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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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.