In Memoriam: Prince

Written by Jon Williams

I was dreaming when I wrote this; forgive me if it goes astray.

Last week we received yet another stark reminder that 2016 has been a terrible year in terms of losing beloved entertainers far too soon. When news started coming through on Thursday that Prince had died at age 57, it seemed like it had to be a hoax; when that news was confirmed not long after, it seemed like a bad dream.

Born in 1958 in his beloved Minneapolis as the son of two musicians, Prince showed an early aptitude for music. He parlayed that into a recording contract with Warner Bros., and his first album, For You, was released two months before his 20th birthday. Displaying the full range of his talent, he wrote all the songs on the album, played all the instruments, and even produced it himself. It was with his second album, 1979’s Prince, that he started to garner the type of attention that would follow him for the rest of his life. It was his first platinum album. The albums Dirty Mind (1980) and Controversy (1981) landed him his first appearance on Saturday Night Live and an opening spot for the Rolling Stones, as well as his own first headlining tour.

Then came the period that transformed Prince from a talented and popular musician into a legend. The album 1999, released in late in 1982, contained the party anthem title track, as well as the hit “Little Red Corvette,” and achieved multi-platinum sales status. Then, in 1984, Prince starred in the semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain. The film itself was only a minor hit; the resulting soundtrack, on the other hand, became one of best albums of the decade and, perhaps, of all time. Mixing pop and rock sensibilities, it contained the classics “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry” in addition to the title track. He would go on to release four more albums in the ‘80s, as well as the soundtrack to the blockbuster Batman movie starring Michael Keaton.

Because of his immense success during this period, Prince will always be associated primarily with the music of the 1980s, but he wasn’t done with movies, either. In 1986 he made his directorial debut with Under the Cherry Moon, and in 1987 he put out a concert film to accompany his album Sign o’ the Times. His final film role was in 1990’s Graffiti Bridge, a sequel to Purple Rain. And of course, he continued to put out thought-provoking, envelope-pushing music. He released twelve albums in the ‘90s, including nine after he changed his name to a symbol and could only be referred to as “the artist formerly known as Prince.” He went back to being Prince in 2000, and followed that up with twelve more albums from 2001-2010. There was a break in album releases after that point, which came to an end with two albums released simultaneously in 2014: Plectrumelectrum, with the backing band 3rdeyegirl, and the solo effort Art Official Age. Then last year came HITnRUN Phase One; the follow-up, HITnRUN Phase Two, is available on CD starting tomorrow.

Obviously, an artist as dynamic and prolific as Prince can’t be adequately summarized in a post like this. The best thing for patrons who aren’t familiar with his music, or just know the hits, would be to check it out for themselves, to discover his talent and why he had so much influence on a generation of musicians. See our website to put his CDs and movies (as well as a biography) on your shelves. If your library is like most, there’s probably quite a high demand for his music right now, with a long list of holds for his albums. Be sure to let your patrons know, if you participate in hoopla, that many of his albums and compilations are available there. hoopla is one of the only services to offer his music for streaming, and it’s available to patrons immediately, with no holds.

Hot This Week: April 25

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's latest comedy feature bumps The Force Awakens down a notch to #2. New album releases from the Lumineers and Deftones take the top spot on this week's music chart. The new novel of suspense from Nora Roberts tops the fiction list, while a look at the musical revolution that is Hamilton comes in at #1 for non-fiction.

DVD

1. Sisters
2. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
3. Daddy's Home
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip
5. Creed
6. The Forest
7. In the Heart of the Sea
8. The Hateful Eight
9. Concussion
10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

CD

1. The Lumineers, Cleopatra
2. Deftones, Gore
3. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
4. Rihanna, ANTI
5. Justin Bieber, Purpose
6. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface
7. Zayn, Mind of Mine
8. Adele, 25
9. Lukas Graham, Lukas Graham
10. Kevin Gates, Islah

Fiction

1. The Obsession, Nora Roberts
2. The Nest, Cynthia, D'Aprix Sweeney 
3. Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben
4. As Time Goes By, Mary Higgins Clark
5. Most Wanted, Lisa Scottoline
6. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
7. Miller's Valley, Anna Quindlen
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. The 14th Colony, Steve Berry
10. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins

Non-Fiction

1. Hamilton: The Revolution, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter
2. The Rainbow Comes and Goes, Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
3. The Sleep Revolution, Arianna Huffington
4. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
5. The Third Wave, Steve Case
6. First Women, Kate Andersen Brower
7. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
8. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, Carlo Rovelli
9. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
10. Becoming Grandma, Lesley Stahl

Hot This Week: April 18

To no one's surprise, The Force Awakens to find itself atop this week's movie list, where it is joined by three other newcomers. Chris Stapleton travels back to the top of the music chart, followed by three new self-titled albums. Mary Higgins clark lands her new novel at #1 for fiction. There are even four new titles on the non-fiction list, headlined by a family conversation between Anderson Cooper and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt.

DVD

1. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
2. Daddy's Home
3. Creed
4. In the Heart of the Sea
5. The Hateful Eight 
6. The Peanuts Movie
7. Concussion
8. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
9. Victor Frankenstein
10. The Good Dinosaur

CD

1. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
2. Lukas Graham, Lukas Graham
3. Weezer, Weezer (White Album)
4. Twenty88, Twenty88
5. Rihanna, ANTI
6. Zayn, Mind of Mine
7. Justin Bieber, Purpose
8. Adele, 25
9. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface
10. Kevin Gates, Islah

Fiction

1. As Time Goes By, Mary Higgins Clark
2. The Nest, Cynthia, D'Aprix Sweeney
3. Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben
4. The 14th Colony, Steve Berry
5. Miller's Valley, Anna Quindlen
6. Family Jewels, Stuart Woods
7. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
8. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
9. The Summer Before the War, Helen Simonson
10. Journey to Munich, Jacqueline Winspear

Non-Fiction

1. The Rainbow Comes and Goes, Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt
2. The Sleep Revolution, Arianna Huffington
3. The Third Wave, Steve Case
4. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
5. Becoming Grandma, Lesley Stahl
6. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
7. Girls and Sex, Peggy Orenstein
8. Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg
9. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
10. Dark Money, Jane Mayer

Hot This Week: April 11

Three powerful and acclaimed movies join this week's movie list. There are also three new albums on the music chart, led by former One Direction member Zayn Malik's first venture into his solo career. Jacqueline Winspear and Karen Kingsbury's new novels make their debuts in fiction, while Augusten Burroughs, Peggy Orenstein, and Bill Walton put new titles on the non-fiction list.

DVD

1. Daddy's Home
2. Creed
3. The Hateful Eight
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
5. Concussion
6. The Good Dinosaur
7. The Big Short
8. Secret in Their Eyes
9. The Night Before
10. Spotlight

CD

1. Zayn, Mind of Mine
2. K. Michelle, More Issues Than Vogue
3. Rihanna, ANTI
4. Justin Bieber, Purpose
5. Adele, 25
6. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface
7. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
8. Asking Alexandria, The Black
9. The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
10. Kevin Gates, Islah

Fiction

1. Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben
2. The Nest, Cynthia, D'Aprix Sweeney
3. Private Paris, James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
4. Journey to Munich, Jacqueline Winspear
5. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
6. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
7. The Summer Before the War, Helen Simonson 
8. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
9. Property of a Noblewoman, Danielle Steel
10. Brush of Wings, Karen Kingsbury

Non-Fiction

1. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
2. Lust and Wonder, Augusten Burroughs
3. Girls and Sex, Peggy Orenstein
4. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. Dark Money, Jane Mayer
6. Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg
7. The Immortal Irishman, Timothy Egan 
8. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
9. Back from the Dead, Bill Walton
10. The Legends Club, John Feinstein

Hot This Week: April 4

There's something for everyone to enjoy on this week's movie list, led by the Mark Wahlberg-Will Ferrell comedy Daddy's Home. Gwen Stefani, who served as the musical guest on this weekend's SNL, takes the top music spot with her new album. The latest thriller from Harlan Coben takes over the fiction list, while Paul Kalanithi's book on mortality remains the most popular non-fiction audiobook for another week.

DVD

1. Daddy's Home
2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2
3. The Big Short 
4. Spotlight
5. The Good Dinosaur
6. Spectre
7. Secret in Their Eyes
8. The Night Before
9. Black Mass
10. The Intern

CD

1. Gwen Stefani, This Is What the Truth Feels Like
2. Jordan Smith, Something Beautiful
3. Rihanna, ANTI
4. Adele, 25
5. Justin Bieber, Purpose
6. Chris Stapleton, Traveller
7. Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface
8. The Passion: New Orleans Soundtrack
9. Kane Brown, Chapter I
10. Joey + Rory, Hymns

Fiction

1. Fool Me Once, Harlan Coben
2. Private Paris, James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
3. The Nest, Cynthia, D'Aprix Sweeney
4. Property of a Noblewoman, Danielle Steel
5. All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
6. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
7. The Summer Before the War, Helen Simonson
8. The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah
9. The Gangster, Clive Cussler and Justin Scott
10. After You, Jojo Moyes

Non-Fiction

1. When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
2. Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
3. Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg
4. The Immortal Irishman, Timothy Egan
5. Dark Money, Jane Mayer
6. The Name of God Is Mercy, Pope Francis and Andrea Tornielli
7. Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
8. The Legends Club, John Feinstein
9. Originals, Adam Grant
10. The Road to Little Dribbling, Bill Bryson