Picture Minneapolis, Minnesota during the late sixties / early seventies. You've got six siblings living in your home, in addition to your father and mother, and soon you're joined by a seventh member. This time, in the form of a young Prince, who has left his home after continuing troubles with his father. Soon after, you form a band with your sister, and a young Morris Day. You then go on to join a band with one of Prince and one of his former cousins, Pepe Willie. Prince then goes on to release his first solo album, and recruit you as a bassist for his touring band.
While the story could have ended there, Cymone would find himself in constant tensions with Prince, and ultimately leave the band pre Revolution years, in 1981. Rather than focus on joining another band, he would instead opt to work on his own solo albums. This would lead to his 1982 debut, Livin' in the New Wave, and its follow up, 1983's, Survivin' in the 80's. The latter would land at number 185 of the Billboard 200, and additionally, he would have several singles chart on the R&B and Dance Charts.
With their relationship reconciled since his departure, Prince would gift the singer with the track, The Dance Electric, which would become the starting track on his 1985 album, A.C. The song would become his biggest hit, reaching number 8 on the R&B Charts. Additionally, A.C. would reach 121 on the Billboard 200,
Tracking this album down on CD is not an easy feat. While all three of his albums from the 80's have been remastered, and released as extended editions, A.C. is far more scarce than the other two. While I could find his first two albums brand new for under fifteen dollars, I had to track down A.C. through a Switzerland seller, and pay through the nose for it - 38.80 CHF, which equates to $42.45 USD.
Popping it in for today's Retro Spins, I got the track I invested in the CD for right off the bat. What's odd is that with how it starts, music wise, it doesn't really fit as a starting point. It just sounds odd in the spot its in. There's no build up to the album.
The remaining tracks, including Cymone himself, sound very much like Prince from the 80's. While this provides an appealing sound to the ears, in terms of familiarity, there are no other hits here. Instead, this feels more like Prince's B sides, or rejected vault tracks. They're not bad, they're just not exciting.
I ended up also adding the closing song, Neon Pussycat to my shuffle list. However, I'd be lying if I said it was an awesome tune. Herein lies a big problem with my shuffle list. It's inundated with a lot of subpar tracks that are decent at the time, but then I ultimately skip over them when they come along the playlist. That's pretty much what will happen to this one.
Cymone would step to the background shortly thereafter, and instead focus on producing and writing with other acts, such as Jody Watley, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Pebbles, Jermaine Stewart, The Girls, Pretty Poison and Adam Ant. However, by 1987, he stepped away even further to focus on raising his children. Though he would pop up every now and then to collaborate with other artists, it wouldn't be until 2014 that he would release another solo project. Though he would release two more albums following that in 2016, and 2017, he has relatively stayed behind the scenes since.
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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS April 16, 1983 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS April 16, 1988 |
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