"1999" PRINCE (1982)

A great title track is par for the course when it comes to great albums. If the title track doesn’t cut it, what does that say about the album itself? This month, the Mental Jukebox will be playing some of my favorite title tracks – inspired by @NicolaB_73’s music Twitter challenge, #TopTitleTracks.

Prince is one of those artists that’s more impressive to me in retrospect. Looking back, it’s simply mindblowing how much ground he covered musically. He ruled in so many different genres, from synth pop to funk to rock to R&B. And, in many cases, he was a pioneer, being the genius behind many music firsts. “1999” is one such song, pushing the lyrical boundaries of pop and paving the way for the Minneapolis sound.

This was a song that I heard and viewed constantly on MTV. The video simply didn’t give it justice because it only reinforced the fact the musicians indeed wanted to “party like it’s 1999”. But the impressive thing about this early hit was that it was a protest against nuclear proliferation. It was a politically charged piece, but people saw it as a party song. On the entire 1999 album, Prince played almost all of the instrumental tracks — and his synth work on the title track was especially impressive on two fronts. First, it sounded like nothing else out there. Second, it helped create a divergent synth pop path away from new wave and into a new genre that bared Prince’s hometown name: the Minneapolis sound.

“War is all around us. My mind says prepare to fight. So if I gotta die I'm gonna listen to my body tonight.”

"PAISLEY PARK" PRINCE (1985)

This month, I’m jumping into the #APlaceInTheSong challenge from @JukeboxJohnny2. Great songs have that special ability to describe places in a way that makes us feel like we’re right there. Each day, I’ll pick a track that I think accomplishes that feat.

One of my favorite Prince songs from one of my favorite albums of his. Around The World In A Day doesn’t get the same accolades as Purple Rain, 1999 and Sign ‘o the Times. But it’s an album that has a lot of nostalgic significance for me. 1985, in general, was a banner year for album releases. So, for me, Around The World In A Day, will always be associated with that rich era. Many of the songs on the album – even the singles – were daring and experimental. It’s the Prince way. Case in point: “Paisley Park”.

The song didn’t chart in the States, and I think it’s because the masses couldn’t appreciate what Prince did here. A true pioneer of rock-driven pop, Prince didn’t let the guitar drown out the rest of the noise, but he picked his spots with flourishes and jams where his axe can make its presence felt. Still, the most underrated aspect of “Paisley Park” might just be Prince’s lead vocals. Few singers can give that melody the dynamism it needs to avoid a monotonous output, but Prince pulled it off. To no surprise.

“Admission is easy, just say you believe And come to this place in your heart. Paisley Park is in your heart.”

"LITTLE RED CORVETTE" PRINCE (1982)

This month on Twitter, @sotachetan hosts #BrandedInSongs – which is a head-on collision of my personal world of music and my professional world of branding and advertising. The challenge is to simply pick a song with a brand name in its lyrics or title. I added one more criteria to my picks, which is this: the songs themselves must be as iconic as the brands they mention. No filler here.

I can still remember the first time I heard “Little Red Corvette”, which has the distinction of being the first Prince song I heard. I was watching MTV and the video came on. The video ended up playing incessantly on MTV. I thought Prince was a little cheesy. But I was also way too young to realize how innovative this legendary musician really was, smashing elements of rock, pop, soul and R&B together like no one else before him. “Little Red Corvette” is a shining example of this.

Much has been said about Prince’s guitar playing prowess, and the guitar work on “Little Red Corvette” is really, really good. It comes out in spurts, but when it rears its head, it dominates. The syncussion is very Prince-esque, but the most distinctive aspect of the song are the metaphoric lyrics. The brilliance of the song is that it has nothing to do with an actual Corvette. When Prince died in 2016, the song recharted. A true testament to the song’s place in music history.

“Little Red Corvette, Baby, you're much too fast.”

"WHEN DOVES CRY" PRINCE (1984)

After spending an entire month looking back at the 80’s, I realized one thing. I need more. Luckily, a couple of fellow music fans on Twitter came up with the brilliant idea to highlight #30DaysOf80sMovieSongs during the month of April. I couldn’t resist at the opportunity to keep going, to keep listening, and to keep celebrating the decade that has meant more to me than any other from a musical standpoint. Each day I’m playing a different soundtrack favorite on the Mental Jukebox.

Movie: Purple Rain

Is there a more quintessential soundtrack from the eighties than Purple Rain? I’m not so sure there is. Pretty In Pink and Footloose both deserve to be part of that conversation. But Purple Rain gets the nod because it covered so much musical ground. On it, Prince explored numerous tempos, genres, instrumentation and lyrical themes. “I Would Die 4 U”, “Purple Rain”, “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry”. They’re all classics. Each one with its own distinct personality. But “When Doves Cry” is the track that pushed musical boundaries the most. It’s the one track that packed the most punch, but never felt excessive at any given point. Prince may be considered one of the greatest pop artists of our time, but he did it by going against the mainstream, which is the essence of the song.

Play back “When Does Cry” and you’ll hear a myriad of genres. No one blended them better and so effortlessly than Prince. There’s the hard rock-infused guitar solo in the opening, the dance pop and funk blend fueling the rhythm from beginning to end, and even a classical music-inspired synth solo at the 5:00 mark. Structurally, “When Does Cry” also veered from the expected — becoming one of the few songs in pop history to be recorded without a single bass line. I love bass, but I really love what Prince did by stripping it out entirely from this recording.

“Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like when doves cry.”

"POP LIFE" PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION (1985)

It’s time to get back to my favorite decade. For the month of March, I’ll be looking back at some of my favorite jams from the 80s. These songs often came to me via MTV or the radio. NYC-area stations WDRE, WPLJ, WNEW, K-ROCK and Z100 introduced me to everything from irresistible pop confections to under-the-radar post-punk anthems. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the 80s. It was the decade when I discovered music can be a truly powerful thing. #31DaysOf80sSongs

I think one of the more fascinating song themes is the topic of dealing with fame. Various artists have dealt with it in their own ways. Keane’s “Everybody’s Changing”. Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”. Rush’s “Limelight”. And, of course, David Bowie’s “Fame”. These are songs written from experience and come from the heart. They’re not sugar-coated by any means. Maybe that’s why I find this particular song topic so fascinating. In 1985, Prince released his own take, which appeared on the Around The World In One Day album. The song is called “Pop Life”, a track that was recorded even before Purple Rain was finished. It happens to be one of my all-time favorite songs from the artist.

“Pop Life” was a bit of a departure for Prince. Prior to Around The World In A Day, he had made quite a name for himself with the melodies he wrote and the instrumental arrangements he crafted. But “Pop Life” wasn’t really known for either of those things. The song relied on its tell-all persona and its simple groove created by a few sparse, but well-placed elements. That opening synthesizer. The slap and pop bass. Wendy and Lisa’s nearly despondent backup vocals. And a couple of unforgettable samples, including one with a restless crowd where someone yells “Throw the bum out!”. “Pop Life” threw the curtain open and showed us Prince’s view into a world he was immersed in and surrounded by. An absolute treasure.

“Is the mailman jerking you 'round? Did he put your million dollar check in someone else's box?”

"SIGN 'O THE TIMES" PRINCE (1987)

Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.

For my last rock block pick for Prince, I thought it would be appropriate to choose the one Prince song that has grown on me more over time. This is the one that I was least drawn to growing up. It was the one Prince single that I was too dismissive of because it was way too simple, way too minimal, not melodic enough. But the thing about “Sign ‘o the Times” is it’s actually full of hooks. It just happens to be more psychedelic and more blues than pop.

Over the years, “Sign ‘o the Times” has become more and more intriguing to me because it shifts in and out of different worlds. It goes from spoken word verses to a beautifully sung chorus. It traverses across funk, blues, electronic and minimal like a thief in the night. And it covers a gamut of socio-political ills, from AIDS, to gang violence to natural and manmade disasters. While it was truly a sign of its own times, it has held up remarkably well and is as relevant as ever today — both musically and thematically.

“You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died.”

"AMERICA" PRINCE (1985)

Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.

With Prince running around on stage without his shirt or dressed in elaborate purple-colored wardrobe, it was often hard to take this artist seriously. But that would obviously be a huge mistake. Prince was a genius. Bested by no one else in music. Over the years, a very underrated aspect of his musical contributions were the depth of his lyrics, which often took a turn toward political commentary. The album Around the World in a Day seemed to cover a lot of ground, from teenage romance on “Raspberry Beret” to depression on “Pop Life”. But “America” is the one song on the album that has held up the best in my opinion.

Musically, “America” was quite unlike most of Prince’s catalog. It strung together a series of minor guitar chords and seemed to exist in a non-melodic universe. It wasn’t catchy or accessible, but it was mesmerizing. This was Prince’s personal critique and disillusionment with America, with topics ranging from nuclear war and communism to corporate greed and poverty. By releasing it as a single, Prince proved he was often more interested in making a statement than he was in making more money.

“America, America. God shed his grace on thee. America, America. Keep the children free.”

"LET'S GO CRAZY" PRINCE (1984)

Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.

Half of the Purple Rain album invaded the radio airwaves in 1984 as Prince explored varying tempos, genres, instrumentation and lyrical themes. The title track, “When Doves Cry”, “I Would Die 4 U” and “Let’s Go Crazy” all felt like they righfully belonged on the same soundtrack, but each had their own distinct personality. And for the latter, you can make the argument that there were multiple personalities at play.

Potent, intense and epic. These are a few of the words that come to mind when I look back at one of my favorite Prince anthems of all time. The song is structured in three key movements: an introduction that’s written like a eulogy, a middle that runs at full throttle and an ending that’s nearly apocalyptic. It’s as if those first few bars on organ seem to reel you into a cathedral. Next, the Linn LM-1 drum machine and the first of two Prince guitar solos knock the pews over. Lastly, one more guitar solo burns the whole thing down.

“Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.”

"1999" PRINCE (1982)

Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.

Prince is one of those artists that’s more impressive to me in retrospect. Looking back, it is simply mindblowing how much ground he covered musically. He ruled in so many different genres, from synth pop to funk to rock to R&B. And, in many cases, he was a pioneer, being the first to do many music firsts. “1999” is one such song, pushing the lyrical boundaries of pop and paving the way for the Minneapolis sound.

This was a song that I heard and viewed constantly on MTV. The video simply didn’t give it justice because it only reinforced the fact the musicians wanted to “party like it’s 1999”. But the impressive thing about this early hit was that it was a protest against nuclear proliferation. It was a politically charged piece, but people saw it as a party song. On the entire 1999 album, Prince played almost all of the instrumental tracks — and his synth work on the title track was especially impressive on two fronts. First, it sounded like nothing else out there. Second, it helped create a divergent synth pop path away from new wave and into a new genre that bared Prince’s hometown name: the Minneapolis sound.

“War is all around us. My mind says prepare to fight. So if I gotta die I'm gonna listen to my body tonight.”

"WHEN DOVES CRY" PRINCE (1984)

Exceptional soundtracks can make good movies great. They can also take on a life of their own, becoming a greater highlight than their respective films. In this series, I’m selecting some of my favorite soundtrack songs. While quite a few are well-known recordings, I’m also including a few that have flown under the radar over the years.

Purple Rain will go down as one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time. The title track is a song for the ages. But “When Doves Cry” is the track that pushed musical boundaries the most. It’s the one track that packed the most punch, but never felt excessive at any given point. Prince may be considered one of the greatest pop artists of our time, but he did it by going against the mainstream, which is the essence of the song.

Play back “When Does Cry” and you’ll hear a myriad of genres. No one blended them better and so effortlessly than Prince. There’s the hard rock-infused guitar solo in the opening, the dance pop and funk blend fueling the rhythm from beginning to end, and even a classical music-inspired synth solo at the 5:00 mark. Structurally, “When Does Cry” also veered from the expected — becoming one of the few songs in pop history to be recorded without a single bass line. I love bass, but I really love what Prince did with this recording.

“Why do we scream at each other? This is what it sounds like when doves cry.”

"I WOULD DIE 4 U" PRINCE (1984)

From one of the greatest albums of all time, the songs from Purple Rain are still underrated for what they accomplished musically. You wouldn’t view Purple Rain necessarily as an experimental album, but it was innovative in its amalgamation of rock and R&B, and of synthesizers and organic instrumentation. “I Would Die 4 U” was the last of a string of singles, going beyond the standard pop song fanfare with evocative spiritual themes and perfectionist production polish.

“I'll never beat you. I'll never lie. And if you're evil I'll forgive you by and by.”

"POP LIFE" PRINCE (1985)

I remember hearing “Pop Life” on New York’s airwaves back in the 80’s and thinking to myself, Purple Rain isn’t a fluke. This Prince dude was the real deal. An extraordinary songwriter and performer. “Pop Life” was a bit of a departure and a song chock full of ownable elements. That opening synthesizer, the slap and pop bass, Wendy and Lisa singing backup, and that seemingly random boxing match sound sample.

“What's the matter with your life. Is the poverty bringing you down? Is the mailman jerking you 'round? Did he put your million dollar check in someone else's box?”