On March 31, 1987, “Paisley Park Records” label released “Sign o’ the Times” (Sign “☮” the Times}, the ninth Prince studio album. It was recorded in 1986 – 1987, at “Lake Minnetonka Home Studio” in Minnetonka, “Galpin Boulevard Home Studio” in Chanhassen, “Washington Avenue Warehouse” in Eden Prairie, “Sunset Sound Recorders” and “Ocean Way Recording” in Hollywood, “Monterey Sound Studios” in Glendale, and “Dierks Studio Mobile Trucks” in Paris, and was produced by Prince. In 1989, magazine “Time Out” named it as the greatest album of all time. Magazine “New Musical Express” ranked “Sign o’ the Times” at number 16 in its list of the “All Time Top 100 Albums”. Magazine “The Times” ranked “Sign o’ the Times” as the 29th greatest album of all time, and in 2003, magazine “Rolling Stone” ranked the album at number 93 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.
Personnel:
- Prince- all vocals and instruments except as noted below
- Wendy Melvoin- guitar, tambourine, congas, backing vocals
- Lisa Coleman- Fairlight sitar, wooden flute, keyboards, backing vocals
- Fink- keyboards
- Miko Weaver- guitar
- Brown Mark- bass
- Bobby Z.- drums
- Sheila E.- rap, drums, percussion
- Eric Leeds- saxophone
- Atlanta Bliss- trumpet
- Jill Jones- vocals
- Susannah Melvoin- backing vocals, vocals
- Sheena Easton- co-lead vocals
Track listing:
All tracks by Prince, except where noted
- Sign o’ the Times
- Play in the Sunshine
- Housequake
- The Ballad of Dorothy Parker
- It
- Starfish and Coffee – Prince, Susannah Melvoin
- Slow Love – Prince, Carole Davis
- Hot Thing
- Forever in My Life
- U Got the Look
- If I Was Your Girlfriend
- Strange Relationship
- I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
- The Cross
- It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night – Prince, Doctor Fink, Eric Leeds
- Adore