Which songs from the 80s has stood the test of time? When you listen to it, you don't think "80s music"...

What brought this up? -- I've popped in "The Glamorous Life" CD every morning this week (after having listened to "Musicology" over and over since the LA concert) to kind of get me going for my drive to work.... just kind of put "Glamorous Life" on repeat. And, I was thinking how this song just doesn't have too much of a 80s sound to it (you know, that lite-pop sound), as compared to like, "Belle of St. Mark" or the other songs do. Sheila's percussion is just so good!

"When Doves Cry" and most of the Purple Rain album has the same feel for me. I don't know, maybe because PR was my first exposure to Prince (and the first time I was listening to "grown-up music") that I just don't compare the album to anything else from the 80s.

Say, compared to Madonna's "Material Girl" or MJ's "Billie Jean" or even other new wave music.

So, which Prince or related artist songs don't have that "80s brand" stamped to them?

songs with a natural, organic sound - real drums, bass and piano. tamborine, most of the torchy ballads

Purple Rain had a different sound to other albums of that time. but play it to someone who never heard it before and they'd still pinpoint it to the 80s I'm sure. we are just so accustomed to the way it sounded, so fiercely in love with it that we are probably blinded to this!

Actually who was it that said (back in 1984) "in 20 years this one will still get taken down from the shelf and played"? very true in my case anyway.

'A Million Miles (I Love You)' by Apollonia 6 still sounds good.

Most of The Family album sounds fresh too.

newpowerlove, thats a great profile-pic. Is it real?

Man, "Purple rain" album sounds way 80's, and in fact "Billie Jean" in terms of 80's sounding, has stood up very well! That song don't sound 80's at all really particually compared to Purple rain! That question is really hard though as Prince always used tons of synths and really that's why Princes music defines the 80's in general!

Maybe "Rasberry beret" doesn't sound quite so 80's as his other stuff, but really it all does and that ain't no bad thing neither!
[This message was edited Fri Apr 30 6:48:25 2004 by thesexofit]

Sometimes it snows in april - timeless

CrystalVault said:

Good point!

i don't think any of the parade album sounds particularly 80s, or of any period really, (except maybe mountains, which has that whole 'revolution' sound to it)

Every album from PArade onwards doesn't sound like the synthed up 80's.

skywalker said:

Have you not heard Lovesexy?

thesexofit said:

Indeed.

Lovesexy doesn't sound like it's from today, but I think someone (who didn't know) would be hardpressed to name the year it came from.

Nightcrawler said:

You know, nightcrawler, I found that pic somewhere on the web... or maybe it was posted in one of those picture contests the others like to have here on the Org.

Looks real to me!

thesexofit said:

Yup, that's it. Which is why I don't think of Prince's sound as being 80s when compared to the output by other artists back then.

Think, for example, of songs of his first albums. There's a definite 70s/disco feel to songs like "Just As Long As We're Together" or the original "I Feel For You." But Bambi doesn't have as much of the tone of that time. It has held that freshness quite well.

"I Feel For You" by Prince -- very 70s
"I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan -- very 80s
Prince performing it again -- very ???

Controversy----he could release that in this era and it would be a monster smash.

themend said:

You are right. The Linn-Drum makes "Mountains" sound like 80s, maybe "Girls & Boys" and "Life..." are arranged in an 80s Style but for the rest I would say that P could releas it today and we all would be blinded by his genius