The purple reign

Press, 9 May 1985, Page 10

The purple reign

PRINCE "Around The World In A Day” (Paisley Park 25286-1). Sheila E. “The Glamorous Life” (WEA 25107-1). EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL “Eden” (WEA 240-395-1). With “Purple Rain,” Prince was easily the pick of last year’s American mega-platinum artistes — his mix of titillating lyrics with some terrific glamrock thoroughly deserved its long say in the charts. Dirtier than either Jackson or Springsteen, his unwholesome appeal in the clean-cut, adult-oriented rockbiz guarantees his popularity with the hip Stateside youth. Add to this a successful movie, and you could say it was a very good year for the Minneapolis marvel.

His new LP is a result of this acclaim — only someone really bankable could risk no single, no video, no posters, and, generally, no hype at all to accompany such a long-awaited record, as Prince has done.

Titled “Around The World In A Day,” it shows Prince has lost little of his flair for great pop songs. The openers, “Paisley Park” and the title track are sublime, singalong ditties that could easily have found a home on “Abbey Road.” In fact, the gatefold sleeve is very Beatle-ish, with its “Yellow Submarine” look-alike caricatures of the band, and quite a few songs have a late-60s sound — Paisley Rock? Among the latter category are “Condition Of The Heart” and “The Ladder,” but both sound ponderous and overwrought compared

with the more obviously commercial tracks. Elsewhere, however, “Tamborine”, “Pop Life" and “Temptation” strut (mince?) from the grooves, in more typical style, and “America” is a nicely warped ode to Prince’s view of the state of the nation. Allowing for the odd lapse into trite, “meaningful” lyrics (refer “The Ladder”), this album is packed with the sort of humour and honesty that makes good music great. Prince is a cartoon version of the rock star he wants to be, but “Around The World In A Day” is a flawed, fascinating, eminently playable disc that should lengthen his purple reign quite nicely. The drummer on “Pop Life” is also a member of the Prince organisation — Ms Sheila E., who has recently released her own LP, “The Glamorous Life.” Cynics may argue that the cover is the best thing about this disc, but the undeniable fact that Sheila’s smile on the back of the sleeve could melt rocks does not detract from the classy 80s bubblegum within. “The Belle Of St Mark” is gorgeous music — listen to the vocals on the third chorus and swoon! — and “The Glamorous Life” is also a winner, driven by the ace percussion of Ms E. The LP has only six tracks, which does not exactly qualify it as value for money, but only the cutesy “Olivers House” is a real turkey. “Shortberry Strawcake” and “Noon Ren-

dezvous” are both good dancing fare, with more than a hint of the girl groups of the 60s in the latter. In spite of having Prince listed as a “co-director” on the sleeve, “The Glamorous Life” is very much a Sheila E. record — expect more from this talented musician soon. Everything But The Girl have nothing to do with Prince, but their new “Eden” LP is a mellow masterpiece. Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt are EBTG, and they

play a largely acoustic, jazzy music that has already won many fans in their native England, including Paul Weller (of the Style Council), who recruited Thorn to sing “Paris Match” on last year’s “Cafe Bleu.” It would be very easy to write “Eden” off as cocktail musak, but there is real depth in songs like “Frost And Fire,” “The Dustbowl” and the U.K. single “Each And Everyone” that you will not find in the average dentist chair. Best of all is “Bittersweet,” which is completely irresistable in the same way as earlly Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick songs such as “Walk On By” or “Don’t Make Me Over.” So, next time you finish listening to your Throbbing Gristle boxed set, or your Jesus And Mary Chain imports, and your ears need a break, you could do a lot worse than cueing up this classy LP. - TONY GREEN.