Glam Slam Ulysses
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Glam Slam Ulysses was a production by Prince, featuring a combination of live performances and video, and featuring previously unreleased music.
When Prince first announced to change his name to an unpronounceable symbol on June 7, 1993, he also stated that he would no longer be releasing new albums; instead he was to focus on alternative performances, films, etc., while his record company, Warner Bros. Records, would be able to release albums from Prince's vault of unreleased material to fulfill his contract. The first of these alternative performances would be Glam Slam Ulysses.
Glam Slam Ulysses was a musical loosely based on Homer's Odyssey (Ulysses is the Latin name for the protagonist, Odysseus). Each song represented an element from the tale. As listed on a flier for the production, the story elements were represented by the following songs:
| Story element | Song |
|---|---|
| The Ship | "Strays of the World" |
| Lotus Land | "Dolphin" |
| The Cyclops | "Interactive" |
| Circe | "Pheromone" |
| Penelope | "Dark" |
| Hades | "Loose" |
| The Sirens | "Space" |
| Scylla | "What's My Name" |
| Calypso | "Endorphinemachine" |
| The Suiters | "Race" |
| The Trojan Horse | "Come" |
| The Homecoming | "Strays of the World" |
| The Celebration | "Pope" |
The musical received a limited performance at Prince's Glam Slam nightclub, with a few shows being performed in late August to early September 1993. Then little-known Carmen Electra was a featured dancer in the performance. New Power Generation dancer and backing singer, Mayte Garcia, provided choreography.
[edit] Legacy
Though Glam Slam Ulysses was only attended by few, most of the material would eventually be released in some form over time. "Pope" was released as part of 1993's The Hits/The B-Sides compilation. The bulk of the remaining material would be considered for the Come album, albeit not all of the planned songs made the final release. Come would end up including the following tracks: "Pheromone", "Dark", "Loose", "Space", "Race" and "Come", though "Dark", "Loose" and "Race" were heavily remixed and "Come" was re-recorded as an entirely new number. Although not listed on the Glam Slam Ulysses track listing, "Orgasm", originally part of "What's My Name" was also included on Come.
"Dolphin" and "Endorphinemachine" would end up being released on The Gold Experience in 1995 — both songs would be slightly remixed. "Interactive" was considered at one point, but didn't make the final release.
"Interactive", "What's My Name" and "Strays of the World" would eventually be released on Prince's Crystal Ball in 1998, with little changes to the original versions. Also on Crystal Ball were remixes of "Dark" and "Loose" (called "So Dark" and "Get Loose"), as well as a track called "18 & Over", which is essentially a remix of the album version of "Come", but with new lyrics.
