Lest anyone suspects I was exaggerating when I said I’m feeling inspired about the blog again, I’m currently just under 1,900 words into my post on “Baby I’m a Star,” which is on track to be the longest single post in the history of D / M / S / R. In the meantime, I’m also trying to wrap up the “bonus tracks” from our last chapter on the 1999 era. Here’s a peek at “Vagina”–which was not supposed to be a nudge-nudge, wink-wink joke, but what the hell, I’m leaving it:
Before last year’s Super Deluxe Edition of 1999, “Vagina” was known only by its title and its reputation–both of which were among the most tantalizing, and titillating, of any songs in the Vault. Few outside of Prince’s inner circle at the time of recording had heard it–and those who had, most notably former engineer David Z, described it as “obscene.”
It would have been impossible for any song to live up to such a reputation; “Vagina” certainly doesn’t, though it does stand as one of the highlights of 1999 Super Deluxe’s previously-unreleased Vault tracks. Recorded at his Kiowa Trail home studio in November 1981, the song finds Prince in stripped-down punk-rock mode–just him and his Hohner “Madcat” Telecaster; even the “percussion,” such as it is, is simulated with his mouth. As biographer Alex Hahn observed in a Facebook post soon after the passing of musician Andy Gill, Prince’s guitar work here “very much evokes” Gill’s playing with the English post-punk group Gang of Four–particularly when he “bangs the strings of his guitar in a percussive manner at the very outset of the song.” It’s a strikingly different sound from the rest of the music Prince was making ahead of his fifth album, which even in late 1981 was tending more toward synthesizers and drum machines than guitars–see, for example, the early versions of “Feel U Up” and “Irresistible Bitch” recorded in the same month.
If you want to read the rest, consider joining my Patreon at any level, which is where this and other “bonus tracks” will reside for the foreseeable future. And if you want to get a vote on which of the three remaining 1999-era tracks I tackle next–“Money Don’t Grow on Trees,” “Colleen,” or “You’re All I Want“–I just started a poll for patrons at the $5 level and above. I’m trying to avoid making promises I can’t keep, but based on my recent productivity, I feel pretty certain that the next post will be ready in less than the six months it took me to write this one. Thanks–and see you soon!
