Minneapolis Star Tribune Book Review By Jon Bream: 'Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince'

'Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince'
Jon Bream, Star Tribune http://www.startribune.co...09887.html
Published April 9, 2003

From Prince's legal adversary to his biographer. That's the leap that Alex Hahn is trying to make.

The Boston lawyer's claim to fame is that he successfully defended Uptown, the respected Prince fanzine, in a 1999 lawsuit brought by the Purple One. He handled that case pro bono for the Sweden-based magazine, which is still publishing. Now he's looking for his payday with "Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince."

The book reads like an in-depth fanzine written by a voracious researcher/fan: Lots of facts (most of them previously reported, some new, including Prince being hospitalized at Fairview Southdale in April 1996 for heart palpitations and vomiting); lots of gossip (including women Prince bedded, according to "a knowledgable source," Hahn writes) and tabloid-like coverage of the death of Prince's deformed baby in October 1996.

Hahn interviewed several key figures in Prince's life and career, including former managers Bob Cavallo and Arnold Stiefel; former band members Dez Dickerson, Matt Fink and Rosie Gaines; publicists Howard Bloom and Bob Merlis, and road manager and Paisley Park executive Alan Leeds.

Hahn also relied heavily on interviews conducted by others, chiefly Per Nilsen, Uptown contributor and author of the 1999 book "DanceMusicSexRomance: Prince, the First Decade." (Nilsen is credited with interviewing 30 sources, Hahn with 19.) In his introduction, Hahn cited Nilsen's book and my 1984 biography, "Prince: Inside the Purple Reign," as sources. Hahn never contacted me.

In the first noteworthy Prince book by a U.S. author in two decades, the Boston lawyer/writer also lists people who turned down his interview requests, including Vanity, Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Sheila E., Morris Day and Madonna. Apparently, he did not seek an interview with Prince.

"Possessed" does not offer a serious analysis of Prince's art. Rather, this book chronicles the ups and downs of his career, with plenty of pseudo-psychoanalysis of the shortcomings that eventually toppled him from the top of the pops. Hahn portrays Prince as a self-indulgent, obsessive, demanding, capricious, promiscuous, uncaring, petulant, spoiled brat/genius/workaholic.

This is not a Kirby Puckett-type situation where the public and private images don't jibe. Prince-ophiles have known of these dubious qualities. It's just that no book author has gone where lawyer Hahn has: printing the rumors and whispers.

With all his digging, Hahn tells us that a trip on the drug Ecstasy is what prompted Prince's short-notice cancellation of the release of "The Black Album" in 1987.

The author's unnamed sources suggest that Prince's use of the prescription painkiller Percodan contributed to his erratic behavior circa 2000.

"Possessed" too often seems secondhand and gossipy. Reading it, you wonder if Hahn has ever seen Prince in concert. Could he see the purple through the pain?

In regaurds to the hospital stay part of this thread... my mother's friend who is a dietician said that Prince had a stay at the hospital she works at here in central Cali. It turns out that he suffers from hepetitas C. She told my mom that she has to let every patient know what to eat the get them back to good health. She came across Prince's name and thought she had to see for her-self if it was him. She went on to say that he had security out side his door and they wouldn't let her in. She demanded that she speak with him cuz it was her job to visit every patient. They let her in and she said he was small, big head, no make-up and all lips! Not to mention the fact that he was sleeping so she never got to speak with him. The trippy thing about it was that this took place around the time this thread mentions his hospital stay. Only it was right before he announced his Jam of the Year world tour. I remember that press conference also. He was like out of it! He even had shades on which he always wears, but there was one or two times someone to the side of him had to remind him what to say. This was days after his stay in central Cali. My mom's friend said that they moved him to a hospital closer to home and that the only reason he was here in cental Cali was cuz they wanted to keep it on the down low. I dont know. By the way, it was in Visalia, Ca., 40 miles south of Fresno, Ca.
Klick2me

OMG -- Prince had Hepatitis C? Poor guy! ~going onto the internet do some research ~.
[This message was edited Wed Apr 9 16:29:33 PDT 2003 by psychodelicide]

Irish Diplomacy: The art of telling someone to go to hell, and having them look forward to the trip.

My give a damn is busted.

Just did a search on Yahoo for Hepatitis C, there is a TON of information about it out there! For instance:

How could a person have gotten hepatitis C?

HCV is spread primarily by direct contact with human blood. For example, you may have gotten infected with HCV if:

you ever injected street drugs, as the needles and/or other drug "works" used to prepare or inject the drug(s) may have had someone else's blood that contained HCV on them.
you received blood, blood products, or solid organs from a donor whose blood contained HCV.
you were ever on long-term kidney dialysis as you may have unknowingly shared supplies/equipment that had someone else's blood on them.
you were ever a healthcare worker and had frequent contact with blood on the job, especially accidental needlesticks.
your mother had hepatitis C at the time she gave birth to you. During the birth her blood may have gotten into your body.
you ever had sex with a person infected with HCV.
you lived with someone who was infected with HCV and shared items such as razors or toothbrushes that might have had his/her blood on them.

What's even scarier is that I learned that 80% of people who are infected with Hepatitis C have NO symptoms. At least Prince got the problem under control.

Make you wonder how Prince contracted the disease. And please don't say that Prince got it from Mayte, or I'll have to find out where you live, come over, and bitch-slap some sense into you.
[This message was edited Wed Apr 9 17:26:14 PDT 2003 by psychodelicide]

Irish Diplomacy: The art of telling someone to go to hell, and having them look forward to the trip.

My give a damn is busted.

psychodelicide: "Make you wonder how Prince contracted the disease. And please don't say that Prince got it from Mayte, or I'll have to find out where you live, come over, and bitch-slap some sense into you."

why would you be so judgemental and weird about this? all he had to do is sleep with one chick who has it, and he could get it from that. the fella's pretty endowed, we've all kinda seen that i think, so maybe there'd be some minor bleeding, which would make transmission much more likely.

it's no secret that prince has had a very diverse and abundant selection of delicacies from the female species...i don't think most of us would be here if his raw sexuality didn't appeal to us.

but then you hear an unconfirmed rumor that he has hepatitis c and you think he must've been slamming heroin into his jugular or something. and it's much more likely that he would give mayte something than the other way around. this is a subject i'd LOVE to discuss with him personally...on songs like "props and pounds" he says "safe sex campaign, touted by the gun - with Con as the prefix, suffix be the dumb, what's in the trojan horse lubrication..."

anyway, just sayin'...

Whatever happened to patient/doctor confidentiality? Anyway, the whole Hep-C story sounds suspect for a number of reasons. There's no way to tell if it is true, or not but it just rings false.

For those that simply rushed off to find out about Hep C GET A LIFE YOU SAD SAD people, when it gets to a point where anyone can post any old rubbish about Prince and you guys think you go off researching something that "possibly" is a load of bullshit then I would question your healthy obsession with Prince.

Why do obsessed Prince fams make me feel sick, am I the only one that feels this way?

starbass said:

starbass said:

theblueangel said:

Irish Diplomacy: The art of telling someone to go to hell, and having them look forward to the trip.

My give a damn is busted.

klick2me said:

Erratic behavior around 2000? Such as?

dickiepotter said:

I was going to buy this book, but now I'm not so sure.

I got the book today and read most of it. The book went into the Anna Fantastic situation, but not all that much. Actually alot is missing from the book. But the overall feel of this book is to make Prince look as moody as possible. lol! Which he is, as is his right. It's a clean book and not as negative as i thought it would be. It attempts to piece together Prince the man against the common Prince persona. All i can tell them. The ones digging so hard. He's male. He is human. He makes music for the true spirit of expression and has the right to make mistakes, change his mindset and his discussions, as he sees them. Just as anyone would hope to have those rights also. Prince is Prince... Think about it... smile... 8)

Yes, I am wrong for sharing this info and the dietician is wrong also. But, he is a celeb and not that he is open game, but c'mon, when one comes across somthing like this, can u really expect them to just stay quite? I dunno. I have held this info for many years now and all it is is just an illness. If he really believes in God like he says he does and stands on God's word then all is cool. Besides, aint nothing stoppin him!!! Sorry if I have pissed anyone off with this info but it is juicy, aint it? C'mon, admit it. All I know is that Im not lying and this lady is an older lady. Why would she lie? Goodness!
Klick2me

klick2me said:

klick2me said:

XxAxX said:

dickiepotter said:

preciosa863 said:

klick2me said:

klick2me said:

I can't believe some people.

Of course none of this would give the fanatics a clue as to why Prince is such a private person when it comes to his personal life.

Unfortunately some people don't have a conscience to be ashamed, regardless of whether it's true or not.

Appalling, just appalling.


¥
[This message was edited Mon Apr 14 0:17:17 PDT 2003 by Supernova]

First off, I'm sceptical aboout 99% of the rumours I hear about celebs (and I'm sorry klick2me, I don't know you, or anything about you, so I have to take it as rumour. In fact, I know nothing of your sources, so I have to take anything like that with a grain of salt).

Hepatitis B and C are two of the most commonly spread diseases around. Sure, its possible Prince has it. Millions of people do, and don't realise it. My best friend is a PA, and he sees Hepatitis cases constantly. It is far more easily transmitted that AIDS or other STDs. One patient of my friend contracted it from snorting cocaine only once(many coke users have sores in their nasal cavities. The blood from the sores gets on the straw, and then the next user has that blood absorbed by the mucus membranes in their nose). It is useless to speculate on how Prince could have gotten it, because (A) we don't know if he even has it, and (B) he ain't talkin'! Besides, how does any of this hearsay change your opinion of Prince, or his music? If it does, then you are entirely too wrapped up in the life of someone you don't even know.

The same can be said of books like Hahn's. I'm not saying that it doesn't contain factual information, just that said information should be taken with a grain of salt. I like to read biographies of musicians as well, since it gives some insight into their creative mindset. That doesn't mean that I believe every word that is printed. Use the mind God gave you, and take it for what it is.

Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones. (Ecclesiastes 7:9)

JUST A THOUGHT IN REGARDS TO THE HEPATITUS C THING

Didn't PAM ANDERSON Accuse TOMMY LEE of giving Pam Anderson Hepatitis C?

Maybe MAYTE was involved with Tommy Lee while she was married to PRINCE and transferred the Hepatitis to Prince….

(If any of this gossip be true……Gossip be damned!!!)

Im trippin. Ain't no one complaining about what this book reveales in regaurds to his hospital stay!