Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ turns 40 — and we celebrate with the ultimate soundtrack playlist
It’s not an understatement when I tell you that Prince’s “Purple Rain” soundtrack changed my life after it came out 40 years ago on June 25, 1984.
I wore that vinyl out after I scraped my coins together and bought it — and probably had to sneak it into the house.
Before you even got to the music, Prince, in all his purple glory on his purple motorcycle, looked like the flyest, funkiest man I had ever seen.
But then there was the music, which was nothing short of revolutionary — from “Let’s Go Crazy” to “When Doves Cry” to, of course, the epic title track, “Purple Rain.”
And that was all a month before the release of the hit movie, which will be back in select theaters on July 3.
It’s not only my favorite soundtrack of all time, but one of my top-five albums of all time. Period.
And in honor of Purple Rain’s 40th anniversary, let’s throw it back to some of my other all-time favorite soundtracks:
‘Saturday Night Fever’
Let’s kick it off with the smash “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, which had everybody twirling under that disco ball back in 1977.
John Travolta may have been the star of the movie, but the Bees Gees were the stars of the soundtrack.
Whenever “Stayin’ Alive” comes on — trust — disco is no longer dead.
And it still makes you wanna bust into your best Tony Manero strut.
‘Waiting to Exhale’
Just like the Bee Gees were the masterminds behind the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, Babyface was the man behind all the female feels on the 1995 “Waiting to Exhale” soundtrack …
Face wrote and produced for a stellar cast of soul sisters … from Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige to Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle to Toni Braxton and Brandy.
I mean, it was a who’s who!
And of course, there was Whitney Houston, who also starred in the film. And I’m going to just say it … this beats “The Bodyguard” soundtrack for me. Fight me on that one!
‘Claudine’
Next up is another soulful soundtrack, to the 1974 movie “Claudine” starring the legendary Diahann Carroll — who was actually nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, so check it out if you haven’t seen it.
But the soundtrack belonged to another black queen, Gladys Knight and, of course, the Pips.
The main man, though, was Curtis Mayfield, who had already produced the classic “Super Fly” soundtrack in 1972.
But I’m Team Claudine!
‘Brokeback Mountain’
Gonna switch it up with the “Brokeback Mountain” soundtrack, which captured the heart of the gay cowboy romance in 2006.
It had all the rootsy realness with Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris, plus an Oscar-winning score by Gustavo Santaolalla that you need to tip your cowboy hat toward.
“Black Panther’
And rounding out my playlist is the 2018 “Black Panther” soundtrack.
I just have two words for you on this one: Kendrick Lamar.
He did the damn thing curating this soundtrack and rocking the mic on tracks like his SZA joint “All the Stars.”
And he did it all while also taking us back to the motherland — Africa.