Darren on Prince and the Power of Music

Ever since I was four, I loved records. 45's, LP's and tapes, they were all magic. Never more magical than in the spring of 1985.

I bought Prince's Around The World in a Day album on cassette the day it came out. It was two days before my birthday and I just had to have it. I don't know why, I'd never been the kind of kid who had to have records the same day they were released (that would come much later.) Going to a record store was a pain because as a youth I did not drive and the mall where we bought all our stuff was a ways off. Still, I managed to get my mom to bring me to the mall and I bought it with my own money. I just HAD to have it. I chose the Cassette as I was under the delusion it sounded better because it was from the master tape, whatever that was. I was young and stupid.

After I bought it, I shoved the cassette in it's case into my pocket. One thing I was certain of: I did not want my folks to know I bought a Prince album because of what might be on it. Prince was DANGEROUS.

One of his main attractions to a young mind was his music being so sexually-charged. I was in single digits when I heard Prince for the first time; even a young mind like mine could pick up on "Little Red Corvette." The B-side "Erotic City" was especially naughty like watching Cinemax after 10:00 PM  on a Friday night, which I also had to sneak around to see. Parents were alerted to the dangers of his music: no less an authority than our parish priest condemned Prince's music as "Purple Drain." A girl in my class who was a super-fan was singled by the Catholic School teachers for bringing his music to school on a cassette player. He was the #1 culprit for the PMRC crowd. AND YET, somehow, SOME WAY, my *younger* brother was gifted with a copy of the full Purple Rain LP for Christmas. (Mom always liked him best, as Tommy Smothers used to say.) I was soon "borrowing" his copy to listen to "Darling Nikki" because it gave me a thrill: "Hey guys, did you hear the one about Nikki and the magazine!" Truly as trilling as sneaking a can of PBR out of the fridge. Ah, innocent youth.

Little did I know that the thrill of buying a cassette on the release date would lead to a full-blown obsession. I shouldn't have been too shocked: the music on that cassette was sumptuous. Layer upon layer of production. With the psychedelic tinge to it all, It was a headphone experience for sure. The soundscape he painted - and let's not forget the aforementioned sexy stuff - opened up a whole new consciousness between these two ears. In the years that followed, I'd wait in line for new releases at midnight on Monday night. Prince started that.

Being the young DJ I knew I would eventually become - I'd had mini-transmitters and mics in my posession already - I knew "Pop Life" would be a hit. Radio picked up on "Raspberry Beret" first and it was the jam of the summer. At least my summer.

Every time I hear this, it takes me back. Damn, I wish a girl like that would walk in through the out door. I have ever since that summer.