- 011999PrinceThis was an issue, especially, after the release of 1999 in October 1982 (it was the same month that John DeLorean was indicted for drug trafficking— Back to the Future callback, though the movie came out in 1985, which happens to be the year I’m writing about—double callback!).from the chapter
- 02Purple RainPrinceThe album after that was Purple Rain , and at that point even my parents couldn’t deny him.from the chapter
- 03Around the World in a DayPrince and the RevolutionHe reappeared two weeks later with his next album, Around the World in a Day .from the chapter
- 04“1999”PrinceMost of the time, Prince’s albums were preceded by singles.from the chapter
- 05“Rosario (1999)”PrinceMost of the time, Prince’s albums were preceded by singles.from the chapter
- 06“When Doves Cry”Prince and the Revolution“When Doves Cry” was released in May 1984, about a month before Purple Rain .from the chapter
- 07“Raspberry Beret”Prince and the RevolutionThe first single, “Raspberry Beret,” wouldn’t come out until May.from the chapter
- 08“Within You Without You”the BeatlesIt was there in the title track, which had finger cymbals and an Eastern feel that echoed the Indian music that George Harrison had brought into the Beatles (“Within You Without You” must have been one of the songs I had heard).from the chapter
- 09“Paisley Park”Prince and the RevolutionIt was there in “Paisley Park,” an idealized portrait of a magical locale (“love is the color this place imparts”).from the chapter
- 10Magical Mystery Tourthe BeatlesPrince wasn’t simply sampling Magical Mystery Tour .from the chapter
- 11“Freeze-Frame”J. Geils BandGeils Band’s “Freeze-Frame.” If Prince was competitive with the people around him, he was equally competitive with artists down through history.from the chapter
- 12“Kiss”Prince and the RevolutionAnd he thought the situation was asymmetrical: he could master the music that other artists had created, but they could never do “Kiss.”from the chapter
- 13“Condition of the Heart”Prince and the RevolutionThese days, when I think about the album, my mind pushes through those initial scene-setters to the third song, the moody and masterful ballad “Condition of the Heart,” which reaches much further back—it has a silent-movie feel that predicts his next film, Under the Cherry Moon …from the chapter
- 14On the RiseS.O.S. BandBand, and how an album like On the Rise opened with the slow-burning “Tell Me If You Still Care.” I have a real curiosity about, and admiration for, any artist that dares open up a record with a song like that.) The rest of Around the World in a Day isn’t in debt to the Beatles or anyone else.from the chapter
- 15“Tell Me If You Still Care”S.O.S. BandBand, and how an album like On the Rise opened with the slow-burning “Tell Me If You Still Care.” I have a real curiosity about, and admiration for, any artist that dares open up a record with a song like that.) The rest of Around the World in a Day isn’t in debt to the Beatles or anyone else.from the chapter
- 16“Pop Life”Prince and the Revolution“Pop Life” bounces along so genially that you might not notice that it’s taking on materialism, dropouts, and drugs.from the chapter
- 17“America”Prince and the Revolution“America” starts, stops, and then tears through a critical portrait of the country in the ’80s, guitar blazing.from the chapter
- 18“Temptation”Prince and the RevolutionAnd the last two songs, “Temptation” and “The Ladder,” set up the tension between sex and spirit that would obsess Prince for the remainder of the decade.from the chapter
- 19“The Ladder”Prince and the RevolutionAnd the last two songs, “Temptation” and “The Ladder,” set up the tension between sex and spirit that would obsess Prince for the remainder of the decade.from the chapter
- 20ControversyPrinceThe older Prince, later, would become more that way, but he was there all along, in “Controversy” (from Controversy ), “Free,” (from 1999), and the generally knowing tameness of Purple Rain (“Darling Nikki” be damned).from the chapter
- 21“Darling Nikki”PrinceThe older Prince, later, would become more that way, but he was there all along, in “Controversy” (from Controversy ), “Free,” (from 1999), and the generally knowing tameness of Purple Rain (“Darling Nikki” be damned).from the chapter
- 22“Oh Sheila”Ready for the WorldTake a record like “Oh Sheila,” by Ready for the World, a Flint, Michigan, band that sounded so much like the earlier Prince that many people assumed it was him, and the people who knew it wasn’t him dismissed it outright.from the chapter
- 23“Jungle Love”the TimeIn the early ’80s, Prince had created the Time to shore up the Black side of his audience.from the chapter
- 24EmancipationPrinceOn Emancipation , the triple album he recorded after breaking free of Warner Bros., he covered a pair of soul anthems, “La La Means I Love You,” originally recorded by the Delfonics in 1968, and “Betcha by Golly Wow,” recorded by the Stylistics in 1971.from the chapter
- 25“La La Means I Love You”PrinceI don’t like my Prince with so much sheen.) He wrote a love letter to the music of others on “Musicology” in 2001, which name-checked everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to James Brown to Sly Stone.from the chapter
- 26“Betcha By Golly Wow”PrinceI don’t like my Prince with so much sheen.) He wrote a love letter to the music of others on “Musicology” in 2001, which name-checked everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to James Brown to Sly Stone.from the chapter
- 27“Musicology”PrinceI don’t like my Prince with so much sheen.) He wrote a love letter to the music of others on “Musicology” in 2001, which name-checked everyone from Earth, Wind & Fire to James Brown to Sly Stone.from the chapter