Ep. 107: Prince – Top 5 Songs
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf, to our Tree of Knowledge.
I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode is one I have been hanging out to do for a long while, and is on one of the greatest musicians of all time, Prince.
When I say one of the greatest musicians of all time, there is no hyperbole, he started music at a young age and was self-taught. If I said he could play 27 instruments I would probably be incorrect as he most likely played many more. Why I say 27 is because that is the number of instruments, he played on his debut album called “For You”; he played the lot!
I remember seeing Prince play way back in 1992 at the Flinders Park Tennis Centre in Melbourne on the Diamonds and Pearls Tour. At that stage in my life, I may have been a little more interested in “Diamond” and “Pearl” who were respectively Lori Werner and Robia LaMorte, but one thing that can definitely be said of Prince is that he puts on one hell of a show, and was well worth the money.
Today’s mnemonic is on Prince’s top five songs.
So, with no further ado, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prince_at_Coachella_(cropped).jpg
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Wikipedia Summary
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. The recipient of numerous awards and nominations, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation.[6] He was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona;[7][8] his wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams; and his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings.[9] His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, synth-pop, pop, jazz, blues, and hip hop. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound.
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Prince signed a record deal with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 19, soon releasing the albums For You (1978) and Prince (1979). He went on to achieve critical success with the influential albums Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), and 1999 (1982). His sixth album, Purple Rain (1984), was recorded with his new backing band the Revolution, and was also the soundtrack to the film of the same name in which he starred. Purple Rain garnered continued success for Prince and was a major commercial achievement, spending six consecutive months atop the Billboard 200 chart.[10] The soundtrack also won Prince the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. After disbanding the Revolution, Prince released the album Sign o' the Times (1987), widely hailed by critics as the greatest work of his career.
In the midst of a contractual dispute with Warner Bros. in 1993, he changed his stage name to the unpronounceable symbol (known to fans as the "Love Symbol") and was often referred to as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince (or TAFKAP) or simply The Artist.[11][12] After moving to Arista Records in 1998, Prince reverted to his original name in 2000. Over the next decade, six of his albums entered the U.S. top 10 charts.[13][14] In April 2016, at the age of 57, Prince died after accidentally overdosing on fentanyl at his Paisley Park home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He was a prolific musician who released 39 albums during his life, with a vast array of unreleased material left in a custom-built bank vault underneath his home after his death, including fully completed albums and over 50 finished music videos.[15] Released posthumously, his demo albums Piano and a Microphone 1983 (2018) and Originals (2019) both received critical acclaim.
Prince sold over 100 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time.[16] His awards included the Grammy President's Merit Award, the American Music Awards for Achievement and of Merit, the Billboard Icon Award, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2016, and was inducted twice into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame in 2022.[17][18] Estimates of the complete number of songs written by Prince range anywhere from 500 to well over 1,000,[19] some of which were made popular after being covered by other musicians, most notably "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinéad O'Connor and "Manic Monday" by the Bangles.[20]
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_(musician)]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prince_(cropped).jpg
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Mnemonic
Prince – Top 5 Songs Mnemonic – Prince CRaWL
(Picture Prince crawling when he was a baby with his baby electric guitar strapped to his back)
1. Purple Rain
2. Cream
3. Raspberry Beret
4. When Doves Cry
5. Little Red Corvette
Five Fun Facts
1. Strangely enough Prince’s real name was actually Prince. We will get to the other name changes later. But the name Prince Rogers came from his father’s most popular stage name in his jazz group, called the Prince Rogers Trio.
2. Prince not only produced the hits for himself but for many others. Some of the more notable songs included:
· Nothing compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor
· Manic Monday – The Bangles
· I Feel For You – Chaka Khan
· Kiss – Tom Jones
· Stand Back – Stevie Nicks
3. Now to the name change. This came about as a protest against Warner Bros. and more generally the record industry. He formally adopted the “Love Symbol” as his stage name in 1993. However, he did not legally change his name. Then at midnight on December 31, 1999, when his contract with Warner Bros. expired, he reclaimed his name, and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince, became Prince once again.
4. Along with several names Prince also had a couple of religions. He was raised a Seventh-Day Adventist, then converted to a Jehovah’s Witness in 2001. And yes, he did go door-to-door!
5. Prince was actually sued by his half-sister Lorna Nelson in 1987. She claimed that she had written the lyrics to the song “U Got the Look”, which was from the album “Sign ‘O” the Times”. When it finally went to court in 1989 Prince was vindicated having both counts dismissed.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prince_by_jimieye-crop.jpg
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. Did global colour authority Pantone create a royal shade of purple in honour of Prince? True or False
Q.2. In which video did Michael Jackson ask Prince to appear in? Options are Thriller, Bad, or Speed Demon
Q.3. What was the name of the song that Prince recorded with Madonna? Options are Love Song, Love Story, or Love Not
Bonus Q. Did Prince make history on SNL by being the only person to drop the f-bomb five times? True or False
Bonus Q. Which famous actor did Prince reportedly date and record material with around the time of “Batman” in which Prince and Danny Elfman produced the soundtrack
Bonus Q. How many Academy Awards did Prince win?
Bonus Q. Why did Prince only drink coffee from his barista Nikki?
Mnemonic Recap
Prince – Top 5 Songs Mnemonic – Prince CRaWL
(Picture Prince crawling when he was a baby with his baby electric guitar strapped to his back)
1. Purple Rain
2. Cream
3. Raspberry Beret
4. When Doves Cry
5. Little Red Corvette
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. Did global colour authority Pantone create a royal shade of purple in honour of Prince? True or False
A. True. The colour is known as Love Symbol #2 and was inspired by his Yamaha piano that he was going to take on tour
Q.2. In which video did Michael Jackson ask Prince to appear in? Options are Thriller, Bad, or Speed Demon
A. Bad. Prince turned down the role which eventually went to Wesley Snipes
Q.3. What was the name of the song that Prince recorded with Madonna? Options are Love Song, Love Story, or Love Not
A. Love Song in 1988
Bonus Q. Did Prince make history on SNL by being the only person to drop the f-bomb five times? True or False
A. False. He was the only person to drop the f-bomb twice in his song “Partyup” where he sang the lyric “Fightin’ war is such a f***ing bore.”
Bonus Q. Which famous actor did Prince reportedly date and record material with around the time of “Batman” in which Prince and Danny Elfman produced the soundtrack
A. Kim Basinger
Bonus Q. How many Academy Awards did Prince win?
A. Two. One for Best Original Musical and the other for Best Original Song Score
Bonus Q. Why did Prince only drink coffee from his barista Nikki?
A. Because he could not resist when he saw little Nikki grind! (check out link below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8oxXkUjYHg
Word of the Week
profligate
[ prof-li-git ]
adjective
recklessly extravagant.
Example
Prince never really indulged in a profligate life, instead obsessed with creating music and other art.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
Just before I go, I highly recommend a visit to YouTube or my website “The Mnemonic Tree Podcast” to check out one of Prince’s most amazing performances. It was March 2004 where George Harrison was being posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and an all-star band was performing one of his iconic songs which was “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Prince comes in towards the end and performs a 3-minute solo that will blow your mind. If you don’t have goosebumps after it, you’re probably not human! Check out the link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRCooFKk3c
References
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/19185/10-surprising-facts-about-prince
https://www.funtrivia.com/submitquiz.cfm