On this day in music history: August 4, 1984 - “Purple Rain” by Prince & The Revolution hits #1 on the Billboard Top 200 for 24 weeks, also topping the R&B album chart for 19 weeks on July 28, 1984. Produced by Prince, it is recorded at First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN, Sunset Sound in Hollywood, CA, The Record Plant in Los Angeles, CA, and The Warehouse in St. Louis Park, MN from August 1983 - March 1984. The recording of the soundtrack album to the highly successful film will begin with the recording of the tracks “I Would Die 4 U”, “Baby I’m A Star” and the title track, which are all recorded at a live benefit performance at the First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis, also marking guitarist Wendy Melvoin’s live debut appearance with the band. “Let’s Go Crazy” will be cut in The Revolution’s rehearsal space after Prince asks engineer Susan Rogers to take his home recording studio equipment out of his private residence and install it at The Warehouse. The remaining tracks will be cut in regular studios over the next couple of months. Like the film, the soundtrack album will be an enormous success, spinning off five hit singles including “When Doves Cry” (#1 Pop and R&B), “Let’s Go Crazy” (#1 Pop and R&B) and the title track (#2 Pop, #4 R&B). It will win two Grammy Awards (Best Rock Vocal Performance By Duo Or Group and Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or TV Special), and an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score in 1985. “Purple Rain” is certified 13x Platinum by the RIAA, and is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2011.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 00:22:26 +0000