It's common knowledge for those who are into music that 1984, the greatest year in pop music was the year of Prince. However, I was wondering if there are any detailed articles that go in to explain why that is while also going into why 1984 was such a great year for music at large.

The reason I ask is for the sake of an art project I'm doing for my Graphic Studio 2 class. We have to make a magazine article using Adobe InDesign and I thought of an interesting concept for the article layout. The age of the article doesn't matter, it can be 3 days old to 3 decades old.

[Edited 10/19/15 5:42am]

1984 belonged to Prince & The Revolution...

and to George Orwell of course, writing 1984 back in 1948.

But in music Prince was unstoppable that year, 1984:

1 single (WDC) at #1
+ 1 album (PR) at #1
+ 1 movie (PR) at #1

Simultaneusly those 3 were at the top spot iirc,

Wow that had not happened back then since The Beatles.

And according Rolling Stone (Magazine), When Doves Cry was the biggest selling single that year in 1984:

and.. the Purple Rain album being at #1 for 24 weeks.

Later Prince scored an Oscar for the P.R. soundtrack.

Incredible... Prince was huge back then...

MotownSubdivision said:

It's common knowledge for those who are into music that 1984, the greatest year in pop music was the year of Prince. However, I was wondering if there are any detailed articles that go in to explain why that is while also going into why 1984 was such a great year for music at large.

The reason I ask is for the sake of an art project I'm doing for my Graphic Studio 2 class. We have to make a magazine article using Adobe InDesign and I thought of an interesting concept for the article layout. The age of the article doesn't matter, it can be 3 days old to 3 decades old.

[Edited 10/19/15 5:42am]

I just finished reading "Let's Go Crazy" by Alan Light. Half the book is about making the PR album & film, but the last few chapters are about Prince & Purple Rain's place in the pop world at that time. Light goes in detail about why 1984 was the best year for pop music, and why Prince was on top of all of it. Basically, you had 4 talents putting out arguably their best work: Purple Rain, Madonna/Like A Virgin, Bruce/Born in the USA, and MJ/Thriller (although Thriller was released before 84, it was still i play)... then the 4 going from stars to superstars.

Chas said:

MotownSubdivision said:

It's common knowledge for those who are into music that 1984, the greatest year in pop music was the year of Prince. However, I was wondering if there are any detailed articles that go in to explain why that is while also going into why 1984 was such a great year for music at large.

The reason I ask is for the sake of an art project I'm doing for my Graphic Studio 2 class. We have to make a magazine article using Adobe InDesign and I thought of an interesting concept for the article layout. The age of the article doesn't matter, it can be 3 days old to 3 decades old.

[Edited 10/19/15 5:42am]

I just finished reading "Let's Go Crazy" by Alan Light. Half the book is about making the PR album & film, but the last few chapters are about Prince & Purple Rain's place in the pop world at that time. Light goes in detail about why 1984 was the best year for pop music, and why Prince was on top of all of it. Basically, you had 4 talents putting out arguably their best work: Purple Rain, Madonna/Like A Virgin, Bruce/Born in the USA, and MJ/Thriller (although Thriller was released before 84, it was still i play)... then the 4 going from stars to superstars.

Thanks, I actually need an article not a book but I've settled for the NY Times Year End Review of 1984 so I'm all set. That book sounds interesting though and more than worth the price of admission ($12 w/ free 2 day shipping on Amazon; the cheapest book on Prince I've ever come across) so I'll be getting my hands on this book some time soon.

I do have another question for anyone who has the answer though. How many copies of Purple Rain were sold by the end of 1984 and and extension of that would be how many albums had Prince sold overall at that point?

[Edited 10/20/15 13:20pm]

Do your own homework.

Genesia said:

1984 was the year in music for me. Nearly everything that came out -- from everyone -- was top-notch and instantly classic IMO. That year seemed to be the perfect storm of all things pop culture.

If you wanted to dig deeper for your project, ask why Prince didn't receive Album Of The Year for Purple Rain?

Overall yes I believe no doubt PRINCE was the artist of the year with the release of PURPLE RAIN.

In terms of sales I know Bruce's Born In The U.S.A. sold a little more than Purple Rain in the end, but it was Prince's year no doubt.

Se7en said:

MotownSubdivision said:

I just checked Billboard's Year-End issue for 1984 (available on Google Books, issue date is Dec. 22, 1984). According to them, Purple Rain sold 8 million units by years-end.

.

You should definitely check the issue out because there's lots of other year-end wrap-up info about Prince, the album, the singles, the home videocassette of the movie, etc. Here's one bit of info that I found particularly interesting: "When Doves Cry" was the top single on both the pop and the R&B charts for the year -- the first time since 1961 that the same song ("Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis) ruled both of these year-end charts.

Se7en said:

If you wanted to dig deeper for your project, ask why Prince didn't receive Album Of The Year for Purple Rain?

I have an interesting theory about this.They (Grammy voters) gave that award to Michael Jackson the previous year,and I think they didn't want to leave Lionel behind.His Can't Slow Down album was hugely successful and let's face it....Grammy voters go nuts over big ballads like "Hello" So they went with Lionel even though,to many people,Purple Rain deserved that award.

PopcornFetus said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Why do you think I came here? Besides it's an art project, not a book report.

To get other people to find information for you so you don't have to do any research. Is my answer to your question. Lazy bastard.

Yeah, how dare somebody ask for information on Prince on a Prince fansite? What the hell was I thinking?

This is also about the third place I looked for info. Nice try though.

[Edited 10/27/15 19:16pm]

livewire said:

I just checked Billboard's Year-End issue for 1984 (available on Google Books, issue date is Dec. 22, 1984). According to them, Purple Rain sold 8 million units by years-end.

.

You should definitely check the issue out because there's lots of other year-end wrap-up info about Prince, the album, the singles, the home videocassette of the movie, etc. Here's one bit of info that I found particularly interesting: "When Doves Cry" was the top single on both the pop and the R&B charts for the year -- the first time since 1961 that the same song ("Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis) ruled both of these year-end charts.

Thanks brother or sister. Appreciate it!

I actually heard from another source that it was 10 million but I'll definitely look into what you're talking about.

1984 was definitely the year of the superstar, so many high profile releases in one year. Born In the USA, Like A Virgin, Van Halen's 1984 (with songs like Jump, Panama & Hot for Teacher), then of course Prince's Purple Rain and MJ still riding high off Thriller. When Prince came off the Purple Rain tour he supposedly told one of his friends he had made $100 million in that year, which in 80s money was even more shockingly massive than it would be today.

Alan's book is pretty good. I'd add other albums to that list including 1984 by Van Halen which was huge for them (and a comeback after the mediocre Diver Down).

Chas said:

MotownSubdivision said:

It's common knowledge for those who are into music that 1984, the greatest year in pop music was the year of Prince. However, I was wondering if there are any detailed articles that go in to explain why that is while also going into why 1984 was such a great year for music at large.

The reason I ask is for the sake of an art project I'm doing for my Graphic Studio 2 class. We have to make a magazine article using Adobe InDesign and I thought of an interesting concept for the article layout. The age of the article doesn't matter, it can be 3 days old to 3 decades old.

[Edited 10/19/15 5:42am]

I just finished reading "Let's Go Crazy" by Alan Light. Half the book is about making the PR album & film, but the last few chapters are about Prince & Purple Rain's place in the pop world at that time. Light goes in detail about why 1984 was the best year for pop music, and why Prince was on top of all of it. Basically, you had 4 talents putting out arguably their best work: Purple Rain, Madonna/Like A Virgin, Bruce/Born in the USA, and MJ/Thriller (although Thriller was released before 84, it was still i play)... then the 4 going from stars to superstars.

madhouseman said:

Alan's book is pretty good. I'd add other albums to that list including 1984 by Van Halen which was huge for them (and a comeback after the mediocre Diver Down).

Chas said:

I just finished reading "Let's Go Crazy" by Alan Light. Half the book is about making the PR album & film, but the last few chapters are about Prince & Purple Rain's place in the pop world at that time. Light goes in detail about why 1984 was the best year for pop music, and why Prince was on top of all of it. Basically, you had 4 talents putting out arguably their best work: Purple Rain, Madonna/Like A Virgin, Bruce/Born in the USA, and MJ/Thriller (although Thriller was released before 84, it was still i play)... then the 4 going from stars to superstars.

Definately.

Also, something about 1984, there were a lot of movies that were tied to music (or at least helped by a hit single). Beyond the obvious Purple Rain:

Footloose, Ghostbusters, Amadeus, Bev Hills Cop, Spinal Tap. Or maybe that's just what I remember.