Zane Lowe's masterpieces - where a documentary on a classic album is followed by a broadcast of the album in it's entirety without interruption - finished last week.
After the final album for 2009 (Daft Punk's Discovery) Zane Lowe said:

"We are going to do it again next year...already conversations have been had tonight about what next year's masterpieces could be and there's one thing that's already sprung up, it's a curve ball but who's to say we're going to follow through, watch this space..."

and then played Sign Of The Times.

What d'you reckon? If they managed to get Daft Punk to do an interview could they get Prince? Would P even allow a full broadcast of SOTT? Man, it'd be awsome if it happened....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/zanelowe/

i love this series, i was listening to the Metallica feature and was thinking when will SOTT be featured. Then I laughed to myself, P letting an album be played on radio uniterrupted without being paid big $?, forget it!!!. Personally I think 1999 should be featured!.

funkyhead said:

I can't see it myself - all of those albums they played have strong interest to particular groups...I don't think SOTT could interest a whole category of people, just Prince fans

i don't know i think maybe would be interested, after all it was his most popular era in the uk. even on some commercial stations they still play U Got The Look, SOTT and If I Was Your Girlfriend.

I listened to this last year, with RATM and Prodigy being 2 of the bands featured, and I sent an email to Zane Lowe that pretty much said:

"Great choices, but no Purple Rain or Sign O' The Times?"

signed it Purple Hippy, Glasgow

I'd love to see any Prince album featured on this.

bigd74 said:

very true. Parade & SOTT were critically ADORED. P was the darling of all the music papers and mags. when u read thru' the concert, album and single reviews from the time, even NME and Melody Maker were using 'Genius' and 'God like' when describing and reviewing P's stuff. in '86 & '87 P was top album and single in most end of year reviews...

i seem 2 remembr a few years back that Zane said P.RAIN was one of, if not THE fav of his albums from the '80's.

alxndrstff said:

Purple Rain is more likely as a 'Masterpiece'

bigd74 said:

yeah man, i was playing poker with some friends and 'sign of the times' came on radio 1 or something.

i was like 'turn the damn radio up!!!!'

djfine said:

Zane has had many email's from Prince fans in the UK to play his music...I think he's just understanding who Prince is ...after MJ passed away ...alot of people (media) are taking a real hard look at 80's icons/talent and Prince is one of the act's that stand out ...

LondonStyle said:

He's always been quite a Pribce guybfrom what I can tell...it's just what they play needs to go down well with a wide audience...I'm not sure Joe Public woukd really give a monkeys about anything other than Famious Prince...and that's Purple Rain

purpledoveuk said:

You're right... I would say... more "popular"

He's definately a fan, I remeber listening to his show about a year ago and he was playing somgs for certain occasions/memories i.e to fill a dance floor, listen on headphones etc. One of the categories was 'school days anthem' and he played Sign Of The Times and dared anyone to top it. He went on to say how the Sign Of The Times album had blown his mind when it came out in his early teens.

I think the main stumbing block may be the length of the album, I think most albums featured don't run much longer than 45 mins.

Would Prince really be able to block it being played in full? Does he really have that kind of control over his WB records? Obviously he wouldn't agree to an interview but I could see Eric Leeds, Sheila E, Susan Rogers maybe offering up some comments.

I Love "Sign 'o' the Times." The album is busy with talent. I Love, "Starfish&Coffee." I used that on my anwering machine (ringtone) beneathe my message..right after the drumbeat before the vocals my machine would beep...it was perfect timing.

funkyhead said:

I don't think he could stop them. That's what royalties are for.

alxndrstff said:

RATM, Prodigy, Daft Punk Masterpieces, really?

"Sign O' the Times" it's in another level.