"Dearly beloved
We are gathered here today
To get through this thing called life"
Prince Rogers Nelson, or TAFKAP, or just plain Prince. 5 foot 3 inches of pure purple !!!
This is another dive into Tracy's vinyl collection and it's pretty obvious it belongs to her when you look inside the sleeve of this 36 year old LP. Not only is the beautifully illustrated dust jacket intact but the Prince and the Revolution poster insert is pristine, factory folded, never hung or pinned. The album itself still has original shrink wrap except where it was carefully unsealed.
This is Prince's 6th studio album but the first where The Revolution got properly credited, although on the cover of '1999' if you look closely you can see their name written backwards inside the stylized 'I' of Prince. This is also the soundtrack to the movie of the same name.
The opening song 'Let's Go Crazy' starts with the line quoted at the beginning of this review with an organ backing that breaks into a drum rhythm and then an almost stereo-typical Prince beat and staccato vocal. Released as a single it was Prince's second #1 hit.
I'm not sure if anyone was ready for 'Darling Nikki' but here it is, in all it's glory. With lines like "I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine" and "Your dirty little prince wanna grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind" it was inevitable there would be some sort of fall-out. This was 1984 after all. Turns out that Tipper Gore, wife of vice-president Al Gore was the one who got steamed about it. The PMRC was founded and that led to the use of the 'Parental Advisory' stickers being used on album covers.
'When Doves Cry' was another #1 from the album, unusual inasmuch as Prince did the vocals and played all the instruments on the track.
When I listen to 'I Would Die 4 U' I hear Culture Club's 'I'll Tumble 4 Ya' and vice-versa. As Prince's song came first I can only assume he had a bit of influence on George and the boys.
Taking an overview of Prince's work it's sometimes easy to forget how many songs he wrote and how many other people recorded them. We all know Sinéad O'Connor's version of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' and The Bangles singing 'Manic Monday' but have a listen to Warren Zevon and the Hindu Love Gods belting out 'Raspberry Beret' and life is complete.
Sheena Easton, the mild-mannered Scottish lass who had a hit with the jaunty '9 to 5 (Morning Train) fell under Prince's wing and recorded his song 'Sugar Walls'. With the inference that sugar walls referred to the vagina and the line "Come spend the night inside my sugar walls" it was all too much for Tipper Gore and her band of prudes and so it qualified for their "Filthy Fifteen" songs and required an advisory sticker !
Kate Bush (Oooh, Kate Bush, she's due for a review) approached Prince to do vocals on one of her tracks from the 'Red Shoes' album. She sent him tapes of an early version of 'Why Should I Love You?' wanting him to do backing vocals. Instead he totally deconstructed the song, created a whole new tape and patched Kate's stuff over it and sent it back. Instead of being a brilliant work by two musical geniuses it became a devisive amalgam of (my words) misinterpreted intent.
Prince passed in 2016 aged 57 and left the world with a mountain of music and an energy that lives on and on. To appreciate this album, watch the movie. To appreciate the movie, listen to this album.
"I only wanted 2 see you laughing in the purple rain"
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