I was listening to the Twins tonight while washing dishes. They had fallen behind by 6- or 7-to-nothing in about the fourth inning and so Cory Provus, looking for something besides baseball to talk about, brought up the subject of Prince. This elicited from sidekick Dan Gladden a tribute that was unlike any other I've heard in the last 30 or so hours (and I've been paying attention).
"He was really a great musician," intoned Dazzle Man. "I was reading about him in the papers this morning. It's amazing how many instruments he could play!"
I'm enough of a fan to have opinions about which records should have a higher profile. I love Dirty Mind. It was released in 1980, after For You and Prince. I think it was the one that first attracted my attention. I liked to night drive--riding around town late at night listening to music--and the first two tracks ("Dirty Mind" and "When You Were Mine"), especially, are connected in my mind with that enjoyable activity. 1999 and Purple Rain were just a couple-three years ahead.
I was as young as Prince! Gone, gone.
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