Publication: Upscale [US]
Date: February 1990
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Title: "Prince"
Written By: Denise Cameron

There are many words that can be used to describe Prince: mysterious, brilliant, dark, versatile, private, genius. Known in his hometown of Minneapolis as "His Royal Badness,"Prince has intrigued critics and fans alike throughout his career.

Having already had four platinum albums, his first movie, "Purple Rain," and its accompanying soundtrack firmly established Prince as a household name. He manages to keep everyone guessing; the only thing predictable about The Purple One is that he will always surprise you.

Now 31, Prince has a list of accomplishments that would be remarkable if he was 95. At the age of 19, after refusing other contract offers, he signed a three record contract with Warner Brothers that would allow him complete control in the studio. The fact this is unheard of for a new artist, prior or since, tells us something about Prince -- he wanted, and achieved, success his own way. In the past twelve years, he has released eleven albums, nine of which have achieved platinum status, and three motion pictures. His every release bears the credit "produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince."

He stared his own recording label, Paisley Park records, in 1984. Two years ago, he opened a 65,000 square foot state-of-the-art multimedia production facility. Built from the ground up, Paisley Park, a high-tech complex housing his record company, PRN Productions, three recording studios and a 25,000 square foot sound stage [where a portion of Sign O' The Times was filmed], is the locus of Prince's creativity, business acumen and professional ambition. In the past year and a half, the the recording studios have been responsible for albums and songs by such top artist as Madonna, Jermaine Jackson, Paula Abdul, Jasmine Guy, The Pointer Sisters and Fine Young Cannibals. Projects ranging from full concert rehearsals for World Party to feature films to TV commercials for products such as "Huggies" diapers and "Comet" cleanser have passed through Paisley Park.

It would seem to us mere mortals that the man had to spread himself very thin indeed to accomplish this much, but that's not all. Possessed of seemingly inexhaustible amounts of energy, Prince frequently works straight through one day into the next, earning himself the dub of workaholic from friends and colleagues. When not concentrating on his own material, Prince devotes a good portion of his time to writing songs for and producing other artists, particularly those from his own label. Currently on the Paisley Park label are Jill Jones, Tony Lemans, George Clinton, Mavis Staples, The Time (minus Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis), M.C. Flash and Good Question. He can be heard singing with Madonna, Patti Labelle and Mavis Staples on songs that he also wrote for them. And this, folks, is not taking into account his hundreds of unreleased tracks, like the notorious and much bootlegged Black album that he scrapped at the eleventh hour.

For years, people have been trying to define the Prince sound, when in actuality Prince's music is so innovative and varied as to defy classification. With each new record comes a new "sound," especially among his more recent albums. His music ranges from gospel (i.e. "God" a B-Side singles and "The Cross" from Sign O' The Times) to funky rock and roll to ingenious love songs. Prince is know for combining spiritual and sexual themes in all of his music, causing many to wonder if he does or does not believe in God, and if he is straight or gay.

He raised these questions about himself outright in his song "Controversy": from the album of the same title. However, this only served to peak curiosity rather than slake it, since he did not bring us out of the dark (nor, probably, will he ever).

His mysterious image is no accident. Prince guards his privacy staunchly. He makes few public statements and rarely gives interviews, opting to let his music, movies and live performances do the talking. It's standard procedure for everyone who works for Prince to sign agreements that they will not talk about him to the press as long as they work for him. Prince insists on and maintains complete control over all of his projects; the look, the sound, everything. To be fair, the wisdom of remaining aloof and in control has to be acknowledged. The work that bears his name is exactly as he would have it, and gossip-mongers, though they will always be with us, need not be accommodated.

His latest musical effort is the "Batman" motion picture soundtrack released in June. It has been lauded by critics as his most accessible and commercial album since Purple Rain. Each of the Batman's nine songs was inspired by characters in the fill,, eight of which are presented in the various personae from the perspective of the Batman, Joker, Bruce Wayne and Vicky Vale characters. Batman's opening song, "The Future" is a dark, funky tune, followed by the Joker's opener, "Electric Chair." The third song "Arms Of Orion" is a duet with Sheena Easton (as Batman and Vicky Vale) that is as close as Prince has come to a "mushy" love song. The album seems to tell a story, climaxing with the ninth and final track "Batdance" performed by "Gemini," a half-Batman, half-Joker character that Prince introduces. Prince acts as Gemini in the "Batdance" video with a costume that is on the right side of the dark, winged hero and on the left side Batman's snickering, green-haired nemesis.

Critics are comparing Batman to Purple Rain, suggesting that his albums between were not up to expectations. This is not at all fair to Prince, whose incomparable artistic vision inspires material worthy of acclaim on each of his albums. Around The World In A Day (which held the number one spot on the album chart for three weeks), parade, and Sign O' The Times all went platinum. Lovesexy, while it climbed only to number 11 on the album charts, was the introduction of a concept, "Lovesexy," a joyous state of spiritual and physical harmony (in the opening of the second half of the Lovesexy concert, Prince asks the audience "Would you like to know this new joy I've found?)." Prince continued with his growth process, experimenting and branching out rather than coasting on the success of Purple Rain with tiresome retreads of the same material.

Plans for a special series of concerts by Prince were announced October 17 by Albert Magnoli, Prince's manager and the director of "Purple Rain." This unique international tour is a result of a long-time desire of Prince's to put together a live performance showcasing a select collection of both his and his fans' favorite material," said Magnoli. "While concert-goeers will certainly be among the first to hear Prince perform songs from the Batman soundtrack, this is a highly personal show in which Prince will present material spanning his career. It will be a quintessential, back-to-basics rock 'n' roll show."

Prince bandmembers include Patrice Rushin, Dr. (Matt) Fink, Levi Seacer, Candy Dulfer, Micheal Bland and miko Weaver. Opening acts for the Prince tour, which kicks off in Dublin on Friday, April 27 the, will be announced at a later date. Contenders for the slot include The Time, Mavis Staples, and Tony Lemans. His Batness will play a number of European cities, including Stockholm,, Copenhagen, Lyon, Strassboiurg and Vienna.

Prince's three films, "Purple Rain," "Under The Cherry Moon" and "Sign O' The Times" cemented his interest in the medium; hence, Paisley Park Fills. Paisley Park Films currently has four films in development which Prince will star in and write music for and Albert Magnoli will write and direct. he films are: "Graffiti Bridge," a street-oriented musical; "The Dawn," also a musical; "Dark of the Moon;" and "The Robert Johnson Story" (the story of blues recording sensation in the 40's who died at 21). The first film is slated for production in Fall, 1990. According Magnoli, "We will also be actively looking for material outside the two of us. We want to become an autonomous film company and do projects that are diversified and take in the entire gamut of entertainment." Magnoli also says that "In the next several months we will be announcing some larger developments at Paisley Park."

Critically acclaimed for riveting live performances and remarkably poignant compositions. Prince continues to be named one of the most important and intriguing artists in contemporary music. Though the Batman album firmly reestablishes his commercial viability in the eyes of the critics, his primary focus remains on his artistry; his primary motivation on growth and experimentation. Something tells us that where Prince is concerned, we haven't seen anything yet.