"U Got the Look" is a song by American musician

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

. It opens the second disc of Prince's

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

Sign o' the Times ''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 30, 1987 as a double album by Paisley Park ...

'' (1987), and became the album's runner-up chart single. Musically, the song is a standard 12-bar rock song with emphasis on the contrast between heavy drum beats by a

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American e ...

drum machine and

Sheila E. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) better known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American percussionist and singer. She began her career in the mid-1970s as a percussionist and singer for The George Duke Band. After leaving t ...

's live percussion, and a vastly distorted almost completely saturated

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

sound. Although not credited on the single release, the song also features Scottish recording artist

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress. Easton came into the public eye in an episode of the first British musical reality television programme '' The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to ...

. Prince sings in his sped-up "Camille" voice, although the song was not intended for the '' Camille'' album. The lyrics recite the familiar "boy versus girl in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

of love" line. (Coincidentally, the 1987 World Series came to Prince's hometown of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

a few months after the song was released.) The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song featuring Sheena Easton was filmed in Paris, France, and was directed by American music video director David Hogan. It was included in the film '' Sign "☮" the Times'', and features the intro from the extended version of the song. The entire video is portrayed to be a

dream sequence A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other ...

by Prince, dozing off in his dressing room. In the United States, the single went to number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles tally, the week of October 17, 1987, right behind "

Lost in Emotion "Lost in Emotion" is a song by urban contemporary band Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam that appeared on their 1987 album ''Spanish Fly''. The song hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on October 17, 1987. The song was their second number-one single ...

" by

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam were an urban contemporary band and one of the first freestyle music groups to emerge from New York City in the 1980s. Cult Jam consisted of vocalist Lisa Lisa (born Lisa Valez), guitarist/bassist Alex "Spanador" Moseley, ...

. The single stayed in the top 10 of the chart for six weeks. The extended version of the song (called the "Long Look") is similar to the video but has an additional musical section in the middle of the song with Sheena Easton's vocal, and continues for a few more seconds instead of fading out at the end. The "Long Look" was included on the ''

Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

in 2006. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the single was the

P-funk Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, both active since the 1960s. Their distinctive ...

-influenced album track, "Housequake". The song was considered for release as the first single from the unreleased ''Camille'' album, and therefore, arguably holds a place of importance in Prince's album history, considering the events that followed the creation of the track. The 12-inch also included an extension of the song called "7 Minutes Mo'Quake", which was a mostly instrumental version with the end of the album version tacked on. The

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

is noteworthy for some of

Atlanta Bliss Matthew "Atlanta Bliss" Blistan (born c. 1952) is an American jazz trumpeter. He is best known for his work with Prince from 1985–1991. He won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the 1986 single "Kiss" by P ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

solos, which often were included in live versions of the song. Leaked versions of an unedited "original version" (often called "Camille's Mix") are attainable on the internet. When Prince performed this song live, he incorporated " I Can't Stand Myself".

Track listings

7-inch: Paisley Park / 7-28289 (US) # "U Got the Look" – 3:46 # "Housequake" (edit) – 3:24 12-inch: Paisley Park / 0-20727 (US) # "U Got the Look" (Long Look) – 6:45 # "U Got the Look" (Single Cut) – 3:46 # "Housequake" (Album Cut) – 4:38 # "Housequake" (7 Minutes MoQuake) – 7:15 12-inch: Warner Bros. / W8289T (UK) # "U Got the Look" (Long Look) – 6:45 # "Housequake" (7 Minutes MoQuake) – 7:15 # "U Got the Look" (Single Cut) – 3:46 *Also available as a picture disc (W8289TP)

Personnel

* Prince – vocals, producer, composer, arranger *

– percussion *

– uncredited vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control Prince (musician) songs Sheena Easton songs Songs written by Prince (musician) 1987 singles Music videos directed by David Hogan MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video Paisley Park Records singles Warner Records singles Song recordings produced by Prince (musician) Male–female vocal duets American new wave songs