Prince is FIFTY YEARS OLD today!!!!! How did that happen?! The man still looks amazing, has a body I'd die for, and is still as energetic as ever -- those splits and spins are danced to perfection. I left the O2 concert in London last summer jealous that I still can't move as good as him -- no matter how hard I try.
So this is my ode to Prince. Thank you for getting me through my dark teen years. My older sister was a little fast arse, and my mum not wanting a repeat in behavior, had me on lock down. NO BOYS for the little Tallowah Girl. I may not have been doing it, but I sure was listening to it. Prince had me like it was "1999," because all we needed was "DMSR (Dance, Music, Sex, and Romance)," - in my bedroom, and by myself. I honestly thought by the year 1999, we'd have cars hovering in flight to travel.
Prince's most seminal work (by my opinion) was the Around the World in a Day album, packed with gems like "Condition of the Heart," "The Ladder," "Pop Life," and the hit, "Raspberry Beret." I wore out this album, walking around with it in my clunky Sony Walkman. I actually did a dance assignment to the title song, and my classmates uncomfortably looked at each other and then back to me, in confusion as to what they were listening to - or maybe it was how I interpreted the song through dance. I didn't care, I was dancing "Around the World in a Day." Parade was so funky, I couldn't stand it - "New Position," "Girls & Boys," "Anotherloverholenyourhead," "Sometimes it Snows in April," were just brilliant compositions. But the Purple Prince Classic is the untimely Sign O' the Times. Even if you don't like Prince's music, Sign O The Times is a body of work which still blows my mind and is undeniably genius. When Sign 'O the Times: The Movie came out, I remember the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road being jam packed. You couldn't tell me I did not attend a live show of Prince that night! People were dancing down the theatre isles, clapping and singing to "Housequake," "You Got the Look," swaying to "Forever in My Life" and "If I Was Your Girlfriend," and watching Cat match Prince's moves with such electrifying sexiness, she made you sweat just looking at her. He never found dancers like Cat again (we had to stomach those boring, "flash my hair like I'm in a hair commercial" Diamonds & Pearls girls and Mayte). Where the hell is Cat?!
It's okay if his music has waned since yesteryear, as no other artist, from the start of their career in 1978, has given over 15 consecutive years of solid music. No singular artist has ever done that.
Here's a list of my favourite albums:
For You (1978)
Prince (1980)
Dirty Mind (1981)
Controversy (1982)
1999 (1983)
Purple Rain (1984)
Around the World in a Day (1985)
Parade (1986)
Sign O the Times (1987)
Lovesexy (1988)
Batman (1989)
The Black Album (Bootlegged in 1990)
Diamonds and Pearls (1991)
New Power Generation (1992)
B-Sides between 1983 and 1990
After 1992, his music did not contain the musical and lyrical creativity I'd grown to love ("International Lover" on 1999; "Positivity" on Lovesexy; "Adore" on Sign O the Times to name a few). I still continued to buy his music, but no longer with the fervor of rushing to my local Our Price, HMV or Virgin record stores on release day. Every artist has their day and we were lucky to get over 15 serious years of music from Prince (including all the side projects with fellow musical friends), Sheila E., The Time, Vanity 6, Jill Jones, Wendy & Lisa, and The Family.
So Happy Birthday, Prince! May you continue to give us shows of musical genius. I can see myself as that old lady playing Prince while my grandchildren look on and laugh, and me, not giving two monkey hoots what they think. God only knows what crap they'd be listening to as this crunked up foolishness the youth are listening to only makes me want to perform vicious acts of violence.
BTW - If you didn't know, Prince will be publishing a book in the fall with Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster. It will be about his twenty-one shows last summer at the O2.
