Remembering Prince by listening to Prince
Iâve been pretty sad the last few months from thinking about the loss of David Bowie, and now Prince has passed. The two artists who influenced me most are now gone; I finally feel older. This is crushing, and there are no words to express how devastated I feel.
Iâm from the second wave of Prince fans. I read a review of the album 1999 late in 1982 before winter break in college, was mesmerized, and rushed to the mall to grab this thing. I donât think I put it down for weeks. I quickly bought up all his earlier albums and wondered how I had missed them all. Being a fan of Bowie, I latched on to Princeâs androgyny and overall strangeness. Bowie had left a gap between 1980 & 1983, so Prince was perfect for me. He was my secret; I was always looking for something new, funky, different, strange, & electronic. Then he hit big in â84 with Purple Rain and the third wave of fans (the largest) joined. I remember seeing the movie with my high school friends over summer break. Total joy! I just kept buying his albums and loving them. I had all his LP vinyl from â78 to â87 as well as a number of 12"s from â81 to â89. I gave my Prince vinyl to my sister in the 90s. I confess I lost a little interest sometime after the sublime & gorgeous Sign âOâ The Times, but I never stopped paying attention. He is the reason I became interested in Chicago House Music in the mid to late 1980s, and Detroit Techno & New Jersey Garage in the 1990s. Thank you, Prince, for inspiring me to never stop my search for new underground music.
There will never be another Prince.
Instead of trying to find out more about him through interviews, books, and gossip, why not learn more about him through his music. There is incredible variety and depth throughout his recorded work. There is beauty in all of it.
I choose to remember him and honor him by simply listening to all his studio albums (Three Notes: 1. Yes, I now have all the studio albums in either CD form or digital files; 2. Iâm not listening to or commenting on the gigantic catalog of Prince's unreleased tracks at this moment (I have much of this material, but it is far too great and delicate an adventure to delve into these beautiful treasures right now; in time, I will make an attempt); 3. Yes, I know all his live shows are being posted daily on Youtube, but thatâs a radically different and separate monumental topic to discuss). Iâm not ranking the albums, and Iâm only putting in 1 or 2 comments. I did not listen to the 39 studio albums in chronological order (I just listened to whatever I felt like). Here are the albums* in the order I listened on the days listed:
*all albums by âPrinceâ unless noted - when he was known by an unpronounceable symbol, I use: O(+>
1999 (1982) - My favorite album ever. I was always amazed how the beginning of the track â1999Ⲡhas Jill Jones & Lisa Coleman singing the first line, then Dez Dickerson singing the second line, followed by Prince on the third line. This is the same pattern Stevie Wonder uses on âYou Are The Sunshine Of My Lifeâ with Jim Gilstrap 1st, Gloria Barley 2nd, and Stevie coming in 3rd! Killer! Prince just schooled everyone right at the start of the LP!
Diamonds And Pearls (1991) by Prince & The New Power Generation
O(+> (or: Love Symbol) (1992) by Prince And The New Power Generation
The Black Album (1987 cancelled, 1994 official release)
Crystal Ball (1998) by O(+> (finished listening April 27th)
Parade (1986) by Prince And The Revolution
The Gold Experience (1995) by O(+>
Emancipation (1996) by O(+> (finished on April 28th)
The Rainbow Children (2001)
Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic (1999) by O(+>
The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
The Slaughterhouse (2004)
The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale (1999) (finished on May 2nd)
Chaos And Disorder (1996) by O(+>
Plectrumelectrum (2014) by Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL
Batman (Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1989)
Purple Rain (1984) by Prince And The Revolution
Around The World In A Day (1985) by Prince And The Revolution
Sign âOâ The Times (1987) - My 2nd favorite album; perhaps his best work.
I hope everyone gets a chance to hear all this powerful music.
I will always love Prince (R.I.P.), and I will never stop listening.