[1]The 1980s was a bit different for music. It wasn’t exactly a decade filled with music that was overt in sex and/or violence. We imagine it would have been pretty difficult to write fairly strong themed music during a decade where the “worst” video game plot was of a little yellow ball and his girlfriend, eating-up little white dots.
But other than the artist at that time known as Prince, the most charismatic frontmen of the hairspray decade were David Lee Roth, along with a talking mouse from Northern California [2] and his pseudo-human band of misfits, who just so happened to give the “Noid” and Domino’s a run for their money.
[3]During his heyday in the ’80s, Prince was notorious for writing sexually suggestive lyrics. Duran Duran may have followed suit during the decade with the little bits of “X-rated” trinkets that they dropped into their songs, but with his 1983 hit, “Little Red Corvette,” Prince wrote his first hit that was clever enough to be erotic, without being outright down and dirty.
Michael Jackson was the first to break the color barrier on MTV with “Billie Jean,” but Prince still managed to become one of the first black artists to receive regular airtime on the then popular music video network. “Little Red Corvette” was a pop rock musician’s celebration of America’s favorite sports car, as well as the social and cultural suggestions that follow.
[4]Prince came up with the idea for the piece while dozing in and out of sleep inside of backup singer, Lisa Coleman’s pink Edsel, and for the Artist, “Little Red Corvette” led to a commercially successful recording career that led to a line of equally successful, live performances.
A genius move, or the child of half-ass behavior? Either way you look at it, Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” will always be the anthem that stands for more than just a sports car!
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