A Love Bizarre

Lore & Background

The song made its debut in the music film Krush Groove. Its album version clocks in at 12:16, but the single version is 3:46 in duration. The song was a hit, topping the US Billboard Dance/Disco Club Play chart, number two on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart, and number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was a European hit as well, entering the top 10 in Belgium, the Netherlands, and West Germany. The German 12-inch single release is backed by the B-side "Save the People" which also served as the B-side for her previous single "Sister Fate". She performed the song as part of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band during their 2001, 2003 and 2006 tours.

In Their Own Story

The venue is a mid-sized club, the kind with a low ceiling and a stage so close you can smell the rosin on the bass strings. The house lights dim to a deep violet. Prince steps to the mic, no band, just a loop pedal and a grin that suggests he's about to say something that will either make the room erupt or make it very quiet. He taps the mic twice. 'You ready for something a little… different?' A murmur. He drops the first two bars of that bass line—slow, deliberate, almost taunting—and the room's collective breath catches. Then the beat snaps in, full and unapologetic, and he's already moving, arms wide, pulling the crowd into the call-and-response like a conductor who's forgotten the score and is just feeling it. By the second chorus, strangers are singing back. By the bridge, the floor is a single organism. And when the last chord rings out, he just points at the audience, deadpan, as if to say: 'You're welcome. Now go be weird about it.'

Reader's Guide

The club scene from Krush Groove in which Sheila E. and her band are performing the song was used for the majority of the music video with a few scenes from the film edited in. The music video uses the song's single edit. Formats and track listings: US 7-inch: "A Love Bizarre" – 3:46, "A Love Bizarre (part II)" – 3:50. German 12-inch: "A Love Bizarre (parts I and II)" – 7:36, "Save the People" – 8:28. Personnel: Sheila E. – lead & backing vocals, percussion; Prince – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, Yamaha DX7, electric guitars, bass guitar, LinnDrum; Eddie M. – saxophone, backing vocals; Juan Escovedo – percussion; Steph Birnbaum, Susie Davis, & Jerome Benton – backing vocals.

Did You Know?

• The song's album version is 12:16 long, while the single version is 3:46.
• It topped the US Billboard Dance/Disco Club Play chart.
• The German 12-inch single includes the B-side "Save the People".
• Sheila E. performed the song with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in 2001, 2003, and 2006.