The eighties were an interesting time for the man from Minneapolis known at various times as Prince, Prince Rogers Nelson, that ostentatious and ultimately annoying symbol, and eventually, back to just Prince. He started the decade with the brilliant troika of Dirty Mind, Controversy and the double LP 1999, which launched him to superstardom. Hot on the heels of 1999, the movie and album Purple Rain cemented his stature as a musical genius. He reveled in creating controversy and a baffling whirl of uncertainy about how much was his work, and who did what. Was he or wasn't he really Jamie Starr, engineer on Dirty Mind, producer of The Time and Vanity Six, derided by Prince himself on 1999's dancefloor classic D.M.S.R?
As Alexander Nevermind he wrote the delightfully risque Sugar Walls for Sheena Easton. There's no doubt the man is a bona fide musical genius, though he had the advantage of having excellent musicians to work with as well. Some of the projects which burst from the Prince scene were clearly Prince projects with guest vocals, (most notably Vanity Six), others such as the Time had first rate musicians behind the helm (in this case Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) who generally didn't last long in the world of his Royal Purpleness. Jam and Lewis went on to success producing R&B hits for S.O.S Band, Cherelle, and Alexander O'Neal, ousted from the Time early on to be replaced by Prince pal Morris Day. Other people ousted from the early Prince phalanx included the very talented Andre Cymone (out after Controversy), Dez Dickerson, even Vanity, (replaced by Patricia " Apollonia" Kotero for Purple Rain). Many just passed through, seemingly without controversy, to careers of their own. Two of my favorites, Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman (recording as Wendy & Lisa, their Revolution monikers), simply left on their own (after Parade), releasing a number of under appreciated albums yet working steadily and successfully through the nineties, later recording as the Girl Bros. They have also established themselves as composers in film and TV Dangerous Minds, Soul Food, and TV's Crossing Jordan, and the brilliant soundtrack to Heroes. An essential part of the chemistry that drove The Revolution, they have remained friend's with Prince, performing with him from time to time, reuniting with him on last year's Planet Earth, one of his best releases in ages.
It was around the time of Around the World in a Day and Parade that Prince founded Paisley Park Records. Serving as a launch point for protege's like Jill Jones, Ingrid Chavez and Mazerati, as well as established artists as diverse as Mavis Staples, George Clinton, the Three O'Clock, and Dale Bozzio (from Missing Persons) Paisley Park also released Carmen Electra's only cd to date (sample lyrics- "I'm like a spider in heat in this web of love you've spun", "Oh, Speak American, NO! Speak Carmenese" "You stepped left, so I left your butt", and of course "Funk is in my round buns, baby") proving that with nothing to work with, the Purple One does not have the Midas Touch.
One of the most overlooked, and sadly, difficult to find projects. was the second release from Paisley Park, The Family. Although apparently they only performed one concert, and the self-titled first release was all there is, it's a great album. It has a couple of uptempo funk songs (the spirited High Fashion, and Mutiny) Beautiful ballads(Nothing compares 2 U, and my favorite, the beautiful Desire) and New Wave influenced tracks like River Runs Dry and the single Screams of Passion). Nothing Compares 2 U was a smash for Sinead O'Connor but for the most part this album went nowhere. The Family was formed from the ashes of the Time, and suffered from poor promotion. The single got little airplay and the video got very little exposure, which is a shame, since it's one of the most cohesive things (in and of itself ) Paisley Park put out. Around the World in a Day and Parade had some great tracks (Raspberry Beret, Pop Life, Kiss) that kept him in the charts but was uneven as a whole, and ended the golden age of critical and commercial acclaim he'd been riding. The Family was well crafted, with a lush orchestral feel, and a noir-ish look that Prince would later explore in Under the Cherry Moon. Formed in the wake of The Time's disintegration,The Family featured Paul "St. Paul" Peterson (who joined the group as keyboardist for Purple Rain and the the accompanying Time release Ice Cream Castles) as lead singer, and adding Susannah Melvoin, (Wendy Melvoin's sister) as vocalist. Paul Peterson left the group to seek more creative freedom, and Prince simply absorbed the remaining members into the expanded Revolution. According to St. Paul's website, the Family is reuniting with most of it's original line-up,
