Prince Rogers Nelson would have been an impossible 64 today, and just to keep things lively I have a gift or you.
Spoiler, it’s music.
But this is special music and you have probably never heard it before.
It seems that Prince was asked, and agreed, to do some background vocals and some fun little music-y bits for a track belonging to none other than the Queen of Alternative Music Kate Bush, (who is having a moment all her own thanks to the use of her classic ‘Running Up That Hill” in the Netflix mega hit “Stranger Things.” Bush is back on the charts for the first time since her last album Aerial which was released in 2005 and we are overjoyed. (If you aren’t familiar with “Running Up That Hill” it’s one of the most beautiful and haunting songs of the ‘80s if not ever and you should give it a listen.)
It’s very cool for those of us who have loved her innovative sound since the ‘70s and ‘80s. Each of her songs is so uniquely her own sound, but what happened when the Queen met the Prince of Funk?
Well, it was a little confusing at first. Bush sent the music to Prince for some background vocals and when she received his additions back? It was different. The whole song was different.
It had become a Prince song. Bush and her collaborators spent the next two years trying to turn it back into a Kate Bush song, but it was no use, because once Prince touched something, it was his.
Finally they just went with it, combining Prince’s vocals and what is totally his musical style into the alternative world of Kate Bush.
It was a good decision.
So now, in honor of the purple one’s birthday, we give you Kate Bush and Prince, together, beautifully blended and powerful.
So, Happy Birthday to the Purple One and happy listening to us!
It’s a true gift.
Take a listen here:
