The Frog and the Princess

[Spoken: Ian McShane]

I was amazed when I first saw Grace Jones

She was the first to take radical fashion out of its predictable Parisian context and bring it into the music scene, where I had always thought it belonged

The first night watching her in Le Mouche, I had already decided to work with her

That night, she was singing her hit song "I Need a Man" to a room full of shrieking gay bobbysockses. The ambiguity of her act was that she herself looked like a man - a man, singing "I Need a Man" to a bunch of men

I could see how the average guy could get a little scared by her physical advance

It was so powerful

I thought she was... I thought she was great

I photographed her in different positions. I cut her legs apart, lengthened them, turned her body to face the audience

Soon, I found myself living to the very fast rhythm of Grace Jones

We would go out dancing, all night, every night

I was completely neglecting my work. An intense, hysterical romance developed between Grace and I

But I ran out of money and realised I had to stop all this bullshit and go back to work

I had this idea of using Grace as the ideal vehicle for my work

She had inspired me

On tour, we used to improvise. Thinking of an idea at breakfast and working it out directly on stage

I decided, deliberately, to mythologise Grace Jones

Black, shiny, muscular people.. ahh, aerodynamic in design

'Twas to emphasise this belief that I painted Grace Jones blue/black

I am no longer sure what I fell in love with; Grace or my idea of what Grace should be

But in the two years following the birth of our son, there were nothing else in my life

Grace let me take her over completely

Slaaaaaavvve

But then I discovered that what I was making was speeding too far beyond what was there

By the time our 'One Man Show' reached the US, I knew I'd lost her