Sign O' The Times (album)
''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 30, 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 co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958April 21, 2016), more commonly known mononymously as Prince, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. The recipient of numerous awards and nominations, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation. He was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona; 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. Prince produced his albums himself, pioneering the Minneapolis sound. His music incorporated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ..., synth-pop, pop music, pop, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Lovesexy
''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late January 1988, at Prince's new Paisley Park Studios, and most of the album is a solo effort from Prince, with a few exceptions. The lyrical themes of the record include positivity, self-improvement, spirituality, and God. Receiving mixed reviews, ''Lovesexy'' reached number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200, his first album since 1981's ''Controversy'' not to crack the top-10, and number one in the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. It spawned three singles; "Alphabet St." became a worldwide top-10 hit in the spring of 1988, whereas the follow-up singles "Glam Slam" and "I Wish U Heaven" failed to reach the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Subsequently, it was Prince's least successful album in the United States since 1980. It was certif ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Fairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, 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 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 Origins: 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, Ryrie asked ... [...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 and particularly Prince. 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 machine that did not simply play preset patterns and "sound like crickets". At the suggestion of the Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro, Lin ... [...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. The site remained online for several years, but did not publish any new content. On 4 January 2010, with the blessing of former editor Todd Burns, ''Stylus'' senior writer Nick Southall launched ''The Stylus Decade'', a web ... [...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. Evolution of the album ''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 and 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 list of songs. A final configuration of the album was finally decided upon and the album was mastered. But, during 1986 Wendy and Lisa had increasingly become disgruntled with Prince's decision to expand the Revolution with non-musicians ... [...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. Recording and concept After abandon ... [...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 entitled ''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 would later cover "Train" for her 1989 album ''Ti ... [...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) and OutKast's ''Speakerboxxx/The Love Below'' (effectively two solo albums, one by each member of the duo). 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 innovation was the inclusion of a DVD of related material with a compact disc, such as video related to the album or DVD-A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Studio Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual Phonograph record#78 rpm disc developments, 78 rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP record, long-playing (LP) records played at revolutions per minute, rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983 and was gradually supplanted by the cassette tape during the 1970s and early 1980s; the populari ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man
"I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" is a song written and recorded by American musician Prince. It was released as the final single from his ninth studio album ''Sign o' the Times'' (1987), becoming the third top-ten hit off the album. It has since been covered by numerous artists. Content The song is an upbeat pop number featuring a combination of live drumming with two drum machine patterns. Also featured are two guitar solos, one wild and energetic and one more bluesy and subdued in the full album cut. The song consists of two verses and two choruses, followed by a lengthy instrumental coda. The lyrics paint the image of a woman seeking a man to replace the one who left, while Prince refuses, saying that she would not be satisfied with a one-night stand. The music and accompanying music video pushed this song to the top 10 in the US. The video was taken from the '' Sign “☮” the Times'' film, and is a live take of the song and included the horn section of Eric L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |