Some people's friends turn them onto drugs. Prostitution. Stripping. Alcohol. What does MY friend turn ME onto? I was 14 years old. My friend since 3 years of age comes over on Saturday, as she did every week-end that was "her father's week-end". He and her aunt, friends of my sister, lived diagonally across the street from my family. "I have something I want to show you," she says. Me-"What is it? What is THAT? What is going on with the lettering? What's up with the eyes?" "You with the questions!" she laughed. "Just LISTEN to it. You will LOVE IT. These are symbols. They all mean something....." Just REELING me in. Naturally, I took the bait. "Okay," I say, and put album 1 on the record player. We study the album art together, noticing each symbol, each picture, until finally, I exclaim, "Wait a daggone MINUTE!!! Is the '1' in 1999 shaped into a d***???!!!!" We look at the album cover again. Then we look back at each other. Back to the album cover. Then at each other, before bursting into uncontrollable laughter and squeals of girlish adolescent delight, as His Royal Badness played in the background, taking me on my first of MANY mental and sonic 'plane rides', with him at the helm as the pilot. #HelloThisIsURPilotPrinceSpeaking #InternationalLover #PurpleGirlWasBorn #TrueFunkSoldier4Life #PrinceArmy #PurpleHive