PRINCE

I was working for Genesis at the time at their studio in Surrey, I was recording demos with Peter Frampton when at 8:30pm one night the phone rang. I answered to hear an American voice ask if “David Tickle was there”, I said yes who is this?

It turned out to be Steven Fargnolie, Prince’s manager. “David we’ve been looking for you for some time Prince wants to meet you he would like to work with him!

It turned out that Prince had come to a live show that I mixing the live front of house sound for Peter Gabriel, a world tour I did with Peter.

“Prince was so impressed with the sound he instructed his management to find me.”

I was on a flight the next day to Minneapolis to meet Prince.

I started work with Prince from his Purple Rain period. Although Purple Rain had been recorded Prince had me mix several singles from the album.

Prince put me in charge of all audio production for him. That meant studio recordings, mixing, live front of house mixing for the Purple Rain tour. Mixing Prince and the band LIVE to AIR for his appearances on the Grammys, American Music Awards and the Oscars that year as he won awards at all three.

While we were on the Purple Rain tour I had a mobile recording studio with me most of the time. As we played most venues for 5 to 7 days at a time the first day would be normal sound check. Subsequent days I would be in the truck and Price would on be stage working up new songs with the band, I would be in the truck recording them.

After the show I would often be back in the truck doing overdubs with Prince or Wendy and Lisa.

We did a lot of Round the World in a Day record on the road.

I started working with PRINCE in 1983 for 3 years from Purple Rain on.