His Purpleness was never sultrier or sexier than the 1980s, when the artist formerly and latterly known as Prince churned out pop classics with embarrassing ease. But despite a string of hits like “1999” and “Purple Rain,” mainstream America remained resistant to his charms. Sign o’ the Times, then, can be seen as Prince’s attempt to show his countrymen just what they were missing. The film was intended to be a concert documentary of Prince’s 1987 performances in Rotterdam, Holland and Antwerp, Belgium, but had to be almost completely reshot due to technical problems. According to saxophonist Eric Leeds, as much as 80% of the final cut came from footage produced on a soundstage at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis. The box-office take wasn’t exactly boffo (a lifetime gross of $3 million), but a subsequent release on VHS catapulted Prince into the living rooms (and hearts) of many.
Top 10 Concert Movies
From Hendrix to Hova—TIME rocks out with the greatest concert movies to ever hit the big screen.