The loss of Prince has been a hard one for me to process today… feels a bit like Belushi felt… or Lennon… like a kick to the gut… he wasn’t friend or family, but the effect he had on me over the course of his unmatched career was profound… for my tastes, he was the most talented multi-instrumentalist in the history of recorded music… piano, drums or guitar…. virtuosity…
…and that’s before you even look at his acumen as a band leader… Prince took James Brown’s blueprint into another orbit… he worked with so many different bands in his career it’s astonishing, plus he was the one that tore ’em down and built ’em up again, always his call… the network of talented musicians he cultivated over the years was second to none… to examine his musical DNA and the number of artists that owe their careers to Prince coming first, or to his patronage and support, is long and distinguished…
The first time I ever heard Prince was at a high school party in ’81 when someone dropped Controversy on the platter… that was all it took… 39 studio albums, pre-1993 was pretty much flawless… after that, certainly some misfires, but worth it to find the gems… he was still going strong… recording, producing, self-dubbed Hit n’ Run Tours, philanthropy, volunteerism, he was prolific… I can’t think of any artist more so… which is what makes it such a loss that he was cut short at only 57.
As anyone who has seen you live would attest… you were the filthiest, funkiest musical bad ass there ever was… you could throw down with the best of ’em and you made music that when we first heard it, innately knew we had never heard anything like it before… your contribution to the canon was mighty mighty and will remain in constant rotation, as it has always been, to the end of my days…
Godspeed Prince Rogers Nelson.
My Prince Deep Tracks (a good place to start)
- I Wanna Be Your Lover (Prince – 1979)
- Head (Dirty Mind – 1980)
- Sexuality (Controversy – 1981)
- Lady Cab Driver (1999 – 1982)
- All The Critics Love U In New York (1999 – 1982)
- D.M.S.R. (1999 – 1982)
- Computer Blue (Purple Rain – 1984)
- The Beautiful Ones (Purple Rain – 1984)
- Shockadelica (B-Sides – 1984)
- Paisley Park (Around the World in a Day – 1985)
- Sometimes It Snows In April (Parade – 1986)
- The Ballad of Dorothy Parker (Sign ‘O’ The Times – 1987)
- It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night (Sign ‘O’ The Times – 1987)
- Dead On It (Black Album – 1987)
- Anna Stesia (Lovesexy – 1988)
- Positivity (Lovesexy – 1988)
- Dance On (Lovesexy – 1988)
- The Future (Batman – 1989)
- The Question of U (Graffiti Bridge – 1990)
- Joy in Repitition (Graffiti Bridge – 1990)
- Gett Off (Diamonds & Pearls – 1991)
- Live 4 Love (Diamonds & Pearls – 1991)
- The Sacrifice of Victor (The Symbol Album – 1992)
- She’s Always In My Hair (B-Sides – 1993)
- Hide The Bone (Crystal Ball – 1993)
- Pheromone (Come – 1994)
- Dolphin (The Gold Experience – 1995)
- Dig U Better Dead (Chaos and Disorder – 1996)
- Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance (Musicology – 2004)
- 3121 (3121 – 2006)
- Mr. Goodnight (Planet Earth – 2007)
- Wall of Berlin (MPLSoUND – 2009)
- FUNKNROLL (Art Official Age – 2014)
- Pretzel Body Logic (Plectrum Electrum – 2014)
