April 26, 2016 Playlist

Prince Rogers Nelson
1958-2016

CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK Prince "Sign 'O' The Times"  1987 (USA) Sadly, we have to pay tribute to yet another fallen rock star this week. The golden age of "Rock" music peaked around the late 1960's and early 1970's, yet its roots go back to the 40's and 50's and extend well into the 80's and 90's. Prince began his recording career around the dawn of punk, disco and new wave, though he never really fit into any of the popular trends of his own era. His string of classic albums beginning with Dirty Mind (1980) are full of catchy pop melodies, elaborate productions full of hi-tech synth sounds, grooving funk, and scorching guitar. It is easy to hear echoes of  many earlier greats synthesized in his music: in particular Hendrix, Sly, James Brown, The Beatles, Kraftwerk and even Joni Mitchell. It only just occurred to me this week that before I was listening to any of those artists, I was listening to Prince. I was fortunate to be a kid from the Twin Cities just starting to explore the wonderful new world of Top 40 FM radio when his songs took over the airwaves. Even after my more mature youthful tastes turned to punk, rap and metal, I was still faithfully buying every new Prince album as they were released. Among his most universally acclaimed albums was this week's CAOTW from 1987: a double album of 16 songs in diverse styles, which was accompanied by a concert film of the same name.

(N) = New Release