Music - Prince

Prince has to be a huge icon and I guess a really big influence on my life.

I started to follow his music around the time of Purple Rain and Around The World In A Day. Of course Prince's career started much earlier (back in '78 to be exact with For You).

For all the music I follow and for all the acts I admire Prince has to be the biggest - the most proficient and the funkiest. No one on this planet can lay down the licks like Prince can and I am really annoyed that the majority of the world doesn't seem him as the excellent guitarist that he is.

Before mass pop marketing and forced record sales Prince was one of the very few artists that could easily release new work every year - to be correct he actually manages to produce at least ten albums a year but was restricted to the release schedule that Warner Bros imposed on him.

None of Prince's albums sound the same they may all have the link of love, sex and spirituality but there is such a diverse mix of talent and sound. Partly because he changed his backing group quite often but even so he was the director in his own destiny.

He has worked with numerous people and guided several careers. Even when he isn't directly involved (Nothing Compares 2 U "borrowed" by Sinead O'Connor and Kiss covered by Tom Jones and The Art of Noise (badly)), he manages to salvage careers of established artists or forge them into whole new area's.

One of the best songs Prince wrote for someone else has to be "Love Thy Will Be Done." which was recorded by Martika in the early 90's. Such a spellbinding song, perfect for Martika's vocal range.

Whenever I look back over an era, a year or an event I can be sure there is either an album or a song creating, emphasising the mood by Prince and his music.

It is such a shame he has decided to release music solely over the Internet but the press are not behind him anymore and I guess he has his reasons.

The NPGMusicClub really has to be a totally original resource, a bit like the David Bowie fan club, this is totally devoted to Prince past, present and future (not forgetting the infamous vaults ;o) ). You want new tracks? You want unreleased shit? You want da bomb? You want you're own private audience with the master? Then check out NPGMC ;o)

Most of Prince's work is now experimental and even less mainstream than his last WB material but there is still a raw energy and a fantastic edge that just gets you out of your seat and dancing. Much much better and far more original than anyone else could be.

It is impossible for me to select a best song by Prince as there simply are too many (and you have to consider official and non official releases) but here is my current favourite top 20 Prince songs.