Remember that book that fool wrote about Prince (yeah I bought it) a few years back? Well I hope he's writing a new book to show how Prince's rise back to stardom has rocketed since Musicology to now. How do the sour grapes taste now Alex?

I actually picked this book up again recently after finding it whilst doing a little late spring cleaning, and it was better than I remembered (not that I originally thought it was bad, but I recalled thinking it was a little light).

It did tend to speed over certain eras or projects - but there is a lot to cover and I remember a lot of fans criticising the book for speculation, with phrases like 'according to a close source' etc. Well given the credentials of the people interviewed for the book (and those done by Per Nilsen/Uptown, which Hahn had access to in writing the book) it's pretty clear who is saying what at any given part in the book by the phrasing and subject.

What is considered salacious conjecture by a lot of fans who don't want to see Prince as a three dimensional human being, is most likely very true to reality at the times in Prince's career being discussed.

I don't really think there's any need for fans to get their panties in a twist (still!... After all this time?!) about the negative slant it gives Prince's career. At the time of the books release, it wasn't apparent that Prince would embrace, and be embraced by, the mainstream media as much as he has since Musicology (American Idol, Superbowl etc, etc) - And in terms of the music itself, the argument that Prince is still in a creative malaise is still very much valid, if weakened somewhat by more interesting and consistent work like 'Planet Earth'.

Alex Hahn was a twat with an obvious grudge against Prince.

Hahn's book is so dated now as to be totally irrelevant.

His writing skill was near nil and the the sheer amount of mistakes in the text was enough to make even a casual fan blink with incredulity.

There will be no new edition or new Prince book from Hahn regarding Prince's latest rise because the entire concept of Hahn's book was to convince the public that Prince's career was over.

Hahn doesn't want to hear and report that Prince is selling-out 21 nights in a 23,000 seater arenas or that he had one of the most popular tours in America in 2004 or that he played the superbowl. Those facts do not fit into Hahn's manifesto.

It was just a money making tool,it worked, now he can write another one and folks will run out and buy it too, the only book worth buying about Prince will be the one Prince writes.

Hahn is a truly appalling writer who probably has no business even being a lawyer given how bad his book was!

But is he eating crow? With the only Prince book currently widely available in shops with the little guy seemingly stratospheric again (if not in record sales at least in live performance and public profile)...

For all the awfulness of the book, I doubt Hahn sees Prince's rise from the ashes as anything too terrible. He should be making a pretty penny as a result and the book is now ripe for updating. By somebody else, I hope to Christ!

wlcm2thdwn said:

Aside from how ridiculously unlikely that is, I doubt it would be that interesting. Really a far more credible book could be had by any one of his long term collaborators, who are probably all legally gagged. Wendy, Eric Leeds or maybe even Levi Seacer Jnr (who is, despite the fact that he's hardly ever mentioned any more, right up there as a genuine contender for Prince's all time greatest wingman).

I was thinking about this recently. I can see him writing about how he's been commercially successful again, yet he would criticize the artistic level of his last 3 albums. Some would agree with what he would say. It would be interesting to see what quotes he could get out of Prince's bandmates over the last few years too.

NouveauDance said:

I agree! It seems like some people cannot believe there could be a negative side to Prince. I don't believe, that Hahn hates Prince. He merely suggests it would have helped Prince's career and his personal life, had he humbled himself a little bit along the way instead of acting like a self-centered star. This is one of the best books I've read about him and I still love Prince regardless. I also loved Dez Dickerson's book.

I thought it was a very good book because it also had negative things to say about Prince. Nobody's perfect and neither is Prince. A book full of nothing but positive things (which we all already know) would have been boring as hell.

I thought it was a great book. It just has an unfortunate title. IMO it's better than the boring DMSR by Per Nilsen and way better than the ridiculous Purple Reign: The Artist Formerly Known As Prince by Liz Jones...

I doubt he cares much, he got paid. His book was crazy negative! Yet I bought it and read it more than once! I guess I was just starved for a look behind the music. But we Prince fans need to stop supporting some of those opportunists out there. Most of them don't know what they're talking about anyway.

I heard that crow tastes like Church's chicken.

Or maybe it was the other way 'round....
[Edited 8/28/07 15:53pm]

I thought it was a pretty good book, and to be fair I believe Hahn left it open at the end of the book as to whether or not Prince could regain his commercial appeal.

Hahn's position that Prince entered a long artistic decline starting in the late 80s/ early 90s mirrors the opinion of many long-time Prince fans on this site. Hahn admits there were moments of greatness during this "decline", but I agree with him that he's never come close to matching his best work from the 80s.

I also think that folks just don't like to hear what people were telling him. It's not all made up.

I enjoyed the book. I don't think his intention was to smear Prince. It was just to shine a more realistic light on him.

i think Hahn is either a member of prince.org or Housequake. I remember seeing him reply 2 a topic.

All I care about is the FACT that Prince showed Hahn's ass and all the Orgers who were so eager to jump on that "Prince has fallen and he can't get up" boat exactly what I told them back then...it ain't over until HE says it is!

I kinda got the feeling that Hahn didn't really care 4 P, he wrote alot of negative things, such as P couldn't write a rock song. If I remember correctly he wrote something like Diamonds & Pearls was a flop (or not so great of a CD) & a few pages later he's says something like it was the last good CD P has made.

NouveauDance said:

I am starting to reread this book again, actually I really like when I read it a few years ago that is what inspired me to get back into Prince after a few years of hiatus of not listening to him. Although I think maybe Hahn maybe has a biased opinion and focus alot on the negative..I found it to be a very thought provoking book and taught me alot about Prince. It was really facinating to read about his life and his career. It also helped me understand how much the music industry works and made me feel kinda sad that it is hard for real artists to have long careers that encourage them to grow and develop. Actually it just makes me respect Prince for how he is taking his career back into his own hands and now I understand the frustrating moves he was making in the nineties alot better after reading this book.

moviestar08 said:

He did post here a couple of times, several years ago. I wouldn't wait for him to show up again, I think it was a brief dalliance with the Prince fan online world.

im sure Hahn is as happy as anyone that prince's fame has found a resurgance, means he can write a follow up in the long run if nothing else