Prince's pop life, song by song, in chronological order.
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The Glamorous Life
Prince had tried before with his protégées, most notably Vanity, to Pygmalion a female version of himself; but while a few of these femme-Princes (Princesses?) could emulate him as a sex symbol, none before Sheila had the stage presence or musicianship.
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Baby
Prince’s silky falsetto vocals and baroque musical accompaniment sound straight out of the Philadelphia-based “smooth soul” playbook–with the obvious caveat that, while Philly soul employed teams of session musicians, vocalists, producers, and arrangers, the vast majority of “Baby” was recorded by Prince himself.
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Roundup: Ephemera, 1975-1976
Hi, everyone! In an effort to break up the flow of this blog a bit, I’d like to insert the occasional “Roundup” post whenever we come to the close of a particular phase of Prince’s musical career. So, now that we’re officially finished with 1976 ephemera and moving into For You territory, here are the songs so…
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Leaving for New York
The delicate, ever-shifting melody and impressionistic lyrics–including, it’s been noted, the first recorded use of Prince’s favored words “purple,” “rain,” and “dawn”–are the strongest indications to date of Joni Mitchell’s influence on his songwriting.