Happy 25th Anniversary, Madhouse “8″

Posted by The G on January 21, 2012 under GNN | Be the First to Comment

Photo of Madhouse “8″ by G.

Can you believe that 25 years ago on January 21, 1987, Prince’s Paisley Park label released the epic album “8″ by the jazz fusion group Madhouse?  The album featured Eric Leeds on saxophone and flute, while Prince played all the other instruments on the record.  Every song is a great exercise in funk and because what mattered was the music and not the labels, each of the eight songs on the record was named only by a number (and the tracks are called “One,” “Two,” “Three,” “Four,” “Five,” “Six,” “Seven” and “Eight.”)  The album suffered from Prince’s short attention span when it comes to promoting a project (mainly because by the time an album could be released through the proper distribution channels, Prince had probably recorded several albums worth of new material and thus he was not excited by the ‘old’ material)  and it immediately slipped into mainstream obscurity and yet is one of the most sought after side-project albums from Prince’s career.  Happy anniversary “8.”  You’ve sure brought a lot of smiles to my face over the last quarter of a century and I will love you until the day I die.