The Toy Box: Prince

Showing posts with label Prince. Show all posts

Retro Spins: Prince - Dirty Mind

Prince wasn't on my radar in 1980. In fact, being overseas, the only music which was came from my sister's collection, and only when she saw fit to play it. Since at the time she too was not a fan of Prince, if she even knew about him, he was not in her rotation of records. Not that our parents would have allowed us to have an album called, "Dirty Mind" in the first place.

I don't know if this alburm even came to be in my collection when I was buying my own CD's in the mid to late 90's. I did, however, track it down as a top priority when I started amassing what would become my collection as it stands today.

While I've played through it before, it was never one of my favorites. Sure, it was packed with hits such as, Uptown, When You Were Mine, and of course, the title track itself, Dirty Mind. However, it just never really stood out amongst the likes of 1999, Purple Rain, and the Batman Soundtrack. In fact, it wasn't until listening to it today that I finally got a true appreciation for it.

Yes, in retrospect, I would consider it among one of the few "perfect" albums. By that, I mean I would sit down and listen to it from start to finish. There's really not a bad track to be found. Is it top tier, Prince at his best? No, but it's certainly a canvas for things to come. This could be because of the inclusion of Lisa Coleman and Dr. Fink joining the recording sessions, which would ultimately pave the way to the Revolution, or it could just be that the songs stood on their own merit to begin with. Ultimately, the sound is different from Prince's prior 70's entries, and in a far better way.

It see's Prince shifting from a more love song era of music to his lewdness, which would become his staple niche in the 80's. The party bus was firing up, and everyone was invited to join. The beginning of an era. That in a nutshell is Dirty Mind.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

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
April 28, 1984

Retro Spins: André Cymone - A.C.

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.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
April 16, 1983

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
April 16, 1988

Scandalous Honey (Prince)

Prince
Scandalous Honey
1989

Musician. Actor. Bee keeper?

Back in 1988, Prince took on the task of creating the soundtrack for the up and coming Batman film from Tim Burton. To get an understanding of the movie, he would make visits to the set, and it would be here that he would meet actress Kim Basinger.

Prince being Prince, soon began a relationship with the actress, leading to her joining him in the studio for vocals on the song, Scandalous. It was during this session that a story would unfold about the two being left alone for the evening, just as Prince was opening a jar of honey. When the engineer returned the next day, he found honey all over the mixing board. I'm sure your imaginations can fill in the rest. If not, you can find more on that story "HERE".

The alleged encounter led to one of the most bizarre promotional tie-ins. To promote the release of the single, which Prince named The Scandalous Sex Suite, Prince created a jar of honey, which had a simplistic label on it which read, "Prince The Scandalous Sex Suite Featuring Kim Basinger".

While it's not commonly found these days, considering honey doesn't expire if stored properly, it supposedly could be just as fresh today as it was back in 1989. However, you're not usually going to find one cheap. I've only seen two, and while the first sold for $25 in 2010, the one I found in 2025 was priced at $300!

If you're a big Prince fan, and looking for unique, or frankly, weird merchandise from him, this one would definitely fit that bill.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

The PMRC's Filthy Fifteen

The original Karen, Tipper Gore. She sure didn't have anything to do with her time back in May 1985 when she and her four fellow harpies decided to form the PMRC, AKA Parental Music Resource Center. Their goal was nothing short of the censorship of music. Their inspiration, The Filthy Fifteen, a list of selected songs, which the group themselves dug deep to curate.

The group was supported by Coors beer owner, Joseph Coors, and oddly, Beach Boys singer, Mike Love. The goal, and essentially their demand, was that music labels would voluntarily develop a rating system for albums, and adhere these labels to all material placed on the market. Additionally, they would require record companies to print warning labels on explicit material albums, force record stores to keep these under or behind the counter, and pressure television stations to not play music or videos of these songs. Lastly, they would set in place a panel to determine these ratings, and set industry standards.

By August of that same year, record companies agreed to implement warning labels on all explicit content albums. However, before this could be implemented, the senate agreed to hold a hearing on the matter, held on September 19, 1985. Among the attendees were the PMRC committee, musicians, and a gaggle of senators, who would all testify, and plead their side.

Shortly over an hour into the hearing, the senate called Frank Zappa to speak. The artist was clearly agitated by the prospect of any committee censoring artists, but stated he would have no issues with the lyrics being provided as a separate sheet packaged with the album. He further stated he would not be in favor of a grading system, because unlike a movie, the rating assigned doesn't hurt the actor's career, wherein it does for musicians because the album is that individual's personal art. Ultimately, despite Zappa's points, he hurts his own credibility with a tone of arrogance, and personal attack of the women behind it, stating he felt it was more so their project built out of boredom, rather than legitimate concern. Personally, I agree.

John Denver spoke next, and while on the surface one would attribute him with a wholesome image, he too spoke about the unfairness of censorship. He discussed how his hit song, Rocky Mountain High, was brought under scrutiny by those who misinterpreted the lyrics to be about drugs, and raised the question of what if the lyrics were misrepresented when consideration for grading occurred. Overall, he was not a fan of the possibility, nor censorship in general, feeling musicians had the right to express themselves through their art under the constitution.

Last to speak, and the show stealer of the day, was Dee Snyder. Snyder entered the room, dressed in a sleeveless jean jacket, long hair, and sunglasses. He personified the spirit of rock and roll, and depicted the image which the majority of the room equated to Satanic music. However, when he spoke, he did so confidently, intelligently, and with facts, debated every argument presented to him coherently, and respectfully.

While all three artists came from a different angle, and didn't necessarily share the same opinion of labeling albums with warning labels, they ultimately shared the same sentiment. The responsibility of what their children listen to is that of the parent's, and not a government committee.

What exactly were The Filthy Fifteen that spawned all of this nonsense? What was so bad about them that it necessitated the demand for change? Believe it or not, some of them are among the most popular hits, which still resonate today. Others, you probably wouldn't even know existed if they weren't on this list. Ironically, it was because of their affiliation with The Filthy Fifteen that garnered them some of the attention they got.

Prince and the Revolution
Darling Nikki

Sheena Easton
Sugar Walls
(funnily enough, another Prince song)

Judas Priest
Eat Me Alive

Vanity
Strap On Robby Baby

Mötley Crüe
Bastard

AC/DC
Let Me Put My Love Into You

Twisted Sister
We're Not Gonna Take It

Madonna
Dress You Up

W.A.S.P.
(Animal) F**k Like A Beast
This song wasn't even on an album! It was only a B-Side to a single!

Def Leppard
High 'n' Dry

Mercyful Fate
Into the Coven

Black Sabbath
Trashed

Mary Jane Girls
My House

Venom
Possessed

Cyndi Lauper
She Bop

By the standard of your typical hip hop song these days, most of these are timid, not even a footnote by comparison. Others are simply left to the imagination of the crazy women who deemed them so offensive.

Regardless, they got their way, and this is why since the late 80's we've had the privilege of "Explicit Lyrics" warnings. The irony is that this really didn't seem to do anything in terms of stopping the flow of these albums. In fact, I'd wager it cast more light on them, serving to make them more appealing to a broader spectrum.

What's the best way to make a child want something? Draw attention to it being taboo, and tell them they can't have it. You've now piqued their curiosity more.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Prince - Lovesexy

Prince's 1988 album, Lovesexy, answers the question of how many albums you need from the singer that features him naked on the cover. The answer. Zero. Absolutely none. By far this is the worst, and most unappealing album cover from Prince in my collection. Yeah, it just doesn't work for me.

Though it went gold, critically, Lovesexy was the least successful Prince album since 1981's Controversy. It also wasn't initially the album intended to be released. In December of 1987, Prince was going to release The Black Album. However, citing a spiritual epiphany and believing it was evil, he opted to withdraw that record, and cancelled its release. This led to The Black Album becoming one of the highest bootleg records of the era, created from the few promotional copies that were known to be in existence at the time.

With no new album, Prince rushed back into the studio, and began work on what would become Lovesexy. Unlike prior albums, it simply doesn't have the commercial hits that would be expected from the artist who delivered 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign 'O The Times. However, that stated, that's also not to say it's bad.

I think a lot of the critical reception was that this album was on the heels of Sign 'O The Times, and that was considered to be his opus. So, in that regard, I can understand the negative response.

However, for me, I feel quite the opposite. I like this album front to back. It's quite frankly a diamond in the rough of relatively unknown Prince material. The title track has a very familiar sound in retrospect of things to come on his 1989 Batman soundtrack, and to me, that makes it one of the standouts because I love that album.

I suppose if I didn't like the whole thing that this could be problematic. While it does contain nine tracks, early pressings of the CD don't break these down individually. Instead, it's just one long extended play track. This could make it annoying to get to the song you want if you're not playing it in its entirety.

While I certainly don't need any Prince albums with him stark naked on the cover, this one is definitely one you should check out. Don't skip the classics by any means, but also don't miss this one.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Prince - Graffiti Bridge

Grafitti Bridge may very well be the first "Parental Advisory" album I got to buy as a kid. I remember vividly the day I got it. We were driving from Oregon to Virginia, in one of our many family relocation periods. Over the course of the one week drive, eight or so hours a day, we eventually stopped at a local retail store, which I believe was a K Mart.

While we all took a well needed stretch of the legs, I wandered into the music section, a beautiful array of shelves with cassette after cassette neatly organized in alphabetical order. It was here that I found Graffiti Bridge. I'd never heard of it, but was a young fan of Prince. I certainly had no clue that it was the soundtrack to a movie, which was technically the sequel to Purple Rain. Still, something about the cassette made me want it. Either mom didn't look at it, or she did and didn't care about the advisory label. I'm guessing the latter was not the case. I think I just lucked out this time by it not being thoroughly inspected before getting approval.

Back in the car, the headphones went on, the cassette went into the Walkman, and it began.

"Dear dad. Things didn't turn out quite like I wanted them to. Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna explode..." From that intro, the music kicked into high gear, and I was whisked away into a mix of heavy rock, funk, soul and ballads.

From that day, Graffiti Bridge became one of my all time favorites from Prince. I went through a phase in my young high school years where this thing got played daily. That cassette had to have been on its last legs by the time I retired it for a CD version.

What I think stands out about the album, from other works from Prince, is the overall collaboration with Morris Day And The Time, the horizon of The New Power Generation, and the introduction and brief career of Tevin Campbell. It's masterfully crafted to not only contain great music, but also a story when listed to from start to finish.

Though Prince has undoubtedly made some great music since Grafitti Bridge, I think overall, for me, it remains his last best achievement in his career. It's a solid album from front to back, and one I really enjoy playing every now and then.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

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.

Retro Spins: Prince - Sign 'O' The Times

It's often times considered to be his greatest work, and while I'm not necessarily inclined to agree, Prince's 1987 released, Sign 'O' The Times, is certainly solid. This album would eventually evolve from numerous concepts by the singer, going through several changes in the process.

The roots of the project can be traced back to relatively early in the 80's, 1983 to be exact, with the singer / songwriter working heavily with his band, The Revolution. It was the first time the members had been asked to collaborate so extensively on any of the material, but it wouldn't be the last over the next few years. Though a lot of music was written and recorded, the project, titled Dream Factory, would eventually be shelved.

Though he would go on to release Purple Rain (1984), which would be followed by Around The World In A Day (1985) and Parade (1986), there was a moment herein where the concept for Dream Factory would continue evolving. Unfortunately, tensions began to grow among members, specifically Wendy and Lisa, who voiced their opinions of non-musician members of The Revolution.

Things got to the point where the girls had to be convinced to remain in the band and also be part of the 1986 Parade tour. However, by the end of the excursion, Prince had apparently had enough and dissolved the group, firing most of the members in the process.

It was also in 1986 that Prince would begin working on a pseudonymous album under the guise of Camille, a concept born from recording the track, Housequake. This work featured Prince assuming the role of this female character, altering the pitch of his vocals to sound different. Despite these efforts, it was clear to many immediately who the artist was behind the tracks. This solo project would also inevitably be abandoned, but not forgotten.

Many of these efforts from Dream Factory and Camille would come full circle when Prince commenced work on what would become his 1987 release. The album was original conceived as Crystal Ball, a six sided, three LP, covering a spectrum of musical styles. Seven songs would eventually be trimmed from the twenty-two track record, with The Look, a duet with Sheena Easton being added, to finalize the now sixteen track double sided album. It was also re-titled Sign 'O' The Times.

A little fun fact is that the seven songs omitted were eventually made available on various Prince studio or compilation albums, as well as, via the short lived Mp3 downloadable NPG Music Club subscription. Essentially, if you legitimately have all of these official releases, you could in fact put together your own copies of Dream Factory and Camille, such as I have. However, it is worth noting that with how Prince's music evolved over time, that these versions may not be the originals which would have ultimately ended up on their respective albums. Still, it's fun to listen to what could have been.

Dream Factory, on the other hand, is another story. There are several tracks from this album which were never officially released. Hopefully, and this may have happened already by the time this post goes live (written in June 2020), Prince's estate may release a legit version. Perhaps of all three of the above mentioned records. I'd buy them!

Anyway, I could sit here and really dig deep into my opinion of the album. However, it can really be wrapped up neatly with the very first paragraph I wrote. Obviously, I enjoy the album. It's not my favorite, I don't think it's his best, but it's solid and enjoyable. There are a lot of great songs on it. Some better than others. Some complete corkers, but overall very good.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

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.

Retro Spins: Prince - Welcome 2 America

I think it's fair to say that while Prince is an iconic rocker from the 80's, and sure, maybe even through the 90's, he has long since become irrelevant in the music industry. His album sales appear to have been in a steady decline since 1994's Come, and a lot of this seems to be a result of changes in his musical direction.

In the 80's, Prince was throwing a non-stop party through his music, and everyone was invited. Black, white, Mexican, Asian, Indian, it didn't matter. If you wanted to have a good time, you were invited. Then the brakes suddenly slammed, and Prince seemingly said, "Everyone out." Suddenly, he was writing music that had a feeling of exclusivity. Politically, racially, and sometimes nonsensical, his music just didn't seem to resonate with the general audience anymore.

I was among them. I've long since stopped enjoying his music as a whole. Despite this, I continue to maintain a current discography for the artist formally known as a hit maker. I think a lot of this is driven by a longing to hear something that will blow me away. Transport me back to the heyday of Prince. This happens rarely, but it does happen. So because of this, I keep myself invested.

With that said, I don't necessarily get revved up to hear these albums, which is why I'm just now getting around to his July 30, 2021 posthumous album, Welcome 2 America. Even then, I think I'm more so being pushed along because of how much I enjoyed the most recent Duran Duran album, and how I'm looking forward to the forthcoming ABBA album. Basically, I need Prince checked off my "to do" list.

As I expected, or maybe because I expected, the record just didn't resonate with me. A lot of it was simply a downer to listen to. Prince had an agenda in mind, and he wants to push it. This is problematic because it misses the biggest target when it comes to music. That is that it's supposed to be entertaining. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to be preached to by Prince for an hour about how much life sucks, and the world is a mess. I listen to music to escape that reality.

This again goes back to what I touched on above. Prince wants to use his music to stand on a soapbox, and at the end of the day, I just don't want to hear that crap. Welcome 2 America is another continuing misstep for an artist who once knew how to produce hit after hit.

With that said, I know he's with Jesus, and I don't want to make light of the fact that the world lost him far sooner than any of us ever could have expected.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

A Toy Box Custom - Prince's Little Red Corvette Hot Wheels

No, I didn't make the actual toy, just the package.

Why are there no Prince action figures? Looking at you, NECA!

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Prince - For You

Prince has for a long time now been one of my favorite artists. His Purple Rain, Batman and 1999 albums will always rank among what I would call perfect. For me, Prince started to really shine right around 1980 with his Dirty Mind album, and continued to deliver non-stop through his 1990 Graffiti Bridge soundtrack. While his two follow ups, Diamonds And Pearls and O(+> (aka The Love Symbol Album) began his faltering and inevitable decline from popular mainstream.

It's because of this that I don't necessarily give his two albums from the 70's, and much beyond 1992 all that much attention. I mean, I have all of his albums, but there are definitely a lot of failures towards the end of his career.

Despite this, I thought I would go back in time to his debut album, For You, and give it a follow up listen to. Though I've heard it a few times, because I more so stick to his 80's albums, I don't tend to remember this record all that well.

What's very obvious from the moment it starts up is that Prince had a talent for crafting music. The multi-layer intro, aptly titled For You, sets a high bar, despite its overall simple composition. However, to really dig deep into the genius behind the album, one has to acknowledge the liner notes on the back which state, "Produced, Arranged, Composed and Performed by Prince." The man literally did everything himself on this (and most of his future albums). I dare say had they let him, he would have pressed and distributed his own records as well.

There's not denying that Prince was a talented artist. However, where this album falters is that it doesn't necessarily showcase him at his best. He may have been giving his all, but this wasn't the sound that would ultimately become the Purple One.

Another aspect I'm not necessarily into with For You is that he sings the majority of his songs in a falsetto key. Can Prince sing high? Yes. However, that's not really for me. I much prefer his tenor vocals.

Overall, it's a decent album, but it's far from my favorite. It's worth adding to your collection if you're an avid Prince fan, but if you're much more into his hits, you won't find those here. As much as I like Prince, there's only two songs from For You that make the cut for my shuffle list. Those are Just As Long As We're Together and I'm Yours. As for the rest, they can pretty much be skipped.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Batman

Why not?...let's do another Prince album / soundtrack.

This is normally the section where I would put the blurb from the back of the VHS. However, believe it or not, the back of the original VHS doesn't give a synopsis of the film. Does it need to? It's Batman!

Instead, I'll tell you about two experiences I had with this film as a young, soon to be, teenager. First, I remember seeing it in the movie theater with my brother. While he didn't seem to enthralled with it, it blew my young mind away. I suppose I had a bit of an advantage as I was big into comics. I soaked up every last bit of the film, taking in all the detail of Tim Burton's dark Gotham City. Though I was too young to appreciate it at the time, all the actors behind the film did superb jobs pulling me into a state of suspended disbelief. These people were Bruce Wayne / Batman, Alfred, The Joker, Alexander Knox and Vicki Vale.

My next experience came in the form of the original VHS which my dad would later purchase for the family (himself). He didn't see it in the theaters with us, but truth be told, I don't honestly know if he saw it on his own. However, when we sat down to watch the movie at home, I couldn't stop talking about all the scenes I knew were coming. I'm sure it got on everyone's nerves. That was the first of many viewings that cassette got.

During this time in my life, I was already a big Prince fan. While I didn't have many of his albums, when I got the chance to pick up a cassette during one of our many Kmart outings, I immediately flocked to this one. Batdance was in consistent rotation on MTV, and I leapt at the opportunity to get a copy of the tune that wasn't recorded on an audio cassette from the TV.

I had to smile as I typed that last paragraph because it actually reminded me of the exact moment in time when I recorded it. I was sitting up for half the night, without my parents knowing of course, waiting impatiently for MTV to play two songs I wanted to record. Nelson's (I Can't Live Without Your Love) And Affection and Prince's Batdance. The stars were aligned perfectly this evening as both songs played within about a half hour of each other.

Unfortunately, the fates also have a way of stepping in to laugh at you. Not being very mindful of song lengths, I didn't really have an eye on the tape. Nelson's song fit just fine on side "A". However, when Prince's Batdance came on, the tape ran out right before the mid-point of the song, and auto flipped to side "B". It still recorded the whole song, and truth be told it was somewhat seamless. Still, there's something to be said about getting midway through a song just to have to flip the tape over to hear the rest.

Anyway, to bring this full circle, back to my Kmart visit. With the above story in mind, you can see why this was an album I was eager to pick up.

Upon playing the album, it quickly became one of my all time favorites. There's only one track I honestly don't like from it, and would replace in a heartbeat with 200 Ballons, the B side to the Batdance single. That song is Scandalous. Can't stand it!

In my adult years, I actually learned the album wasn't supposed to be strictly a Prince album. Instead, Michael Jackson was actually asked to record a set of slower / ballad style songs, while Prince was to provide the uptempo tracks. What ended up happening, as I have heard, is that Michael was too busy with his Bad world tour. While we got a great album out of it in the long run, it's definitely one of those, "Yeah, but what could have been?" moments. I guess we'll never know.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Purple Rain

Is it a studio album? Is it a soundtrack? Is it both? I don't know, but it's shear perfection!

Take a richly-human story of survival and triumph, a now soundtrack by some of the hottest bands around and the startling, brooding presence of 24-year old rock superstar Prince - the man who lived the music - and you've got Purple Rain, which according to Rolling Stone, "may be the smartest, most spiritually ambitions rock-'n'-roll movie ever made."

This is the passionate behind-the-scenes stuff that rock-'n'-roll dreams are made of, a pulsating, slice-of-rock semi-autobiographical film starring Prince as "The Kid", a Minneapolis club musician known for his lightning guitar riffs and flash-fire vocals. As alienated as he is talented, The Kid struggles with both a tumultuous home-life and his own smoldering anger while taking refuge in his music and his steamy love for sultry Apollonia Kotero (lead singer of the camisole-chic Apollonia 6).

The turbulent, gutsy film sizzles, seethes and rocks in a way few rock films ever have. Hot-blooded Prince and his band The Revolution give electrifying performances of songs like the exhilarating "Let's Go Crazy", "I Would Die 4 U', the plaintive classic "When Doves Cry" and, of course, "Purple Rain" and other hits from the best-selling Warner Bros. Records soundtrack album of the same name.

Hailed by Newsweek as "the new Prince of Hollywood" PRINCE and PURPLE RAIN will reign over rockdom for some time to come. - Back cover of the original VHS

Well, I guess, based on the above, it's a soundtrack.

Long winded back covers of VHS tapes aside, I have to say, Purple Rain, the album, is spectacular. From start to finish, for me, there's not a bad song among the nine tracks. It's woven together as a true masterpiece of my lifetime, and stands out as one of the very few epics I've ever heard. It's the album that for many, myself included, turned attention towards Prince, serving as a segue into his music and massive discography to come throughout future decades.

I'd list out all of my favorite tracks, but quite frankly I'd just be listing out all nine from the entire album.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Sheil E. - Sheila E. In The Glamorous Life

Sheila E.
Sheila E. in the Glamorous Life
1984

Sheila E.'s debut album, Sheila E. in the Glamorous Life has Prince's fingerprints all over it. However, this is no surprise considering he wrote three of the six tracks on it, and was featured in some form or fashion lyrically or instrumentation wise throughout all of it. It's also a very rare album to find on CD, and as such, also very pricey.

Overall, it's not a bad album. It has that unique sound one would expect to hear from a Prince album of the 80's. However, it's biggest downfall is that it's just okay. In fact, the radio edit of the one and only hit from the album, The Glamorous Life, may actually be more enjoyable at its three minute forty second run time, than the album versions nine minute four seconds. Prince has long had a problem with knowing when songs should stop, and while I have grown to love the "extended" version, the radio edit remains far more superior, because it gets to the point of the song, and moves on.

Going back to what I said about the album having that unique Prince sound, this too is part of its downfall. Sheila E. never really seems to bring her own sound to any of the tracks. It more so ends up being Sheila E. sings the songs of Prince. That's sad in a way, because this also continued into her follow up album, Romance 1600, leaving the question, who is Sheila E.? What is her sound? Unfortunately, we don't find this out.

Don't get me wrong, as I said, the album isn't bad. The Belle of St. Mark, Shortberry Strawcake and The Glamorous Life were definitely the stand out tracks for me, and ended up in my 80's rotation. The remaining three tracks, I could personally take them or leave them. In fact, at this point, I don't even remember how they went.

I've actually had this album for about a year now, but in preparation for this post I hopped over to ebay to check out the availability of it in CD form. It was difficult to find when I was actively looking for it, and while I don't recall what I paid for it, it was fairly steep. However, it appears to have increased considerably since, both in rarity and price. The one and only copy I found online was not only an import, but also over a hundred dollars. That's high! I don't know that I would recommend chasing this down for that price unless like me, this is an absolute must have album.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: Prince And The Revolution - Around The World In A Day

Prince and the Revolution
Around the World in A Day
1985

Ask any casual Prince fan if they like the song Raspberry Beret and they would probably say, "Yes." Ask that same casual fan if they like the album, Around the World in A Day, and they would probably ask, "What is that?"

It's amazing for how popular Prince became in 1984 with his (personally speaking) masterpiece album, Purple Rain, that despite this major success not too many casual Prince fans could tell you what the follow up album was to that. Well, obviously I'm talking about 1985's Around the World in A Day.

Admittedly, my opinion of any type of Prince album may be somewhat biased as he is one of the few artists I have actually kept up with and sought out / own all of his (legitimate) studio albums. Is all of his music amazing? No, far from it. However, there are many, many, many songs he has released over the span of his multi decade career which are staples in my iPod / iTunes shuffle list. He's also one of the few artists who's music I will listen to past his 1980's era.

Okay, okay, so I like the artist, but how does Around the World in A Day stand up next to his most notable albums?

Well, I like it, you know, if you didn't see that coming. It starts out with the album's title track which sets a fun tone for the album. It's followed by the track named after his home, Paisley Park and from there slows down for the ballad Condition of the Heart - Not bad, but not one of my favorites. Raspberry Beret comes next and admittedly it feels like you're listening to a whole different album. It's so different, so good and so well know that it almost feels like it was the only song truly completed and polished for release. As if the remainder of the album was built around it just to be able to put out a full record.

Don't get me wrong. I love other tracks on this album, and the following funky, Tamborine (apparently Prince didn't know how to spell tambourine), is one of them. Admittedly this particular track isn't for everyone as I can see it grating on people's nerves if they're not expecting the style of music they're about to get.

America and Pop Life are two stand out tracks which follow Tamborine. Both send a strong messages about the Country as a whole (America) as well as people's desire to have more than they do and be more than they are (Pop Life). At least those are my interpretations of them.

The album rounds out with The Ladder and Temptation. Admittedly, I don't particularly care for these two tracks.

Overall, this is definitely a Prince album worth checking out. While it's not as catchy or even pop oriented as Purple Rain, it shows he was definitely not content as an artist to play it safe and just produce radio friendly songs. Prince had a vision for his albums, and while that vision may not have been what people considered to be the best idea or concept, he stood by his work - When he wasn't just throwing out albums to fulfill his contract with Warner Bros.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.