{"id":894100,"date":"2026-10-25T12:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T12:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894100\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T12:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T12:14:12","slug":"when-prince-was-told-diamonds-and-pearls-needed-a-single","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894100\/","title":{"rendered":"When Prince was told Diamonds And Pearls needed a single"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prince<\/a> and the freshly assembled New Power Generation had put the finishing touches to Diamonds And Pearls album. They had performed a live set for Warner Bros and its staff at the Burbank lot in Los Angeles. Everything in the garden was rosy.<\/p>\n

Then the phone rang. There was a call for Levi Seacer Jr, the New Power Generation\u2019s guitarist and Warner Bros\u2019 designated Prince whisperer. The legendary Mo Ostin, chairman and CEO of the label, was on the line.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Seacer was perplexed. What did Ostin want? Prince had done his bit.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos FromMusicRadar<\/p>\n

Seacer recalls to MusicRadar: \u201cWhen Prince was done with his version of Diamonds And Pearls, he sent it off to Warner\u2019s. \u2018Okay. Great songs, great music. We like it.\u2019 We flew out to LA to do a patio show. And so they were like, \u2018Oh, man, this is incredible!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But something must have happened after the show. This wasn\u2019t a straight-up Diamonds And Pearls playback. Prince played a bunch of his earlier songs \u2013 Alphabet St., Purple Rain, Partyman, Let\u2019s Work for the first time since 1983 \u2013 plus a cover of the Ohio Players\u2019 Skin Tight.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

This set featured just three tracks from Diamonds And Pearls \u2013 Daddy Pop, Jughead and set closer Get Off.<\/p>\n

Seacer thinks the execs had got together again, and had gotten into each other\u2019s heads. They wanted a radio-friendly single.<\/p>\n

Want all the hottest music and gear news, reviews, deals, features and more, direct to your inbox? Sign up here. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I got home, I got a call from Warner Brothers, and it was Mo Ostin,\u201d says Seacer. \u201cHe said, \u2018Levi, we got a problem.\u2019 I\u2019m saying, \u2018What\u2019s going on?\u2019 He said, \u2018We need a first single. We got a solid record, but all the radio guys don\u2019t feel like they have the first single.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Well, why didn\u2019t you say something? We just left there!\u2019 [Laughs]\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, Ostin and the higher-uppers at Warner Bros had their reasons. They also already had their lead single \u2013 they heard it on the lot when Prince played Get Off. But at that moment, clearly, they wanted more, another option. What else did the diminutive pop genius from Minnesota have squirrelled away at his Paisley Park HQ? Ostin would have asked himself, but you know how artists can get, it\u2019s better they hear it from a peer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Well, you know, you\u2019re close to Prince, and you have a way of talking with him, and you guys talk your music talk. Because if I say it to him, he probably won\u2019t hear it the right way,\u2019\u201d says Seacer.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t believe what he was hearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Oh, man, you\u2019re his president! What can I do? I\u2019m just a weasel! What can I do?\u2019\u201d laughs Seacer. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Man!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever the good soldier, he said okay. He accepted his mission but not with any relish.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a hard one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Seacer and Prince had struck up a good relationship. Seacer was exactly the type of player Prince liked having around. He could be in the studio for hours on end with no complaint. He could hang out. He also could play.<\/p>\n

Initially, Seacer was drafted to play bass guitar for Prince as he put together a new backing band after the Revolution disbanded in 1986.<\/p>\n

As the story goes, Seacer was playing bass in Shiela E\u2019s band. He auditioned for Prince when he was looking for a guitar player for The Family, and he got the gig. Two days later, Prince changed his mind and Seacer is back on bass with Shiela E.<\/p>\n

Upon their next meeting, Prince remembered Seacer and noted his surprise \u2013 not only at seeing Seacer again but seeing him on bass.<\/p>\n

Seacer had been keeping himself busy in Prince\u2019s rhythm section, but there was to be a change. Prince was bringing Sonny T back in on bass. He asked Seacer if he wanted to play guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrince had a talk with me,\u201d says Seacer. \u201cHe said, \u2018Okay, well, we\u2019re bringing Sonny Thompson in, so if you want to go back to guitar, you can.\u2019 And I said, \u2018Oh, yeah!\u2019 \u2018Well, our first rehearsal is tomorrow.\u2019 I was so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rehearsal didn\u2019t quite go to plan for Seacer, but that is another episode that shines a light on his working relationship with one of pop\u2019s most enigmatic personalities. Seacer, if anything, was over prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cI brought every pedal you can imagine to the rehearsal,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we started playing. I swear, this is a true story. The stage was about maybe five feet off the ground. It\u2019s pretty high, and we\u2019re in the big room at Paisley. Prince was across the room. He said, \u2018Okay, Levi, take us home.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh yeah!\u2019 I cracked my knuckles. I\u2019m getting ready to go in. So, I\u2019m soloing with my head back. I\u2019m all into it, man. This is in another world! And I feel something tapping my toes and I\u2019m like, \u2018What the hell?\u2019 And I opened my eyes, came out of my zone, and I looked down.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrince was looking at me from the floor of Paisley \u2013 y\u2019know, because [the stage is] five-feet higher. He was looking at me, tapping on my toes, and he said, \u2018I do the rock thing. You play the funk and jazz. Got it?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Yeah, I got it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince & The New Power Generation – Cream (Official Video) – YouTube
\n\"Prince<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Seacer knew who was in charge. And there he was, with Ostin\u2019s words ringing in his ears, giving Prince the bad news. Historically, things do not go well for the messenger.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next day, Prince was in the studio working, and I just kind of popped in,\u201d says Seacer. \u201cHe said, \u2018Hey, Levi, what you doing here?\u2019 I said, \u2018Uh, we need to talk about something right quick. I said, \u2018I talked to Warner Brothers\u2026 I talked to Mo, and, umm, they love the album, but they don\u2019t feel like they have a first single.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince was incredulous.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I didn\u2019t go behind your back. They called me.\u2019 And he knew I had a relationship with them, and every now and then I would talk to Mo,\u201d Seacer adds.<\/p>\n

Prince understood this. He could trust Seacer. Nonetheless, he was not best pleased. Which artist would be?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was kind of hot about that,\u201d says Seacer with a chuckle. \u201c\u2018What? What do you mean? We just left there \u2013 and we slayed them!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Prince\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Larry Busacca\/WireImage)<\/p>\n

Some reports put the numbers of Warner Bros employees in attendance at 400. That\u2019s a memorable afternoon at work. These days, table football, fruit bowls and a fridge full of pop is the sign of a cool office. This was \u201991. Labels had money, and money means clout. Warner Bros could call in Prince to play for the rank-and-file. And now this? So much for gratitude.<\/p>\n

Prince said he didn\u2019t believe it. Seacer did his best to explain. He told Prince: \u201cThe radio guys listened, and they loved it. They love it! But they need a lead-off signal. I\u2019m just a messenger!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Having duly delivered the news, Seacer made good on his exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a little frustrated,\u201d Seacer admits. \u201cI just left. I don\u2019t think I even said goodbye to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince was left to stew in the studio. Seacer didn\u2019t have to wait long to hear from his boss<\/a> again. The phone went the following morning at 7am. The New Power Generation were many things but they were not morning people. They were used to playing through the night if the session demanded it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just waking up,\u201d says Seacer. \u201cIt was a lot earlier than we normally do sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Prince\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Gie Knaeps\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But the day previous, Prince was steamed. He wanted Seacer\u2019s ears on something fast. Prince had a track to play him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Okay.\u2019 I came in. I\u2019m tired,\u201d says Seacer. \u201c I sat in the chair and he played Cream<\/a> for me, on 10. It was loud. I was like, \u2018Oh my God!\u2019 He said, \u2018Well, what do you think of that?\u2019 I said, \u2018Oh, man, they gonna love that.\u2019 I mean, I knew it right when I first heard it. I said, \u2018Yeah, yeah, they gonna be happy!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The story of Cream, or at least the order of events that led to its creation, has a whiff of the apocryphal. There is an interview with Billboard which NPG vocalist Tony Mosely is quoted as saying that they wrote it on tour in Europe, but that timing doesn\u2019t quite fit.<\/p>\n

Seacer\u2019s own accounts have differed over the years. He told Rolling Stone<\/a> that Prince wrote it in six or seven hours, and Wax Poetics<\/a> that he sent the band out of the room as he scribbled on something and needed an hour to get his head straight and the idea for the song down on paper.<\/p>\n

But we’ve got to appreciate that everything happened so fast with Prince. Seacer said that the basic tracks for Diamonds And Pearls came together in a week-and-a-half. They tracked Money Don\u2019t Matter 2 Night, Willing And Able, and Horny Pony all in one night. Paisley Park was open all hours to contain this great efflorescence of Prince’s creativity.<\/p>\n

One thing is certain. When Seacer heard the propulsive funk by way of glam-rock stomp of Cream, he knew they had a hit. He could feel it in his bones.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I just knew. You know when you. You can tell,\u201d says Seacer. \u201cYou\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, whatever that is, that\u2019s the magic. I mean, it hit all the check marks when you listen for a hit. When Prince comes out with something, the first thing fans are listening for is for something kind of funky, something up-tempo, something with slight religious or spiritual twist to it, and something with nice lyrics and catchy. And that song checked off all the boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it ended up in a box. This was the analogue era. They stuck a recording into a package and sent it via FedEx to California. Then they waited.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, you can just email stuff. We couldn\u2019t do that,\u201d says Seacer. \u201cSo we had to wait a day. And when Mo got that heat, oh man, they were jumping up and down.\u201d<\/p>\n

As ever, the critics were divided on Cream; it was often the way of it with Prince. But champagne was getting opened in Burbank. \u201cYou could hear all the corks coming out the bottles,\u201d laughs Seacer. \u201cPop, pop, pop!\u201d<\/p>\n

Cream had the magic. It would become Prince\u2019s his fifth (and final) number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, a classic cut in a discography full of them, and Mo Ostin and Warner Bros got their hit.<\/p>\n

Timeless<\/a> is out now via Legacy Recordings and comprises 10 tracks of rare and unreleased studio recordings from the Prince archive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter It was all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216],"class_list":["post-894100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}