Controversy (album)
| Controversy | |||||||||
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| Prince's studio album | |||||||||
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Publication |
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admission |
Spring 1981 - August 23, 1981 |
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| Label (s) | Warner Bros. Records | ||||||||
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Format (s) |
LP, CD |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
37:15 |
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| occupation |
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Prince |
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Studio (s) |
Hollywood Sound ( Los Angeles ) |
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Controversy ( English for controversy ) is the fourth studio album by the American musician Prince . It was released on October 14, 1981 on the Warner Bros. Records label . The music on the album belongs to the genre R&B , dance , funk , new wave , pop , rock and rockabilly . Lisa Coleman is one of the guest musicians .
Music critics rated controversy differently; Praise and negative criticism were roughly evenly distributed. A low point in Prince's career were two concerts, which he completed to promote the album release in October 1981 in the opening act of The Rolling Stones , when he was booed from the stage by the audience. The controversy tour , however, was commercially successful. The album achieved platinum status in the US in 1985 and gold status in the UK in 2014.
Emergence
In the spring of 1981, Prince lived in a ranch-style house in Chanhassen , Minnesota, where he lived until January 1985. His sound engineer at the time, Don Batts, installed the 16-track studio that Prince had used in his previous home to record his 1980 album Dirty Mind . In addition, his musical equipment was updated. Prince also placed a piano in the first floor living room that he had bought new and was wired to his private home studio on the floor below. Prince spent most of the summer of 1981 recording songs in his home studio, known as the Kiowa Trail Home Studio, which drummer Bobby Z. confirmed: “No alcohol, no drugs. Nothing. He played music twelve hours a day and had a couple of girlfriends. That was it."
Prince recorded three songs in his home studio for the Controversy album in the spring and summer of 1981 , namely: the title track, Sexuality and Annie Christian . He also had an incomplete demo recording of Ronnie, Talk to Russia and a song called Let's Rock . Teenagers dancing in music clubs inspired Prince to do Let's Rock . Immediately after he had recorded this song, he wanted to release Let's Rock as a single without having to follow an album. Warner Bros. Records refused his proposal. Prince later referred to this disagreement with Warner as one of the first times that he felt restricted in his artistic freedom by the record company . Prince also recorded a first version of the song Tick, Tick, Bang , a revised version of which can be heard on his album Graffiti Bridge (1990).
In early August 1981 Prince flew to Los Angeles , California, to continue Controversy's album recordings at the Hollywood Sound Recorders recording studio . He played the four songs Do Me, Baby , Jack U Off , Ronnie, Talk to Russia and Let's Work - previously called Let's Rock . Bobby Z. and keyboardist Dr. Fink were flown in from Minneapolis , Minnesota so that the two musicians could support Prince at Jack U Off . Lisa Coleman was living in Los Angeles at the time and sang the backing vocals in Controversy and Ronnie, Talk to Russia .
After a few days, however, there were technical problems with the equipment in the Hollywood Sound Recorder, whereupon Prince rented the nearby Sunset Sound recording studio, which is also located in Los Angeles, for ten days on August 14, 1981. He was assisted as a sound engineer by Peggy McCreary, who from then on was responsible for Prince's recordings for the next few years. In the Sunset Sound , Prince mixed the previously recorded songs for Controversy and overdubs them . On August 16, he recorded the last song for the album with Private Joy , where his girlfriend at the time Susan Moonsie inspired most of the lyrics. Private Joy is the first Prince song to use a Linn LM-1 drum machine, which was new to the market at the time. On August 23, 1981, Prince finally finished the album Controversy .
In the fall of 1981 Prince recorded the acapella piece The Second Coming in his private home studio in Chanhassen, which served as the intro of his controversy tour, but has not yet been released on recorded media (as of 2020).
Design of the cover
On the cover , Prince can be seen in a lavender-colored trench coat with rivets, on which a badge with the inscription "Rude Boy" (German: "rude boy") is emblazoned. In the background and on the back of the cover you can read fake news from the newspaper The Controversy Daily, which does not exist in reality , such as: "Annie Christian Sentenced to Die!" (German: "Annie Christian sentenced to death!") "President Signs Gun control Act" (dt .: "President signed weapons control Act ") and "Lingerie - new Fashion trend" (dt .: "underwear - the new fashion trend"). In addition, headlines like "Love Thy Neighbor" (dt .: " Love your neighbor ") and "Do You Believe in God" (dt. "Do you believe in God") to find. A headline on the back cover is only "Joni", which Prince Joni Mitchell meant because she had inspired him musically in his career.
The inner sleeve of the LP and the booklet accompanying the CD are kept simple; neither photos nor lyrics are included. In the song title of Jack U Off , Prince uses the spelling “u” instead of the word “you” for the first time.
music
Musical style
On the album Controversy , Prince combines different styles of music; New wave influences and synthesizer sound can be heard in the title track, as can R&B in the ballad Do Me Baby , funk in Sexuality and Let's Work or rockabilly in the song Jack U Off . For the song Private Joy , Prince used the then newly released Linn LM-1 drum computer for the first time in his career . By using this drum computer, Prince had to rely on even less help from other musicians or technicians.
Lyrics and singing
In the title track Controversy , Prince deals with questions that some US media asked him at the time. For example, whether he is straight or gay , or whether his skin color is white or black. Prince doesn't give an answer in the song. Prince also quotes the Lord's Prayer .
The songs Do Me Baby , Private Joy , Let's Work and Jack U Off are all about sexual themes. The lyrics to Private Joy were dedicated to Prince Susan Moonsie , with whom he had had a relationship since 1980. He met her in high school . Jack U Off makes reference to masturbation . Ronnie, Talk to Russia is an appeal from Prince to Ronald Reagan - then President of the United States - to make peace with the Soviet Union . In the song Annie Christian, Prince lists real headlines, such as the murder of John Lennon .
On the album, Prince deviates from his typical falsetto singing for the first time and also explores the deeper areas of his voice. Most of his lyrics sings Prince on the album melodic set to music , but the title track and the song Annie Christian passages are separated by chanting before.
List of titles and publications
| No. | song | author | length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Controversy | Prince | 7:15 |
| 2 | Sexuality | Prince | 4:21 |
| 3 | Do me baby | Prince | 7:42 |
| 4th | Private Joy | Prince | 4:37 |
| 5 | Ronnie, Talk to Russia | Prince | 1:51 |
| 6th | Let's work | Prince | 3:53 |
| 7th | Annie Christian | Prince | 4:23 |
| 8th | Jack U Off | Prince | 3:09 |
Controversy was released on October 14, 1981 in the US and on November 13, 1981 in the UK. The album is available on vinyl , compact cassette and compact disc .
Singles
Four singles were released from the album: The title track Controversy was released as a single edit version on September 2, 1981, which is 3:36 minutes long. The B-side When You Were Mine is also included on the previous album Dirty Mind (1980). In 1993, Controversy was released again as a single edit version - this time from the greatest hits compilation The Hits / The B-Sides . However, the single was not released worldwide at the time. Prince also recorded a six-minute live version of Controversy at a concert in Hawaii in December 2003 and sold it as a limited CD single on his website at the time, NPG-Music-Club.com.
Sexuality was released as the second single on October 16, 1981 . The single was only released in Germany, Australia and Japan. The single version of Controversy can be found on the B-side . In Japan, the single version of I Wanna Be Your Lover from the album Prince (1979) was selected as the B-side .
Let's Work was released on January 6, 1982, and it was shortened to 2:56 minutes. The B-side Ronnie, Talk to Russia is identical to the album version. Do Me, Baby was released on July 16, 1982 as the fourth and final single from the album. The single was only released in the USA and Peru and was also released in a shortened single-edit version with a length of 3:56 minutes, Private Joy serves as the B-side .
Music videos
Music videos were only shot for the singles Controversy and Sexuality . Both videos are similar and were recorded in a Minneapolis studio in October 1981 . Director of music videos was Bruce Gowers .
Cover versions
Occasionally musicians recorded cover versions of songs from the Controversy album ; the title track has been reinterpreted , for example, by Hefner (1997), Victor Bailey (2001), David Helbock (2012) and Chris Brokaw (2017). Do Me, Baby covered Meli'sa Morgan (1985), Lindy Layton (1991) and Jade (1993). Jack U Off was re-recorded by Robyn (2006) and Private Joy by La Toya Jackson (1984).
Debacle for Prince in the opening act for The Rolling Stones
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Mick Jagger first saw Prince at a live concert in 1980 in New York, state , and was impressed by him. He then offered Prince to appear as the opening act for The Rolling Stones at two concerts in October 1981 in Los Angeles , California, which Prince accepted.
But the two concerts on October 9 and 11, 1981 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum developed into a debacle and thus a low point in Prince's career. He wanted for the upcoming album release of Controversy Promotion make and Prince came as typical for that time for him in the trench coat on. Underneath he was only wearing black panties , overknees stockings and high heels . He wore a bandana on his head . His guitar strap was made of leopard skin . When Prince played the third song Jack U Off on October 9, the audience reacted with massive dislike; some booed , shouted "Get off the stage, you fagot !" and threw beer bottles onto the stage. In addition, guitarist Dez Dickerson was hit in the head by a water bottle , while Prince just missed a bottle of Jack Daniel’s . During the fourth song, Uptown , Prince left the stage without comment; he hadn't involved his band and flew back to his hometown Minneapolis immediately after his performance. Jagger and concert promoter Bill Graham , who both regretted the incidents and sharply criticized the audience for it, persuaded Prince to play the second concert anyway. Mick Jagger said to him, "If you want to be a really big headliner , you have to be prepared for people to throw bottles at you."
Prince gave in and finally played the second concert on October 11, 1981 in Los Angeles. But during the song Bambi , a whiskey bottle flew onto the stage again, plastic bottles filled with juice and tomatoes followed. In contrast to the first concert, Prince played his entire set this time and ended with the fifth and final song Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? Apart from Prince, George Thorogood and J. Geils also played in the opening act for The Rolling Stones, but they made their appearances without incident.
Twenty years after the two concerts, Prince said to music journalist Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times newspaper , “Don't say it was me - the audience was to blame. Sure, of course wearing underwear and a trench coat wasn't exactly beneficial, but when you're throwing trash at someone it's because you weren't raised properly at home. The reason I left is because I didn't want to play anymore. I just wanted to fight. "
tour
| Typical setlist of the Controversy Tour from November 20, 1981 - March 14, 1982 |
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| Prince is the author of all songs |
The Controversy Tour kicked off on November 20, 1981 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. The tour ended on March 14, 1982 in Cincinnati , Ohio. The tour took place exclusively in the USA and the audience capacity of the concert halls was between 2,000 and 8,000 seats. The length of the concerts varied from 70 to 85 minutes. The Time appeared as the opening act for a total of 53 concerts . Prince's band then consisted of the following five members:
- Bobby Z. (real name: Robert B. Rivkin) - drums
- Brown Mark (real name: Mark Brown) - electric bass
- Dez Dickerson (real name: Desmond D'andrea Dickerson) - guitar
- Dr. Fink (civil: Matthew Robert Fink) - Keyboard
- Lisa Coleman - keyboard
Bobby Z., Brown Mark, Dr. Fink and Lisa Coleman were also members of Prince and The Revolution from 1983 to 1986 .
The Second Coming is an intro that was previously recorded in a recording studio and played from the tape through the hall speakers. At the beginning of the controversy tour, Prince played the song Sexuality instead of Uptown . Occasionally the songs Sexy Dancer , When You Were Mine , Still Waiting and Private Joy were played.
reception
Press
The reviews of the album Controversy were mixed ; Stephen Holden of the music magazine Rolling Stone named Prince a potential successor to Sly Stone and praised Prince as "the consummate master of pop-funk song forms". Holden described the song Annie Christian as a "childlike treatment of evil" and Ronnie, Talk to Russia, was the weakest song on the album. Overall, Controversy is eccentric and Holden gave it four out of five stars. The Newsweek was equally enthusiastic, saying: "He is [Prince] a prophet of sexual anarchy : his lewd performances have made him a cult figure of the New Wave and to a large idol made of young people from the black ghettos. His name is Prince - and he is perhaps the most exciting new star of today's pop scene "Music critic. Robert Palmer from the New York Times asked:" Does Prince music into a true Birassismus "?
Regarding the song lyrics from the album, the US weekly newspaper The Village Voice wrote : "Prince is always particularly naive and irritating when it comes to an openly political topic." The US magazine Sweet Potato (later renamed City Pages ) was also disappointed and wrote: "The sequencer use on Controversy is horrific, but the next LP could actually bring a fully formed representation of his vision."
After Prince's death in April 2016, the music journalists Albert Koch and Thomas Weiland from the German music magazine Musikexpress reviewed the album Controversy and gave it four out of six stars. Among other things, they wrote: “The title song is one of those immortal funk sweeps from the prince 's chamber and Let's Work is hardly inferior to that in terms of hip animation. Texts like in Jack U Off are so suggestive that one wonders whether the little man ever speculated on the big success ”.
Charts and awards
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
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- (- Where.) | - |
 Austria (Ö3)
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- (- Where.) | - |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
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- (- Where.) | - |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
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- (- Where.) | - |
 United States (Billboard)
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21st (66 weeks) | 66 |
Controversy has been awarded gold and platinum status internationally. For example, it received:
- US: 1 × platinum for 1,000,000 copies sold on January 11, 1985
- UK: 1 × gold for 100,000 copies sold on March 7, 2014
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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DE
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AT
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CH
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UK
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US
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| 1981 | Controversy | - | - | - | - |
US70 (11 weeks) US |
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| Sexuality | - | ATnvAT | CHnvCH | UKnvUK | USnvUS |
• Only decoupled in Germany, Australia and Japan
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| 1982 | Let's work | - | - | - | - |
US104 (3 weeks) US |
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| Do me baby | DEnvDE | ATnvAT | CHnvCH | UKnvUK | - |
• Only decoupled in the USA and Peru
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| 1993 | Controversy | - | - | - |
UK5 (5 weeks) UK |
USnvUS |
• Re-release and only released in Europe
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- Sexuality reached number 88 on the Australian singles chart
literature
- Jon Ewing: Prince - CD Books : Carlton Books, Rastatt 1994, ISBN 3-8118-3986-1 , OCLC 75552811 .
- Mayte Garcia : The Most Beautiful Girl: My Life With Prince. mvg Verlag, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-86882-897-9 , OCLC 1014191154 .
- Ben Greenman: Dig If You Will the Picture - Funk, Sex and God in the Music of Prince. Faber & Faber Ltd, London 2017, ISBN 978-0-571-33326-4 , OCLC 985601816 .
- Alex Hahn: Obsessed - Prince's turbulent life . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2016, ISBN 978-3-85445-610-0
- Dave Hill: Prince - A Pop Life. Droemer Knaur, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-426-04036-0 , OCLC 75121330 .
- Per Nilsen: DanceMusicSexRomance - Prince: The First Decade. Firefly Publishing, London 1999, ISBN 0-946719-23-3 , OCLC 40610683 .
- Jürgen Seibold : Prince. Verlagsunion Erich Pabel-Arthur Moewig, Rastatt 1991, ISBN 3-8118-3078-3 , OCLC 312007112 .
- Uptown: The Vault - The Definitive Guide to the Musical World of Prince. Nilsen Publishing, Linköping 2004, ISBN 91-631-5482-X , OCLC 186521364 .
Web links
- Princevault , information about the album Controversy
Individual evidence
- ↑ Booklet of the Prince CD Controversy , Warner Bros. Records, 1981
- ↑ a b Nilsen (1999), p. 279.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), pp. 261-262.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), p. 78.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), p. 79.
- ↑ a b Nilsen (1999), p. 80.
- ↑ a b Nilsen (1999), p. 261.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), p. 82.
- ↑ Greenman (2017), p. 146.
- ^ Uptown (2004), p. 529.
- ↑ Hahn (2016), pp. 68–70.
- ↑ Hahn (2016), pp. 68–69.
- ^ Hill (1989), p. 132.
- ↑ Hahn (2016), p. 71.
- ↑ Ewing (1994), p. 39.
- ↑ Hahn (2016), p. 69.
- ^ Hill (1989), p. 135.
- ↑ a b c d e Hahn (2016), p. 70.
- ^ Hill (1989), p. 134.
- ^ Hill (1989), p. 133.
- ↑ Hahn (2016), p. 68.
- ^ Controversy. In: Princevault.com. December 7, 2017, accessed March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Uptown (2004), p. 31.
- ↑ Record details. In: 45cat.com. 2018, accessed on March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Uptown (2004), p. 34.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), p. 97.
- ↑ Do Me, baby. In: Princevault.com. November 24, 2017, accessed March 31, 2018 .
- ^ Uptown (2004), p. 622.
- ↑ Discover the original. In: Coverinfo.de. Accessed on March 31, 2018 ( Enter Prince in "Search" ).
- ↑ Prince on WhoSampled
- ↑ SecondHandSongs - a cover songs database. In: Secondhandsongs.com. 2018, accessed on March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Greenman (2017), p. 211.
- ↑ Garcia (2017), p. 126.
- ↑ Greenman (2017), pp. 212-213.
- ↑ a b c Greenman (2017), p. 213.
- ↑ a b c d e Uptown (2004), p. 32.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), p. 91.
- ↑ Seibold (1991), p. 46.
- ^ Hill (1989), p. 114.
- ↑ Nilsen (1999), p. 92.
- ↑ From the big Prince special - an overview of all albums. In: Musikexpress.de. May 22, 2016, accessed March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Prince. officialcharts.de, accessed on February 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Prince. austriancharts.at, accessed on February 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Prince. hitparade.ch, accessed on February 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Prince. officialcharts.com, accessed February 16, 2019 .
- ^ Prince - Chart History. billboard.com, accessed February 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Uptown (2004), p. 32.
- ↑ Certified Awards Search. British Phonographic Industry , accessed March 31, 2018 .
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ nelson: Prince worldwide charts & sales. In: ukmix.org. July 21, 2004, accessed March 31, 2018 .