72. That there are just enough songs on this that I forget a few and am pleasantly surprised when I remember them every now and then.
― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 13 May 2016 23:41 (eight years ago) link
73. Side 3 is prob the best run of songs Prince ever did:
U GOT THE LOOKIF I WAS UR GIRLFRIENDSTRANGE RELATIONSHIPI COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN
― flappy bird, Sunday, 15 May 2016 23:23 (eight years ago) link
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/65/38/98/65389838d91e18c556a6f280aab23df1.jpg
― MatthewK, Monday, 16 May 2016 00:49 (eight years ago) link
Glasses!
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 16 May 2016 03:00 (eight years ago) link
The sleeve art on the double LP was such a shock - we had "slick Prince" as the mental image, black and white crop top, 30s chic in Cherry Moon, and then suddenly SotT drops and we have neopsychedelic Prince, Cat (who?), peach'n'black, ashram robes, flokati vests and Haight-Ashbury glasses. That plus Camille knocked me for a loop. And Sheena "My Baby Takes the Morning Train" Easton? Where's the Revolution? WTF?
― MatthewK, Monday, 16 May 2016 03:38 (eight years ago) link
did people really think this was him?
http://img.cdandlp.com/2012/09/imgL/115554290-2.jpg
one of the great back-of-the-sleeve shots ever.
― piscesx, Monday, 16 May 2016 09:35 (eight years ago) link
According to Cat, some people did.
― RIP Skeletons in the Closet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 16 May 2016 11:36 (eight years ago) link
MatthewK totally OTM
Yah I remember folks thinking it was him :)
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 16 May 2016 12:17 (eight years ago) link
67. the best use of factory presets on a record ever?
― flappy bird, Friday, May 13, 2016 6:15 AM (4 days ago)
― flappy bird, Monday, May 16, 2016 12:23 AM (Yesterday)
yesssssssss
― niels, Tuesday, 17 May 2016 11:43 (eight years ago) link
74. Those finger cymbal things that I want to call castanets but aren't, particularly on Strange Relationship
― Iago Galdston, Tuesday, 17 May 2016 16:18 (eight years ago) link
Crotales iirc? Love the way he uses them. They are all over the atwiad LP.
― scarcity festival (Jon not Jon), Tuesday, 17 May 2016 16:21 (eight years ago) link
was anyone else annoyed by this line in the p4k retrospective review of SOTT?
“Housequake” is, perhaps, the most obvious songs on the album, a funk jam that would have been a hit single if he’d allowed it to be released as such. But the care of the track’s construction belies any shallow analysis. It starts with a cartoony voice (maybe a Camille reference), a synthesized drum heavy with echo, then adds bass, keyboard stabs, and rhythm guitar. The synth drum and snare drum merge while there’s a double-beat on the kick. Live horns come it and the bass line moves as there’s both a synth bass keyboard and a live bass doing playing different lines. Various backing vocals float in and out with Prince doing his James Brown impersonation as singer/MC. Compared to the simple loops of your average club banger, “Housequake” is a symphony of syncopation. The beat moves even as it grooves.
wtf the drum machine couldn't be any more dry
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 17 May 2016 17:05 (eight years ago) link
none more dry
Perhaps we should have Camille step back from the drum machine so s/he doesn't trod on it.
― Hang On To Your Evol (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 17 May 2016 17:35 (eight years ago) link
I already got into one stupid argument about Prince productions earlier this week but until I just replayed this, I had thought it was the bass drum w the gated reverb too. I guess it's a detuned tom?
― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 17 May 2016 22:02 (eight years ago) link
― MatthewK, Sunday, May 15, 2016
you hadn't heard "Strut" or "Sugar Walls"? Those were massive hits.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 17 May 2016 22:08 (eight years ago) link
p4k retrospective review
these were so terrible, especially the ATWIAD one discussing his politics
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 17 May 2016 22:22 (eight years ago) link
er Controversy one
I meant to say
yeah over here she was Sheena 'From BBC TVs The Big Time' Easton to me too. in the UK she hadn't been heard of since forever. Sugar Walls? in with a bullet at 95 in the UK charts, while Strut didn't even get that far! her last hit had been For Your Eyes Only 6 years earlier.
― piscesx, Tuesday, 17 May 2016 22:53 (eight years ago) link
I say this very thing enthusiastically and quite often!
― Davey D, Wednesday, 18 May 2016 15:45 (eight years ago) link
that SOTT review was absent minded
like nelon george wrote it with 50 tabs open
― StillAdvance, Wednesday, 18 May 2016 15:51 (eight years ago) link
75. such a great cover
http://img.cdandlp.com/2015/10/imgL/117728616.jpg
― niels, Friday, 20 May 2016 08:47 (eight years ago) link
That one took a while!
― Mark G, Friday, 20 May 2016 09:22 (eight years ago) link
76. "Reefer." So quaint.
― dinnerboat, Friday, 20 May 2016 14:33 (eight years ago) link
77. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlBxxOPEVsg
― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Sunday, 22 May 2016 15:36 (eight years ago) link
76. "Reefer." So quaint.― dinner boat, Friday, May 20, 2016 10:33 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― dinner boat, Friday, May 20, 2016 10:33 AM (3 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
even more so, who calls it "horse"??
― flappy bird, Monday, 23 May 2016 05:13 (eight years ago) link
I thought horse is a fairly common slang word for heroin, or at least it was back when Prince wrote the tune?
― Tuomas, Monday, 23 May 2016 07:07 (eight years ago) link
Both jazz terms, yeah?
― Mark G, Monday, 23 May 2016 07:22 (eight years ago) link
When I think of the magic of this record it makes me sadder than all others, that this guy is not with us any more.
― MatthewK, Monday, 23 May 2016 08:45 (eight years ago) link
My guitar teacher thought it would be interesting to help me figure out the chords to "Dorothy Parker," and yeah, it was! We realized one reason Prince played everything himself is that it would take a lot less time to do that than to explain to someone else how to contribute to a totally out there sui generis song like that one. In fact, there are a couple of tracks on "Sign" that similarly transcend genre in really fascinating and less than obvious ways.
Also, I decided the opening drum sequence of the title track makes a really cool ringtone.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 23 May 2016 12:54 (eight years ago) link
Which tracks are you thinking of?
― vmajestic, Monday, 23 May 2016 14:10 (eight years ago) link
Well, Dorothy Parker, for one. It's funky, and jazzy, and just - weird. The bridge-thing where he quotes Joni Mitchell, wtf is that? Or Forever In My Life, what is that? Strange Relationship, that's another one that's funky but not really funk. It's like looser influences like jazz or folk have altered more immutable forms, like funk or dance pop or whatever. I mean, Play In the Sunshine is essentially ... rockabilly? Something like that. But then it's got that crazy fusion-y coda.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 23 May 2016 14:15 (eight years ago) link
forever in my life is quite gospelly in its arrangement i think.
― StillAdvance, Monday, 23 May 2016 14:18 (eight years ago) link
the melody i mean.
― StillAdvance, Monday, 23 May 2016 14:19 (eight years ago) link
xps what are the chords to Dorothy Parker?
― Pentenema Karten, Monday, 23 May 2016 14:51 (eight years ago) link
And does it feature the famous Prince "sus 2" chord?
― The Wally Funk Bible (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 May 2016 14:58 (eight years ago) link
Dorothy Parker doesn't have that sus2 chord. That's the weird chord in the third line of the chorus in "Sometimes it Snows in April." It does have plenty of weird quirks and changes.
The main progression in TBDP is a descending progression from Am7 (iv) to Em7(i), making every stop in the descending bassline before a quick trip to the V to build tension before the final line (before "Dorothy was fast," etc). Looks like this:
Am7 Dorothy was a waitress Ab(flat 5) On the promenadeEm7/G in bass F#m7 She worked the night shift Fmaj7 BDishwater blonde, tall and fine EmShe got a lot of tips
The bridge, as it were, changes from E minor to G. The second bridge modulates from A minor to A major on the "should have done it sooooneeeer" part. The ballad of dorothy parker line looks something like this:
A Bm Am Bm B+ This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker
Then it goes back to the main progression. This tab (and the rest of the tabs on this website) seems pretty good: http://princetabs.50webs.com/dorothy.txt
― a poon shaped mule (voodoo chili), Monday, 23 May 2016 15:09 (eight years ago) link
Sorry, click the link for better spacing, I haven't been able to figure out how to space text on ILX
― a poon shaped mule (voodoo chili), Monday, 23 May 2016 15:11 (eight years ago) link
xxxps to StillAdvance --- To me, Forever In My Life seems to be a minimalist version of a Sly Stone song. The melody reminds me a lot of Everyday People, weirdly.
― a poon shaped mule (voodoo chili), Monday, 23 May 2016 15:16 (eight years ago) link
I'm not good enough at this stuff to recognize if it's right or wrong, Only chord in our own little chart not up there is Cmaj7, maybe in the very early intro? Before the singing starts. There's a brief measure or two at maybe the end of the bridge where we just wrote a big "?," because it just goes wacky.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 23 May 2016 15:19 (eight years ago) link
xpost It's totally Sly-y, but the muted-ness of the vocals and rhythm are even weirder, kind of like sing in the shower demo-esque.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 23 May 2016 15:20 (eight years ago) link
It could be a Cmaj7 with a G in the bass in the verse progression (instead of the Em7 with the G in the bass)
Whatever the chords, what a weird little masterpiece
― a poon shaped mule (voodoo chili), Monday, 23 May 2016 15:21 (eight years ago) link
Dorothy Parker doesn't have that sus2 chord. That's the weird chord in the third line of the chorus in "Sometimes it Snows in April."No, that chord on the third line of the chorus is really unusual. I think in that song he actually uses the sus2 as the third chord on the verse and then as the first chord on the chorus. He also uses it in "Purple Rain" and a number of other songs.
― The Wally Funk Bible (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 23 May 2016 15:44 (eight years ago) link
Anyway, the weird, weirdest? most interesting? most surprising? chord of "Sometimes It Snows," which appears in the third line of the chorus, seems to be a G#7 with an open B and E on the top. Which I guess you could call a G#7#9#5, which is a strong enough chord in itself, but is particularly surprising in the context of the song, since a) the prior two times in the chorus he just played a G#m7 and b) the chord introduces a new note, the B#(=C), which your ear will not be expecting given what the harmony was doing up until then and c) if you voice the chord so that the B and B# (=C) are right next to each other, a half-step away, instead of using a more open voicing, it packs even more of a punch.
― The Klosterman Weeknd (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 25 May 2016 10:56 (eight years ago) link
Re: "Now he's doing horse" — wow, I've misheard that lyric all these years. Embarrassed to admit I thought it was "now he's doing whores."
― dinnerboat, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 17:52 (eight years ago) link
Reefer was totally a hooker gateway drug back in the day, don't worry about it :)
― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, 25 May 2016 20:28 (eight years ago) link
78. He rhymes "moon" with "June" in the title track.
― in twelve parts (lamonti), Tuesday, 31 May 2016 13:19 (eight years ago) link
79. "Her favorite number was 20"
― a poon shaped mule (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 5 July 2016 21:27 (seven years ago) link
https://theshibeparkvaults.bandcamp.com/album/sign-o-the-times-rehearsals-disc-1
https://theshibeparkvaults.bandcamp.com/album/sign-o-the-times-rehearsals-disc-2
― a poon shaped mule (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 5 July 2016 22:19 (seven years ago) link
cool but who gets the 7 bucks if you actually pay for those things?
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 5 July 2016 22:24 (seven years ago) link