The Purple Second String
Reviewed on this page:
The Time - What Time Is
It? - 3 x 2 = 6 - Ice Cream
Castles - Apollonia 6 - The Glamorous Life - The
Family - 8 - Jill
Jones - 16 - Time Waits For
No One - Pandemonium - Times Squared - The
Voice - 1-800-NEW-FUNK - The Exodus - Child Of The
Sun
I've limited this section to albums wholly or mostly produced by
Prince/O(+>. I don't want to cover everyone he's ever worked with
or written a song for, as this includes a huge number of people
from Ray Charles to Kate Bush to Kenny Rogers.
That's why Wendy & Lisa are on their own page.
I should point out that the ratings here are far more generous than
my ratings of the man's own albums: Jill Jones for example,
gets four stars, but I don't really think it's as good as Prince,
which I gave two and a half. The reason for this is basically that I gave
some Prince albums very harsh ratings even though they're pretty
good, because they're not nearly as good as his best albums -- in
order to be a useful guide to someone trying to figure out which
Prince albums to start with. I'm assuming anyone reading this page
has all of Prince's real albums, and is looking to see which
protegé albums are worth the money, so I've adjusted the
rating scale accordingly. (DBW)
Personnel:
The Time: Morris Day, vocals; Jimmy Jam,
keyboards (left 1983); Terry Lewis, bass (left 1983);
Jesse Johnson, guitar; Monte Moir, keyboards;
Jellybean Johnson, drums.
Vanity 6: Vanity (now Denise Matthews),
Brenda Bennett, Susan, vocals.
Apollonia 6: Apollonia Kotero, Brenda Bennett
& Susan, vocals.
Madhouse: Eric Leeds,
sax; Sheila E., drums; Matt Fink, keyboards; Levi
Seacer Jr., bass
(Prince generally sings backup and plays multiple instruments on
all these releases, usually uncredited)
 The Time (The Time: 1981)
Produced by Prince alter-ego "Jamie Starr," this album outsold
Prince's own release of the period, Dirty Mind. This is a
fun record, with Morris Day playing the role of sex-crazed
egomaniac to perfection on "Cool," "Get It Up" and "The Stick," and
even pulls off a fine ballad, "Girl." The jams, though, tend to go
on too long. (DBW)
 What Time Is It? (The Time: 1982)
A rerun of the previous album, with no really good tunes ("The Walk") - the
fantastic bass line of "777-9311" is undercut by a dull,
repetitious chorus. Meanwhile, the ballad "Gigolos Get Lonely Too" can't make up its mind
whether it's a love song or a parody, and doesn't quite succeed
either way. The New Wave "Onedayi'mgonnabesomebody" is definitely a parody, but unfortunately not a funny one.
(DBW)
3 x 2 = 6 (Vanity 6: 1982)
Prince's first entry in the girl group sweepstakes; there's not
much of note here: besides the hit "Nasty Girl" the best tune is
the one Prince didn't write, "He's So Dull" by former Revolution
guitarist Dez Dickerson. (DBW)
 Ice Cream Castles (The Time: 1984)
Mostly formula funk in this effort. It was the Time's best seller,
with big hits "Jungle Love" and "The Bird," but that's mostly
because the tunes were featured in "Purple Rain." There is one
great song ("If The Kid Can't Make You Come") which I'm sure was
originally destined for a Prince album. Maybe he had second
thoughts about the lyrical concept. (DBW)
Apollonia 6 (Apollonia 6: 1984)
Much more enjoyable than the Vanity 6 effort, and not because of
Apollonia's vocal ability, which is almost nonexistent. The hit,
"Sex Shooter," is solid, and two other tracks, "A Million Miles"
and "Some Kind Of Lover" are even better. (DBW)
The Glamorous Life (Sheila E.: 1984)
Stick with the 12" single of the title track; there's nothing else
on the record worth hearing. Sheila is a very good percussion
player, but you'd never guess it from the material here. (DBW)
The Family (The Family: 1985)
Here Prince throws together half of the Time with Wendy's sister
Susannah Melvoin and sax player Eric Leeds; the result is short of
spectacular. This is the place to go if you want to hear the
original version of "Nothing Compares 2 U," which later became a
huge hit for Sinead O'Connor; otherwise, the only number of any
interest here is the James Brown-inspired
"Mutiny." (DBW)
8 (Madhouse: 1987)
Prince's take on jazz fusion is not terribly interesting; he just
comes up with some chords and a riff, and lets band members solo
uninspiredly for a while, and then goes on to the next tune. "6" is
an effective funk jam; the rest mostly just drags. (DBW)
 Jill Jones (Jill Jones: 1987)
The best album by a Prince protege, partly because Jones has the
best voice of any of his proteges (not counting Rosie Gaines, who
was established before Prince ran into her). There is a fair amount
of filler here, but the best songs ("For Love," "All Day All Night"
featuring the Revolution) are terrific. For more information on this
talented singer (who for a variety of reasons hasn't released a solo
album since) see the fine unofficial fan site.
(DBW)
 16 (Madhouse: 1987)
Like the previous Madhouse effort, there's no real spark here,
although he still puts together some decent hooks ("10," "13").
Apparently Eric Leeds and the other bandmembers had more input into
these songs, but it doesn't help. (DBW)
Time Waits For No One (Mavis
Staples: 1989)
The first album in quite a while from the Staples Singers' former
lead vocalist is mostly written and produced by Prince. Production
ranges from tasteful and subdued ("Train," "Come Home") to generic
Prince funk ("Jaguar"), and either way, she never really gets to
turn that glorious voice loose. Still, slow tunes like "Crazy" and "Come Home" are so good you won't regret picking this up. (DBW)
Pandemonium (The Time: 1990)
Prince had written an album of songs for a Time reunion when former
members Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis decided to get involved; they
shelved the album's best tune, "Murph Drag," but together with
Jesse Johnson they came up with an even better song, the scorching
heavy metal "Skillet." "Chocolate," written by Prince back in 1983
in the sessions for Ice Cream Castles is also outstanding--
but most of the other material, whether by Prince or by Morris Day
and Jam/Lewis, is second rate. (DBW)
 Times Squared (Eric Leeds: 1991)
First solo release by this longtime Prince associate, in a fusion
vein. There's a wonderful funk suite, "The Dopamine Rush," originally written for the canned Madhouse album 24, and "Once
Upon A Time" is a moving duet between Prince on guitar and Eric on flute and sax. Elsewhere, though, there are just a bunch of decent riffs
that don't develop into actual songs (title track, one of several tunes with the weak arranging concept of building to a crescendo by playing
the same phrase over and over, increasingly louder, until you're ready to scream). (DBW)
Goldnigga (N.P.G.: 1993)
I haven't heard this yet; reportedly
it's not nearly as good as The Exodus, which isn't
that great to start with. (DBW)
The Voice (Mavis Staples: 1993)
Apparently Prince lost interest in this record and called in
producer Ricky Peterson to finish it up. Mostly updated R&B,
there's great material ("House In Order," "You Will Be Moved"),
good material ("The Undertaker," the title song) and a bunch of
songs that aren't real interesting. Again, you wish the producers
would just get out of the way and let the woman sing!
(DBW)
1-800-NEW-FUNK (Various: 1994)
A compilation of tracks from unfinished albums by artists on
Prince's defunct vanity label Paisley Park. Songs vary from very
good ("Standing At The Altar" performed by Margie Cox) to pretty
good ("Love Sign" performed by O(+> and Nona Gaye) to
doubleplusungood ("If I Love U 2nite" by then-Mrs. O(+>, Mayte).
(DBW)
The Exodus (N.P.G.: 1995)
A (mostly) funk album from his then-backup band, includes some
monotonous tunes ("Big Fun," "Return Of The Bump Squad"), really
irritating segues, and a couple of brilliant songs: "Count The
Days" is a simple-sounding ballad with a beautiful melody that
completely contrasts with ultraharsh lyrics; "The Exodus Has Begun"
is an extended funk jam that packs a serious punch. (DBW)
Child Of The Sun (Mayte: 1995)
Only two thirds of this album is new: it's padded out with Mayte's
version of the Nameless One's "The Most Beautiful Girl [Boy] in The
World," a song originally released by Elisa Fiorillo ("Love's No
Fun" -- Mayte's version is much better, though, both vocals and
arrangement), and two versions of "If I Love U 2Nite," which
had not only been previously released by Mayte, it was recorded in
1991 by Mica Paris, who's a far better singer than Mayte will ever
be. The album is also marred by some tuneless technotrash
("Children Of The Sun") and the Babyface/TLC ripoff "Mo' Better," but
there's good news too: "In Your Gracious Name" is a lovely ballad
with hip Latin percussion on the fade, "Baby Don't Care" is a
routine dance tune enlivened by spoken vocals by former Prince
flame Troy Beyer, and "Ain't No Place Like U" is classic genre-bending, as the man cranks out heavily distorted lead guitar over
a mid-tempo techno track. (DBW)
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