Eli’s Music Pick: Prince
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called Life. Electric word, "Life," and it's a mighty long time, but I'm here to tell you, there's something else: Prince Rogers Nelson. Known to the world by his first name, Prince was a self-made musical polymath who performed the singular trick of somehow altering the world to accommodate his eccentricity and musical genius rather than the other way around. We know Prince in our cultural memory as one of the classic 1980s MTV megastars alongside Madonna, Michael, and Bruce, but what is less appreciated is just how remarkable it is that he managed to vault himself so easily into that rarified company despite being so unapologetically weird.
A Minneapolis kid who refused to ever give up his roots, Prince was so determined to carve his own path through the musical world of the late Seventies and Eighties that he recorded nearly every single note of all of his albums during this era. From his origins as an upstart in the R&B charts (as an heir to the autonomous tradition of Stevie Wonder, with crossover ambitions to match) to the avant-garde outrage of Dirty Mind and Controversy, to the world-conquering success of 1999 and Purple Rain, Prince moved with such method and purpose that the gang is almost in awe of the scope of his growth from 1978 to 1985. Join us for Part 1 of a three-part series where we celebrate the transcendent genius, and oddness, of The Purple One, his Royal Badness. We're living the pop life over here on Political Beats for the next few episodes.
Episode 55: Tim Miller / LCD Soundsystem
Episode 54: Cameron Joseph / Jackson Browne
Episode 53: Jay Cost / The Black Crowes
Episode 52: Jeff Pojanowski / Pavement
Episode 51: Stephen Miller / U2
Episode 50: Jack Butler / The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
Episode 49: CJ Ciaramella / The Clash
Episode 48: Adam White / Queen
Episode 47: Molly Ball / Radiohead
Episode 46: Jamie Kirchick / Elton John
Episode 45: David Lowery / Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker
Episode 44: Jessie Opoien / Old 97s
Episode 43: Dave Weigel / King Crimson
Episode 42: Robert VerBruggen / Guns N’ Roses
Episode 41: Andrew Kirell / Bob Dylan [Part 3]
Episode 40: Andrew Kirell / Bob Dylan [Part 2]
Episode 39: Andrew Kirell / Bob Dylan [Part 1]
Episode 38: Charles C. W. Cooke / The Beatles [Part 2]
Episode 37: Charles C. W. Cooke / The Beatles [Part 1]
Episode 36: Christopher J. Scalia / Cheap Trick
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