R.I.P. Prince

Man, I just complained about this in my Merle Haggard post, but WTF, 2016?  Maybe every year takes some big stars from us, but this year just feels outrageous.  Prince was only friggin' 57, man.  I thought there was no doubt that I'd get to see him perform live sometime in my lifetime.  Such a bummer.

I liked some old Bowie, and I enjoyed some Haggard in my time, but PRINCE?  I mean, this guy was one of the formative artists of my childhood.  I'd say that, until I came into my own musical style in junior high or high school, Prince, MJ, and Madonna were the artists I identified with the most.  I had a bootleg tape of Prince that I had recorded off of one of my siblings' records, until high school when I finally bought his three disc HITS/B-Sides box.  That thing was the freaking bomb, and I used it to great effect at camp and college dances in the year after.

Think about his hit songs: When Doves Cry, Let's Go Crazy, 1999, Controversy, I Wanna Be Your Lover, Delirious, Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette, I Would Die 4 U, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Gett Off, Cream, 7, Sexy MF, I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man, Diamonds and Pearls.  Shit, man, Batdance went to number 1.  And a bunch of the filler-type stuff that never made the greatest hits albums, still awesome.

And even away from the critical acclaim, just think about how innovative and freaky and weird and awesome Prince was.  I'm sure a million words will be spilled in this very subject in the press in the next few days, but seriously, Prince was bringing this fantastic funk sensibility to pop and rock music. And also the guy could freaking slay the guitar.  He wasn't just a pop star, he could literally shred on the guitar.  I always think of When Doves Cry, but he also jams it in I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.

I think "When Doves Cry" is my favorite of his songs, although "Let's Go Crazy" and "1999" are close competitors.  And anyone who ever danced at Calhoun's in Sherman, Texas in the mid-90's knows that "Sexy MF" is a serious ass jam, ready made to get hot and heavy chicks to the dance floor.

Unfortunately, the man took all of his music off of Spotify a year ago or so, so I am left without the ability to jump right back into his catalog for reminiscing purposes.  I've been listening on YouTube this afternoon, but most of the "Prince" music I can find on there is either from his recent albums (which are nothing in comparison to the classics) or they are covers by terrible artists.  So tonight, I'll have to go fire up my MP3s and pour something out for the almighty symbol.  Damn.

Edit: You also should go here and watch the video of this Super Bowl halftime performance, because it is freaking awesome.  Can you imagine being those rain-soaked fans in that crowd?  That would be the best day of their lives.

Also, the radio played Let's Go Crazy on my drive home yesterday, and I got all goosebumped and sad while trying to sing along.  I wish I could have been part of the big crowd to go jam in the streets in MN yesterday night.