Funkatropolis: “Alphabet St.” by Prince

This rousing Prince hit pays musical homage to Sly & The Family Stone. It captures the influential band’s uplifting sound during their pre-Riot era of the late ‘60s. It has that same euphoric spirit of early Sly & The Family Stone classics such as “You Can Make It If You Try,” “M’Lady” and “Dance To The “Medley.” The catchy rhythm guitar riff is classic Freddie Stone, and the terrific horn arrangement evokes the brass magic of Cynthia Robinson and Jerry Martini. The track also features some funky bass thumpin’ and an irresistible stop-start beat. And dancer/singer/choreographer Cat Glover delivers a surprisingly strong rap. She also provides soulful background vocals.

“Alphabet St.” is a colloquial reference to an area in Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis where east-west roads cross through streets arranged in alphabetical order, among them Aldrich, Bryant and Colfax avenues. And as with many Prince tracks, the song contains sexual references, but it also has an underlying social theme, which is another common feature in his songs.

It’s no secret that Sly & the Family Stone were a huge influence on Prince, not just musically but also visually. His band the Revolution was modeled after Sly & The Family Stone’s iconic interracial, inter-gender lineup. And there are many other tracks in Prince's discography where Sly Stone’s influence is apparent. He even gives Sly a shoutout in his song “Musicology.” Additionally, Prince was close friends with Sly & The Family Stone founding member Larry Graham. The bass legend frequently collaborated with Prince on different music projects, and the two often toured together. He was also Prince’s spiritual mentor and introduced him to the Jehovah’s Witness faith.

“Alphabet St.” was written and produced by Prince. It was the first single from his tenth studio album Lovesexy, which was released in 1988 on Paisley Park and Warner Brothers Records. The song performed well on the charts. It peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart. And it made the top 10 in a number of other countries–even reaching the top spot in New Zealand and Norway.

“Alphabet St.” has been sampled on several songs, including Nine Inch Nails' "Ringfinger" from their acclaimed 1989 debut album Pretty Hate Machine. And two-time Grammy-winning hip-hop group Arrested Development got into a bit of hot water when they sampled a part of “Alphabet St.” for their 1992 hit “Tennessee” without Prince’s permission. They ended up having to pay a $100,000 clearance fee to the Purple One. However, Arrested Development frontman Speech doesn't have any ill feelings toward Prince over it and feels he went easy on them. “He could’ve demanded that the record be taken off the shelf, requested the sample be taken out of the record, demanded publishing and writing credits on the record,” said Speech in an interview with Atlanta magazine. “He didn’t do that. Instead, he wanted a flat fee.” And in spite of having to fork over 100K to Prince, Speech cites him as his favorite artist and one of his biggest musical influences; and he was devastated upon hearing of Prince's untimely passing in 2016, per his Atlanta magazine interview.

Notable artists who have covered “Alphabet St.” include indie folk singer-songwriter/musician Sufjan Stevens and alternative rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Prince made a lively and colorful music video for “Alphabet St.” The video features him walking, dancing, playing guitar and driving through an environment made out of letters. Unfortunately, the music video doesn't have Cat's rap in it.

The players on “Alphabet St.” were Prince (lead and backing vocals, electric guitar, Roland D-50 synthesizers, bass, Linn LM-1, Dynacord ADD-One, cuíca, handclaps), Sheila E. (drums and handclaps), Atlanta Bliss (trumpet), Eric Leeds (saxophone), Cat Glover (rap and backing vocals), Boni Boyer (backing vocals) and Ingrid Chavez (spoken voice).