Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album Purple Rain. The 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.
History While Prince had great chart success in the 1980s, the success generally did not transfer to other acts. With the exception of Sheila E.'s 1985 album Romance 1600 (the label's debut non-Prince release), Tevin Campbell's single "Round and Round" and the Time's 1990 release Pandemonium, the label had very few commercial successes by artists other than Prince.
In 1994, amid Prince's feud with Warner Bros., Warner ended its distribution deal with Paisley Park, effectively closing the label. Prince fought for the rights to the master recordings of all artists recorded at the label's studios.Here’s Every Battle Prince Waged Against the Internet and the Music Industry Prince later started NPG Records, run by Trevor Guy.
The vice-president of Operations for the label until 1991 was Alan Leeds. (Leeds won a Grammy for writing the liner notes for a James Brown album, and at one point served as Prince's tour manager on several tours.) Following Leeds' departure, radio promotion executive Graham Armstrong took over the role until 1991, when Gilbert Davison and Jill Willis, co-managers of Prince and president and executive vice-president of Paisley Park Enterprises, negotiated a joint venture between PPE and Warner Bros. (with the help of Prince attorney Gary Stiffelman). With the joint venture came funding for additional staff to run the label and oversee its artists – including Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Ingrid Chavez and Carmen Electra. Staffers included John Dukakis and Kerry Gordy as co-presidents of the label.
The label's offices were in a building with the address 1999 Avenue of the Stars.
Discography Prince albums 1985: Prince and The Revolution: Around the World in a Day 1986: Prince and The Revolution: Parade 1987: Prince: Sign O' the Times 1988: Prince: Lovesexy 1990: Prince: Graffiti Bridge 1991: Prince and the New Power Generation: Diamonds and Pearls 1992: Prince and the New Power Generation: Love Symbol Album 1993: Prince: The Hits/The B-Sides
Paisley Park albums 1985: The Family: The Family 1985: Sheila E.: Romance 1600 1986: Mazarati: Mazarati 1987: Madhouse: 8 1987: Sheila E.: Sheila E. 1987: Jill Jones: Jill Jones 1987: Taja Sevelle: Taja Sevelle § 1987: Madhouse: 16 § 1988: Dale Bozzio: Riot in English 1988: The Three O'Clock: Vermillion § 1988: Good Question: Good Question 1989: Tony LeMans: Tony LeMans § 1989: George Clinton: The Cinderella Theory 1989: Kahoru Kohiruimaki: Time the Motion (Japanese release only) 1989: Mavis Staples: Time Waits for No One 1990: Kahoru Kohiruimaki: Time the Motion Live (Japanese release only) 1990: The Time: Pandemonium § 1991: Eric Leeds: Times Squared 1991: T.C. Ellis: True Confessions 1991: Ingrid Chavez: May 19, 1992 1993: Carmen Electra: Carmen Electra 1993: Mavis Staples: The Voice 1993: George Clinton: Hey, Man, Smell My Finger 1993: Eric Leeds: Things Left Unsaid
Note: All titles were distributed by Warner Bros. Records, except for those denoted with §, which were distributed by sister label Reprise Records.
See also List of record labels
References