just incase any of you need to start coming out of your grieving period here you go

And that doesn't include the variations on each.

The megastar arrives in Australia this week for his first Sydney show in nine years, ready to tailor his concert to his audience.

"Bigger, younger crowds like the party songs played immediately, so we generally comply," the musician says in a rare email interview.

"The concerts are tending to skew younger these days so once folks know they are on familiar ground, we can play some rarities.

"You don't put kids in the deep water until you make sure they can swim."

Prince says he has "roughly 200 to 300 songs with variations for each" and can shorten or lengthen a hit with a simple cue based on the audience's response.

Here are some other numbers to consider: he has sold more than 100 million albums which spawned at least 30 top-10 hits. He has seven Grammy Awards, one Golden Globe and one Academy Award. He has recorded 35 studio albums. His 1984 album Purple Rain spent 24 weeks at No.1 on the album charts and at its peak was selling one million copies a week in the US alone. He's 53 and no fan of the digital age. Prince has busted his gut over the past few decades, producing and writing his own music and playing most, if not all, the instruments in his recordings.

So it irks him that fans can buy a single from the iTunes store for about $1 rather than the album in its entirety.

"It's cool because we usually buy books by the chapter," he says, dripping with sarcasm. "When we rented Avatar, we watched five scenes every weekend till it was finished."

When asked how iTunes has ruined or saved music, he replies: "Personally, not a fan of digital music. Happy to say we grew up with the record player, although this current generation experiences the world differently, neither better nor worse, just different.

"It's not up to the past to dictate. That said, the decision to turn analogue music into numerical data was not made by a musician. It was made by a music consumer. We all got dragged unwittingly to this well and are now paying the cost."When hipping a young artist to Joni Mitchell's canon of work, we don't direct them to iTunes. We sit them down and play the music chronologically."

Known for his flamboyant concerts, Insider asks his thoughts about Britney Spears doing two world tours lip-synching her entire show. "Different strokes for different folks," he replies.

The twice-married vegetarian changed his name in 1991 to an unpronounceable symbol, the same year he formed his New Power Generation (NPG) band which took over from Revolution. He ditched the symbol in 2000.

He says he has high expectations of his band, that "they play to win. Otherwise they'll be back-up dancing for Robin Thicke".

"Every band is different. Most Revolution concerts stuck to setlists. In contrast all past and present line-ups of the NPG are based upon a collective conscience. In other words, they play like I would if in their position."

The band will tour with him this month with tickets for a third Sydney show going on sale tomorrow.

Yee Haw!

Could've posted on the thread i started earlier

http://prince.org/msg/7/380715

However I agree, should be front page news - I wonder if we'll hear another jam before Fri's first show - that would be cool

Thanks for posting this.

80spfantwp said:

Could've posted on the thread i started earlier

http://prince.org/msg/7/380715

However I agree, should be front page news - I wonder if we'll hear another jam before Fri's first show - that would be cool

oops sorry

i just presumed incorectly that an interview by the man would be front page news..............

^

It was just posted earlier today.. did it occur to you that maybe a mod hasn't been online and seen the thread yet?

The Telegraph article is only a summary of the full interview in the Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun (Play Magazine). Unfortunately, it is not available on the internet yet.

Thanks for the post.

Locking thread: the Melbourne Sunday Herald features the interview and a thread including the interview (to which this Telegraph article refers) is featured on the front page.

(If you think a thread merits a front page feature, then simply contact the moderating team)