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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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.’”
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Bite the Beat
Prince’s main contribution was the lyrics: Vanity 6’s most sexually aggressive this side of “Nasty Girl.”
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Wet Dream (Wet Dream Cousin)
Vanity was chosen to lead the group for her firecracker personality, bedroom eyes, and ability to fill out a lace camisole, not for her powerhouse pipes. The trouble is that Prince wasn’t always good at selecting material that played to her strengths.