http://www.twincities.com/ci_6316511?source=most_emailed
Prince for the day7/7/07, a good day for Prince and a good day to be a
Prince fan - three shows, an album and a new perfume. So what better time to
ask seven local musicians to pick their favorite songs from the Purple One.
So many hits, so many choices.BY ROSS RAIHALA
Pioneer Press
TwinCities.com-Pioneer PressArticle Last Updated:07/07/2007 12:15:18 AM CDT
Singling out a sole favorite Prince track is tougher than it looks.
"I have my favorite Prince dance song, my favorite Prince party song, my
favorite Prince 'dirty' song, my favorite Prince ballad," says Josh Grier of
local buzz band Tapes 'n Tapes. "Based on the music and lyrics alone, I
couldn't choose."
Yet we asked Grier and six other local musicians to do just that, to compile
a total of seven much-loved Prince songs in honor of Prince's favorite
number, seven.
After all, the 49-year-old Minneapolis native chose today - 7/7/07 - to
launch a new album ("Planet Earth," due in stores July 24) and his 3121
perfume (add up those four numbers and see what you get) with three
high-profile homecoming gigs.
He'll play seven songs during a sold-out afternoon concert at the downtown
Minneapolis Macy's, move over to Target Center for a full evening
performance and then cross the street to First Avenue for an after-party
(where tickets are ... $31.21). That First Avenue gig, in particular, has
longtime fans salivating and waiting in line for tickets. Prince's 1984 film
"Purple Rain" was largely set in the downtown club, but he has not performed
live on its stage since 1987.
"I ended up just picking my favorite based on which song would make me freak
out the most if I saw Prince perform it live," said Grier, who has tickets
for the Target Center show. "And that would definitely be 'Purple Rain.' To
see Prince go nuts, screaming and then wailing through the guitar solo at
the end, would give me goosebumps. It might even make me shed a tear."
Here, then, are more of the Prince songs that get other local musicians
buzzing:
"Bambi" (1979): "Back in the early '80s, Prince would play First Avenue
frequently to kick off tours. Our lone supporter down there at the time,
Chrissie Dunlap, would call (late Soul Asylum bassist) Karl (Mueller) and
let him know the day of a surprise, unscheduled Prince show. Karl and I once
saw Prince open with 'Bambi.' His small Mesa Boogie amp was on a black
barstool center stage, but the microphone was not on, so (you couldn't hear)
the guitar in the heavily oversold room. The whole song, which is
essentially a six-minute guitar solo, was done without Prince's guitar in
the mix. I would be willing to bet that heads rolled after that. But it was
a very cool show, and the club was crawling with girls who looked like they
wanted to be in his video. Oh, the '80s."
- Daniel Murphy (Soul Asylum, Golden Smog)
"Tamborine" (1985): "It's from 'Around the World in a Day,' and that entire
record, along with 'Purple Rain,' was the soundtrack for my junior high.
'Tamborine' didn't make the hugest impression on me at the time - we just
giggled amongst ourselves as to the meaning of the song. However, hearing it
later, when I was 19 or so, I was totally blown away by the drumming. No
Linn drum machine here, just Prince himself playing an extremely nasty beat
on a drum set, presumably live, as the sole accompaniment to five or so
vocal tracks. Minimalism and bombast, balanced perfectly. I'm surprised I
haven't heard anybody sample that yet."
- Martin Dosh (Dosh, Fog, Andrew Bird)
"When Doves Cry" (1984): "You've got to remember I was just 'coming of age'
when Prince was starting to make records, so all these really amazing songs
- 'Head,' 'Sexuality,' '1999,' 'Little Red Corvette' and 'Purple Rain' -
were all new and just flowing out at the time. It was a great time to be
around buying records! But there was something about 'When Doves Cry' where
I realized this guy was off the hook and was a more real, and more nutty,
genius than I had imagined, even though I was always a huge fan. Here was a
top 40 artist putting out a single with no bass guitar on it. Brilliant. As
a songwriter, I was really moved by the power of that song, stated so
minimally."
- Chan Poling (the Suburbs, the New Standards)
"Let's Go Crazy" (1984): "Back when the album came out, I had gotten
together with a bunch of friends for a weekend at a cabin, and I had to run
into town for a few supplies. We had been kind of low-key, but when I walked
back in, 'Let's Go Crazy' was blasting on the stereo, and everybody had put
on these old vintage party hats and they were dancing and going crazy.
Somebody put a party hat on me, handed me a cocktail and I joined right in.
Turns out that while I was in town, they found a box full of party hats up
in the attic and plotted the whole thing. We had one hell of a time dancing
to Prince. Let's go crazy, indeed."
- Greg Norton (Husker Du, the Gang Font)
"Lady Cab Driver" (1982): "There's a lot to choose from, but 'Lady Cab
Driver' comes to mind for a couple of reasons. I loved the drumbeat and the
fills when I heard it and then gained a lot of respect for him when I
learned he was the actual drummer. I don't know how much is drum machine and
how much is him playing the kit, but it doesn't matter. The song is a great
representation of the essential Prince in that it's really raw, really funky
and really sexed out."
- Tim O'Reagan (the Jayhawks)
"Sometimes It Snows in April" (1986): "It's perhaps Prince's saddest, most
bittersweet song. As the closing song on the underrated 'Parade' - the
soundtrack to Prince's movie 'Under the Cherry Moon' - it's an ode to
Prince's character, Christopher Tracy, and he couldn't sound more lonely.
The piano and the ambience of this song gives me chills. It is a meditation
on love, friendship and loss. I think it's impossible to listen to it
without getting a tear in my eye or a lump in my throat. It's also
impossible not to hear it in my head when that last batch of late-winter
flakes clear the way for spring sun in the City of Lakes."
- Danny Sigelman (the Legendary Jim Ruiz Group, DJ for the Current)
What's your favorite Prince song? Share it online at Pop Music Critic Ross
Raihala's blog, "The Ross Who Knew Too Much," atblogs.twincities.com/ross.
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