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Prince Prince album
Warner Bros. Records
albumIt was for radio rather than for me, but it got a lot of people interested in my music.
The eponymous Prince album is often mistaken as his debut release but is in fact Prince’s second studio LP. Like his debut For You in 1978, Prince wrote every song and played every instrument heard on the album. It was also his first LP supported with a tour; during which, and unusually, he performed every song from the album.
Prince was recorded at Alpha Studios in Burbank, California over a six week period from late April to mid June 1979. The studio was within the home of its proprietor, sound engineer Gary Brandt, who helped Prince produce the album. In the record, Prince explores many genres – disco, rock, funk, soul, yet is a more toned-down release to his previous LP For You, deploying fewer instruments. This was entirely intentional as Prince was under pressure to improve on the chart position of his previous album as well as reign back on the $170,000 cost to produce For You. Prince is therefore a simpler affair. Not only did production fall well within budget at just $35,000, having tried too hard with the debut LP to employ every trick in the book and fill every channel of the studio’s console. The troubled recording of For You led to Prince parting company with his manager Owen Husney. Prince’s second LP, self-titled as if to reset the false start he experienced with For You, Prince was recorded in the calm and unpretentious home setting of Alpha Studios. Under the steady guidance of Brandt, the sessions were less pent-up and Prince more at ease and receptive to Brandt’s guidance and learn from him the nuances and intricacies of sound engineering. Under Brandt the finished result was a snappier sounding, hit delivering, record.
Eager to regain faith of his record label Warner Bros, Prince was written with the intention to deliver at least one hit single, which it achieved with I Wanna Be Your Lover, a track Prince wrote about his infatuation for Patrice Rushen. The lead single, released on 24 August 1979, became an instant hit at the discos and, selling 1 million copies it knocked on the door of Billboard’s top 10. I Wanna Be Your Lover helped Prince album sell 1 million units in the US and to garner Prince his first RIAA certification, Gold on 15 February 1980. Which was promptly upgraded to Platinum on 21 February. Like many of his later albums Prince was released on 19 October 1979, the favoured month for record labels who considered it the peak time to sell music. Prince climbed to 22 on the Billboard album chart on 19 January 1980, a 116 position improvement on his debut. The LP sat in its Black Top 100 list for an impressive 23 weeks. I Wanna Be Your Lover would remain Prince’s biggest biggest selling single until 1999 in 1982, peaking at number 11 in the single’s chart it struck RIAA’s Gold certification on 18 March 1980 to secure Prince his first certified hit song.
The album’s second supporting single Still Waiting came out a few days later and was Prince’s first ballad – influenced by his recently former girlfriend Kim Upsher – it and reached number 65 in the Billboard R&B singles chart. It and the LPs remaining singles all failed to enter the Hot 100. The third single Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? was released just as the supporting tour’s second leg was about to start, and one month ahead of Prince’s stint as support act for Rick James, it peaked at 13 in the R&B chart. Possibly owing to it not having a chorus, the fourth single Sexy Dancer skipped the US but was released in the UK, as both a 7″ edit and its 8:50 original full length version on 12″ backed with Bambi. Prince felt the pace of this track was too out of place on the album and so owing to this, Bambi was issued as a 7″ A-side in the Netherlands and Belgium only, issued on 19 September 1980. The album’s disco dance track Sexy Dancer is reputedly influenced by Prince’s then girlfriend, fellow Minnesotan and figure skater Leslie Fhima. The near 9min extended cut of the song became Prince’s first of many 12″ versions available only as a single – it was a UK only issue.
Surprisingly, what since became the album’s most recognisable track I Feel For You, was never released as a promo for Prince but was twice covered by other artists. The first was The Pointer Sisters in 1982, which put their version of the track on their album So Excited! The second cover famously scored a number one hit for Chaka Khan. In 1984 at the height of his fame, Prince offered her the track to cover and help reboot her career. Khan’s version of the song was released on 1 October 1984 and stormed to the top of the UK singles and US R&B charts and won Prince a Grammy for writing the Best R&B Song. Although Prince never charted in the UK, its sales remained steady through Prince’s career and the LP was awarded BPI’s Silver certification on 12 November 2004. Significantly, albeit little known, the studio sessions for Prince also conceived the iconic track Purple Rain. Prince was firmly on the road to stardom.
Cover story
Ever since his first album, Prince was adamant not to be pictured smiling on his album covers. He wanted to be portrayed as a serious artist. Many pictures were taken in the cover’s photo session at LA, in which Earth, Wind & Fire’s photographer Jurgen Reisch captured countless shots of 20-year-old Prince striking a series of poses – some with a black leather jacket on and many more with him topless. The album’s back cover, a shot done by Chris Callis, is even more interesting in that it shows Prince sat on a white winged horse, wearing nothing but shorts. The wings were art-worked onto the image to make the horse look like Pegasus and to cover Prince’s shorts so to suggest he was naked. The front and back cover images present Prince naked because he didn’t want to be looked upon as just another R&B artist, the best way he thought would visualise this was to be pictured without clothes. The album’s logo was created by graphic artist Terry Taylor, finishing a simple but effective cover. The contact sheet from this 1979 photo session was later used as the cover for I Feel For You (Acoustic Demo), issued by The Prince Estate in 2019.
Performers
- Vocals / all Instr
- Prince
Data
- Producers
- Prince and Gary Brandt (uncredited)
- Label
- Warner Bros. Records
- Distribution
- Warner Bros. Records
- Cover/Design
- Jurgen Reisch, George Chacon and Terry Taylor (logo)
- Released
- 46 years ago on 19 October 1979
- Reissued
- 4 February 2022
- Running Time
- 40:54
- US Chart Peak
- 22
- US R&B Peak
- 3
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Prince Album
- #2
- Orig. Formats
-
Tracklist
- I Wanna Be Your Lover (5:47)
- Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? [feat. André Cymone] (3:49)
- Sexy Dancer (4:18)
- When We're Dancing Close And Slow (5:18)
- With You (3:59)
- Bambi (4:22)
- Still Waiting (4:24)
- I Feel For You (3:24)
- It's Gonna Be Lonely (5:30)
Released as a single
Singles from Prince
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 24 August 1979
- US Chart Peak
- 11
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Jurgen Reisch and George Chacon
- Format
-
- I Wanna Be Your Lover [Edit] (2:57)
- My Love Is Forever (4:08)
I Wanna Be Your Lover
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 24 August 1979
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- 41
- Cover/Art
- Generic sleeve
- Format
-
- I Wanna Be Your Lover (5:47)
- Just As Long As We’re Together (6:24)
Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 23 January 1980
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Jurgen Reisch and George Chacon
- Format
-
- Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? [feat. André Cymone] (3:49)
- Baby (3:09)
Still Waiting
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 25 March 1980
- US Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- UK Chart Peak
- No Release
- Cover/Art
- Generic sleeve
- Format
-
- Still Waiting [Edit] (3:48)
- Bambi (4:22)
Sexy Dancer
Warner Bros. Records
- Released
- 11 April 1980
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Cover/Art
- Chris Callis and George Chacon
- Format
-
- Sexy Dancer (4:18)
- Bambi (4:22)
Sexy Dancer
Warner Bros. Records
12"/Maxi-Single
- Released
- 11 April 1980
- Distribution
- WEA Records
- US Chart Peak
- No Release
- UK Chart Peak
- Did not chart
- Cover/Art
- Generic sleeve
- Format
-
- Sexy Dancer [Long Version] (8:50)
- Bambi (4:22)
Supporting tour
Prince Tour
1979/80
Prince album review
Prince is the eponymous album and the one that would also provide Prince the fledgling pop star his springboard hit: I Wanna Be Your Lover. In one fell stroke seemingly writing out For You from history. The song kicks off a surprisingly solid album for what was then the youngest record producer in history. Naming the LP after his own name confuses many to believe that his was his debut, which in a kind of way it is as many of the songs were outtakes from the first album For You. Where For You trod carefully, Prince was sexier and set the scene for Prince’s next record Dirty Mind. Prince – the album – reminds us how the soulful dude Prince – the man – really was.
Unlike his cruder subsequent LPs, while the sexual central narrative remains, Prince is refined and allows the music to wallow in the foreplay. It was the inclusion of I Wanna Be Your Lover elevates Prince to Platinum selling standard but many a fan shall argue the highlight is Bambi, quite possibly Prince’s best guitar led track. The third big hitter is Sexy Dancer, ripe for the discos. I Feel For You is better known for Chaka Khan’s version which she rebooted in 1984, but it’s the original on this album that showcases its raw impact. It’s Gonna Be Lonely remains a personal favourite, as it is true as the old adage advises the old ones are the best. With tracks like these that’s impossible to disagree.
Prince is rated 3.5 out of 5 by Goldies Parade.
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