if trying to force Warner’s hand. The album’s release was delayed until September 26 much to Prince’s chagrin.

Cover story
The packaging of The Versace Experience was created in a rush. Paisley Park’s in-house graphic designer Michael Van Huffel received the Versace logo as a fax which he scanned and redrew to turn around this artwork in quick time.
Data
- Producer
- Prince
- Label
- NPG Records
- Distribution
- Sony Legacy
- Released
- 5 years ago on 13 April 2019
- Reissued
- 13 September 2019
- Running Time
- 32:44
- US Chart Peak
- 170
- US R&B Peak
- 17
- UK Chart Peak
- 83
- Orig. Formats
-
Tracklist
- Pussy Control [Club Mix] [Edit] (3:04) 1
- Shhh [X-cerpt] (3:55) 1
- Get Wild In The House [The NPG] (2:15) 2
- Eye Hate U [Remix] (3:29) 1
- 319 [X-cerpt] (1:28) 1
- Shy [X-cerpt] (2:23) 1
- Billy Jack Bitch (2:31) 1
- Sonny T. [X-cerpt] [Madhouse] (0:28) 3
- Rootie Kazootie [Edit] [Madhouse] (2:38) 3
- Chatounette Controle [feat. Veronica Webb] (2:25) 1
- Pussy Control [Control Tempo] [Edit] (1:23) 1
- Kamasutra Overture #5 [NPG Orchestra] (0:44) 4
- [The NPG] (1:47)
- Segue (0:50)
- Gold [X-cerpt] (3:34) 1
1 Original mix issued on The Gold Experience
2 Original mix issued on The Good Life maxi-single (from NPG's Exodus)
3 Intended to be released on Madhouse 24 album
4 Original mix later released on the Kamasutura album
The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) – review
Given away on cassette to attendees at Paris Fashion Week in July 1995, The Versace Experience became both a legendary and rare collectable, one that is essentially much more than a mere sampler tape. This is the prelude to the magnificent The Gold Experience and features rare remixes of Pussy Control (prior to becoming P. Control), Get Wild and Eye Hate U, albeit there are some annoyances. The repetition of the announce “The Versace Experience” throughout (overdone in Shhh) is obstructive and reminiscent of the green copyright watermarks copy protecting VHS tapes of old, leaving the flow disjointed. But that was its point The Versace Experience is no conventional LP. This was a giveaway fusing together the plethora of projects Prince was cooking at that time: Kamasutra, Madhouse album #3, The Gold Experience, The Hate Experience (a.k.a. Eye Hate U EP) and Exodus. The most interesting is Free The Music a funky mix that journeys the listener through the Exodus’ tracklist. Least of note is Chatounette Controle, chiefly a roll call of the models walking Versace’s catwalk show. The 2019 CD reissue is gloriously repackaged by Sony Legacy, and kudos to them for spending effort on this long lost and highly limited cassette and transferring it to CD, giving it proper distribution. For that reason its legend front and centre The Versace Experience is one to own and a crucial addition for any Prince collection.
The Versace Experience (Prelude 2 Gold) is rated 3.5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
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