Dirty Mind
The third studio album by Prince, released October 8, 1980, featuring the hit single 'Uptown'.
Dirty Mind is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Prince. It was released on October 8, 1980, by Warner Bros. Records.
Quick Facts
- Release year
- 1980
- Notable single
- "Uptown"
- Chart peak
- Billboard 200, #45
Lore & Background
The album is notable for Prince's increasing use of rock music elements, high register vocals, sexually explicit lyrical themes and an androgynous image. Critics have hailed its fusion of genres for influencing urban black music of the early 1980s, and its lyrics for influencing more sexually explicit music. The first single from Dirty Mind, 'Uptown', reached number five on both the Billboard Hot Soul Singles and the Billboard National Disco Action Top 30 charts. Although the album only reached number 45 on the Billboard 200, it was met with widespread critical acclaim. The album has retrospectively been ranked by Pitchfork and Slant as one of the greatest of the 1980s, and by Rolling Stone and NME as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Reader's Guide
Dirty Mind is a fusion of funk, new wave, R&B and dance, containing more rock-oriented beats than Prince's previous albums, as well as elements of punk rock on the track 'Sister'. Half of the songs were composed by Prince on tour, when he and his band had a slot opening for Rick James. The album was recorded in a makeshift 16-track studio in the basement of Prince's home on Lake Minnetonka, with Prince engineering the album himself, credited under the pseudonym Jamie Starr. Sessions occurred in May and June 1980, with Prince playing nearly all of the instruments himself, and several of the songs were recorded in one night. The album contrasted with Prince's previous ones in its raw and unpolished production style, with several of the tracks being essentially demos. It is the only Prince album to not feature a 'slow jam'.
More in Albums & Discography
Elsewhere in Prince Musician
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced