"My dear People, My dear Bagginses and Boffins, and my dear Tooks and Brandybucks, and Grubbs, and Chubbs, and Burrowses, and Hornblowers, and Bolgers, Bracegirdles, Goodbodies, Brockhouses and Proudfoots. Also my good Sackville-Bagginses that I welcome back at last to Bag End. Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today!
I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as much as I am. I shall not keep you long. I have called you all together for a Purpose. Indeed, for Three Purposes!
First of all, to tell you that I am immensely fond of you all, and that eleventy-one years is too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable hobbits.
I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.
Secondly, to celebrate my birthday. I should say: OUR birthday. For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today. Together we score one hundred and forty-four. Your numbers were chosen to fit this remarkable total: One Gross, if I may use the expression.
It is also, if I may be allowed to refer to ancient history, the anniversary of my arrival by barrel at Esgaroth on the Long Lake; though the fact that it was my birthday slipped my memory on that occasion. I was only fifty-one then, and birthdays did not seem so important. The banquet was very splendid, however, though I had a bad cold at the time, I remember, and could only say 'thag you very buch'. I now repeat it more correctly: Thank you very much for coming to my little party."
Bilbo Baggins
Yes, today is the day. My birthday. For it, I chose a very special Retro Spin for the day. It's an album I've heard many, many times before, but one I'm sure I'll continue to play until the end of my time.
When I first heard Prince And The Revolution's Parade, it was admittedly system shock. I like many was coming off of his masterpieces, 1999, and Purple Rain, and was expecting something as massive. I'd not yet heard his previous record, Around The World In A Day, and in fact, I couldn't say as a late teenager if I even knew it existed at this point. As such, I wasn't prepared for the sudden shift in musical styles, and it was kind of one of those Queen Hot Space moments. Where your mind is like, "What the heck is this?" As a result, the album got shelved rather quickly and passed over for a couple decades in my mind. However, as I grew older and wiser, I dusted it off, and gave it another shot, finding a hidden gem in the Purple One's catalog that has become one of my favorites.
Parade not only serves as his eighth studio album, but the soundtrack to the film, Under The Cherry Moon, which Prince starred in. It would also be his third and final with The Revolution.
Personally, I never got to see the film as a kid, but I do remember my sister catching it in the theater. My brother and I were there to see a more kid appropriate film, either The Karate Kid II, or Howard The Duck (I think the latter, but I can't remember at this point). However, what I do recall vividly was my sister exiting the cinema after seeing it and professing how terrible it was.
I did, however, catch it as an adult, and even own it on DVD. I think it's absolutely fabulous. Prince was clearly having a good time playing the role. I think what my sister missed was that it wasn't supposed to be a serious film. I got the impression that Prince was going for a comedic approach, but often his humor is so dry that it takes a certain mindset to appreciate it. Personally, I think he was having a laugh at the world, saying, "If you're watching this expecting a serious film, you don't get me, and the jokes on you."
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Critics panned both the film and album, but this didn't hurt it too badly. The song Kiss would fly up the charts in April of 1986, smashing the number one spot. Ironically, that track wasn't even intended to be included on the album. Initially, he had given it to the band Mazarati, who took his original acoustic version, and turned it into a funky jam. When Prince heard this, he promptly withdrew it from them and laid down his own vocals. This would make the band extremely angry, as they not only didn't get credit for the work they had done, but got stiffed on promised compensation.
Additionally, singles, Mountains, and Anotherloverholenyohead would follow in July and August, respectively. Mountains would peak at twenty-three, while Anotherloverholenyohead would reach sixty-three. The funny thing about all three hits is that the latter is the only one I really like. I've never been a fan of Kiss, and I don't get the fan hype of Mountains. Those two tracks, plus Venus De Milo are actually the only songs I don't like from the album.
One of the things that initially struck me as negative when hearing Parade for the first time was the seemingly connectivity from song to song. Meaning, most pick up immediately where the last left off. It can feel disjointed when playing songs individually, but since I rarely do these days, it's a problem that's worked itself out for me. As a whole, for an album I initially didn't like when first hearing it, it really has become one of my favorites, and I consider it a hidden gem tucked in between his opus, Purple Rain, and shunned masterpiece, Batman.
For now, I'm off to go do birthday stuff, which will hopefully include some form of used CD shop. Regardless of where I end up, stay tuned throughout the day for new posts.
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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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