Andre’s Amazon Archive Special Presentation: ‘Lovesexy’ by Prince (1988)

It was during the era of Sign O the Times that Prince was by far at his most musically exploratory and vital. He had one of his greatest bands during this period-the “Revolution Part 2” as I personally tend to call them in drummer/percussionist Sheila E.,longtime keyboardist Matt “Doctor” Fink,the late vocalist/organ player Bonnie Boyer,bassist Leaver Seacer Jr. and on sax and trumpet Eric Leeds and Matt “Atlanta Bliss” Bliston along with vocalist/dancer Cat. They not only provided an exciting stage presence for Prince during this era,but also expanded his musical sound.

 On the other hand? Prince was inwardly troubled. He recorded an album following the tour for his previous album. It had no title or name attached to it. And when it finally came out eight years later? It had been widely known (and bootlegged) as The Black Album. Prince apparently dream’t one night of a field with a shadow spelling out the word ‘god” written on it. Somehow this motivated him to shelve the rather profanely lyric’ed funk of that for an entirely different musical concept.

By posing on the album cover tactfully naked in front of three Georgia O’Keefe styled lilies-in the manner of Botticelli’s The Birth Of Venus? Prince not early earned a degree of censor from record stores. But also the perception his notorious narcissism had transgressed to full fledged megalomania. As with most things involving Prince? The entire conceptual tract of this album was nothing remotely that simplistic.

“Eye No” starts out by declaring “rain is wet/sugar is sweet/clap your hands/and stomp your feet”. After Prince himself declares over a psychedelic chorus that his voice sounds so clear because “there’s no smack in his brain” this intensely percussive funk groove-built around a dancing high bass line and Atlanta Bliss’s joyous muted trumpet solos. After this,with an echoed “OWW!” Prince goes into “Alphabet Street”,one of my personal favorite songs of his and this albums main hit.

Starting with some of the greatest funky drum/rhythm guitar I ever heard,a bluesy bass line introduces one of the many breaks which define the song. On the third break? There’s a brief wall of rock guitar before returning to the funk until fade out. “Glam Slam” starts out with a lightly percussive Arabic type melody with a Latin rock style guitar solo before going into a more new wave rock style melody that isn’t at all far removed from Little Red Corvette. “Anna Stesia” is a pensive,piano based jazz/pop type number with some unexpected major/minor chord transitions.

“Dance On” has a wild,high octane funk drumming and again a wall of rock guitar and bass seeming to bubble from below,but never to the front of the song with it’s gospel/soul organ led vocal chorus. The title track itself is an instrumentally thick contemporary synth funk number-again like an updated 1999 while the tender “When 2 R In Love”,the only holdover from the unreleased (at the time) Black Album is really the only stripped down number here. “I Wish You Heaven” is a somewhat ethereal arena rocker type with a powerful chorus while the closer “Positivity” is a jazzy,cinematic psychedelic soul/funk number with a gospel-type chorus at the end.

Throughout this album? Prince is completely playing the preacher. “Lovesexy” would seem on the surface to be some sort of “sexuality being next to godliness” type philosophy. He never defines it here. Lyrically there are constant references such as “I know there is a heaven and I know there is a hell” and “Love Is God/God Is Love/Girls and boys love god above” that reflect Prince’s embrace of the soul singers conflict between the secular and the spiritual. So its nothing unique in that respect. However on a more personal level it does seem that Prince was unsure what to make of his own revelation.

Prince seems to imply lyrically,throughout this album,a complete embrace of cynical paranoia where he is frightened of too much money,frightened of loosing it and frightened of the forces of evil. And those forces he combines into a character he describes in the end of the album as being called Spooky Electric. Musically speaking? Prince plays out his spiritual crisis to music that is far more loose than anything he’s done so far. His typically tight arrangements are replaced by a thick band oriented sound that can change in rhythm and melody almost on a whim.

In a way? That type of instrumentation is ideal in expressing the lyrical confusion this album seems to have. For reasons of which there are many interpretations,Prince also presented all nine songs on this CD onto one track. So the listener cannot jump between the totally different songs. Its one of his very best albums musically and is filled with memorable,highly funkified and even pop friendly songs. On the other hand,the lyrical confusion and aforementioned song presentation make this one of his less approachable albums.

Originally posted on June 8th,2014

LINK TO ORIGINAL REVIEW HERE!

Anatomy of THE Groove: “Dance On” by Prince

Prince was facing some important musical milestones in 1988. It would be the decade anniversary of recording career at Warner Bros. And consequently this year would see the release of his tenth studio album entitled Lovesexy. The album would be most famous for it’s cover art. Intended to express the albums concept of spiritual conflicts between good and evil,it would up prompting many record stores of the day to censor the album. Since Prince saw it’s nine songs as a full length statement,most CD copies of it were created with all the selections on one 45 minute track-rather than separated as with most CD’s.

It was only with the advent of computer CD burning technology that  people were able to hear these as individual songs outside their original context. Taken in that way,this record has that far reaching funk/pop/jazz/rock fusion that defined Prince mid/late 80’s music. And many of it’s songs are very dense and full sounding instrumentally. There is one song on this that really stands out for me personally. And it has to do with the fact that it takes his live instrumental sound of the time with his earlier production approach. The name of this song is called “Dance On”.

Sheila E begins the song-shaking the percussion like a rattle snake after which Prince calls out “OW!! PICK IT UP!!!” before Cat calls back “there’s a bass guitar in this” as Sheila throws down one of her powerful Brazilian style jazz/funk drum/timbale beats that provides the rhythm for the entire song. The refrains of the song showcase rhythmic scratch samples and Prince thundering the bass like a runaway freight train. On the chorus of the song, Prince sings with Bonnie Boyer in his falsetto voice while she provides some gospel hued accents on her Hammond organ.

Musically this song comes at you with a tremendously powerful groove. It’s stripped down instrumentally. But Sheila E’s drums are mixed up super high. And the bass line brings out how much Prince’s style on the instrument is based on his guitar playing-with it’s thundering,hard rocking power. Prince brings the guitar in on the later refrains of the song-using the metallic,electric thump of it almost like a police siren. While the refrains express a frightened,foreboding chase scene the choruses express straight up gospel joy. And therefore captures the classic spirit of the soul/funk genre.

The rhythmic instrumental approach of the song is ideal for the lyrical content. Thematically,this song balances the socially conscious vibe of “Sign O The Times” with the determination for joy in a time of crisis to be found on “1999”.  What makes this song for me is that Prince integrates a strong musical observation. Throughout the song,he evokes how the gang violence and loss of hope he sings about was draining away an interest in musical creativity during the 1980’s-even declaring “a bass guitar in spider webs looking for the funk”. So musically and lyrically,this is a bold declaration for funk in it’s time.