40 yrs ago 2day (10/8/80), Prince released an edgy, driving, raw piece of work that propelled him into a category all his own. It proved he was genre-less. That album was 'Dirty Mind'. | #Princerversaries

While clad in thigh highs and a piercing gaze, Prince stood in front of mattress springs on the 'Dirty Mind' album cover; boldly daring his audience to come along on his bumpy ride through the dark side of sex, obsession, lust & more.

Allen Beaulieu (whose Prince photography book, ‘Before The Rain’ was released in 2018) speaks of the “Dirty Mind” photo shoot here: https://www.thefader.com/2016/04/21/prince-dirty-mind-album-cover-photographer-story

'Dirty Mind' was Prince’s 3rd album + up until then, his most experimental.

The album contained a song referencing incest, another that was covered by Cyndi Lauper + yet another that told the story of a bride exploring her love of oral sex w someone other than her fiancé.

Speaking of the latter, “Head” is not only MY favorite song from ‘Dirty Mind’, but it’s one of my all-time favorite Prince songs in general.

“Enough of that tame sh**, who want some HEAD?” is a popularly-referenced line amongst fams, due to his outstanding performances of it.

We in the Prince community have been clamoring for a pristine version of this Detroit Birthday Show forever. It has circulated for years, but has not been professionally released in the quality it deserves.

"Head" from that show starts here around 1:40.

In fact, that particular performance has become so famous that you could probably show this miniscule 3 second clip to any longtime Prince admirer; and they will tell you exactly what and where he’s singing in 3 seconds flat.

But that show occurred in 1986, 6 years after Prince released 'Dirty Mind'. And in Prince years, that also meant 5 ALBUMS later. (True story.)

For a performance of "Head" from the era in which it was released, check this:

And for a performance of "Head" from 2 years after the aforementioned Detroit Birthday Show version,

8 years after the release of 'Dirty Mind',

and 7 ALBUMS after the release of 'Dirty Mind',

check this:

Moving on from my favorite song off the album, the ‘Dirty Mind’ era also introduced the SNL audience to Mr. Nelson.

February 1981 marked Prince’s first visit to ‘Saturday Night Live’ as he performed “Partyup”.

The SNL viewers were intrigued by the non-conformist anti-war rock star in thigh-highs who abruptly left the stage.

Bobby Z., André Cymone, Dez Dickerson, Matt Fink + Lisa Coleman appeared alongside Prince on the show.

It was believed that Prince might've cursed on live TV as the lyrics include the line: "fighting war is such a f***in' bore" but he censored himself to sing 'freakin' instead.

Of course, there was NO debate when Morris slipped up while appearing on SNL 9 years later.

His non-censoring was clear as DAY (pun intended) & absolutely hilarious. https://twitter.com/IAmMissTLC/status/921480339972935680?s=20

Back to Prince's 'Dirty Mind', the lead single for the album ("Uptown") reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Soul charts and included a video which showcased an edgy look that perfectly matched P's attitude rebellion against societal norms.

"We don't let society tell us how it's supposed to be...our clothes, our hair, we don't care..."

If only I wasn't a toddler at the time, I believe I might've been the blonde in the blue dress up front throughout the vid.

Prince's version of an "uptown" utopia where everyone could be themselves + party amongst each other evolved throughout his career in the form of "Paisley Park" or "The Dawn"; but I enjoy that the original verbiage is still referenced when mentioning him. https://twitter.com/IAmMissTLC/status/1238332326066585600?s=20

At the top of this thread, I mentioned Cyndi Lauper covering a track from 'Dirty Mind'.

That track was "When You Were Mine".

And Cyndi performed it live on the 12th annual American Music Awards, on the same night she won Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist.

That same night, Prince won Favorite Pop/Rock Album AND Favorite Soul/R&B Album for 'Purple Rain' (continuing to cross genre-based boundaries!), plus Favorite Soul/R&B Song for "When Doves Cry".

He also performed "Purple Rain".

The interesting ("only Prince!") fun fact here was that, while Cyndi was performing a Prince song from his 'Dirty Mind' album, Prince himself was already deeply entrenched in an era 3 albums ahead of his punk-funk phase (releasing Controversy, 1999, and Purple Rain since then).

As for Cyndi, she released her "When You Were Mine" cover on the 'She's So Unusual' album; which was produced by Rick Chertoff.

Rick also produced Joan Osborne's "One Of Us".

And Prince covered "One Of Us" for his 'Emancipation' album in 1996. | #FullCircle #TLCConnections

There's a lot more I could say about 'Dirty Mind', but instead, I'll close this thread by urging you to check out the "Dirty Mind Symposium" vids on @polishedsolid's YouTube channel.

I now leave you with the title track. | #Princerversaries