Prince had a record of appearing on the radio, but not appearing. In other cases it was a B-side which would be turned to a modern standard by another person. In some cases it was a chart hit under the name of what would appear like a typo, joke or character in his own universe.
That sleight of hand was important, as it expanded the myth: and Prince was not merely an artist with a vault and a wardrobe, but a behind the scenes craftsman of the most unforgettable moments of pop: often working under some sort of alias, to enable the songs to travel on their own.
1. “Manic Monday” – The Bangles
The song sounds like a sunny journal entry but its back story is a bona fide Prince: he had given the song out under the credit of Christ. It turned out to be the breakthrough of Bangles, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. The piano tap and the lyric of a lover deciding to get down last night make the song tied to Prince even without his name on the sleeve.
2. “Sugar Walls” – Sheena Easton
When he was not in the mood to write subtle pop, Prince did not do it. The song, which was creded to “Alexander Nevermind,” also gave the age its most notorious line, namely, “Come spend the night inside my sugar walls,” yet it still made it to No. 9 in the Hot 100. The gloss of the synth-funk in the song also contributed to a bigger debate on explicit lyrics when the song emerged on the PMRCs Filthy fifteen.
3. “I Feel for You” – Chaka Khan
It was originally written by Prince, but later in 1984, Chaka Khan made it a crossover machine, an electro-funk blockbuster that featured Stevie Wonder on harmonica and a rap by Melle Mel. The outcome hit the number five position on the Hot 100 and the 1985 Grammy Award of the best R&B song. It is also a reminder of how the songs of Prince could outlast the complete change of the wardrobe: disco roots, hip-hop edges and, nevertheless, his.
4. Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O Connor
Written as a side project of Prince, The Family, the song could have remained a mimic hit among fans unless O’Connor had given the song an emotional title. Her version reached No. 1 and could not be separated with its close-up mournful video. Prince responded impolitely and in a giving manner: I love it, it is great! and “I reckon we have taken that song as far as we could go, and then there is someone else that was expected to come by and pick it up.
5. “The Glamorous Life” – Sheila E.
Prince was able to compose a pop success that remained a flex by the musicians. The song hit No. 7 on the Hot 100, and its myth can only increase in those areas radio had to excise, such as the percussion fireworks that allowed Sheila E. to sound like the protagonist of her own film. In her memoir, she said that the creative scramble that made it click was as follows: “It was originally an instrumental, and I could not think of anything to say to it initially. After I had once started, however, the words came fast.
6. “Stand Back” – Stevie Nicks
The writing credit is officially attributed to Nicks, but the DNA of the song is attributed to the song of Prince -Little Red Corvette. Nicks explained that Prince would come to the studio, walk in and surgically grab the machines within a matter of minutes: he would walk over to the synthesizers that had been set up, be brilliant about 25 minutes and then walk out. The song hit No. 5 a hit that has the sense of a cameo even with the cameo being largely sound.
7. “Jungle Love” – The Time
It seems that Prince-world is three minutes long: drum machines, stretched-rubber bass, a hook to sing along, a rock guitar streak that does not allow it to remain in the same place. It was released in late 1984, and climbed to No. 20 on the Hot 100, and was also on the same cultural wave as Purple Rain, The Time has been featured in the film. It also Highlights the fact that Prince is a band-maker, a talent-assembler, a sonic blueprint, then letting the record discover its own swagger.
Virtuosity was the secret of Prince, and range genre range, vocal range, and capacity to bend a song to another without rubbing his fingerprints in palmolive. Nowadays, these songs continue to make the same statement: the history of pop does not necessarily define who wrote them, and Prince preferred it to be so.
