Little Red Corvette - Prince (1983)

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[1980-1984 Best Songs]

Billboard Top 100, 1983, #25

I wonder if, when Little Red Corvette came out, Billy Ocean, Lionel Richie and Jermaine Jackson all realized it was over?

Once Prince laid down

you had a pocket full of horses, Trojans, and some of them used...

no longer were all these excitable teenagers going to be satisfied with corny leftovers lyrics. Nor would they accept second-rate R&B music.

Prince was fearless - he could dance like James Brown, sing like Michael Jackson, even jam on a guitar like Eddie Van Halen (almost). He never hesitated to introduce a rock guitar or a horns or strings section, and of course, he was far more overt sexually than anyone before on the R&B Pop scene.

I'm sure you've heard it a million times, but don't miss how good this song really is. Like Prince himself, it's a virtuoso: sexy lyrics, dynamic music, slick melody, and soul all coming together to save an entire genre of music from lameness.