One of the only benefits of Prince’s untimely passing has been an easing up on the policing of “unauthorized” uploads to YouTube of the Purple One’s music. We’ve seen the floodgates open up and so much amazing work has already poured forth, showing us the true genius of the man. He could really do anything.

Case in point, this 1985 rehearsal tape with his band The Revolution where he busts out an impromptu piss-take of what “When Doves Cry” might sound like in a “punk” style. Prince monotones the vocals and changes to chorus to “When Doves SCREAM.”

There has been some discussion of this track on the fan-site Prince.org about whether or not it’s actually Prince, and it appears the track comes from a widely bootlegged 1985 rehearsal tape. The full rehearsal including “When Doves Scream” is available on the 4CD bootleg Purple Rush 4: The Final Seduction. If it’s a hoax, well, they laid the fuse a long time ago.

I’m not going to say this is necessarily good, but it’s fascinating to say the least: