From: http://en.wikipedia.org/w...olis_sound

The Minneapolis sound is a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B & new wave that was masterminded by Prince in the late 1970s. Its popularity was given a boost throughout the 1980s, thanks to his disciples, including The Time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Morris Day, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Ta Mara & the Seen, Sheila E., Jesse Johnson, Mazarati, & The Family. Prince's third album Dirty Mind from 1980 also earns credit. Some artists who came from Minnesota were influenced by his work and some came from other parts of the U.S. or world, such as Scottish star Sheena Easton, Flint, Michigan's Ready for the World, Augusta, Georgia's Le Klass and both Los Angeles, California's Janet Jackson and Cherrelle. The music is also known as funk-rock.

[edit] Identifying Characteristics

While the "Minneapolis Sound" was a form of funk, it had some distinguishing characteristics:

* Synthesizers generally replaced horns, and were used more as accent than as fill or background.
* The rhythm was often faster and less syncopated than traditional funk, and owed much to New Wave pop music.
* Guitars, while usually (but not always) played "clean" for rhythm parts, were frequently much louder and more aggressively processed during solos than in most traditional funk.
* The "bottom" of the sound was less bass-heavy than traditional funk; drums and keyboards filled more of the "bottom".
* The drums were more highly processed than in traditional funk, and frequently electronic.

DMSR

Do It All Nite (not that it's my fav song or anything, cuz it ain't)



good definition by the way!
[Edited 2/7/07 15:23pm]

777-9311

u nailed it

DMSR

coolcat said:

Sugar Walls, Erotic City, Nasty Girl

Just listening to old P for the last hour or so, I think the song Controversy fits that description to a "T".

A Love Bizarre, Head, Automatic, possibly Uptown, Sex Shooter

That description of the minneapolis sound is great... I'd add one thing though... the Minneapolis sound often uses slap/pop bass...
[Edited 2/7/07 22:16pm]

prettymansson said:

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking

I'm gonna say 1999. Variations of that keyboard refrain seemed to be used by a lot of other Mpls. artists and pop stars in general in the 80s.

automatic

AUTOMATIC,DMSR,Erotic City,Irresistible bitch,Blue Limousine,1999,
777-9311,...

i said DMSR because its Fonky as hell..The Linn Drums are workin..The clap ..the Slap Bass..The Synth Brass lines..The chicken scratchin guitars..It has the whole formula ..777-9311 is another great example..as well as If a Girl Answers (dont hang up) off the vanity 6 album..Oh how i miss that sound..If P ever came out with a new record that went back to his oldschool days..Id be One Happy Man !!!

I would go with these
if trying to set an example:

"Sexy Dancer", "Head", "Let's Work", "Lady Cab Driver"
"If I Was Your Girlfriend"

Paisley4u said:

THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!!!

D.M.S.R immediately came to mind.

Let's Pretend We're Married.

XtraLovable

Waltervandenvogelwejde said:

That's what I was thinking! Exactly!

prettymansson said:

We have agreed on this before and I agree again with you. Bring back the Oldschool Minneapolis Sound, hehe! Who cares if it has been done before, it was an awesome concept and I would love a new Minneapolis Sound dirty funk album!

First that came to my mind was 'Let's Work'. Don't know why exactly, there are many, of course.

To me, DMSR sounds kind of different for Prince, so does Irristible Bitch, but Automatic, Nasty Girl, Sex Shooter, all have that similar sound.

As does Oh Sheila... whoops!

Nasty Girl

Controversy
Let's Pretend We're Married
1999
D.M.S.R

...pretty much most of the stuff on 1999 really.

Great question- I'm going with DMSR

One word: Automatic

Not only being the perfect example of The Minneapolis sound, but probably (sound-and productionwise) the most influential Prince-song EVER.

Listen to his production-work for The Family and Jill Jones. The synths might be (partially) replaced by real orchestral arrangements (thanks, Clare Fisher!), but that songs are a continuation of what he tried to achieve with Automatic.

Listen to the sound of producers like Jam / Lewis, Timbaland, Nerd, artists like Beck and the electrofunk movement of the last years, Automatic is their blueprint in the end.

I even think when over 200 or 300 years people are looking back to the music of the 20th century, Automatic would be considered of one the key tracks of that century, and used as the first example to illustrate Prince's influence.