March 31st is Parade's 17th birthday.

Is there anything it can legally do now it's 17 that it couldn't do before? Buy cigarettes in some countries? Drive in the UK?

What does Parade add to the Prince music repertoire that wouldn't be there otherwise?

Happy birthday Parade!

His first black and white era...I remember being in the eighth grade when PR came out and about 6 months later I heard on the radio that Prince was going to begin filming his next film...they said it should be out some time in 1986...I thought a year and a half to two years...damn...now look.

Happy Birthday Parade!!

What would be missing...Kiss, Sometimes it Snows in April,
Mountains, Anotherloverholenyohead, Girls and Boys and much more!

In other words...A LOT would be missing, but maybe I'm saying this cause these are favorites of mine.

17 years old!!!

This album really hasn't aged at all.

Happy birthday Parade, you haven't aged a bit!

I still remember the day I bought this album. It was the first Saturday after its release and my dad and I rode to the music store together. On the way home, I put the cassette in the player and the beautiful cacophany of "Christopher Tracy's Parade" just washed over me. I must've had a huge grin on my face because my dad looked over at me and said, "You like this?"

Peace, David

Like a fine wine...

it's just hard to imagine where the time went (oh, wait, no it isn't, it's been on the org)...anyway, i remember buying this record and having a t-shirt that came with it from the wrecka stow. The t-shirt had a set of lips on it and Prince's face somewhere with the words on the front saying "I just want your extra time and your" (switch to the back) "kiss". I think I was in 5th grade, but maybe 4th.

Time goes by so fast.

Wonderful album with great music and great memories of that era...I never, ever get tired of this one.

Happy Birthday, Parade.

Respect.

Thank U 4 the music. This made brighter the colours of my life.

booyah said:

Bizarrely enough for the soundtrack of a Black & White film, the thing that Parade has more than anything else is colour - Clare Fischer's strings make the most colourful thing he ever released, and the world is a better place for it.

There are other albums that will be my favourite from time to time, but Parade is always up there. The songwriting is superb, and the production just blew me away the first time I heard it and it still does. It sounded so different from anything else anyone at the time and still does now.

So many reasons...

The lack of bass on Kiss.
Clare Fisher's samazing string arrangements.
The prominent use of Wendy & Lisa's vocals.
The realisation that a song doesn't have to be long to be a masterpiece.
Marie-France's bored-yet-sexy French rap in Girls & Boys.
Coming up with a song title like 'Anotherloverholeinyohead'
Nearly crying the first time I head 'Sometimes it snows in April'
Prince never looking so damn beautiful as he does on that wonderful gatefold sleeve (god I miss viynl).
...the list of reasons to love Parade is endless.


Happy Birthday Parade!
[This message was edited Mon Mar 31 14:19:28 PST 2003 by 1800NewHunk]

Although I think he produced better records, this is still a very good one. I remember when my mom had this on cassette in the Spring of '86. I played it to death. I just thought he was so amazing. And still the kids in Kindergarten didn't understand how I could dig this music when there was Whitney, Janet, & L.L. to admire.

aaah, happy bday to one of my favorite Prince albums...

I must have subconsciously known about this, I just picked up Parade on cassette (for the 12th time) a week ago and have been listening to it in my car ever since...

Oh, that's right.. today IS the day this classic came out!
Damn!


I remember buying this album- the VINYL album
(which I still have, of course)
at "Peaches Records", where I actually worked at the time..


Yes..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARADE!


In an already VERY DISTINGUISHED body of work
(1978-87)
Parade definitely stands out.


To honor the occasion of this album,
here's a little "somethin'-somethin'"..
"preferred snippets" from each track:


the show will proceed unless it should rain strawberry lemonade I can make you H A P P Y I how you say I want to live life to the ultimate high je vous enlacerai avec mes jambes baby kisses never lie when delivered with milk from your lips * * * * there's nothing greater than you & me & I don't lie dear when I say that I'm in love momma women not girls rule my world as sure as there's a sun I wanna be the 1 I often dream of heaven & I know that Tracy's there


"Parade" exemplifies Prince music at its best:

"spontaneous"
"unexpected"
yet..
funky!

DAMN I FEEL OLD. 17 years ago!