Class of '84

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Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies

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Music: Classic Pop & Rock

Gary Davies has the best 1980s music - hits, classics, album tracks, 12" singles and more.

Gary Davies takes you back to the best decade in music, with a diverse mix of classic pop, dance, rock, hip-hop and alternative pop

Gary Davies takes you back to the best decade in music, with a diverse mix of classic pop, dance, rock, hip-hop and alternative pop. Each week, celebs and listeners choose their favourite 80s tracks on My 80s, and a fresh Mastermix is served.

Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies: Class of 84: Prince - Purple Rain

Class Of '84: Prince - Purple Rain

Prince - Purple Rain

Class of 84

BBC Radio 2 - Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies, Class of 84, Prince - Purple Rain

Trevor Nelson remembers the album that turned Prince into a worldwide star.

Trevor Nelson goes track-by-track through the album that turned Prince into a worldwide star, recalling the era via archive footage and memories of Prince's engineer Susan Rogers.

In the summer of 1984, Prince released Purple Rain - his sixth studio album, which accompanied his film of the same name. This combination transformed Prince into a worldwide star. 

Having released five albums, Prince was already successful in his home market of America, but here in the UK, the single 1999 had been his only hit, reaching the Top 30 in 1983. But the Purple Rain album marked a turning point, with its singles When Doves Cry, Let’s Go Crazy and Purple Rain becoming classics. The Purple Rain film offered a visual introduction to Prince in an era – as remembered by Trevor – when there were frustratingly few outlets on British TV that showed music videos.

As well as archive footage from BBC Two's Whistle Test and Prince at the 1985 British Music Industry Awards, Professor Susan Rogers of Berklee Music College talks about what it was like to work with Prince in specially recorded recollections. Susan joined Prince in the summer of 1983 as his engineer, and one of her first tasks was installing a mixing console into a leased Minnesota warehouse, for the purpose of turning it into a rehearsal space – however the songs Let's Go Crazy and Computer Blue which appear on Purple Rain are the versions they recorded there.

Alongside the breakthrough status of Purple Rain in 1984, Trevor reminds us of Prince’s links to other artists around that time, sometimes via pseudonyms which made the extent of his talent and work harder to track. And there’s also the matter of his songs with explicit lyrics, that became part of an infamous list and resulted in the American music industry agreeing to instigate content warning labels on future releases.

Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies: Class of 84

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

Class of '84: Tina Turner – Private Dancer

Celebrating classic albums by Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Sade and Prince.

Class of 84: Celebrating classic albums by Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Sade and Prince, all released in the early summer of 1984

Class of 84: Celebrating classic albums by Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Sade and Prince, all released in the early summer of 1984.

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Sounds of the 80s with Gary Davies

Class of 84

Prince - Purple Rain

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