The Prolificness of Prince: Discs Defining A Decade by Sheldon Taylor
For those of us who feasted on 80s music, sampling the creative cuisine on the music menu was nothing short of satisfying. Diverse textures of R&B, pop,rock and rap tantalized our taste buds. The roux binding this sonic gumbo together consisted of one key ingredient---Prince Thanks to his restless creativity, he sharpened our musical palates to a well-honed sophisticated edge.
His speed of album releases were dizzying. Rather than giving you time to get the last one straight---Prince ran laps around our musical consumption possibilities, daring us to keep up. In commemoration of the fifth(!) anniversary of his passing---here's a quick run down of the discs that defined a decade.
 |
| Dirty Mind (1980) |
If music is makeup, Dirty Mind's the fresh-faced alternative to R&B's beat face.Void of slick production (see Shalamar or the Jacksons) this record's lean, mean and a voyeur's dream. Reeking of manic erotic energy, it moves from sly metaphors ("doesn't matter/I just wanna lay you down in my daddy's car/ but it's you I wanna drive") to episodic hedonism at the speed of an orgasm.
On "Head," Prince seduces a virginal lover bound for the altar. By the time he's done----she's married him instead. Flipping the jilted lover angle on its ear, "When Your Were Mine" finds him torn between heartbreak ("you didn't have the decency to change the sheets") and hedonistic hopelessness ("I didn't care/I wasn't the kind to make a fuss/when he was there---laying in between the two of us").
"Revolutionary rock-n-roll" anthem "Partyup" ("all lies/no truth/is if fair to kill the youth?") is first of many Cold War indictments turning up on future albums."Uptown" is an ode to his bohemian Twin Cities hood. Part hipster/ part Studio 54 ("white/black/ Puerto Rican/everbody's just a freakin')---its a world where anything goes ("our clothes/our hair/ we don't care---it's all about bein' free!").
Tinny as a transistor with barely a bass line in sight---Moroder-like metronomes, crisp drums, sharp guitar riffs and synth stabs gives the album an danceable elasticity. A descendant of Sixty Minute Man and a precursor to W.A.P.---Dirty Mind's risque' sexual afterglow is ripe for the picking.
 |
| Controversy (1981) |
Dirty Mind's follow-up finds Prince's off-kilter vision coming clearer into focus. His falsetto rides the new-wavish "Private Joy's" percussive pant to perfection. The semi-autobiographical "Controversy" finds him basking in androgynous mystery ("am I black or white/am I straight or gay?") There's sinewy jagged-edged funk, ("Let's Work") and punk anthems ("Annie Christian", "Ronnie, Talk To Russia") cloaked in religious/ current events references. Prince's musical stamina is nothing less than enduring. After the genre-hopping there's enough gas in the tank for "Jack U Off's jittery peep-show swagger ("I only do it for a worthy cause/virginity or menopause") and "Do Me Baby"seven-minute erotica (climax included). Not quite his breakthrough----but he's getting close.
 |
| 1999 (1982) |
After cobbling together a cult following for years, Prince finally breaks through with a double album with a sprawling song selection---eleven (!) recalling Songs In The Key of Life. If Stevie were to record a black album, this is it. There's tongue-in cheek ("All The Critics Love You In New York"), metaphoric sexcapades ("International Lover") and gritty funk ("Lady Cab Driver" and "DSMR").
The frantic"Something In The Water's" ponders failed relationships set to stuttering synth-drums that's proto-Missy and Timbaland. Prince taps into his inner-Stevie on "Free" ("so don't sleep until you're guilty/cause sinners are all we"). In "Little Red Corvette" lions and horses run wild and free in all of their sexually coded glory. Rockabilly hepcat ("Delirious") one minute, James & Sly the next--- Prince orchestrates The Family Stone's carousel vocals (every band member gets a turn) and JB's call-and-response on the title cut leading the party people down a joyful road to Armageddon. A star is born.
 |
| Purple Rain (1984) |
If 1999 was the jab then "Purple Rain" is the knockout blow. Those in the know revel in its genius. Others late to the party---prepare to be captivated. Instead of pedestrian metaphors, Prince travels by poetry in motion. "When Doves Cry" opens to kaleidoscope utopia ("dig if you will a courtyard/of oceans of violet and blue"). Even without a bass line---it's still funky.
The hazy "Take Me With You" is romantic and dreamy. Prince plays up Hendrix on the raunchy "Darling Nikki" and "Let's Go Crazy." On the slow ones, his manic torment ("The Beautiful Ones") and power balladry ("Purple Rain') are epic. Shaving down 1999's excess, Prince's transformation from cult to commercial is complete. And when he proclaims "baby I'm a star"---you definitely believe it.
 |
| Around The World In A Day (1985) |
Arriving (just!) nine months after Purple Rain, Prince explores spirituality ("The Ladder") and toys with 60's pop and Middle Eastern sounds ("Around The World In A Day" "Paisley Park"). There's proto-Pharrell ("Tambourine") and sacred airy balladry ("Condition of The Heart"). Sly episodic romp "Raspberry Beret'" follows-up "Little Red Corvette" but don't call it a retread.
"Baby I'm A Star" and "America The Beautiful" and "Livin' For The City" turn up in "America's" numbing narratives: Little Sister struggles to survive ("cant get over/she's almost dead/she may not be in the black/but she's happy she ain't in the red") and Jimmy Nothing faces civic pressure in school ('teacher---why won't Jimmy pledge allegiance?") and turns to drugs to numb the pain of hypocrisy.
"Pop Life" digs at old star-tripping friend Morris Day ("what you puttin' in your nose?/ is that where all your money goes?"). There's enough ingredients in Prince's musical stew to feed the multitudes but it's his cult followers who'll walk away full and satisfied. Bon appetite.
Seven albums in eight years hasn't slowed Prince's pace. This time his inclusions of grandeur include jazz, funk, and baroque-ish vibes on "Girls and Boys," "Life Can Be So Nice" and the Sgt Pepperish "Do You Lie." Switching things up he adds brooding production ("I Wonder U"), wry humor ("Anotherholeinyourhead") and steel pan drums that give the liquid "New Position" its pulse.
The homages are crystal clear: there's a bit of James Brown ("Kiss") and Sly's sing-song backgrounds ("I can make you h-a-p-p-y"). Sleek and taut--most of the songs barely creep past the three minute mark. Parade's brevity is more Shakespeare's soul of wit and confirms Prince's enduring mastery.
Sign O' The Times (1987)
The original Revolution is gone but Prince's new line-up are worthy substitutes---check "It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night." The title track kicks sharp social commentary with cinematic cliffhanger lyrics ("September my cousin tried reefer for the very first time/ now she's doing horse---its June") set to ominous rhythms. The Sheila Easton assisted "U Got The Look" is pure 80s ear candy. "Play In The Sunshine" and "I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man"(check the Time aside: "it can make you do the walk/but that's cool!") swaggers. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" macks with androgynous flair.
And these are just the singles.
On past albums, the hits balanced out Prince's free-wheeling creativity. This time, album cuts are the anchor. The pedestrian "Starfish and Coffee" and "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" (Joni Mitchell nod included) flaunt his storytelling chops and precise attention to lyrical detail. "Housequake" cops James Brown all the way down to his "Body Heat" horn riffs. Gliding between the funk of "Hot Thing" and "Strange Relationships," pious devotion (" The Cross") and seduction ('Slow Love" and "Adore"), SOT's ambitious musicality and brilliant song craft captures a genius at the peak of his powers.
Rather than rehash Sign O' The Times' ambitious flaunt or court Purple Rain's crossover, Lovesexy proclaims the arrival new power soul, the name for Prince's syncopated liquid funk anchored by Sheila E's drums. A last-minute sub for The Black Album, the record splits hairs---there's a sonic freshness pulling in elements of previous work earlier themes but make no mistake---it's never redundant.
A cloud of spirituality hovers over LoveSexy. Over "Eye Know's" stop-and-go rhythms, Prince hooks the crowd with a funk workout-turned-revival---casting out the devilish "spooky electric" vibe that deaded The Black Album's release. "Positivity" hypnotic flirt explores good and evil's duality. Capsized by solitude "Anna Steisia" ("we're just a play in your master plan/ now, my Lord I understand") lays Prince's inner-torment down by the riverside.
The conceptual scales of "Alphabet St's" mackish tongue-in-cheek voyeurism ("So if you don't mind/I'd like to----watch" and "I like to driver her---to Tennessee") are balanced by optimism ("put the right letters together to make a better day")."Grand Slam" cleverly flips crass ("grand slam/ thank you ma'am") into a sanctified love suite. Plush ballad The seductive and plush "When 2 R in Love" returns Prince to familiar sexy territory ("come bathe with me/let's drown each other in each other emotion')
Split evenly between old and new---LoveSexy links past and present. Sly Stone's fingerprints are everywhere---the clipped and coded songwriting. Sheila E, Bonnie Boyer and Cat Glover's circular vocal interplay plus the conversational wink that points fingers but is never too preachy. Turntable scratches and nimble rhymes is Prince's nod to rap's growing presence.
Though the music fills in the gaps---the big singles are MIA this time. But if Prince's new power is running on fumes---his last musical gasps of the decade is better than most.
Batman (1989)
Prince's movie soundtrack gig finds him sticking to the script and that's a good thing. Keeping with the films conceptual story line---most of Batman's songs are more straightforward this time out. When his metaphoric flights of fancy do show up ("you whispered something/it took my mind out like a G flat major with an e in the bass"), they're anchored by movie soundbytes sprinkled throughout.
Sinister emojis with smiling faces lurk behind "The Future's" jagged edge offering "ecstacy like its 7-up." Prince's response: "I'd rather drink 6 razor blades/six razor blades in a cup." Album opener "Vicki Waiting" cribs Grace Jones' 1982 Nipple To The Bottle and plays off tension between the film's main characters. Prince's dropped-in lyrics gives room for "Partyman's" funk to breathe.
"Trust"and "Scandalous" recaptures "Do Me Baby" "International Lover's" sexy voyuer and "1999's" escapist romp. Rivalling Stevie Wonder's own run of 70s classic albums, Batman closes out Prince's decade-defining creative tear that has yet to be rivaled since.
Comments
Post a Comment