Dirty Mind

This article is about the Prince album. For the songs, see Dirty Mind (Prince song), Dirty Mind (Pipettes song), Dirty Mind (Shakespears Sister song) and for the song by Prism see Beat Street
Dirty Mind
Studio album by Prince
Released October 8, 1980
Recorded May–June 1980
Genre
Length 30:14
Label Warner Bros.
BSK 3478
Producer Prince
Prince chronology

Prince
(1979)		 Dirty Mind
(1980)		 Controversy
(1981)
Singles from Dirty Mind
  1. "Uptown"
    Released: September 10, 1980
  2. "Dirty Mind"
    Released: November 26, 1980
  3. "Do It All Night"
    Released: 1981
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
The A.V. Club (favorable)[4]
Blender [2]
Robert Christgau A[5]
Entertainment Weekly A[6]
Los Angeles Times (favorable)[7]
No Ripcord (10/10)[8]
PopMatters (favorable)[9]
Rolling Stone (1981)[10] (1999)[11]
Rolling Stone (2004)[12]

Dirty Mind is the third studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on October 8, 1980 by Warner Bros. Records as the follow-up to his commercially successful second album Prince (1979). It was produced, arranged and composed primarily by Prince in his home studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[13] The album debuted at number 63 on the US Billboard 200 chart (peaking at number 45),[14] and earned widespread acclaim from music critics.[15] On June 6, 1984, it was certified gold in shipments by the Recording Industry Association of America.[16] Pitchfork Media ranked Dirty Mind number 87 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1980s.[17] In 2003, the album was ranked number 204 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[18] Slant Magazine listed the album at #53 on its list of the "Best Albums of the 1980s".[19]

Composition

Dirty Mind was recorded primarily in Prince's home studio throughout 1980, with several of the songs being cut within one night and thus having a sparse, demo-like quality. The opening title track was released as a single, and described as "robotic funk". "When You Were Mine", notably covered by Cyndi Lauper, is "pure new wave pop" about a woman who has left Prince and his realization of his love for her only afterwards. Both "Do It All Night" and "Head" (the latter sexually explicit and detailing a chance meeting with a bride-to-be) are "sultry funk", while "Gotta Broken Heart Again" is the only ballad on the record and is described as "soulful crooning". The song "Sister", only 90 seconds long, is rock-influenced and has incestual tones. "Uptown" and "Partyup" are "relentless dance jams";[13] "Uptown" was released as a Top 5 Dance and R&B hit single in late-1980 and "Partyup" was performed live on Saturday Night Live in 1981. The two songs have anti-judgment and anti-war messages.

The album received highly positive reviews. According to Ken Tucker from Rolling Stone magazine, "Prince's first two collections established him as a doe-eyed romantic. Nothing could have prepared us for the liberating lewdness of Dirty Mind. Dirty Mind jolts with the unsettling tension that arises from rubbing complex erotic wordplay against clean, simple melodies. Across this ELECTRIC surface glides Prince's graceful quaver, tossing off lyrics with an exhilarating breathlessness. He takes the sweet romanticism of Smokey Robinson and combines it with the powerful vulgate poetry of Richard Pryor. The result is cool music dealing with hot emotions. At its best, Dirty Mind is positively filthy."[20]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic describes the album as "stunning, audacious amalgam of funk, new wave, R&B, and pop, fueled by grinningly salacious sex and the desire to shock" and that it "set the style for much of the urban soul and funk of the early '80s."[13]

According to The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), "Dirty Mind remains one of the most radical 180-degree turns in pop history."[12] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times described the music from the album as "confident and highly danceable blend of post-disco funk and tasty, hard-line rock".[1] Prince's songwriting contains prominently sexual lyrics.[21] Keith Harris of Blender characterizes its songs as "confessions of a sex junkie" with "new-wave funk".[2]

The first single, "Uptown" reached #101 on the Billboard Hot 100 but peaked within the top five of the R&B Singles chart and the Dance chart. The title track was released as the second single and was modestly successful on the R&B charts. The songs "Uptown", "Dirty Mind", and "Head" were released together, reaching the dance chart's top five.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Prince, except where noted[22]. 

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Dirty Mind"  Prince, Dr. Fink 4:14
2. "When You Were Mine"    3:47
3. "Do It All Night"    3:42
4. "Gotta Broken Heart Again"    2:16
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
5. "Uptown"    5:32
6. "Head"    4:44
7. "Sister"    1:31
8. "Partyup"  Prince, Morris Day 4:24

Personnel

[22]

Chart history

Album
Chart (1980) Peak
position[23]
US Billboard Top LPs & Tape 45
US Billboard Top Black Albums 7
Singles

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nilsen, Per (2004). Dance Music Sex Romance: Prince: The First Decade. SAF Publishing Ltd, 2004, p. 87. ISBN 094671964
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harris, Keith (June–July 2001). "Every Original CD Reviewed - Prince". Blender (Alpha Media Group) (1).
  3. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dirty Mind - Prince." Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  4. ↑ Phipps, Keith (2009-04-24). "Primer: Prince." The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Dirty Mind". The Village Voice: 1980.
  6. ↑ Browne, David (1990-09-21). "Purple Products." Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Connie. "A Prince of Punk/Funk". Los Angeles Times: S83. December 7, 1980. (Transcription of original review at talk page)
  8. ↑ Booker, George (2009-05-20). "Prince: Dirty Mind - Music Review." No Ripcord. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  9. ↑ Robinson, Charlotte. "Prince: Dirty Mind." PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  10. ↑ Tucker, Ken (1981-02-19). "Dirty Mind." Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  11. ↑ Schruers, Fred (1999-09-16). "Prince: Dirty Mind : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hoard, Christian. "The Rolling Stone Album Guide". Rolling Stone: 655. November 2, 2004.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 http://www.allmusic.com/album/dirty-mind-mw0000191363
  14. ↑ Columnist. "Tops in Pops". Los Angeles Times: G2. November 3, 1980.
  15. ↑ Holden, Stephen. Prince, A Renegade. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  16. ↑ Gold & Platinum: Searchable Database. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  17. ↑ Staff. Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  18. ↑ Staff. RS500: 204) Dirty Mind. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.
  19. ↑ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/best-albums-of-the-1980s/308/page_5
  20. ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/dirty-mind-19810219
  21. ↑ Columnist. "Prince's Song Lyrics are X-Rated". Los Angeles Times: December 1980. Note: Original article reprinted in The Tuscaloosa News.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 http://princevault.com/index.php/Album:_Dirty_Mind
  23. ↑ Billboard Albums: Dirty Mind. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-01.

References

External links