Little Red Corvette : H «πικάντικη» ιστορία πίσω από την επιτυχία του Prince

To Little Red Corvette  ήταν το τραγούδι που έφερε τον Prince στην κορυφή των αμερικανικών charts, το 1983, ανοίγοντας την πόρτα στον κόσμο της mainstream μουσικής.

Ποια είναι όμως η αληθινή ιστορία πίσω από αυτή την επιτυχία;

Ξέραμε ότι ο Prince εμπνεύστηκε τους πρώτους στίχους – «I guess I should have known, by the way you parked your car sideways, that it wouldn’t last» – αφότου τον πήρε ο ύπνος στο πίσω κάθισμα του αυτοκινήτου της Lisa Coleman, η οποία έπαιζε πλήκτρα στο τότε συγκρότημά του.

Και ως ένα βαθμό τα πράγματα έγιναν έτσι. Ή σχεδόν έτσι…

Την πλήρη ιστορία την εξασφάλισε το BBC από την ίδια την Coleman και τη συνεργάτη της, την Wendy Melvoin.

Και οι δυο τους ήταν οι πιο σημαντικοί μουσικοί συνεργάτες του Prince, ως μέλη της μπάντας The Revolution, τα πρώτα χρόνια της δεκαετίας του 1980.

Όταν ο Prince διέλυσε το συγκρότημα, το 1986, η Wendy και η Lisa συνέχισαν να συνεργάζονται ως ντουέτο, με αρκετά επιτυχημένα άλμπουμ.

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On October 27, 1982, Prince released his groundbreaking double album 1999. The hits "Little Red Corvette," "1999" and "Delirious" introduced him to a massive audience of new fans, and were released at the dawn of an intensely prolific period of his early career. • 1999 was the third album that Prince wrote, recorded, and released that year. In August 1982, the second album from The Time, What Time Is It?, and the debut release from his girl group, Vanity 6, were released within weeks of one another. The three acts hit the road that winter for what became known as the "Triple Threat Tour," bringing Prince's Minneapolis Sound to cities across the United States. • In early 1983, the single "Little Red Corvette" broke through to become Prince's first Top 10 @billboard hit, and soon it was placed into rotation on the burgeoning music channel @mtv alongside videos for "1999" and "Delirious." By the end of the 1999 "Triple Threat" Tour, Prince was well on his way to becoming the global superstar we know him as today. • On November 29, listeners around the world will have a chance to hear the remastered album 1999 for the very first time, packaged alongside 35 previously unreleased tracks from Prince's legendary vault that showcase Prince's creative flow in this era. Preorder the Remastered, Deluxe, and Super Deluxe Editions at store.prince.com

A post shared by Prince (@prince) on Oct 27, 2019 at 10:52am PDT

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On October 27, 1982, Prince released his groundbreaking double album 1999. The hits "Little Red Corvette," "1999" and "Delirious" introduced him to a massive audience of new fans, and were released at the dawn of an intensely prolific period of his early career. • 1999 was the third album that Prince wrote, recorded, and released that year. In August 1982, the second album from The Time, What Time Is It?, and the debut release from his girl group, Vanity 6, were released within weeks of one another. The three acts hit the road that winter for what became known as the "Triple Threat Tour," bringing Prince's Minneapolis Sound to cities across the United States. • In early 1983, the single "Little Red Corvette" broke through to become Prince's first Top 10 @billboard hit, and soon it was placed into rotation on the burgeoning music channel @mtv alongside videos for "1999" and "Delirious." By the end of the 1999 "Triple Threat" Tour, Prince was well on his way to becoming the global superstar we know him as today. • On November 29, listeners around the world will have a chance to hear the remastered album 1999 for the very first time, packaged alongside 35 previously unreleased tracks from Prince's legendary vault that showcase Prince's creative flow in this era. Preorder the Remastered, Deluxe, and Super Deluxe Editions at store.prince.com

A post shared by Prince (@prince) on Oct 27, 2019 at 10:51am PDT

Με αφορμή την κυκλοφορία μιας deluxe έκδοσης του «1999», του πέμπτου στούντιο άλμπουμ του Prince, με 35 ανέκδοτα έως σήμερα τραγούδια, οι Lisa και Wendy βρέθηκαν στο BBC και, μεταξύ άλλων, αναπόλησαν τα αγαπημένα τους τραγούδια από την περίοδο της μπάντας The Revolution.

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Prince’s fascination with James Brown began at a very early age. On November 29, 1969, when Prince was just 11 years old, he had the opportunity to see James Brown and his Famous Flames perform live at the @armorymn in downtown Minneapolis. Prince was brought to the show by his stepfather, Hayward Baker, and at one point during the performance Hayward lifted Prince up onto the stage to dance with the band, giving the budding young artist an up-close view of the funk icon in action. 🔸 James Brown’s dramatic, energetic performance style clearly inspired Prince, and elements of his stage show are represented in the way Prince danced, teased his audience, and commanded his band. Musically, the propulsive momentum of Brown’s style of funk courses through much of Prince’s music, and his work can be heard as samples in songs like “Gett Off” (which includes a snippet of “Mother Popcorn”) and “Gangster Glam” (which incorporates the drum fill from “Funky Drummer”). 🔸 Throughout his career, Prince would incorporate covers of James Brown songs like “Get Up (I Feel Like Being) A Sex Machine” into his live sets, and in the late ‘90s he would have the opportunity to collaborate with James Brown’s saxophonist, @maceoparker, who toured with Prince’s band in the early 2000s and appeared on albums like Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Musicology, and 3121.

A post shared by Prince (@prince) on May 25, 2019 at 12:41pm PDT

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In addition to being a relentlessly creative artist, an industry revolutionary, and a once-in-a-generation live performer, Prince was a generous philanthropist, quietly funneling money and resources toward those in need. • • "There are so many things he did as a philanthropist that the public doesn't know because he didn't do it for credit or to be recognized. He did it because it was from the heart and that's what he believed in," the actor @anthonyanderson told @forbes in 2019. • • "That's who he was," said basketball legend and longtime Prince friend @magicjohnson. "It wasn't about accumulating his own wealth. It was about making sure since he was a rich, rich man that he gave a lot of it away. His heart was so pure and so big that he always wanted to help other people. And that's whether that's with his name, his money or with his conversation because he helped a lot of people by just talking to them. And people don't realize that." • • Photo by @kevinmazur

A post shared by Prince (@prince) on Sep 9, 2019 at 2:53pm PDT

«Ο Prince έπαιρνε πάντα το αυτοκίνητό μου γιατί ήταν φανταστικό» αφηγήθηκε η Lisa Coleman και συνεχίζοντας προσέθεσε:

«Ήταν μια Mercury Montclair του 1964, ροζ και άσπρη, κι ήταν το τέλειο αυτοκίνητο για βόλτα σε μια ηλιόλουστη Μινεάπολη. Είχε βουλιάξει την καρότσα μια δυο φορές, γιατί ήταν τόσο μεγάλο. Ερχόταν και μουρμούριζε “Λάιζα, συγγνώμη για τ’ αμάξι σου”.

Κι έτρεχα να δω τη ζημιά και το είχε βουλιάξει λίγο και είχε πάνω λίγη κίτρινη μπογιά από έναν στύλο πάνω στον οποίο βρήκε κάνοντας όπισθεν, και τού ‘λεγα “Να πάρει! Πρόσεχε πού πας!”»

Όταν την ρώτησαν κατά πόσον αληθεύει ότι ο Prince έγραψε το Little Red Corvette,  στο πίσω κάθισμα του αυτοκινήτου, η  Lisa Coleman απάντησε:

«Έτσι νομίζω. Εκείνη την περίοδο “κοιμόταν” με κάποιαν που ξέραμε, που τη λέγανε Denise Matthews, κι εκείνη “κοιμόταν” στο πίσω κάθισμα επίσης. Μάλιστα βρήκα τρίχες από τα μαλλιά της στο κοντά στο παράθυρο του αυτοκινήτου.

Οπότε, πιστεύω ότι κάτι έκαναν στο πίσω κάθισμα, και πιθανότατα ένιωσαν μια υπέροχη ευχαρίστηση μετά, και τότε ήταν που του μπήκε ο σπόρος της ιδέας… Αλλά δεν είναι μια κόκκινη Corvette, είναι μια ροζ Mercury!» τόνισε.