Save for the Time's first 2 albums and Sheila's first, I can't say I've heard a single Prince side album that deserves an A grade. Sure, there are great songs scattered throughout, but overall, I can't say he's got the best taste in proteges.

Jill Jones: A few songs are OK, but her singing gets off key when she stretches and there's definitely a lot of filler.
Vanity 6: Cute stuff, a B+, but nothing that has much staying power.
The Family: Too Prince-y, just makes you wish you could hear Prince singing all of these songs.
Carmen Electra: No words can express the horror.
Sheena Easton: Such a melodramtic singer.
The NPG: Some good tracks, but a lot of silly ones, and bad rapping.
Madhouse: Prince is instrumental jazz-funk mode is fun for a listen or two, but lacks the depth of feeling that really makes jazz stick.

Help me out here, folks...what am I missing?

Sheena Easton was never a protege... she had 6 albums released before she met prince.

i think jill's album is my favorite associated artist release. on one level, it's a great album of recycled prince demos and repurposed purple rain outtakes, and you can hear him all over the record (i've often called her album one of my all-time favorite prince albums ), and on another level, i think her voice (while not perfect) has lots of personality and strength, and was a perfect match for the strong prince material she was given. i love every song on this album.

i like the family too, but i will admit it's an easy album to burn out on.

sheila's first three albums are great. each one has its share of dud tracks, but each has its share of great music as well.

the time and madhouse - both are classic to me, though i don't listen to either as much as i'd like.

Many of the albums you mentions are classics in most fan eyes, I think it has a lot to do with "being there" when was released.

Jill Jones was way ahead of its time, but probalby sounds dated now.

Looking back, I would recommend,

Sheila E - Romance 1600
Sheila E - Sheila E
The Family - The Family
The Time - The Time
The Time - What time is it?
Jessee Johnson - Shockadelica
Jesse Johnson - Love Struck
Mavis Staples - Time Waits For No One
Wendy and Lisa - Fruit at hte bottom
Wendy and Lisa - Eroica
Morris Day - Day dreaming

.
[Edited 11/28/07 17:48pm]

Vanity 6 is an overwhelmingly campy, mildly pornographic trash album that is LOADS of fun

Anxiety said:

Does "My Man" not make your ears bleed? I mean, reallllly?

masterpro said:

Ok, point taken. But I still feel like her voice is like Lee press-on nail on a chalkboard.

SquirrelMeat said:

Ya know, I definitely need to hear some W&L stuff. Did he actually write/produce for their albums?

MendesCity said:

i like that song. i mean, realllly.

All albums by The Time.
The Vanity 6 and Apollonia 6 album.
Sheila E.'s first album "The Glamorous Life".
All of Jesse Johnson's albums.
All of Andre Cymone's albums.
Mazarati's album.

vainandy said:

WHAT VAINANDY SAID PLUS MADHOUSE 8 AND MADHOUSE 16 AND I GOT A SOFT SPOT 4 THE JILL JONES AS WELL!!!!

I'D HAVE TO SAY THE TWO BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS AS FAR AS SOLO CAREERES OUT OF ALL THE PROTEGE'S WOULD BE VANITY & MORRIS DAY.....LET'S START WITH MR. DAY:

"COLOR OF SUCCESS" WAS COOL BUT "DAYDREAMING" SUCKED!!!!! THE TWO BEST SONGS, "FISHNET" AND "LOVE IS A GAME" WERE CONTRIBUTED BY JAM & LEWIS. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON "GUARANTEED"!!!!! NEW JACK BULLSH*T AT ITS FINEST. AND WHO THE F**K STOLE HIS PERM?????

AS FAR AS MS. MATTHEWS (THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS "VANITY"):

"MECHANICAL EMOTION" IS THE PINNACLE OF HER SOLO CAREER. A CLOSE SECOND IS THE SONG JESSE DID 4 HER ON THE "ACTION JACKSON" SDTK!!!!!

MendesCity said:

No, all their stuff is their own. The question is did they write/produce his albums ..... j/k j/k

The Mazarati album is a must-have if you like Minneapolis funk I like it even more than Prince's 'Parade' which came out around the same time.I also like it more than the Family's album.

GoActive said:

In many ways,this album was ahead of it's time.The music is very edgy and experimental throughout.

woogiebear said:

I agree with you about Morris Day's 'Daydreaming'.That's a sucky album "Love Is A Game" is the only great song on it.I was never really a big fan of Morris' solo albums.He used too many damn synthesizers!! Layers and layers of synthesizers,probably to mask the fact that the songs themselves really aren't that tuneful or memorable.'Color Of Success' suffers from synthesizer overkill,as does 'Daydreaming'.As a result,most of the songs on these albums all sound alike.

MendesCity said:

I think "My Man" is a good song,probably the only song that should have been a single.It's a vibrant,catchy pop song without all the screaming and out-of-control yelling that she does on some of the other tracks

SoulAlive said:

That's one I'm going to have to track down. Parade's my favorite, so if shares any of that sound, I should be happy.

MendesCity said:

No,no,no! It doesn't sound anything like 'Parade' That's why I like it so much.It's real Minneapolis funk without the orchestras and violins and stuff.

MendesCity said:

YUP!!!! MAZARATI'S 1986 LP IS A MUST HAVE!!!!! NOT A WEAK SONG ON IT!!!!!

MendesCity said:

hell to the no he didnt.

All of Wendy & Lisa's albums are exceptional. They are musical masters of production, song-writing and instrumentation. All four of their solo albums are different, interesting and critically acclaimed. Your money would be well spent on any and all of their CD's. I would also recommend Chaka Khan's COME 2 MY HOUSE.

1. WENDY & LISA (1987) styles: Jazz flavored psychedelic dance-pop
2. FRUIT AT THE BOTTOM (1989) styles: Country-funk, funky pop, pop/rock.
3. EROICA (1990) styles: Alternative pop (more guitar driven)
4. GIRL BROS. (1998) styles: Alternative pop/rock.

SoulAlive said:

I concur! The funkiness of "Nasty Girl" and "If A Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up), the proto-punk sounding "Drive Me Wild", the electronic new-wave eeriness of "Make-Up", the go-go sounding, anti girl-group "He's So Dull", the bubbly electro-pop sound of "Wet Dream", the meeting of new-wave and surf rock in "Bite The Beat." "3x2=6" is whatever you want to make it out to be

This album truly is the precursor of what's today known as Electroclash!

MendesCity said:

Yes it most certainly does. She's singing like she's retarded. Totaly all over the place and makes absolutley no sense whatso ever.

Jasmine

The Time
Vanity 6
What Time Is It? (The Time)
The Glamorous Life (Sheila E)
The Family
Jill Jones
Madhouse 8 & 16
Exodus (NPG)
Come 2 My House (Chaka Khan)


honestly, the rest of them, you'll probably just want to download to see if they're for you before you waste the time, energy and money hunting them down.

those are the cream of the crop, though.

I think Romance 1600 was way ahead of its time. Plus, I like to combine it, The Family, and Parade all together to make a superalbum that encompasses the stripped-down funk that Prince was creating at that time.

And Sheila's third album is my favorite associated album ever, but I admit that I could be in a definite minority on that. And really, if you didn't get it 20 years ago, I'm not sure it would grow on you now.

vainandy said:

Minus Pandemonium

try mavis staples time waits 4 no 1 cd has some good solid songs on it like come home,train,time waits 4 no 1 and crazy

All associated artists albumz r worth owning.