He had the look.<\/p>\n
Prince Rogers Nelson, just five-foot-two and the second-most-famous musician to come from Minnesota, had a unique and captivating appearance on the big screen and the small screen in the summer of 1984.<\/p>\n
With his thin moustache, jerry-curl \u2019do, frilly white shirt, purple jacket and come-hither glare, the artist better known as Prince was both impish and imposing.<\/p>\n
And inescapable, thanks to Purple Rain.<\/p>\n
Prince and his band The Revolution released the soundtrack album 30 years ago, on June 25, 1984. The semi-autobiographical 1984 Warner Bros. movie grossed $80 million, but it\u2019s Prince\u2019s soundtrack that has had the lasting impression. It\u2019s sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.<\/p>\n
Purple Rain is the first album where Prince credits a band. He expanded his approach on the soundtrack, incorporating pop, rock, R & B \u2014 even a dabble of psychedelia \u2014 into the funk. While this accessible musical hybrid helped expand his audience, Prince didn\u2019t tone down his raunchy lyrics for commercial appeal.<\/p>\n
Already known for his explicit sexual depictions (check out 1980\u2019s Dirty Mind), Prince added to his repertoire on Purple Rain with Darling Nikki \u2014 and in the process became a different kind of innovator. The song, about a sexually enthusiastic woman, helped inspire Tipper Gore to create the Parents Music Resource Center in the U.S. The lobby group pressured the Recording Industry Association of America, and Purple Rain became one of the first albums to bear the now-commonplace \u201cparental advisory explicit content\u201d warning.<\/p>\n
But Purple Rain isn\u2019t about stickers, it\u2019s about songs.<\/p>\n
Dig, if you will, the picture: When Doves Cry, Prince\u2019s bouncy, bass-less love lament hit No. 1 in Canada, the U.S. and Australia. And who could forget the era-defining music video (directed by His Purpleness himself): Where else can you get Prince, doves, a bathtub and dancing?<\/p>\n
The other big hit from Purple Rain is Let\u2019s Go Crazy, party anthem for the ages. Brilliantly kicked off with an funereal organ part, the entrance of drum beat and punchy guitar to start the party is one of the most memorable transformations in pop music history. It\u2019s enough to make party people go crazy.