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In some ways it seems like he never left. But damn, it's
good to have Prince back. The new Musicology reminds us that the
Minneapolis one man band was always a funk oddball and pop craftsman
with his mind in the gutter and his head in heaven. Now he says his
summer tour is going to be the last time he plays his hits on stage.
What would our dream set list look like? Read on. |
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Click song title to listen to a clip. Click artist name for bio, news, CDs, and more. |
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Bambi |
Prince
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| One of Prince's earliest killer riffs is dedicated to this plea for a lesbian to change her ways and get horizontal with our hero. "Bambi, can't you understand," he sings as his guitar wails. "It's better with a man." |
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When You Were Mine |
Prince
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| Sounding like he'd been spinning the Cars debut nonstop, the pop prodigy makes heartbreak sound so darn happy. Who says breakups can't leave a sweet taste in your mouth? |
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Controversy |
Prince
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| The title track to his 1981 album found him waxing provocative. "Am I straight or gay?" he mocked, making his own headlines before anybody was really paying attention, and creating a pertinent club anthem in the process. |
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Little Red Corvette |
Prince
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| Prince's first Top Ten hit was a fresh spin on the time-honored equation between cars and sex. The lyric is a masterpiece of innuendo, and the Revolution treats the tune like the gem it is, sneaking up on it, then putting it into overdrive. |
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I Would Die 4 U |
Prince
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| Prince has never shirked from self-promotion, and here his ego runs rampant over a synthesized electro beat. The detached vocal casts him as a modern messiah, ready to climb on his cross for all us sinners on the dance-floor. |
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Kiss |
Prince
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| Arguably the sexiest number in the Purple canon. A kick drum provides the sensual beat, the acoustic guitar acts as sonic caress, and somewhere between male and female is Prince piping in his squeakiest falsetto, "I know how to undress me." |
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Mountains |
Prince
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| "Once upon a time in a land called Fantasy ..." He sketches a quasi-Biblical allegory of love triumphant, but packs it with a killer chorus and one of his nuttiest arrangements, sending the '80s wall of sound straight into the heavens. |
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Ballad of Dorothy Parker |
Prince
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| Atmosphere reigns supreme on this smoky Sign 'o' the Times cut, with a distinctly dirty drum machine throbbing as our hero tries to take a bubble bath with the tease of the song title. Don't worry Tipper, he keeps his pants on in the tub. |
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Cream |
Prince
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| Prince spent most of the time between Parade and Diamonds & Pearls paying praise to the groove, but decked out with a new band - the NPG - in 1991, he took a narcotic rock 'n' roll beat and got truly filthy with it. |
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My Name Is Prince |
Prince
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| The plot first went astray on 1992's infamous "symbol" album. But the housequaking opening track is whatsisname hitting full-tilt: sampling his own "I Wanna Be Your Lover," delivering orgasmic gasps, and yelping party chants in a tribute to his own madn |
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