the associated artists

the eighties had

jill jones

sheila e

madhouse

vanity

the time

the family .....whom all released some utterly stunning albums

and the good ol nineties we had

tc ellis

mavis staples

george clinton

mayte

carmen electra ...amongst others..id say the only real "classic" for me was ingrid chavez coz mavis and georges cd just did not deliver the goods(tho there is some gorgeous songs on mavis staples 1st paisley park release)


id never really noticed how generally crap the 90s associated albums were compared to the good ol eighties!

True, Prince seems to have shot his creative nougat back in the Eighties. My favorite Paisley side dishes came from that wonderful era. Of course, we did receive the occasional gems on the albums you mentioned plus the Eric Leeds, Martika, and Candy Dulfer projects.

squirrelgrease said:

The eighties were good to me. I was in love with the Family album, Jill Jones' album and the song Hippy Blood - Ingrid Chavez. Sheila E. was of course my girl.


Miguel

Yeah, the 80s/90s related artists is a poor comparison!

But! It's not really a level playing field.

The formar release during the 80s was the LP, 45 mins of music, and Prince had much to prove, much to release, he was young, hungry and full of music.

The 90s, the CD held double that of a LP, so less overt need for music through other chanels, plus been there, done that, other avenues, and changing environment.

It's a changing landscape - not a level playing field - much more fun to look at it as a whole, from 1978 to 2004, then less disappointment.
!!

Prince was definately at his best in the 1980s, especially the early 1980s. Even his side projects were great such as The Time, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Sheila E., and Jill Jones. The Family album was decent but weak in comparison to these other acts.

The 1980s also had artists that were great on their own such as Andre Cymone (who in addition to his own work, produced The Girls, Evelyn "Champaign" King, and Jody Watley), Jesse Johnson (who in addition to his own work, produced Tamara and The Seen, DaKrash, and Janet Jackson), Brown Mark (who in addition to his own work, produced Mazarati and Lakeside), Morris Day, Vanity (decent), Sheena Easton, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (who produced The SOS Band, Change, Cheryl Lynn, Human League, Alexander O'Neal, Morris Day, and Janet Jackson).

Prince, in the 1990s, was much weaker. The artists he worked with in the 1990s were mostly artists that were already established on their own such as Mavis Staples, George Clinton, Tevin Campbell, Chaka Khan, and Larry Graham. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were still around producing Janet Jackson but also losing the Minneapolis Sound and selling out to a hip hop sound. Carmen Electra was THE WORST artist Prince has ever worked with.
[Edited 10/25/04 21:52pm]
[Edited 10/25/04 21:53pm]

The Chaka / Larry albums certainly were not what I'd associate with sheer "crap". Also, those Time & Vanity albums were mostly done by Prince himself, whilst the early 90s records were more of a mixed bag of various production techniques and just the occasional Prince contribution. And mind you, the 80s "related" releases were meant to broaden the scope and the contributing artists of "the Minneapolis sound" by inventing his own scene around him, the Paisley Park records were more or less a business effort.

Emphasize the word "effort". Did he really think Mavis Staples would sell that many records?