The 500 - #163 - 1999 - Prince

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #163
Album Title: 1999

Artist: Prince

Genre: Dance Pop, Art Pop, Minneapolis Sound, R&B, Funk

Recorded: Kiowa Trail (Prince's Home Studio), Chanhassan, Minnesota; and Sunset Sound Recorders, Hollywood, California

Released: October, 1982

My age at release: 17
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #130, elevating 33 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: 1999

"You know that feeling you get on a roller coaster, when you are slowly climbing to the top...and it seems to take forever? That's turning 30. You'd better look around...because the rest of the ride is damn quick."

Those astute words by my pal, Paul Dawson, were uttered at the time we were entering our thirties. Paul has always been a clever wordsmith and I laughed off his amusing hyperbole. However, as I prepare to turn 60 this summer, I'll admit that the last 30 years came and went with alarming speed.

Paul Dawson, at his 30th birthday party.

The first time I heard the debut single 1999 from Prince's album of the same name, was in late autumn, 1982. I was a passenger in the car of another pal, Rob Cummings, when it came on the radio. Oddly, I can even remember the road we were on. The music wasn't my cup of tea at the time, but the lyrics sure got me doing some mental math:  "How old will I be in 1999...and what will I be doing? Will I be married? Have kids? What job will pay my bills?"

The idea of being 34 seemed like the stuff of science-fiction to my 17-year-old brain. Besides, as Paul later put it, I was still slowly climbing the first hill on the roller coaster. Now, with that birthday a full 26 years behind me, it feels like contemporary history. Such is our strange perception of time, a topic I tackled in my January, 2025 blog post about The Definitive Collection, from ABBA.

However, the wonderful thing about revisiting music from my youth, especially after a long hiatus, is that it can rekindle some of those vibrant, emotional feelings. There is something about the sound of 1999 that evokes such powerful nostalgia for me. It is likely the distinctively ‘80s "synth and electronic drum" sound that permeates so many of the tracks. That sound reminds me of how much I loved being 17. It was a time of great freedom and discovery. I had money, limited responsibility and incredible health. I didn't know how lucky I was. The curmudgeonly man on the porch in It's A Wonderful Life was right when he lamented to George Bailey and Mary Hatch. "Youth is wasted on the wrong people".

My friendships were also fantastic, including the time I spent with Rob and Paul. I am still in contact with Paul...we've actually been texting about the NFL draft as I write this piece. However, Rob and I drifted apart after high school. After listening to this record, I decided to try to find him through social media. He worked in construction, as a bricklayer, in the early ‘90s, and I found a website for Rob Cummings Contracting Company. I sent a message...we'll see what comes of that.

The album 1999 was the fifth studio production from the multi-talented and influential musician/songwriter Prince. On the strength of three hit singles, it propelled the flamboyant, androgynous entertainer to stardom. Consequently, it is not surprising that 1999 was the first song of his I heard.  In fact, for many years, I assumed this was his debut record and that he was an overnight sensation.

Prince, in his video for Little Red Corvette, the second single from 1999.

Released as a double record on vinyl in 1982, 1999 set the stage for Prince's meteoric rise to superstardom. Two years later, The High Priest of Pop released the landmark record Purple Rain, which also served as the soundtrack to his 1984 film of the same name, at which point he  became one of the biggest artists in the world – rivalled only by The King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Purple Rain appears at #76 on The 500 list. That is 87 weeks away...but on this roller coaster ride that will be here, in the words of Paul Dawson, "damn quick".

The 500 - #429 - Brian Eno - Another Green World

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 429

Album Title: Another Green World
Artist: Brian Eno
Genre: Art Rock, Ambient Electro-Pop, Avant Pop
Recorded: July - August 1975
Released: September, 1975
My age at release: 10
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Sky Saw

There is little doubt about Brian Eno's impact on modern music. He produced a dozen records on The 500 List. He also has two of his own recordings appearing, Another Green World being the second. Indeed, this is the third album involving Eno that I have written about in the past two months.  

• In late April, I wrote about Eno's first record, Here Come The Warm Jets. 
• In mid-March, I penned a post about an album Eno produced, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo.
• This time, we explore his 1975 innovative and experimental work, Another Green World.

Here is what I learned:

Green is a departure from the glam-pop sound of his first album as Eno embraces a minimalist sound that would become his trademark through the rest of the 70s.

Another Green World by Eno

Eno plays most of the instruments on the record but, he recruited a small group of talented musicians to contribute to the songs. These included innovative guitar virtuoso Robert Fripp of King Crimson, Genesis drummer Phil Collins, Jazz fusion bassist Percy Jones and John Cale of The Velvet Underground on viola.

Eno wanted the record to be a sound experiment. He brought these musicians to the studio with little prepared material. Instead, he spent three expensive, and sometimes frustrating, weeks allowing the songs to ferment while he and the musicians kicked around ideas.

To generate new ideas, Eno began using his now legendary Oblique Strategies (O.S.) Cards. These were 7 x 9 centimeter white cards kept in a black box. 

According to Eno:

"Each card offers a challenging constraint intended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking."

Each card contained a suggestion or remark intended to either resolve a deadlock or inspire creativity. Some are specific to music composition but many are general. Examples include:

• You are making a brick, not a wall.
• Try faking it.
• Honour thy error as hidden intention.
• Ask your body.
• Gardening, not architecture.
• Look closely at the most embarassing details and amplify.

Unlike Mozart who could compose in his head, Eno used this technique to inspire collaboration.These statements might seem strange but Eno is an unusual individual. His goal was to help artists work outside the box when trying to solve a dilemma or inspire creativity. Since their creation, Eno has employed the cards during recording sessions with Coldplay, REM and David Bowie. 

During the interview about Green on The 500 Podcast, Host Meyers discussed the O.S. cards with his guest Gerard Casale. Casale, a founding member of Devo, worked with Eno on his band's first record. Casale said: 

"I think he wanted to soften our sound. He made us try to use them (the cards) to change things on the songs. But, you have to understand...we walked into that studio with some songs that were four years old and we'd played them hundreds of times. We couldn't imagine playing them "pretty". That was an abomination to us. We were all about being transgressive aesthetically. But, we weren't punks that were angry and nihlistic. I mean, we were angry, but with an informed epistemology. We genuinely thought that the de-evolution of society was real back then"

After listening to Green four times and reflecting on the podcast, I still couldn't connect with it. Then, I put on headphones to remove distractions. As the music washed over me, my appreciation grew. It isn't a record I will listen to often, but I welcomed the insight into the rich, unapologetic creativity of Eno. He is a quirky individual but his fingerprints are all over The 500 list. Obviously, he is doing something right.