Prince – Dirty Mind

HEAD is some of the freakiest shit Prince has ever done. Absolute genius. Solid album. Vinyl sounds amazing.

I have this album(Dirty Mind) that has the dead wax information of a SP pressing(Side 1- BSK-1-3478-E1, circled EDP SP, w/ a faint 0-1SM1-1)(Side 2- BSK-2-3478-E1,circled EDP), but the label is totally different than any I've checked on this site. There are 6 WB "shields" on label, with the top shield in color. All the others are shadowed. There IS NO "W" trademark at the bottom of the label. Can anyone help me with identifying this pressing or if this is a rare print? Thanks much!!

Album Revolution #1:

WHAOOOO!!!!!! I this one like it was yesterday....Before I knew what half of the content meant, I wore this album out! I had to sneak it in the house and everything (I was 9 years old, can you imagine?).....

This album is everything "Prince" wanted it to be...DIRTY!!!!!! Even though it might be considered very tamed by today's standards, but to people in my age group, it was like, WHAOOO"!!!!

"Uptown" is the first single on the album, and it was a rightest "Funky" t...The title track was also bumpin', with it's "New Wave" backdrop....

"When You Were Mine" was that semi "Funky", semi "New Wave" t....I don't think anyone paid attention to it before "Cindi Lauper" got to it though....

The lone Slow t, "Gotta Broken Heart Again" is FANTASTIC, but it is EXTREMELY TOO SHORT!!!!

The rest of the album is very NAUGHTY!!!

"Head"... You fill in the rest...

"Sister"....Very interesting...

Then there's "Partyup"....It is an Anti War jam, even with the "F" bomb...

I personally believe that "Prince" did this album for 2 reasons...

1: To get NOTICED!!!! 2: To really show how VERSATILE of an artist he was...

Even though he always had a Band, this is the time "The Revolution" was pronounced to the World ("Dez Dickerson", "Lisa Coleman", "Andre Cymone" & "Bobby Z")...This also started the Album Revolution for him....

With that being said, this is a PRINCE CLASSIC!!!!!!!

PS: 6/28/2024: I have the 150 Gram Re-Issue that came out in 2022, released by "The (So-Called) Prince Estate" and "Sony Legacy"....I don't know about You Guys, but it FEELS WEIRD not seeing the "Warner Bros." Logo on top of the Label.....Oh, Well, that's, "Warner Music's" FAULT (as well as it not being called "Warner Bros." anymore!!!!)!!!!! Anyway, I agree with most of the commits here...It sounds REAL CLEAN, and when I Recorded it to my Computer, and then put it on my Phone so I can play it in the Car, RIGHTEOUS!!!!!!

Prince's preternatural, alacritous evolution from shy, soulful and precocious sexpot into autonomic, assertive musical genius was astonishing to many. Having spent the remainder of his teenage years perfecting his unstable aesthetic, Prince made a determination to go back to basics and place greater emphasis on connecting disparate genres with a stronger melodic sense. Heedful of the backlash against disco, he dispensed with overseen piano-based writing methods and childish romanticism, applying many of the signatures introduced on his unfocused, uneven first two records to a punk-spirited backdrop of bright and brash electronic and rock instrumentation. The result was a gusty, blistering yet utterly stylish and artful amalgam of funk, soul and new wave that would profoundly influence both Prince’s aesthetic and the Minneapolis sound of the '80s. Dissimilar to other Prince recordings in that it was not solely composed by him - the keyboard line of its titular track was jammed out and cut by Doctor Fink - “Dirty Mind” is undoubtedly his most exceptional and explosive effort. Entirely recorded at his home in Minnesota on a 16-track studio funded by Warner Bros, the album was comprised of eight songs, some of which were completed in one night, thus giving them a dynamically stripped-down, raw feel. For his relatively straight-laced young female fans, there were plenty of jolts in store, especially those willing to overlook a lack of studio polish, anodyne graphics and innocuously seductive content. Unfortunately though, their sweet Prince was gone. In his place was a pioneering pop polymath with an astounding work ethic.

Previously, Prince had invariably cast himself as a sensual playboy veiling his dishonourable intentions with incredibly convincing imioned endearments and sneaky double-entendres. Herein, instead of the sly wit and occasional innuendo, the use of overtly sexual language is incredibly pronounced, so much so that the sheer abandon and fervency of it in the context of each composition becomes intoxicating and immersive. From the outset, the subject matter is controversial to say the least, revealing coarse, sordid yet poetic tales and/or fantasies involving partying, polyamory, wedding day cunnilingus, and incest. It is worth noting that, in keeping with his unmenacing gigolo representation, porno Prince is concerned with consensual satisfaction, and mindfully provides exposition, with his deviancy suggested to have stemmed from said taboo liaison. Such overt libertinism and sexual fluidity was bound to be reflected in Prince’s image. Up to now, he had embraced his feminine qualities, mainly in a vocal sense, with his piercing falsetto often employed to disarm and enthral those confused as to his true gender. As a natural progression, this formerly curtailed desire to provoke a response from audiences escalated to even greater levels of flashiness and eroticism. Clad in high-cut stockings, suspenders and go-go boots - attire that was apparently necessary to aid his dance moves - whilst simulating oral sex with his guitar, such recurring disorienting displays added to the ambiguity at the core of the emerging Prince persona. In respect of the cover art, which notably featured him in full-on sensationalist mode once again, wearing nothing more than a flasher’s coat, black briefs and a sedate expression, his resplendent, daring fashion choices were clearly not constructive. Similarly to other artists who achieved notoriety as well as mainstream popularity, Prince was not merely being his authentic outlandish self, he was using shock value, not to mention the synergism of sound and vision, to generate publicity, expand his fan base and highlight the album’s sex junkie aspect. As interesting as the strong pop melody, restricted production and general objectionable tone of the songs were to critics, “Dirty Mind” predictably failed to trouble the Billboard 200, charting at number 45. Owing to the single-minded substance of the album, radio promotion was limited, though its abundant dance rhythms and synthetic post-disco textures ensured club play, and "Uptown", "Dirty Mind", and "Head" were released together as singles, with all uniformly impacting the dance and R&B component charts.

“Dirty Mind” is more than an extrovert’s interracial, interbred sexual exploits set to lively lo-fi rhythms and laid bare for public consumption. As easy as it is to do when confronted with the album's pervading late-night escapism and hedonism, one can make the mistake of failing to recognise its two considerably exuberant, more suggestive-than-frank hard-line rock outliers: “When You Were Mine” and “Gotta Broken Heart Again”. Essentially, the surrounding songs selected to promote the album were unappealing and unplayable, not the aforementioned commercially viable, less vulgar offerings. Had the crossover appeal of the two rock cuts been noticed at the time and resulted in them being put forward for crucial airplay, record sales may have been better, though that would have run counter to Prince's disapproval of an artist constantly working-to-rule, expected to produce and appoint sure-fire Top 40 chart-busters, not to mention his vision of the album, which was not intended to impress casual listeners. Nevertheless, the ultra-modernism and salience of Prince’s unselfconsciousness predestined that the album in its entirety would gradually grow in stature and ultimately be recognised as eclectic, virtuosic, and most importantly, imperishable. Whilst lyrically very focused, the artistic intent was clear: the prevailing message was of sex positivity. Through the auspices of carnal themes and scandalous visual imagery, Prince was essentially promoting liberation and permissiveness at the start of the most repressive, contradictory period in recent American history. Aside from the sexual content and very apt and effective minimalism, Prince’s delicate voice and musical abilities are consistent and thriving for the first time in his career. And amid the affirmation of his extraordinary talents, Prince proved himself to be rather savvy self-publicist unafraid of speaking the truths others would not dare to.

“Dirty Mind” is an integral part of his legacy, showcasing a newfound creative freedom that he thereafter fought hard to retain, even if he subsequently cleaned up his act (slightly) and elevated his lyrical and musical versatility. Upon gaining moderate momentum in the dance-pop arena, Prince precariously shed the camp touches and disco influences to align his music with his eccentric true nature. It worked magnificently. In spite of the album being infused with Prince’s shameless subconscious behaviours and funk inclinations, it has all the ingredients required to make an evergreen masterpiece. Fundamentally, these eight instant classics of corresponding mood, memorability, durability, value and quality are simply too great to up hearing in sequence.

Rating: 5/5

There's nothing to further emphasize the importance and influence of this seminal classic. In only a year, Prince went from a coy underdog vying for the affection of a lady friend to be his lover to risking it all, reinventing himself as a brazen, sex-positive god. The wildly liberated themes that define this album is not the sum of what makes Dirty Mind a tremendous artistic statement. The fact that Prince took the riskiest stylistic move of his career by that point, coming up with a dry, overtly sparse production a year after scoring a big Top 40 record says a lot. Above all, this was the album that heralded Prince's first major artistic leap, establishing him as a definitive pop vanguard with impressive musical virtuosity and epoch-making flair that would define the 1980s. Even compared to more fully-realized triumphs to come, the diminutive and brave Dirty Mind stands as an essential and deeply influential entry not only in the Prince canon, but in pop music. There's still much to unpack and reveal in its voyeuristic brilliance 40 years later.

The reactive price hikes for originals of this classic is beyond amusing. It wasn't scarce before Prince's death and although it was nothing more than a cult hit during its initial release, plenty of copies of this were pressed. But, I digress. It's a sign of the times. Bernie Grundman will forever be an all-time mastering GOD for the supreme dynamics of this album (especially in its vinyl iteration.) The punch of the low-end of this album is a thrill, although a little treble could've been shaved off. Given this was a demo recording with minimal overdubs and remixing, the engineering Prince did for this album was ultra-cool, too. Prince was trying to get a certain grit when he originally mixed the album, and it comes through perfectly. Never felt the need to purchase a reissue as my original 1980 copy still sounds top-notch. Dare I say it probably doesn't need a remaster, as I don't think anything needs to be improved upon.

Mine has matrix etches like this, but it's not pinstriped. It has a white label with very light grey WB logos patterned in the background, looking sort of like watermarks. The "watermark" WBs are the same size as the regular WB logo on the label. My copy was a Super Saver Series cutout that was sealed until 2018. Maybe I'll post photos eventually

Great Album! Shouldn't be so expensive as it hasn't sold for the gauging prices and so many were pressed..

For anyone interested in purchasing this album, note that there is some serious reactive price-gouging happening here (minimum 75.00 offerings), compared to all past sales (never sold for more than $14 on discogs).

This is not a rare record; there was about half a million copies of this LP circulating at one point, don't get ripped off.