PRELUDE by Chris Williams
Nevermind, Christopher, and Christopher Tracy for numerous artists, such as the Time, Sheila E., Vanity 6, and Apollonia 6, among many others. By 1986, Prince had become an international phenomenon due to his prolific output of high-quality artistry. In an effort to continue experimenting with his sound, he decided to switch gears and follow the same blueprint as Purple Rain , by using his next album as the soundtrack for his next movie, Under the Cherry Moon . Parade became his fourth consecutive multiplatinum-selling album. As it turned out, this would be the last album he utilized his trademark band, the Revolution, which signaled a new direction for him in the coming years. A year later, he recorded his magnum opus, Sign “O” the Times . Initially, the material for the album spawned from three different album concepts: Camille , Crystal Ball , and Dream Factory . Prince pushed his record label to release a triple album, but they forced him to relent and downsize to release his second double album. As a result, it became another overwhelming smash and placed him in another league of his own. For the remainder of the decade, he released two more albums: 1988’s Lovesexy , his least successful album since 1999 —yet still going gold within the year—and a soundtrack for Tim Burton’s 1989 smash film Batman . Within the same time span, he constructed another band called the New Power Generation. At the beginning of the 1990s, Prince was starting to feel the impact of hip-hop and knew that the marketplace was trending in the genre’s favor. In 1990, he returned to the blueprint he’d previously laid out with Purple Rain , by releasing his Graffiti Bridge album to accompany another film with the same title. The following year, he released Diamonds and Pearls . This album saw Prince experimenting with hip-hop by featuring an MC named Tony M., and showcasing his backing band the New Power Generation. It became another commercial breakthrough for Prince. In an effort to delve deeper into Prince’s classic catalog, I’ve spoken to producer/engineer Chris Moon, manager Owen Husney, producer/engineer David “David Z” Rivkin, producer/engineer Susan Rogers, bassist/guitarist/producer Levi Seacer Jr., and engineer Michael Koppelman about their involvement in the construction of four albums: 1978’s For You , 1986’s Parade , 1987’s Sign “O” the Times , and 1991’s Diamonds and Pearls . These albums encompass three different decades in Prince’s iconic career, including his early days as a recording artist. Other Wax Poetics writers help fill in some of the gaps by taking a look at the albums Lovesexy (1988), The Gold Experience (1995), and Prince protégé and singer Jill Jones’s 1987 solo record on Paisley Park. We also speak to friend and early collaborator André Cymone and the other members of his seminal group, the Revolution—keyboardist Matt “Doctor” Fink, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, bassist Brown Mark, and drummer Bobby Z.—who, in some form, participated in the classic albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), 1999 (1982), Purple Rain (1984), Around the World in a Day (1985), and Parade . Our story of the Almighty Purple One begins on the North Side of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Prince Rogers Nelson is regarded as one of the most inventive musicians in the history of music. For the past four decades, he draped the world in his trademark purple sheen through his ubiquitous, charismatic influence, which elevated the sound of American popular music. With thirty-nine solo albums and a host of unreleased material to his credit, as well as numerous producing contributions to the discography of legendary artists, Prince left an indelible mark on the ears and hearts he touched through his unparalleled musicianship. Simply put, he belongs on the Mount Rushmore of musicians. While growing up in rural Virginia, my earliest memory of hearing Prince was watching Batman at a local movie theater in 1989. I was eight years old. Two years later, when I finally had access to cable, I saw him on BET in his video for “Diamonds and Pearls.” At the time, my musical palate consisted of New Jack Swing, Michael Jackson, and gospel music. This song captured my attention due to its beautiful arrangement and Rosie Gaines’s powerhouse vocals. Truth be told, it took me until my late teens to dig into his vast catalog. Once I did more digging, I became a proud member of the Purple Army. By the time Prince was seven years old, he had written his first song entitled “Funk Machine,” a precursor of things to come. As he continued his musical journey, he honed his prodigious gifts of mastering multiple instruments, songwriting, composing, producing, and arranging. During his teenage years, he would participate in various local groups, such as 94 East and Grand Central (who later changed their name to Champagne). While working with Champagne in 1976, Prince met Chris Moon, the person who would enhance his skill set and introduce him to his future manager, Owen Husney. After meeting Moon and Husney, Prince’s music career was about to take full flight. Under their tutelage, he landed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records. Dubbed as the next Stevie Wonder by the brass at the record label, Prince was just starting to get his feet wet, but he was in total command of his craft by his late teenage years. When he arrived on the scene in 1978 with his debut offering, For You , he was on the verge of becoming a wunderkind. Shortly thereafter, his wunderkind status was cemented with the releasing of his 1979 self-titled sophomore effort. As the new decade beckoned, he raised his creative bar and pushed the proverbial envelope, by showcasing more sexual and political themes, intertwined with a cosmic fusion of musical genres, ranging from rock and roll to funk. During this juncture, he incorporated his backup band, and after a couple lineup substitutions, he eventually named them the Revolution. With Prince serving as the ethereal conductor, he turned the music world on top of its head and proceeded to dominate the first half of the 1980s, with a string of eclectic, influential albums: Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), 1999 (1982), Purple Rain (1984), and Around the World in a Day (1985). The only musician who maintained a similar rigorous, torrid pace of recording and producing his own material and for other artists was Stevie Wonder from 1971 to 1976. While spearheading the creation of the aforementioned albums, not to mention starring in the film Purple Rain , Prince managed to find time to produce songs under the aliases Jamie Starr, the Starr Company, Joey Coco, Alexander
( opposite ) Photo by Jurgen Reisch, courtesy of Warner Bros. As seen on 1979’s Prince . ( previous spread ) Photography by Joe Giannetti, courtesy of Warner Bros. As seen on the inner sleeve of 1978’s For You .
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