Prince: Little Red Corvette

Notorious for changing his name to a symbol, Prince paved the way for thousands of African American performing artists... but he wasn't first.

Michael Jackson broke the MTV colour barrier in ’83 with ‘Billie Jean’. Prince followed soon after with ‘Little Red Corvette’ from the album ‘1999’. It’s hard to believe it now but punters thought he was serious competition for Michael. Think of it as the black equivalent of the ‘Stones/Beatles’ debate. His breakout single made #6 in the US and #2 in the UK.

Little Red Corvette’s lyrics are among the dirtiest in the business, but not enough people ‘got it’ to have it censored. Such was its power that it inspired Sevie Nicks to write ‘Stand Back’. Prince even had a hand in the musical composition. My favorite Songfact comes from a Chevy poster. Picture a red 1963 Corvette Sting Ray that says "They don't write songs about Volvos."