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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Soft and Wet
Like most great works of popular music, “Soft and Wet” came into being through a combination of sexual and chemical indulgence and cynical commercial calculus.
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Moonsound Instrumentals
The majority of Prince’s home recordings, while impressive, didn’t betray the ambition to be anything more grandiose than a singer-songwriter. But at Moonsound, he wanted to do it all.
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Nightingale
Perhaps the clearest early evidence of the “soft rock” influence on Prince’s songcraft.