Artist Spotlight: Prince 1986-1990

Can't fake the funk - Prince rolls through the remainder of the 80's

Midway through the 80's the denizen of Paisley Park (trying to find other ways to say Prince) had scaled the mountain of success in his own extremely horny terms. And though Around The World In A Day had cooled his career a touch, Prince was still considered one of the premier artists of the decade. To add to his collection of hit singles and Platinum albums was his work with other performers, which was quite numerable.

Prince - The Auteur

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Early on, Prince had taken to writing, producing and performing music for other artists such as The Time. Though The Time was an actual band, Prince created most of their music and just put the band members on the record jacket. This included pre-empting talented musicians like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who he later fired from that band before their ascension to Pop producer royalty. He also formed a girl group led by Vanity until the Purple Rain movie at which point she quit and was replaced by Apollonia. They were called Vanity / Apollonia 6. Prince gave songs to certain artists he liked including Sheena Easton and The Bangles who he handed "Sugar Walls" and "Manic Monday" respectively. And then other artists would take Prince songs and adapt them to a different sound for greater success, such as Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" and Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U." Prince could even sneak a few hits to himself through less obvious ways as "Erotic City" and "17 Days" became monster club jams. And that's just the stuff of note.

Great Lost B Side: "Irresistible B*tch" had a killer groove and wicked melodic hook.

Parade (1986)

In '86 the hype went into full gear because a new Prince movie was coming out bringing back the anticipation of the Purple wonder. It was called Under The Cherry Moon and was shot in stylish black and white plus the film would have a soundtrack. Cherry Moon sounded like a sure thing, then it actually came out. It was set in...I think France. It was amateurishly directed by Prince. It was horribly acted and played out like a 90 minute Obsession ad. It sucked big time.

The flop that was Under The Cherry Moon very nearly crushed any commercial hopes for the soundtrack. But Prince still had an ace up his sleeve, or maybe Dr. Fink's sleeve, called "Kiss". The minimalist funk and unforgettable chorus led "Kiss" to becoming one of the biggest smash hits of the Purple One's life. Parade, the film soundtrack, couldn't say the same as the stigma of failure sank the album quickly. Followup singles like "Mountain" and "Anotherloverlonelyholeinthehead" came and went in a flash. The challenging album sequencing packing several short songs onto the record didn't help. Too bad, Parade had a brightness and litheness that would not show up often afterwards (except Lovesexy).

Great Lost Track: The swanky "Girls and Boys" brought hedonistic pleasure to anyone who got the album.

Sign O' The Times (1987)

Originally planned as a triple album with the Revolution called Dream Factory but Prince ultimately felt he needed to go it alone and broke up the band (though I heard the really long version of "Crystal Ball" from the Revolution sessions and it sounded great). Sign O' The Times is my all time favorite Prince album and the one I consider the defining record of his career. Everything Prince does he put on this double album while still on the top of his game. The political reggae of the title track, the dance floor slam of "U Got The Look", the quiet storm ballads like "Slow Love", the religious folk rock of "The Cross", the psychosexual confusion of "If I Was Your Girlfriend", the straightforward pop rock of "I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" and the jam band funk of "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night" make up just part of the greatness that Sign O' The Times held. Even his psychedelia was rekindled on the Dr. Seuss-like "Starfish and Coffee." It is the ultimate Prince record, more definitive than any Greatest Hits set.

Great Lost Track: The spirit of James Brown is brought to rampaging thunder on "Housequake". Shut Up. Already. Damn! Housequake!!

The Black Album (1987)

One of the biggest bootlegs of all time, Prince was set to release this album until the last second when he pulled the plug on it shortly before the drop date. The Black Album was Prince's meanest record, a combo of nasty funk, violent imagery and brutal humor. I don't remember individual tracks as much as the whole of the record which was engaging and unique for PRN yet had a feeling of trying too hard to impress. It was as if Prince felt he had to keep up with Gangsta Rap and the burgeoning Hip Hop Scene. Although "Cindy C" and "Bob George" made some impact, it was probably a smart move to pull the record.

Great Lost Track: The only song I distinctly remember is the ballad "When 2 R In Love", but that may be because it shows up on Lovesexy as well.

Lovesexy (1988)

Either the dark tone of The Black Album or the rumored bad Ecstasy trip he had led to his most overtly spiritual record of the decade. Lovesexy was the universe according to Prince as he envisioned a world of brotherly and sisterly love in a sexified way. Musically it showed signs of treading water as no new ground was broken, but holding steady is still pretty awesome when you're Prince. The single "Alphabet St." was a fun Top 10 entry and though no other hits were spawned from this album it had memorable moments like the philosophic "I Wish U Heaven" or the closing track "Positivity". There were frustrating moments too, but that was mainly the packaging (a nude Prince may make some hot, but not me) and the sequencing (the whole CD was one track, so if you wanted to hear the 7th or 8th song for example then you had to fast forward past the others to get to it).

Great Lost Track: The hypnotic "Anna Stesia" is a triumph of blurred voices and chanting to mimic a drug like feeling of spiritual ecstasy (or in Prince's case maybe real Ecstasy). Really daring and worth the trip.

Batman (1989)

You would think an Artist with the integrity of Prince would reject working on spec-but no. He was quickly hired to churn out the Batman soundtrack and so Prince released his loosest and laziest record of the decade. There were good songs, such as the energetic rambunctiousness of "Partyman" or the terrific "Lemon Crush" but to get to them you had to wade through garbage like the Sheena Easton duet "The Arms of Orion". And the most infamous moment isn't on the disc but the CD Single for "Scandalous" where Prince and Kim Bassinger get all 9 1/2 weeks to the point Bassinger's family claimed The Artist brainwashed her. And it would seem Prince has all but disowned the #1 single, "Batdance".

Great Lost Track: Rockin' guitars and a hard slammin' beat backs "Electric Chair" which contains one of my favorite Prince melodies - "If a man is guilty / for what goes on inside his head / then give me the electric chair / for all my future crimes 'cause I'm guilty, yeah". Ever since I saw him play this on Saturday Night Live way back when, I was hooked on it.

Graffiti Bridge (1990)

All the hints that Prince was running out of new ideas came to a head with the Purple Rain sequel Graffiti Bridge. Movie not withstanding (it was worse than Under The Cherry Moon, which is saying a lot) Graffiti Bridge showed Prince throwing all his eggs in one basket for a shot at glory. The Time are brought in for a few songs but never reclaim that "Jungle Love" magic (though I did like "Release It"). Elements of Hip Hop are mixed in to try to catch up with the changing pop scene to competent effect. "Thieves In The Temple" was a fair sized hit but the album quickly slid off the charts as even Tevin Campbell's hit single "Round and Round" couldn't stop the downhill momentum.

But there are redeeming musical moments like the gospelish ballad "Still Would Stand All Time" or the excellent Pop craft of "Joy In Repetition". Yet these moments were not enough to hold up Prince's status as the cutting edge Pop star, I remember even Time magazine doing an article on his commercial decline at this time.

Great Lost Track: The best song was set to a shuffling Hip Hop beat on "Tick Tick Bang" which was the one song to update classic Prince well. The sexual vulgarity and killer song hook made this one a showstopper.

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My Name Is Prince?

After Grafitti Bridge, Prince reportedly took his drum machines out of Paisley Park and left them on the street to be taken for free. For what appears to be the last time, he retreated to pop classicism by forming a live band and recording more traditional (for Prince anyway) sounding Pop. Shortly after releasing the single "My Name Is Prince" he changed his name to an unpronounceable sign and went by "The Artist formerly known as Prince" leading to several jokes about his lack of sanity. In more recent years he returned to his original moniker/name and has made a comeback. Prince continues to be a notable and talented musician who despite a few ups and downs remains a certifiable Pop genius.