Someone told me that this song was drum and bass before drum and bass came to be. Well the beat is pretty fast, so I guess that comparison would be befitting. See how innovative Prince was even then? I'm sure Roni Size or Squarepusher were listening then and figured that Prince was really onto something.

I have said this before...

Prince has influenced most all of "electronica", and especially through Detroit, when The Electrifying Mojo was spinning his stuff on the radio.

"Something in the Water Does Not Compute" was 1 of my favs on the '1999' album, and that drum programming is off the chain.

Although Drum & Bass has a particular history, resulting mostly from speeding up sampled drum breaks, there is no doubt that Prince's frenetic, uptempo drum programming has influenced more than we even know.

What bothers me, is that people R always quick 2 point out Prince's influences, but never discuss how he influenced several genres and artists.

Essentially, he morphed the organic and electronic, and really pushed the envelope with the electronic (no pun intended).

All I know is that the outtake piano version if the f*cking greatest thing he ever did.

calldapplwondery83 said:

S'great innit?

calldapplwondery83 said:

It´s not an outtake, he recorded it a year after 1999. It is a revamped version.

This is in my all time top five favorite songs list. I love this song.
Ever heard the 1983-84 long version ? He played it during a couple of rehearsals..it´s killer. VERY heavy guitar playing.

Well, then none of the unreleased songs, except for those which are different recordings of released songs are "outtakes". We usually refer to every song only available on bootlegs as "outtakes" though.

I always thought "Sexuality" had a definate drum-n-bass influence and was ahead of it's time musically.

"annie christian" (circa 1981) is another good early example of mixing the electronic & organic -- programmed drums & synths with Prince playing lead guitar
[Edited 12/24/06 7:58am]

calldapplwondery83 said:

I could listen to it all day. That would have been a HUGE single.

i have said this myself..along with annie christian and i would die 4 u.1999 was like the 1st all electronica/dance lp by a major artist that wasnt disco.in a way all the music that got played in clubs in 1999 kinda saw 1st light on the 1999 lp.

calldapplwondery83 said:

Co-sign.

I agree about everything on this thread 100%. And I especially agree that we never hear as much about who Prince has influenced.

1999 is one of the best albums ever. How many artists could make such a great album with so little. He does it so effortlessy. Also it's not like the sound is pretty, he is being very creative with the slightly clinical and technical equipment that he's using.

It's not like 1999 is a gentle piano album, or a bluesy guitar album. It is a electronica album because it uses mainly sythesised recording equipment. Yet is still manages to sound personal and quirky, soft and melodic.

Okay you either love it or hate it I suppose.

But for me 1999 is THE album that I feel I can hear in so many others music. From Nirvana to Lenny Kravitz to Shakira.

I always think any singer-songwriter worth their salt has listened to Prince. And they've probably thought "Damn I wish I could write something that good".

Prince was like the singer-songwriter of his generation. 1999 really showcased WHO he was. Each song on that album is good and different. There is an amazing range and the more you listen to it the more you realise how little in the way of "production" there is on it.

Instead there is a lot of creativity and poetry. Maybe it's not always pretty and perfect but it's witty and honest instead. He's like your thinking man's Michael Jackson.

Although Michael Jackson has written great music you don't always believe that he has lived the life that he is singing about. With Prince you do. You believe him when he sings "I get delirious.." Even though sometimes I cringe when I hear that song because it has such a silly hillbilly vibe to it. But it's a great song no less. Everyone can relate to it and at the end when the room is spinning around. It sounds like he's just had an orgasm.

His rant in Lady Cab Driver is the best. It's sooo politically incorrect but so truthful and funny.

But you know what was interesting, I was listening to The Kids From Fame CD (Which slightly predates 1999) and I thought "Ooo sound a bit like Prince..."

Maybe it's not electonica...just shitty recording equipment....

Very observant, and I would agree with you.

And for the younger fans, let's bring up a few other things:

Prince is the first artist to really make good use of drum-n-bass and other percussion patterns, as is evidenced not just in Something..., but also songs like Jack U Off (pre-dates the stop-start pattern of Something...).

He is the first artist to use what groups like Prodigy made a mainstay in the 90s - what I call "hyper-syncopation", in songs like 777-9311 (ya'll know by now he wrote that), and Dance On.

He is the first person to make use of a rapped verse with a sung hook, as is noted in Irresistable Bitch, which came out in 1983.)

He coined the term "Mack Daddy" in a song years before Kris Kross ever did (Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic was written in 1988, but not released til '99.)

If I sat down to think about it, I could probably cite many more examples of this. But the major point is that he was the one who did it first (and still does, in some sense - who else out there in music today will write a song that has a "squeaky" guitar sound, as you will find in the title track to 3121, or the second guitar solo from the Rave Un2 the Year 2000 performance of Lenny Kravitz' Fly Away.)

Folks like Pharell and Timbaland, as good as they are with their craft, wouldn't even HAVE a career without Prince coming along beforehand and pioneering it.

My point: All the young dogs need to RECOGNIZE! 'Nuf said?

pepper7 said:

You make some good points here. And I might add that the 1999 sound uses so little ON PURPOSE. He is a minimalist at heart, and unfortunately today's market does not understand what that means, save producers like Pharell and Timbaland.)

MrHappyRave4 said:

Yup that was my point. I don't think Prince wants that production to get in the way of the music.

Although I should imagine that at the time he was just "making his music".

I don't get the feeling that he thought too much about it. He didn't set out to write minimalist music,music he just created the music that was right at the time.

That's why 1999 is so unpretentious and heartfelt. He wasn't writing to create a specific sound he was just creating music with the instruments he had a round him or that he could get his hands on. For example the drum machine, the guitar, even his own voice he treats as an instrument.

I even think Prince would have made music with two blocks of wood if that was all he had had.

It's funny because today people talk about Prince as being such a brilliant musician but really he was more brilliant for breaking all the rules and making new ones up as he went along!!

His music was all about expression and creativity, not playing all the right notes in the right order.

On his Lovesexy Tour he shouts out "Everyone in here can do something..."

I think back then he just seemed to have a natural flow about him. It was more about having a good time and bashing away at your intruments!

I liked that!

I don't know if it's classic drum-n-bass, but I DO know that it's the best song ever recorded. All versions of it are sheer perfection and showcase just how diverse and universal the song is.

cool thread.