Minneapolis’ 6th Gift to the World: The Minneapolis Sound
This week, Metroblogging sites around the globe are unveiling seven gifts their cities can share with the world. Browse the numerous Metblogs, or check here to see what other cities are giving.
Let us know if you totally agree or totally disagree with the gifts we’ve chosen. When we say “Minneapolis” sometimes we mean “St. Paul” or “Minnesota.” Our 6th gift is the Minneapolis Sound.
That hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B & new wave is described thusly:
- Synthesizers generally replaced horns, and were used more as accent than as fill or background.
- The rhythm was often faster and less syncopated than traditional funk, and owed much to New Wave pop music.
- Guitars, while usually (but not always) played “clean” for rhythm parts, were frequently much louder and more aggressively processed during solos than in most traditional funk.
- The “bottom” of the sound was less bass-heavy than traditional funk; drums and keyboards filled more of the “bottom”.
- The drums were more highly processed than in traditional funk, and frequently electronic.
There’s Prince. Prince is… well, he’s Prince, fer cryin’ out loud! He pioneered the sound.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis made their contribution and have put out an unbelievable number of hit records from their studios in Minneapolis. Think Morris Day & The Time. Think Sheila E. What Twin Citizen doesn’t get a little rush when Janet Jackson yells out “Minneapolis!” in the middle of her song Escapade? (Okay maybe that’s just me.)
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I’ve been a big Prince fan since “Purple Rain” came out…and I remember when he opened his store in Uptown. We had to check it out (just like everyone–looking but no buying). It was when he was going through his name change. I asked the guy working there what he called his boss. He said to me, “I just call him ‘Sir.’” Made sense.
Definitely a MPLS gift to the world! Thanks!
Now I can’t get “Escapade” out of my head.
Prince is genius, and Janet is my favourite artists of all time, anything from them is more than worthy.
haha i had to go on YouTube to hear that “Minneapolis!” reference…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkuas587tj0
Good stuff.
I didn’t realize she was that connected to Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis — there’s a bunch of articles about her recording in their hole-in-the-wall studio on Nicollet Ave.
Weird.
Now I have not only love sign, but also Black Cat stuck in my head….thanks.
I saw somewhere, I think in the Wikipedia article, that Janet Jackson’s father only let her come to Minneapolis after he was assured that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis wouldn’t make her sound like Prince.
I’m totally on a Janet spree now.