Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Sly Stone and more all rolled up into one. No other artist was able to tie together the sexual and the spiritual to a dance beat like Prince.When I mentioned Prince in an earlier post, it seemed there were some fans of the Minneapolis Funkmeister out there who liked him as much as I do. So, I thought it would be fun to write about the Purple One for a little bit, covering his 80's dominance of the Pop charts as one of the most creative, daring and inventive musicians of his generation. The thing is, Prince's output was so consistent that I have to break it into two segments to have it make any sense. Also, following Prince's war on You Tube there aren't any videos of him out there in cyberspace so we'll have to rely on our memories, CDs or used cassettes for this one.
Prince - Pre 80's
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Prince started off a more traditional styled Funk / R&B styled performer and even scored a Disco hit with "I Wanna Be Your Lover" (though he snuck in that line at the end of the chorus "I wanna be the only one you come for"). That's not to say he wasn't Prince, as early tracks like "Soft & Wet" will attest to. But it was in 1980 that Prince released the album that would take him to the next level and got people talking about Mr. Nelson.
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Dirty Mind (1980)
Prince recorded this as a demo and then decided to release it stripped down sound and all. The demos had the rough edge needed to distinguish Prince from the R&B pack while he tackled subject matter that no one else would touch (oral sex and incest to name two). An added bit of Rock on cuts like "When You Were Mine" showed Prince broadening his range. The title track was a mission statement with a fantastic cheesy synth sound and pulsing beat while Prince talked all about his "Dirty Mind". With Dirty Mind he established himself as an artistic sex fiend to reckon with. Maybe a little too much so.
Great Lost Track: "Head" is about exactly what you think it is and has the funk to back it up.
Controversy (1981)
Dirty Mind got tongues wagging about the nasty boy from the Twin Cities. Prince did a half step retreat starting with the album cover, a straight on shot of the man in a purple suit. A far cry from the underwear in front of a bed spring pose from a year before. Again the title track set forth the theme as Prince tackled the "Controversy" his previous record set off. At the same time, Prince unleashed his best bedroom ballad, "Do Me Baby" which remains the Gold standard of all Prince love songs. Controversy also featured Prince's most overt political song of his career, "Ronnie Talk To Russia", a little bit of pop rock filled with Nuclear fears of the 80's. At the end of the album, Prince finally puts his money down in a happy shot of sleaze with "Jack U Off." To this day, I can't believe there's an actual song with this title. Leave it to Prince to use it.
Great Lost Track: "Private Joy" plays the double entendre game to a cushy piece of slick R&B.
1999 (1982)
Prince had yet to "make it" on the Pop charts but that didn't stop him from insisting on a double album. The two record set turned out to be just enough space to hold all things Prince up to that point. His continued experiments with synthesizers and drum machines plus his melding of funk, R&B, pop and rock paid off with a sound that was all things to all people and while remaining distinctly Prince. The title track became one of Prince's biggest hits, a party to the apocalypse slab of steamin' funk. "Little Red Corvette" was a Top 10 hit retaining a classic pop rock sound. Dance floor jams ("D.M.S.R."), skittering beats ("Lady Cab Driver") and bedroom eye balladry ("International Lover") sit alongside techy experiments ("Something In The Water") to create a full persona for Prince Rogers Nelson. The fact that all of the songs kill doesn't hurt either. Prince got his way both artistically and commercially as all of his gambles reaped rewards.
Great Lost Track: "Free" is a stunning ballad about freedom for all people. "Be glad that you are free/there's many a man who's not".
Purple Rain (1984)
More like Purple Reign, Prince and the Revolution took over pop culture and held it hostage for a year with lacy puffy shirts, jerri curl and purple motorcycles. Having the movie solidify an accessable image of The Artist gave him the platform to launch his most radio-ready set of tunes ever. The album is a greatest hits set onto itself, "Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry", "Take Me With U", "I Would Die 4 U" and the title cut are burned into the brains of anyone near a radio in '84. Sure, Prince had to water down his approach a bit (less overt sex but more licking of his guitar) but look what happened when he didn't. The cold grinding funk of "Darling Nikki" set off a whole music censorship committee, the PMRC. Wait Tipper Gore, that's not Lake Minnetonka!
Great Lost Track: None, because anyone who knows Prince knows this album inside out.
Around The World In A Day (1985)
I remember a lot of disappointment among Prince fans when this was released. Prince decided to follow up his monster smash Purple Rain by turning psychedelic and focusing on mid tempo beats. One guy in high school referred to this as "a whole album of 'Take Me With U'". Originally released without the intention of having a single or video, eventually the classic "Raspberry Beret" became the song of choice for radio. The second single "Pop Life" was a personal favorite because of it's bizarre cuts into crowd noises mid song. Sprituality seems to increase in concern for Prince on songs like "The Ladder". Around The World In A Day stands as a fine pop album and also a career trait Prince would exhibit later in his career: when confronted with an insurmountable obstacle (in this case attempting to follow up Purple Rain) he retreats to pop classicism.
Great Lost Track: "Tambourine" is a brief funk jam that is as idiosyncratic as it is lively.
Next post...Prince revolts against the Revolution to record the best music of his career before meeting his Waterloo at Graffiti Bridge. My IPOD is on random and Prince's song "All The Critics Love You In New York" from 1999 just came on. Now that's weird. Time to go.
5 comments:
Yep, yep, yep... had all those albums, except for the very first one. Totally wore out Purple Rain, of course. Recently got the movie on DVD cause, well, cause it's PURPLE RAIN. I no longer have any of the albums or cassette tapes but I do have a bunch of his stuff on a memory stick. He's still one of the all time greatest artists. And he has incredible eyes. :)
I was watching "I love the 80's" on VH1 and they got to Prince's Purple Rain. I was laughing my head off because one of the comedians had the best line.. "Prince is the only man in the world that has come up with more metaphors about a man making love to a woman" LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!! So true..
That said I was never allowed to buy "such smut" (My mom's words).. so I'd have copies of the songs that played on the radio.. Had no idea Purple Rain (the song itself) was so LONG! I was used to radio where they start the song.. idiot DJ would talk right up to the words of the song.. then as soon as the words finished.. they'd splice another song... /groan.. I actually downloaded Purple Rain from the internet after the first post.. and I was listening to how LONG that song was! I didn't remember it from the movie being that long.. but now looking back.. yeah.. it was long..
Hi Some Kinda Wonderful, that's cool you picked up the DVD I still have to get that one some day. The only time I saw the movie all the way through was at a local $1.00 theater in the 80's, the audience responded to the end of the movie like it was a live concert. You could hear other people in the audience shouting "Sit down, it's not a real show!" I wonder what happened to Appollonia?
Arsenette, I'm glad I'm not the only person addicted to these VH1 shows of I love the 70s/80s/90s. I just like the format of these shows, I just watched Hotties of the 90's and I don't even care who was considered hot especially ten years ago, I just like the clips and visuals and funny one liners.
I didn't buy Purple Rain for years because I heard it everywhere I went so I can relate to being surprised by the length of "Purple Rain". The radio usually faded out half way through the guitar solo. I also never got used to "I Would Die 4 U" not fading out because on the album it goes straight into "Baby I'm A Star".
Appollonia? She got religion and sings at her church. Saw it on one of those VH1 shows. You mean you haven't seen it Mr. Mike? She said she had a revelation that dressing like that and acting like that was a sin and she is now trying to atone for her behavior. I am not making fun of her. If she has that kind of faith, more power to her, I say. I'm just telling what I saw.
Thanks Some Kinda Wonderful, that's good info!
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