Sooo, back in 1984 my friend’s Kirsten, Beth, Denise and I were Prince crazy. Purple had never been hotter and I think we even wore scraps of black lace (dig if you will that picture…I think I’ve tried to suppress the memory that they were black lace gloves, but sadly I think that was the truth). Anyway, we played the album to death— and yes! It was an actual album. Mine was the limited-edition purple vinyl and came with a cool poster of Prince and the Revolution. Aw yeah! We couldn’t get enough of the movie either. I remember I found the film scandalous, with all it’s sexy, lacey, velveteen nastiness (and by nasty I mean AWESOME). I thought Prince was a genius.
A few years ago I caught the movie on TV and I have to admit its pretty darn cheez-tastic viewed through modern-day eyes. I kinda giggled throughout. Like, really? The little puppet on a stick guy?
What seemed so cool and edgy back then seemed totally dated and funny. Kinda like when Fred Armisen does his Prince impersonation on SNL. But what HAS stood the test of time is the album. It’s still as rockin’ as ever. And in honor of the 25th Anniversary of the album’s release, the awesome SPIN magazine has cooked up a cool little tribute compilation. Yup, it’s pretty fun. Cool bands like Of Montreal, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and a whole mess o’ other artists cover the album. The best part, of course, is that it’s absolutely freeeeee! Yes, i said FREE. Click this link right here to download your free copy. You will need to enter the answer to a question to prove that you bought an issue of the magazine, and unfortunately due to my loyalty to Dr. Funk (of The Revolution, natch) I can't very well tell you that the answer to the question is “keyboardist”, OK?? But if you want to enter that in the box, that's your own business. I'm just sayin'.
Any of you fine folks have silly memories of the Purple Reign??
