Prince's pop life, song by song, in chronological order.
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The Belle of St. Mark
While “Glamorous” sounded tailor-made for Sheila’s particular talents (even if it wasn’t), “Belle” is well-crafted but faceless, embodying the essentialist cynicism of the publishing imprint Prince used for his female side projects: “Girlsongs.”
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3 x 2 = 6
Just as he’d done for his own Controversy, Prince put the finishing touches on the Vanity 6 album at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles. The last song he recorded for the album, on April 5, 1982, was also the last song on the track list: a gauzy synthpop ballad arithmetically titled “3 x 2 =…
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Let’s Pretend We’re Married
Against the mechanized backdrop of “Let’s Pretend We’re Married,” Prince delivers a vocal performance that is pure flesh, utilizing every gasp, pant, slurp, and scream in his ever-expanding repertoire.
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If a Girl Answers (Don’t Hang Up)
“If a Girl Answers” brings to mind the sense of queer kinship, recalled by author Hilton Als, among “the colored queens I had known growing up, who called Prince ‘Miss.’”