Which era in the '80s do you feel P created the finest body of work?

1980 - 1983
Dirty Mind
Controversy
1999

1984 - 1986
Purple Rain
Around The World In A Day
Parade

1987 - 1988
Sign 'O' The Times
The Black Album
Lovesexy

This is such a muli-faceted question with countless possibilities to reflect on that there will never be a consensus, however, I hope the diversity in age, gender, experience and taste here will provide a stimulating forum to reflect on this question, and ultimately, take us back to this groundbreaking era in music and the man at the centre of creating the most enjoyable decade for many of us.

My personal opinion: it changes but right now 1980 - 1983 is totally doing it for me. I will expand on this later but I suspect it has something to do with my interest in the personal dynamics in his life before he made it; that fire in his belly and how it absolutely affected his relationships, attitude and the music. Did you know that P was engaged at 21? Private Joy must have been about her...

Same for me. Even though Purple Rain was hig biggest hit and Sign O The Times his most critically acclaimed, both those works came out og honing his skills in 80/83.

Let's not forget that this era was probably his biggest output; songs like Raspberry Beret, Strange Relationship and New Position were recorded for the first time, their actual releases re-worked later on to fit the overall sound of the new album.

'84-'86. Those 3 albums are very different sounding from each other. I think they showcase an artist at the height of his powers. 80-83 suffers in that 'Controversy' is arguably the weakest of the albums from this period and 'Lovesexy' wasn't exactly groundbreaking.

84-86
I was into him the most then.

ZombieKitten said:

You are that old?

HamsterHuey said:

That's an excellent point. I remember being really shocked when I realised what went down during those studio sessions between 1980 - 1983. Who wouldn't love to hear that version of Raspberry Beret?!

Anji said:

I love those early versions of Tick Tick Bang, Feel U Up, Wouldn't U Love 2 Love Me, If I Love U 2nite, Chocolate; all groovy.

The earliest version of If I Love You Tonight, showcased on The Rebels album, is just drenched in heartache.
"You just need a friend to help you make it through the rain..."

HamsterHuey said:

same age as you, so yeah

Anji said:

wow- i never knew that about RB- i love the org- i learn new things all the time

my fav period of the 80's were the 84-86- thats when i discovered Prince was a person, not just a name name in a band

in my defense, i was 14

prb said:

my friend Laura thought Led Zeppelin was a person

ZombieKitten said:

i always thought of Prince and the Revolution as a band name round LRC and 1999, never knew it was PRINCE and the Revolution til PR was released
THEN i knew

This answer cannot be set in stone, because of the emotional pleasure some songs in the later 80's give...However 80-83, would be my choice because each album strung me along through the years...I believe that Prince kept getting better.

I'd say 1980-83, especially if it include most of the stuff he wrote for 1999, the "Purple Music" stuff, and the songs that made it and didn't make it on Purple Rain.

Yeah, baby.

If I had to choose them the way you broke it down Anji, then 84-86

80-83

This is a tough one here. 1984-1986 is special to me because I became a fan at that time but my answer to this question is 1980-1983. He might have started in 1978 but this was the period where Prince found his groove and rode with it and as a result. it led to even greater work in the future. Plus the outtakes from that period just make me go just in how amazing and ahead of his time he was with the music. All you have to do is listen to Purple Music or the original versions of Tick Tick Bang or Feel U Up/Irresistable Bitch and not only will you'll understand this but you'll be going too.
[Edited 3/22/08 20:41pm]

I should say '84-'86 because that's when I became a huge fan,
but I really enjoyed SOTT and Lovesexy so much,
special grooves,more experiments in music...
more mature. so it's '86-'88 4 me.

Kinda difficult to answer because I'm havin' a hard time with 1999 being even in the same NEIGHBORHOOD with Dirty Mind and Controversy. I mean the sudden musical maturation Prince entered in the fall of 82' (from the scatter brain quagmire of Controversy to the musical resurgance of 1999) creates a new era in itself. With that being said, there should be an 82'-84' era set aside for 1999 & PR, which I would vote as number one. But out of respect for your era set up, I'd go with your 84'-86' era, giving MAD PROPS to the tail end of your 80'-83.'

thats a difficult one for sure! Love all the eras to be honest - my fav albums and songs are included all across this bunch. 1999 was the first time I "discovered" Prince when it hit the charts in 84 here in ireland. I havent looked back since!!

1987 - 1988
Sign 'O' The Times
The Black Album
Lovesexy

[/quote]

Without a doubt for me its this period. Prince had come of age, both as a writer and musician.

The Whole dark light, peach, black love it! This Period should really be 86-88, with the era before finishing after Prade.

But its the post parade Prince gave us us....

Dream Factory!
Crystal Ball!
The Camille Album!
Sheila E - Sheila E album!
Madhouse 8!
The Black Album!
Lovesexy!
Madhouse 16!
The SOTT and Lovesexy tours!

Its THE killer period. Nothing could touch him.

Anji said:

84-86 I love that era.

1980 - 1983 7 votes.
1984 - 1986 7 votes.
1987 - 1988 1 vote.

I am quite surprised there aren't more votes for the Sign-Black-Lovesexy era. Like SquirrelMeat rightfully points out, the wealth of material in this era including all the side-projects, not to mention the quality of the band and live concerts, showcased P in formiddable form. I love the spooky soulful feeling I get from P's performance of If I Was Your Girlfriend at the '87 New Year show with Miles D; quite possibly, my favourite live performance of any song, ever.

SquirrelMeat said:

How could you forget Jill Jones?!

gam19566 said:

Scatter brain quagmire of Controversy?

Controversy showcases three classic anthemic jams (the title track, Do Me Baby and Let's Work) and an inspiring musical mix of genres, not to mention the fact that the songs themselves were brilliantly segued from one to another (the Private Joy-Ronnie Talk To Russia-Let's Work-Annie Christain sequence is mindblowing)! It is a GREAT record to these ears, as is Dirty Mind.

SquirrelMeat said:

Without a doubt for me its this period. Prince had come of age, both as a writer and musician.

The Whole dark light, peach, black love it! This Period should really be 86-88, with the era before finishing after Prade.

But its the post parade Prince gave us us....

Dream Factory!
Crystal Ball!
The Camille Album!
Sheila E - Sheila E album!
Madhouse 8!
The Black Album!
Lovesexy!
Madhouse 16!
The SOTT and Lovesexy tours!

Its THE killer period. Nothing could touch him.[/quote]

agree, it should be 1986-'88, since that's when Prince recorded Sign "" the Times & started recording The Black Album. also vote 4 that period.

Anji said:[quote]1980 - 1983 7 votes.
1984 - 1986 7 votes.
1987 - 1988 1 vote.

I am quite surprised there aren't more votes for the Sign-Black-Lovesexy era.
My fault,I wanted 2 vote 4 '87-'88 but I said '86-'88
Maybe because I consider it as an era.

Anji said:

Very difficult choice because my favorite eras overlap

My collection starts with Dirty Mind because that's where he defined himself as an artist... and started showing how nasty his material typically is. He didn't call it "dirty mind" for nothing

I own all of these albums (in fact the only decade I have every piece of), though I haven't listened to Lovesexy yet, so I can't say much for it right now.

My favorite overall era started with 1999 and ended with SoTT... because it starts with that 80's sound I love so much and it matures into something uniquely Prince. SoTT is merely an album that few other artists' works can compete with because its a great body of work.

Though I am pretty torn between whether I liked the chances he went through from 1999 to Purple Rain more than that progression between Parade & SoTT. Separately, but surely, those two eras (1982-4 and 1985-7) are among my favorites of his entire career

This is tough because my favorites sorta overlap in that I would add Purple Rain to the 1980- 1983 era.

I have always liked to look at it in terms of Pre and Post Purple Rain. So I would say 84' on back is my favorite and the closest to that here is 80-83. The Ghettos of America were pumping Prince in those days and where I discovered him. Summers and parties hearing 'Private Joy', 'Head', 'Lady Cab Driver', and "International Lover' were times in Prince music that will never be discounted. Not to mention the Time Albums and subsequent work with Vanity 6. Prince was HUNGRY and it showed.

Those were my favorite times of Prince music. I know some of it may be personal nostalgia, however the music he was producing was fantastic. I now understand why he did Around the World In A Day, Parade, Sign O the Times, etc., but at the time, with each realease of an album, I was waiting to hear that "hunger" in the music that I enjoyed on and before Purple Rain and to that thing that first attracted me to him.