Prince and The Revolution - Girls & Boys

What this video is

Released in the summer of 1986 at the apex of Prince and The Revolution's commercial and artistic peak, 'Girls & Boys' served as a promotional vehicle for both the Parade album and the Under the Cherry Moon film. The video's hybrid structure — interweaving black-and-white film clips with separately shot color performance footage — reflects the era's experimental approach to the music video as cinematic extension.…

Why it matters

A pivotal artifact of mid-80s funk-pop and the Minneapolis Sound at its most cinematic. The track's Linn LM-1 programming, live saxophone (Eric Leeds, his first official Prince single appearance), and multi-layered vocal production exemplify the Parade-era synthesis of funk, pop, and orchestral…

The director

Prince Rogers Nelson (1958–2016) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and filmmaker. He directed his own feature film debut Under the Cherry Moon (1986), from which this video draws footage. He maintained…