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On this day in 2007, Prince delivered the greatest Super Bowl halftime show of all time, delivering the most-viewed musical performance in American history. But the deeper personal, artistic and social themes of his performance elevated it to a cultural milestone. Prince skipped his own biggest hits like When Doves Cry & Kiss in favor of covers from artists across various decades and genres. Here’s the story behind that choice. https://www.anildash.com/2021/02/05/how-prince-won-the-super-bowl/
@caseyrain does a great job of telling this story here: https://youtu.be/Ded3GLIDUNs?si=OV8XyiILLazmnxTo
Just a reminder, if you’re ever curious about Prince’s music or career but never found an accessible entry point to his work (his catalog is huge!), I’m always happy to help curate. Here are some starting points https://anildash.com/2017/02/12/its_time_to_discover_prince/
@anildash Best, First, Favorite?
(What’s your pick for the “best” Prince album, the one new fans should listen to first, and your favorite Prince album?)
@siracusa
Best: Sign O’ the Times
First: Purple Rain
Fave: Sign O’ The Times or 1999
(All explained in that post!)
@anildash The Apple Music link for Sign O’ The Times no longer works. (Maybe because the 2020 remaster replaced it on Apple Music?)
@siracusa Ah, good catch, thanks! Fixed now.
@anildash @siracusa
Totally recommend listening to the albums, but I went through the exercise of making myself a Prince playlist and had to stop at 100:
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/prince-top-100/pl.u-p08mCGXm4r
@anildash @siracusa
Everyone else has great recs for albums. You may also want to consider watching the two live performances posted in this thread (SuperBowl halftime show and George Harrison tribute). Prince’s music was varied, innovative, complex, etc., but it’s really hard to explain what an extraordinary performer he was…how truly captivating he was
@Katma @anildash I watched (another YouTube version of) this several years ago and thought it was great. https://youtu.be/mn7NpvHp0NY
Edit: Here’s a better version of the last song: https://youtu.be/q_sHFZWeOUo
@anildash great resource, thanks. I've heard some of the bigger stuff but I think it's always good to have guidance with such a huge discography - any additional recs for more under the radar albums would also be great!
Haven't checked them out yet but the playlists are an inspired choice for an artist with so many albums and so much stuff of note outside them.
@anildash and just a nice reminder to stick Prince on
@anildash what album do you recommend post 80s that’s not an anthology?
@DrSuzanne The Gold Experience from 1996, and 3121 from 2006 are both very good. The one I tend to love the most is The Truth, his acoustic album from 1996, but I think it’s hard to find on a lot of streaming services.
@anildash I just listened to a couple of tracks of the acoustic album. It’s really different than his standard stuff that I’m familiar with. Will check out the other too. Thanks! I really didn’t know where to go after the 80s.
@DrSuzanne @anildash musically, his 2001 “Rainbow Children” is excellent, but it’s sort of a challenging jazz record with some head-shaking lyrics, so it’s not exactly “Purple Rain 2”, but expanded my appreciation for his musicality a lot. The other ones I’ve mentioned are closer to his more fun hits, and Art Official Age in 2014 had some of his later work that moved me most, like “Way Back Home”.
For long-time fans, I would like to point your attention to the Super Deluxe Versions of the albums “1999”, “Purple Rain”, "Sign o’ The Times" and “Diamonds and Pearls” for a lot of fun and (AFAIK) previously unreleased material and live performances.