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Sign O' The Times (album)
''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by the American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 31, 1987, as a double album by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album is the follow-up to ''Parade'' and is Prince's first solo album following his disbanding of the Revolution. The album's songs were largely recorded during 1986 to 1987 in sessions for releases Prince ultimately aborted: '' Dream Factory'', the pseudonymous '' Camille'', and finally the triple album ''Crystal Ball''. Prince eventually compromised with label executives and shortened the length of the release to a double album. Many of the drum sounds on ''Sign o' the Times'' came from the Linn LM-1 drum machine, and Prince used the Fairlight CMI synthesizer to replace other instruments. Minimal instrumentation is heard on the stripped-down " Sign o’ the Times", the lead single. Four songs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation, Prince was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona, wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams, as well as his skill as a multi-instrumentalist, often preferring to play all or most of the instruments on his recordings. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, disco, Rhythm and blues, R&B, Rock music, rock, New wave music, new wave, soul music, soul, synth-pop, Pop music, pop, jazz, blues, and hip hop music, 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 18, soon releasing the studio albums ''For You (Prince album), For You'' (1978) and ''Prince (album), Prince'' (1979). He went on to achieve critical succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If I Was Your Girlfriend
"If I Was Your Girlfriend" is a song by American singer and songwriter Prince. The song serves as the second single from his ninth studio album '' Sign o' the Times'' (1987). The single was a hit in the UK (#20) but was only a minor hit in America (#67), though a major hit on black radio in America. It was originally from the '' Camille'' album, which was to be released under the guise of Prince's alter ego named Camille. The song is delivered from an androgynous male perspective to a woman, wherein Prince explores the possibilities of a more intimate relationship if he were his lover's platonic girlfriend. ''Trouser Press'' names the song as one of the album's highlights, noting that it "redefines a relationship in a surprisingly mature way." It is believed that "If I Was Your Girlfriend" deals with the jealousy Prince felt at the close bond shared between then girlfriend/fiancée Susannah Melvoin with her twin sister Wendy. Musically, the song features Prince's pitched-up, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychedelic Pop
Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, sitars, and Beach Boys-style harmonies, wedded to melodic songs with tight song structures. The style lasted into the early 1970s. It has seen revivals in subsequent decades by neo-psychedelic artists. Characteristics According to AllMusic, psychedelic pop was not too "freaky", but also not very " bubblegum" either. It appropriated the effects associated with straight psychedelic music, applying their innovations to concise pop songs. The music was occasionally confined to the studio, but there existed more organic exceptions whose psychedelia was bright and melodic. AllMusic adds: "What's trangeis that some psychedelic pop is more interesting than average psychedelia, since it had weird, occasionally awkward blend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alter Ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different personality. Additionally, the altered states of the ego may themselves be referred to as ''alterations''. A distinct meaning of ''alter ego'' is found in the Literary criticism, literary analysis used when referring to fictional literature and other narrative forms, describing a key Character (arts), character in a story who is perceived to be intentionally representative of the work's author (or creator), by oblique similarities, in terms of psychology, behavior speech, or thoughts, often used to convey the author's thoughts. The term is also sometimes, but less frequently, used to designate a Hypothesis, hypothetical "twin" or "best friend" to a character in a story. Similarly, the term ''alter ego'' may be a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial licence of the Qasar M8 developed by Tony Furse of Creative Strategies in Sydney, Australia. It was one of the earliest electronic music workstations with an embedded sampler and is credited for coining the term sampling in music. It rose to prominence in the early 1980s and competed with the Synclavier from New England Digital. History : 1971–1979 In the 1970s, Kim Ryrie, then a teenager, had an idea to develop a build-it-yourself analogue synthesizer, the ETI 4600, for the magazine he founded, '' Electronics Today International'' (ETI). Ryrie was frustrated by the limited number of sounds that the synthesizer could make. After his classmate, Peter Vogel, graduated from high school and had a brief stint at university in 1975, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linn LM-1
The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American engineer Roger Linn, wanted a machine that would produce more realistic drum sounds and offer more than preset patterns. The LM-1 became a staple of 1980s pop music and helped establish drum machines as credible tools. It appeared on records by artists including the Human League, Gary Numan, Mecano, Icehouse, Michael Jackson, Queen, Tears For Fears and particularly Prince. The LM-1 was also used by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell in the original theme song for Thomas & Friends. The LM-1 was succeeded in 1982 by the LinnDrum. Development The LM-1 was designed by the American engineer and guitarist Roger Linn in the late 1970s. Linn was dissatisfied with drum machines available at the time, such as the Roland CR-78, and wanted a mac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stylus Magazine
''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Additionally, ''Stylus'' had daily features like "The Singles Jukebox", which looked at pop singles from around the globe, and "Soulseeking", a column focused on personal responses in listening. Even though they never reached the readership of other music magazines such as PopMatters or Pitchfork, they still had a very consistent and fired-up audience . In 2006, the site was chosen by the '' Observer Music Monthly'' as one of the Internet's 25 most essential music websites. ''Stylus'' closed as a business on 31 October 2007. On 4 January 2010, with the blessing of former editor Todd Burns, ''Stylus'' senior writer Nick Southall launched ''The Stylus Decade'', a website with a new series of lists and essays reviewing music from the previous ten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal Ball (unreleased Album)
''Crystal Ball'' is an unreleased studio album by Prince recorded throughout 1986. The album was planned to consist of 3 LPs and cover a broad range of musical styles. Many of its tracks were repurposed for the 1987 album '' Sign o' the Times'', while others remained officially unreleased for years. Background ''Crystal Ball'' can be traced to late 1985 with what would be Prince and the Revolution's final album, '' Dream Factory''. Since '' Purple Rain''s release, each successive album became more of a collaborative effort between Prince and band members Wendy & Lisa in addition to full band performances on certain songs. ''Dream Factory'' evolved quickly from a 9-track single album to a double-LP with an ever-changing track listing. A final configuration of the album was finally decided upon and the album was mastered. However, during 1986, Wendy & Lisa had increasingly become disgruntled with Prince's decision to expand the Revolution with non-musicians Wally Safford and G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camille (album)
''Camille'' is the upcoming second posthumous studio album by American musician Prince. The album was originally recorded in 1986 under the pseudonym Camille, a feminine alter ego portrayed by Prince via pitch-shifting his vocals up to an androgynous register. Prince planned to release the album without any acknowledgement of his identity. The project was initially scrapped several weeks before its planned release, with rare early LP pressings eventually surfacing for auction in 2016; several tracks recorded for ''Camille'' were instead included on various other projects, most prominently Prince's 1987 double LP '' Sign o' the Times''. In March 2022, Third Man Records announced that they had received the rights to release the album, with Ben Blackwell (co-founder of the label) saying "Prince’s people agreed – almost too easy." While the label indicated plans to release ''Camille'', no release date or method of release has been announced yet. There have been no updates on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dream Factory (album)
''Dream Factory'' is an unreleased double LP project by Prince and the Revolution. History Prince's band, the Revolution, were invited to the studio in 1986 to contribute to a majority of the material for the planned album, with the notable exceptions of "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker" and "Starfish & Coffee" (co-written by Susannah Melvoin). Some tracks included a few band members, most tracks none, some were full band recordings or included other musicians such as Sheila E. But in September 1986 at the end of the Parade Tour, Prince was too frustrated with the Revolution. The band was dissolved in October 1986, after which many of the album's tracks were incorporated into what was now a planned solo three LP project titled ''Crystal Ball''. However, Prince's record distributor at the time, Warner Bros., balked at a three-LP release, so the project was reduced to a two-LP set and retitled '' Sign o' the Times''. Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Revolution (band)
The Revolution is an American band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1979 by Prince, serving as his live band and later as his studio band. The band's sound incorporated rock, pop, R&B, funk, new wave and psychedelic elements. Along with Prince's other projects, the Revolution helped create the Minneapolis sound. By the time of their 1986 breakup, the Revolution had backed Prince on two studio albums, two soundtracks and two videos. After making its studio album debut on ''1999'' (1982), the Revolution rose to international fame with '' Purple Rain'' (1984), which reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 and became certified 13× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as being a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions, such as John Lennon's '' Some Time in New York City'' (which consisted of one studio record and one live album packaged together), OutKast's '' Speakerboxxx/The Love Below'' (effectively two solo albums, one by each member of the duo), and Red Hot Chili Peppers' '' Stadium Arcadium'' (which Disc 1 has half of the album and Disc 2 has the other half). Since the advent of the compact disc, albums are sometimes released with a bonus disc featuring additional material as a supplement to the main album, with live tracks, studio out-takes, cut songs, or older unreleased material. One inn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
