Retro Spins: Prince - 1999

Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I only want you to have some fun.

It's the intro I heard on a cassette tape recorded by my sister when she was living in Virginia, with us clear across the country in Oregon. She had called me one day, and asked, "Do you want Prince's 1999?" Having knowledge mainly of his Purple Rain and Batman albums, I was interested but confused when I got the tape. Admittedly, my young mind thought my sister would be sending an original, and not a recording. Regardless, I played that tape a lot. Tucked on the back of it was an added bonus of Ready For The World's Oh Sheila.

I remember when I first played the tape that I wasn't accustomed to varying differences between album versions and radio edits. As such, when 1999, the song, fired up, I was confused by the talking intro. Candidly, it didn't sit well with me either. It also continued on with a bunch of what I considered weirdness towards the tail end, and even worse, it segued into Little Red Corvette, another song I fancied as a standalone. Truthfully, I don't think I liked it at first, but they eventually grew on me to become the definitive renditions I would frequently go to.

Years later, I got my own copy on CD, only to stupidly sell it to my cousin while at my grandfather's house. To this day, I have no clue why I did that. I guess as a kid still, the money was intriguing to me. Fortunately, I'd rectify that in the late 90's, and much later with many different iterations which include (among others) an original pressing on vinyl, and the original "target" pressing CD. Fun fact, the first pressing on CD omits D.S.M.R. for time constraints.

Point being, I've spent a lot of time with Prince's 1999. I know it front, back, sideways, up, down, left, and right. If there was one thing that surprised me about the album, it's that I haven't yet done a Retro Spin on it. File that one under a giant oops. I suppose when I think about it, my reasoning for doing so was probably driven by it being a throw away. Something to fill in a gap when I needed a break. Let's face it, it's not exactly a record I need to listen to in order to write about it. Full disclaimer, I am actually listening to it as I type this.

1999 would become Prince's first major success, reaching 4X platinum to date. It's sold over 5 million copies, with 4 million alone in the USA. It would reach number five on the Billboard Hot 200. It was also ranked number five in the Billboard Year-End Albums of 1983. The title track would peak at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by Little Red Corvette (peaking at number 6), Delirious (peaking at number 8), and Let's Pretend We're Married (peaking at number 52).

Little Red Corvette was also among the first black music videos played in steady rotation on MTV, along with Michael Jackson's Billie Jean. Sadly, this wasn't until CBS threatened to pull all their music from the channel, claiming it discriminated against black artists. However, all turned out for the best, as soon MTV had a vast diversity of artists who deserved to have their videos seen and heard.

The album has since gone on to be frequently ranked as the best from Prince, as well as among many curated lists of top albums. I suppose at the end of the day, it's all in the eye of the beholder. So, tell me. What do you think about Prince's 1999?

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Living Vicariously Through My Brother - Gifts And Purchases From Japan

With my brother running around abroad in Japan, he not only filled my text messages with photos, but questions of if I wanted him to pick up some things for me. Some were given as gifts. Others with the understanding that I was going to need to reimburse.

Upon his return, we met up in Baltimore, a nice little halfway point for both of us, where I handed him a check, and he in turn handed me three bags. Two were from Tower Records, and one from Nintendo Kyoto.

The first item was a pair of Monchhichi dolls, which he purchased for me and my sister as a gift. We had these as kids, and today I of course have the full cartoon series on DVD. He thought it would be a fun little surprise for us.

Next up was a used, but presumably complete, original Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo Famicon. Despite being used, it's sealed in shrink wrap to protect the contents inside. He actually picked up two, one of which he kept and opened. I think I'll leave mine sealed up.

He also gifted me an exclusive Nintendo Kyoto glass, which features a selection of Nintendo characters on it. I don't think I'll be drinking out of this. Instead, I'll add it to my Nintendo collection.

Lastly, he gave me a copy of Nintendo Magazine, which was available for free to customers at Ojamakan Fukakusa.

He also grabbed me a copy of the program / catalog from the Star Wars Galaxy In Shibuya event.

Then came the CD's. When my brother initially told me he was going to Japan, he asked if there was anything I would want him to hunt for. I told him that if he came across a Tower Records, that I'd love for him to find me a list of CD's which were exclusive to the country. I didn't expect he'd find and go to three different Tower Records, especially considering he was using his precious limited time abroad to do so.

Unfortunately, he didn't find many of the items on my list. In fact, he only found one. However, he did find a whole slew of other items that I asked him to pick up.

The biggest thing on the list was Queen. I put on my list, "Anything from Queen as long as it's exclusive to Japan." Well, he found a lot.

Unfortunately, the majority of these are bootlegs created by King Street and Coda Publishing. Admittedly, I was a bit surprised to see that Tower Record would allow these to be sold in their shops. Equally, I was disappointed in the sound quality on some of them. Frankly, there seems to be more quality put into the packaging and CD imprinting (artwork wise), than the actual content of the discs.

Fortunately, not everything was a bootleg, such as these two Prince CD's. I didn't necessarily need yet another copy of Purple Rain, and really only asked him to grab this as an afterthought we he returned to take (a lot of) photos of the first Tower Records location. The other Prince album, His Majesty's Pop Life, was the only CD on my list he actually found.

Also not bootlegs were these pressings of Europe's first and second albums. Granted, these were available in the USA, but definitely not as cheap. Though I definitely enjoyed hearing them, in hindsight, I maybe should have opted for US releases, and paid the upcharge to do so. However, the catch 22 to that is that I probably wouldn't have ever gotten them.

Next up was an official re-issue of Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet. This not only features the original intended cover for the album, but a handful of live bonus tracks. The second item is unfortunately a bootleg of their live show from 1990. The sound quality is pretty poor on it.

I was surprised, but all over it when he found this We Bop: Nippon Budokan CD from Cyndi Lauper. It's apparently just been "released", in quotations because it's yet another bootleg. It not only showcases Cyndi at her best in 1986, but the sound quality if phenomenal. The second Cyndi item is a legit release, but nothing more than a greatest hits, which is also available in the USA. In hindsight, I would have skipped on the latter had I know this prior to committing to him grabbing it. Frankly, I didn't even open it.

I so badly wanted him to find the original (and legit) Live From The Jungle CD from Guns 'N Roses, but sadly, he never came across one. He did, however, find two massive boxsets, and individual live album, all bootlegs, and their hard to find legit EP, and even harder to find legit single. Yes, please to all!

Two other CD's which I didn't necessarily need, but asked him to pick them up with the above note Purple Rain were Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bad. Much like Prince, I don't necessarily need more copies of these albums in my life, but opted for them because they're uniqueness.

He was also able to find on Jermaine Jackson studio album, which I asked him to grab. I don't know why, but Jermaine gets no love from Motown. The majority of his albums aren't available on CD. This one appears to be legit, released in Europe in 2022.

Last up was a couple of free gifts from Tower Records for purchasing Queen and Guns 'N Roses items. They appear to be cellophane folders, but they're pretty thin, and fragile.

Did I spend more than I should have? Yes. Do I have buyer's remorse? Well, considering the majority of these turned out to be bootlegs, kind of. I'll put it this way. If I had a bit more time to think about the purchases I was making, rather than frantic texts in the early hours of the morning, I probably would have passed on a lot of.....Ah, who am I kidding....I would have still gotten them all.

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Retro Spins: Prince - Controversy

 

While prepping some Retro Spins, I inadvertently skipped a date in the middle of an artist I was intending on working on. Rather than go back and shift everything to realign, I instead pivoted to find an album to fill the gap. That became Prince's Controversy, and album I'm surprised I haven't yet talked about.

I'm not going to lie, it's an album I've listened to may times before. It's not my favorite from Prince, but it's also not abysmal, like some of his later stuff can be. It has its highs, lows, but frankly a lot of the songs are skippable. It's most likely why I haven't gotten around to a Retro Spin.

I like the title track, and I'd say Private Joy, and Let's Work are just okay. As for the rest, they're just not for me. I don't think that Prince really took off as an artist until 1999, peaked with Purple Rain, stayed high, with Sign 'O' The Times, and then slowly came down with Parade, Around The World In A Day, Parade, the Batman soundtrack, Graffiti Bridge, and Diamonds And Pearls. Yeah, sure, he had some hits here and there on other albums, but frankly, most of them were misses as of the mid to late 90's.

Controversy definitely has the potential of things to come, and I suppose in that right it's a necessary stepping stone. I just wish it was better overall. Beyond that, I really don't have much more to say about it.

Short and sweet.

On a separate note, the estate of Prince just recently released a two-disc remastered edition of Around The World In A Day. If that's your thing, it may be worth checking out.

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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.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
December 3, 1983

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
December 3, 1988