anangellooksdown said:

It's my birthday too! What the heck is going on here?!!!!

It's my oldest son's birthday, too. Happy Birthday to all the November 4th purple people!

All The Critics Love U In New York is one of those classic Prince oddities. On the album, it rolls along hypnotically on the creaky-spring beat with the guitar constantly threatening to go right off the rails. His spoken vocal performance is superb, helped in no short measure by a stream of classic lines:

You could cut off all your hair, I don't think they'd care, in New York

Purple love-amour is all you're headed for, but don't show it

It's time for a new direction - It's time for jazz to die
Fourth day of November - We need a purple high

Don't give up, I'll still love you

Body don't want to quit, gotta get another hit

Fuck me over

What ya lookin' at, punk?

Look out all you hippies, you ain't as sharp as me

It ain't about the trippin', but the sexuality, turn it up

Yes, we're certain of it, he's definitely masturbating

Take a bath, hippies

It feels to me like I'm living in Prince's head when I'm listening to it. It's just genius.

I find the way he played around with it on stage to be fascinating. From its first feedback-filled outing at First Avenue in 1982 - "This is a new song. It probably won't be out for another year, or six," - to its final 42nd (by my reckoning) outing at Paisley Park in 2015 - "Prince, why are you so friendly? Why are you letting strangers into your house?" - it never failed to surprise and delight.

It seems fitting that it started at his 'home' in First Avenue with Prince and Dez stomping all over the beat with their guitars (I love how Dez nips off for a drink mid-song, returning to belt out a nasty solo), and ended at his home in Paisley Park where it had evolved into an intricate groove workout.

Starting in 2002 it became All The Critics Love U In England, Dublin, Denmark, Holland, Japan, (Las) Vegas, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Honolulu, Maui, L.A., Minneapolis, Montreux, Monaco, Paris, Belgium, and New Morning.

It was added onto Erotic City, Take Me With U and Purple Music. It incorporated Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, A Love Bizarre, You Can Make It If You Try, What Is Love, Stretchin' Out (In A Rubber Band), More Bounce To The Ounce, One Nation Under A Groove, and Partyman.

The song lost its guitar focus, getting turned inside out through a ska-inflected, jazz-fusion-electro-funk musical kaleidoscope. Some fine muscianship always seemed to conjure up something new, something unexpected, something magical.

It's absolutely one of my purple highs.