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"If I Was Prince"

I have very mixed feelings about tribute albums. If a group of friends decide to all record some songs because they're all influenced by an artist or group, it's somewhat acceptable. Meanwhile, when labels like Cleopatra make a career out of coordinating a bunch of bands related to their label, (Leatherstrip seem to always say yes, too) and tossing together a collection of "ironic" versions, it's nauseating. This collection is sort of hard to pin down, and is somewhat predictable in its unpredictability.

 

Rex

Misty Dixon - If I Was Prince

First off, I'm happy to report they actually chose some of the lesser-known yet still pretty special Prince tunes, if there was anybody doing "Kiss," I would have tossed the disc in the trash immediately. Next up, like nearly every tribute, there are a couple of moments that shine very brightly, a couple stinkers and a lot of mediocrity. 7 Hurtz with Peaches and Bitch Laplap open the comp up with a curvacious version of "Sexy Dancer," setting the stage for something saucy but my taste buds begin to register "bland". Fort Lauderdale rip in with an almost equally sleazy rendition of "Annie Christian" with a dirty bass riff and irritating guitar solo. But then it gets somewhat graituitus as Op:L Bastards does an embarassingly out of tune version of "If I Was Your Girlfriend," leaving off all the interesting lyrics. Capitol K want to be Beck on "Dance On", Simian sound like they don't even care on "Under the Cherry Moon", Broadway Project should have left Jeb Loy Nichols out on "The Ballad of Dorothy Parker", Bronze Age don't do much but add drunken vocals and boring instrumentation to a tired glitchbreak on "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", and Hefner (not even the rock Hefner) retools "Controversy" into something so bland it would offend nobody. Please make it stop!

Alas, the last track reached and it is indeed quite phenomenal. Whoever this Misty Dixon chick is, I want her. Seriously. So does every guy and girl who always calls the radio station whenever I play the tune on my show! "The Beautiful Ones" from 'Purple Rain' could very well possibly be one of the most amazing pop songs of the 1980s and her version is so delicate yet mesmerizing, it's almost worth the price of admission. Especially when she gets to that bit, "Do you want him, do you want me, cos I want you!" (Bonus points for not changing the lyrics.) Misty: will you marry me? Sorry. Anyhow, whenever she gets an album together, she needs to include this cover tune, so you won't have to spend your money and time wading through the tepid waters here.
What would you do if you were Prince?

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