From 1987's Sign O' The Times, probably my second favorite album by Prince, who died six years ago today.
Something about this album, and this song in particular, really conjures all of the tones and textures, smells and sensual impressions of 1987 to me (it's not exactly readable as 1987 in my head, but when I figure where I was in my life, the specific things I remember about my parents' home at the time, I know it's 1987-1988). There's an underlying tone or ambiance to this track that feels very specific to that time, even though I do not believe I ever heard this song at that time.
This isn't unparalleled. The recording technology of the time - the sonic signatures of microphones, whether you're aware of them or not - definitely inform the era. Also, the keyboard patches, the drum sounds, all of it adds up to a certain era in the recording industry. That's not magick, and it's not B.S. It's fact. I'm assuming that has a lot to do with why this song impacts my memory so drastically. But it makes this album particularly important to me now, so many years later. It's like a time machine, because I can literally smell my parents living room - where I snuck up to watch Friday Night Videos - when I hear this song.
Weird. But cool. Very cool. Thank you, Prince. Whether you realized it or not, you instigated time travel.
Watch:
I had no intention of watching this flick until I did. It is fantastic, and probably directly responsible for my purchasing tickets to see Anthrax in late July (if I still live here). Mr. Brown and I saw Anthrax - with opener White Zombie - in 1993 at Chicago's Aragon Brawlroom for the Sound of White Noise tour. This means I've never seen Anthrax with original singer Joey Belladonna.
To say I am excited would be an understatement. It's not going to keep me from moving, but if I am still here - because I'm thinking even if we find something in Tennessee in June, closing will dictate we're still in LaLaLand by the time of this show - I can't wait. At the freakin' Palladium, no less.
Playlist:
Various Artists - Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Midlake - The Courage of Others
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Led Zeppelin - Coda
Peter Gabriel - So
Prince - Sign O' The Times
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Wolves in the Throneroom - Two Hunters
Card:
