Alexis Taylor, who has been on record as being “Down With Prince” since the first Hot Chip album, has covered an obscure song by the late Purple One, “Old Friends 4 Sale,” as part of a new live sessions series made for new 4K video platform Low Four which is filmed in the old Granada TV studios. Alexis talks a little about the song:
The song was recorded originally by Prince in 1985 for potential inclusion on the album Parade. It remained unreleased until around the late ’90s when he changed the lyrics and re-recorded an inferior version which was much more tame lyrically. My cover is of the original unreleased version which has circulated on bootlegs since the late ’80s.
Much like Alexis’ new solo album, it’s a spare take, just his voice and piano. You can watch that, and the whole Low Four session, below (via Stereogum).
In related news, some of Prince‘s iconic Purple Rain wardrobe (a white ruffled shirt and black-and-white, leather-sleeved blazer) sold for a whopping $192,000 at auction over the weekend. They were valued, pre-auction at $6,000 to $8,000 apiece, respectively.