Sign O’ the Times

Prince

three years after Purple Rain, Prince was in the market for a comeback. So he made one of the great Eighties albums. Times is best known for the apocalyptic title track, the brontosaurus funk of “Housequake,” and the gorgeous “If I Was Your Girlfriend.” Peak Purple moment: his coy falsetto when he sings about taking a bath with his pants on in “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker.”