tricky2 said:

Wow, I knew Wendy & Lisa still stayed in touch with Prince a few years after 1986

Never read this one before. Never saw the pic either

review by

http://www.twelvebar.com/...g-for.html



I make no apologies whatsoever for returning repeatedly throughout the pages of A Story To Tell to the purple genius that is Prince Rogers Nelson. After all, a man with a reputed virtual lifetime’s worth of songs, hidden album projects, videos and god knows what else in his vaults Is surely worthy of our attention every now and then. And that is the thing with Prince, his output is so prodigious that there is just so much to say about him.

And I don’t even count myself to be particularly knowledgeable, certainly when compared to the reams and reams of information that can be unearthed on fan sites across the world wide web. Seriously, the amount that has been written on forgotten bootlegs, rumoured side-projects, lost albums is itself a sight to behold. I came across one the other day which is all about a rumoured song that can only be found in the vaults of the US Library of Congress, a song written but rejected in 1988 for Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” album, entitled “By Alien Means”. Almost worth a trip to DC for. I say almost, but trust me there are plenty of fans who would have made that crazy pilgrimage, and more power to them I say. That is truly dedication. But I wanted to talk briefly here about a song which is one of those that is fully released and available, indeed featuring on 1988’s incredible “Lovesexy” album, but rarely heralded or commented upon.

To me however it epitomises much of what there is to love about Prince, through it’s obvious musical accomplishment, but also the innovation that lies behind it and seeps out of the speakers on each listen. The song in question is the skittering funk of “Dance On”, a tune that continues the social commentary of “Sign O The Times” in terms of its subject matter, but which does so to a syncopation of stunning complexity. For some this jars as an aural experience, the amalgam of a frenetic drum pattern interspersed with some rock guitar licks and a driving bass (indeed the running bass throb sounds remarkably like the source for Q-Tip’s solo stormer “Breathe and Stop” but I am unsure if this is truly the case).

Whatever the case, for me this song does something that perhaps even the master of 80s funk didn’t set out to achieve. Because “Dance On” is a song that packs so much funk per ounce into its tiny body, that it almost transcends the music that it is rooted in. If funk is the groove that gets into your soul and shakes your booty in a primeval sex-swamp, then “Dance On” is a record that is so damn funky it goes over the precipice and takes the funk a step further in evolution, into a place where the usual rules don’t apply. It is a dance record with so much groove you can’t actually dance to it. Now that, my friends, is the true source.

An over the top appraisal you may feel, but it is a point worth making in urging a repeat listen to this tune, and indeed the whole of the “Lovesexy” set, an album which commercially marked a slight downturn for Prince, but which is a stunning collection for all sorts of reasons, some of which we have mentioned, and some we will doubtless return to. For now though, if you can catch the groove, just dance on, dance on*

OldFriends4Sale said:

Dance On? really? if I had to pick one song in Prince's 80's canon to be stricken from the record, this one is pretty high on the list. it's definitely the one I'm most likely to skip over (or dread its impending arrival) when I listen to that album.

errant said:

I actually like it

I love the drumming and the bass, the guitar riffs, splashed with some organ
I've always liked it

GET OFF ME PUNK U AIN'T SEXY

OldFriends4Sale said:

I like the music track fine. And I don't if it's that I dislike the lyrics or vocal or if it's that I don't think they're a good marriage with this particular track.

errant said:

Somewhere in your 2nd sentence I lost your intent. Read like you left something out

Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam

For now, the question remains: what do the suits say?

NelsonR said:

That he thought he was gay, at least during 1988...

worst-suits-of-his-entire-career...

OldFriends4Sale said:

I really enjoyed this thread...actually found myself wanting to read more.
These pics also say so much...now that i think about it, a whole discussion
could be started about the relationship between Prince's music, and they type
of clothes he sported. For now, the question remains: what do the suits say?

is this lovesexy?

That he thought he was gay, at least during 1988...


worst-suits-of-his-entire-career...

In the video, there are two hidden messages. The first appears after the end of the first verse ("She'll want me from my head to my feet"), there is a split second image with the hidden message "Don't buy The Black Album, I'm sorry." The second one is after Prince drives the Thunderbird; the message says "H is 4 Punks". The video features Prince wearing trousers with his name on them, and wearing multicolored eyeshadow.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Didn't Prince use this look 4 a Griffiti Bridge movie performance?