purple rain Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Prince and the Revolution “I Would Die 4 U”

sfilzen — Wed, 27 Nov 2024 18:43:20 +0000

Prince and the Revolution “I Would Die 4 U” released 40 years ago (tomorrow), November 28th, 1984. 12″ extended version. The shorter 7″ version of “I Would Die 4 U” was the fourth single from Prince’s 1984 smash hit masterpiece Purple Rain; it went to #8 in the US and to #58 in the UK. I totally remember making up ridiculous dance/gymnastic routines to the song in junior high, complete with YMCA-style body letter forming and finger guns to the head. This 12″ has the much much longer extended version which “is actually a rehearsal jam on the song with The Revolution and musicians from Sheila E.’s band, Eddie M (on sax) and Miko Weaver (guitar), along with Sheila E. herself recorded some time before the Purple Rain Tour. The jam features some overdubbing and fades at the end; a longer version, nearly 31 minutes long, was never released officially, but has been bootlegged.” (wiki) I do not have that half-hour bootleg. Side B is the seasonal “Another Lonely Christmas,” a sexy and soulful song, reminiscent of the style of the single “Purple Rain.”

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The Time “Ice Cream Castle”

sfilzen — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 00:13:27 +0000

The Time “Ice Cream Castle” released on this date, July 2nd, 1984. Prince produced the album and wrote most of the tracks though a couple were collaborations by Prince and Time members Morris Day (vocals) and Jesse Johnson (guitar). Prince also probably played most of the instruments, except guitar, on the album. (This despite their contentious past: “A rivalry developed between The Time and Prince’s band during their 1982 Controversy Tour. Frustrated with their lack of input on the albums bearing their name and at being underpaid, The Time would take to the stage with the intent of showing up Prince. On the final night of the tour in Cincinnati, during The Time’s set, Prince and some of his band threw eggs at their supporting act from offstage. After The Time’s performance, guitarist Jesse Johnson was handcuffed to a wall-mounted coat rack. Prince demanded no interruptions during his performance, but as soon as he left the stage, a food fight erupted. When the battle continued at the hotel, Prince held Morris Day responsible and made him pay for all damages.”) The two hit singles from Ice Cream Castle, “Jungle Love” and “The Bird,” were both featured in Purple Rain, though by the time the movie came out, The Time had broken up (they regrouped in 1990). Ice Cream Castle made it to #24 on the US Billboard album chart and #3 on the Soul chart.

About a week ago I finally got to see a show at First Avenue in Minneapolis and the whole time I was picturing the videos for “Jungle Love” and “The Bird” which feature concert footage at First Avenue from Purple Rain. I wasn’t a huge Time fan in ‘84 but I really liked both songs, which hit #20 and #36 on the pop charts, respectively, in ‘84. The album’s title track, “Ice Cream Castles,” was also released as a single, and though it failed to crack the Top 100 it did hit #11 on the R&B chart. These three tracks are really the only great ones on the LP; Allmusic calls the remaining three songs (“My Drawers,” “Chili Sauce” and “If The Kid Can’t Make You Come”) “filler” and I totally agree.

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Prince and the Revolution “Purple Rain”

sfilzen — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 12:46:39 +0000

Prince and the Revolution “Purple Rain” 1984. 12″ single on purple vinyl. Today, June 7th, would have been Prince’s 60th birthday (b. 1958, d. 2016). “Purple Rain” is one of Prince’s most iconic singles, released from both the album Purple Rain and the soundtrack to the movie. The song hit #2 in 1984 and #8 in the UK, reentering the charts after his death in 2016 at #4 (US) and #6 (UK). It was the last song he ever performed live, at a concert in Atlanta on April 14th, 2016. The version on this 12″ is the original long version, clocking in at 8:45; the more radio-friendly edit (4:02) appeared on the 7″ single release. According to wiki, “’Purple Rain’ was originally written as a country song and intended to be a collaboration with Stevie Nicks. According to Nicks, she received a 10-minute instrumental version of the song from Prince with a request to write the lyrics, but felt overwhelmed. She said: ‘I listened to it and I just got scared. I called him back and said, ‘I can’t do it. I wish I could. It’s too much for me.’” The song is about judgement day – “When there’s blood in the sky – red and blue = purple… purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the purple rain.“ The b-side, “God” is also, obviously, highly religious with a lot of soaring vocal experimentation. The instrumental version was used in the movie Purple Rain.

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Prince “1999″

sfilzen — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 19:00:34 +0000

Prince “1999″ 1982. RIP Prince. His music shaped much of the soundtrack to my 80′s childhood, beginning with this record when I was 11 (his music was, um, mostly inappropriate for me before that time). MTV was just being introduced into our Midwestern market and I probably watched “1999″ and “Little Red Corvette” about a million times.

Then the summer of ‘84′s soundtrack was dominated by Duran Duran and Prince’s Purple Rain. I spent a significant amount of each summer at camp and that particular summer involved a canoe trip down the Menomonee River which borders Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. My friend Allyson and I were passionate Duranies and sang “The Reflex” over and over over. My other friend on the trip, Stephanie, was a rabid Prince fan (I liked him fine – just not as much as Simon LeBon – even making up gymnastic routines to “Let’s Go Crazy”) and countered us with an inexhaustible repetition of “When Doves Cry.”

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