Prince’s commercial peak was Purple Rain but John McKie thinks Sign O’ The Times was his creative masterpiece and tracked down over 200 collaborators, girlfriends, “Prince whisperers”, assistants and admirers to piece together the story of its construction (without allowing himself to use the word “genius”). Which leads us up some colourful, spot-lit alleys, among them …

… “a man in suspenders playing funk”: why a disastrous support slot on the ‘81 Stones tour was pivotal moment

… Mozart/Salieri levels of rivalry: he once told a Paisley Park engineer to stop singing Culture Club “as that’s the competition”

... battles with Warners president Lenny Waronker: “he believed he was right and the rest were wrong”

… “creative incontinence”: an autocrat in need of an editor

… bodyguard “Big Chick” Huntsberry, performative stunts and the BRITS moment that immortalised him

… the controlling, manipulative nature of anyone who can play 27 instruments

… “he changed his cars to match the colour of his album campaigns”

… artistic parallels with his hero Joni Mitchell

… why he loved comedians in the way he loved jazz musicians

… what we know about his “secret” wives Mayte Garcia and Manuela Testolini

… and the four acts with eternal mystery – Prince, Bowie, Dylan, Dolly Parton.

Order ‘Prince: A Sign O’ The Times here:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/prince-a-sign-o-the-times/john-mckie/9781785121944

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