8.

Prince And The Revolution – Parade

There are other Prince albums that are more obvious choices like Purple Rain and Sign o’ the Times. His run from Dirty Mind right through to Lovesexy, even Diamonds & Pearls – skipping over the Batman soundtrack – is great, but Parade is the one I keep returning to. Even 31 years later is still sounds futuristic. Whenever the intro to ‘New Positions’ starts up, I’m like, “I love this album!”

If I had to pick one song from his entire catalogue – and I love, love Prince – then ‘Kiss’ would have to be the one. If it was released tomorrow by The Weekend or somebody, it would be a Number One smash; it’s fucking incredible.

When I was 12 years old I saw the video for ‘Girls & Boys’. I did not know what the song was really all about, but I wanted to be part of it! It was the sexiest record I had ever heard. Every time it came on the radio, it would leave me very sexually curious.

There’s something wilfully obtuse, not just the movie it came from (Under The Cherry Moon), but the music too. Clearly at the time Warners desperately wanted Purple Rain 2 and that’s absolutely not what Prince gave them. I admire his commitment to not giving the audience the music they want, but instead giving them the music they need.