I missed smoothcriminal12 and his direct to-the-point answers

bluegangsta said:

Michael was the kind of guy that would hug you, Prince isn't.

[Edited 5/14/15 3:13am]

It is your statement.

I disagree and would hug Prince..I'd love 2.

smoothcriminal12 said:

No.

CharismaDove said:

I missed smoothcriminal12 and his direct to-the-point answers

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

No.

Don't get me wrong: I'm obsessed with Prince as an artist and performer and I wish him well as a human being. I'm just not invested in him. I'm too busy living my own life.

Prince came to me like E.T. did for Elliott.

I was in the midst of my parents divorce, and I totally get the Rolling Stone journalist, on the Omnibus BBC special,
when he mentions Purple Rain the song as being a cathartic experience, for an adult getting through a failed marriage.
From a child's perspective, believe me, it was a life saver. You knew your suffering had been shared and could be eventually overcomed.
"Purple Rain pt. II", as I like to call it, is this incredible mix of sadness and love for what has been, and will never be again.
No wonder he referred, tongue in cheek, to Auld Lang Syne.
"Purple Rain" depicts the courage life demands on a human being when it comes to turn the page without hatred or jealousy,
but trying to wish the other well. That's a universal statement, a very naked one,
and it sure isn't the product of a man obsessed with his allure,
which is obviously just the shell Skipper uses to protect himself from a "world's that's so cold".

He's the one that made me wander through the albums section.
Before that, I thought records were only 45 rpm's with two songs.
Well, not exactly, but he certainly was the first who I cared about more than everyone else.
Suddenly listening to the radio was not enough. I was craving for more flangered hi-hat.

I watched Purple Rain with a friend, in a big parisian theatre basically empty. We were like 10 people in this 400 seats venue.
When the gospel intro of Let's Go Crazy blasted out from the speakers, I was definitely hooked.
He was the ultimate rogue, the running hot water on the daughter of morality.
When you're an insecure teenager, it's like discovering this big brother who gets away with everything,
knows how to get the lady properly,

a genuine example of an adult that is not going to play by the rules, while making it big.
A man with a furious will to embrace life. A man who makes Nikki and her rolled dildo-shaped magazine an anthem
for 13 year old girls across the Puritan America that was.

I used to put "The Beautiful Ones" with the volume to 11 every single day, and I lived in a quite building.
At 12 years old, I already had the urge of putting this man's music in everyone's ear.
Against their own will if necessary.

I was still bating in the lush of the PR sound, when I came across the "We Are The World" LP.
Suddenly I discovered something as sparse as When Doves Cry, but with Wendy & Lisa in front of the mix for the first time (Computer Blue aside).
In a sense, it was a preview of what ATWIAD would be. A feminine sensitivity that only a man with titanium bollocks would have to courage to reveal.
And "If I Was Your Girlfirend" was still years away...
I did not get much of the "Tears" lyrics at the time, my english was far from fluent.
But I knew that this guy was not Phil Collins or Dire Straits, I knew he would always surprise me.
On this song, I heard a man breaking and hoping, all in one lead vocal take.
And he did surprise me again, many times, for more than a decade.

"Under The Cherry Moon" is of course something very special if you lived in France at the time.
The inner sleave of "Parade" was speaking about Jazz, Piano clubs... How human can you get
when you spend a bunch of money for a gigantic black and white videoclip, all made in your Father's honour?
If UTCM isn't "Look Daddy, look at your son living your and his own dreams, aren't you proud of me?", nothing else is.

I saw "Sign 'O' The Times" live, from the very first row. Seeing him in full force,
doing a split right in front of you, so close you can count the sweat drops on his forehead,
and he's already gone to the other side of the stage, chasing Cat.
Even if the movie captures the imagery, it cannot describe what an experience it has been.
As an european, I missed the first '86 Paris show.
It was already 3 years of listening to B-sides, seeing videos and concerts, and Prince was some kind of virtual creature to me,
still this older friend, that brought his universe full of idiosyncracies, and, most of all, fun.
Sad songs, sensual songs, political songs, move-yo-ass songs, peace and love song, Prince was a musical Wikipedia,
and I would not listen to stuff like Jeff Buckley, Stevie Wonder or Mötorhead, if it wasn't for him.
An array so vast covered by a single musician, is intriguing enough, and it HAS to make you wonder about the guy's childhood.
When I realized that the guy was not only made of flesh and blood, but that he could play with a spirit above virtuosity,
in front of you, in real time, in the fucking instant, without safety net whatsoever, I became obsessed.

I always have been obsessed about the human aspect of Prince.
Clearly here's a guy who uses his records as cathartic vectors.
"Bambi","Sister","Something In The Water" are just examples of how biographical he can get.

In fact, orgers responding by the negative, are, pardon me, not thinking straight: you cannot get into Prince's music without the persona.
It does not make any sense. If some people are really listening to "The Cross" or "Anna Stesia" from a musicologic approach only, I pity them.
They miss half or more of the equation.

Not only that : if they claim to listen to "When Doves Cry" without the emotional echo Prince conveys about divorced parents,
or less dramatic, a couple in crisis, they're lying. The pain is right there in the distorted, blues computerized voice of the intro.
The open vocal and guitar of When Doves Cry is something between a painful birth and an indian chant.
When you come back to, say, "Billie Jean", you still love Michael, but you get doubts about it being a 100% honest song.
Prince, he shreds his own guts on the floor right from the intro, and stares at his own blood flooding while the Linn starts hammering.
Quincy is one heck of a craftsman, but we're suddenly amongst adults : When Doves Cry speaks of divorce, about some yelped, whispered, screamed heart breaking.
This is not Jackson whining about some bitch running after his royalties.
Yeah, like you look at Bambi and the next thing you want is to get to his sperms for blackmailing purposes.

After When Doves Cry, Michael was forever left with the child prodigy role. Prince had the leather, the motorbike, the axe and girls underwear in his pockets.
A trauma so big he fell compelled to act "Bad" on his following album.
A duet would have made Michael's trauma too damn obvious.

To deny AOA from being a spiritual record is a mistake.
It has reminded some orgers of Lovesexy. Rightfully so. You have Bob, Camille and Prince, for starters. The Holy Trilogy.
You have the hibernation concept (wake me when it's a better world), the concept of time fleeing in "The Breakdown", "This Is What It Feels Like", "Way Back Home", "Time",
whether time means having fun or having regrets, and the constant intertwining of both.

But what makes AOA his most spiritual statement in years, is "Way Back Home".
I cannot affirm this, but I firmly believe we're hearing Mayte's sampled echography, slowed down.
Even if it isn't a direct recording of it (but after all we're talking about a guy recording women having orgasms),
it's obviously intended to be Gregory's heartbeat.

Do I feel emotionally invested at this point?

Bet yo ass I am.

bonatoc said:

Prince came to me like E.T. did for Elliott.

I was in the midst of my parents divorce, and I totally get the Rolling Stone journalist, on the Omnibus BBC special,
when he mentions Purple Rain the song as being a cathartic experience, for an adult getting through a failed marriage.
From a child's perspective, believe me, it was a life saver. You knew your suffering had been shared and could be eventually overcomed.
"Purple Rain pt. II", as I like to call it, is this incredible mix of sadness and love for what has been, and will never be again.
No wonder he referred, tongue in cheek, to Auld Lang Syne.
"Purple Rain" depicts the courage life demands on a human being when it comes to turn the page without hatred or jealousy,
but trying to wish the other well. That's a universal statement, a very naked one,
and it sure isn't the product of a man obsessed with his allure,
which is obviously just the shell Skipper uses to protect himself from a "world's that's so cold".

He's the one that made me wander through the albums section.
Before that, I thought records were only 45 rpm's with two songs.
Well, not exactly, but he certainly was the first who I cared about more than everyone else.
Suddenly listening to the radio was not enough. I was craving for more flangered hi-hat.

I watched Purple Rain with a friend, in a big parisian theatre basically empty. We were like 10 people in this 400 seats venue.
When the gospel intro of Let's Go Crazy blasted out from the speakers, I was definitely hooked.
He was the ultimate rogue, the running hot water on the daughter of morality.
When you're an insecure teenager, it's like discovering this big brother who gets away with everything,
knows how to get the lady properly,

a genuine example of an adult that is not going to play by the rules, while making it big.
A man with a furious will to embrace life. A man who makes Nikki and her rolled dildo-shaped magazine an anthem
for 13 year old girls across the Puritan America that was.

I used to put "The Beautiful Ones" with the volume to 11 every single day, and I lived in a quite building.
At 12 years old, I already had the urge of putting this man's music in everyone's ear.
Against their own will if necessary.

I was still bating in the lush of the PR sound, when I came across the "We Are The World" LP.
Suddenly I discovered something as sparse as When Doves Cry, but with Wendy & Lisa in front of the mix for the first time (Computer Blue aside).
In a sense, it was a preview of what ATWIAD would be. A feminine sensitivity that only a man with titanium bollocks would have to courage to reveal.
And "If I Was Your Girlfirend" was still years away...
I did not get much of the "Tears" lyrics at the time, my english was far from fluent.
But I knew that this guy was not Phil Collins or Dire Straits, I knew he would always surprise me.
On this song, I heard a man breaking and hoping, all in one lead vocal take.
And he did surprise me again, many times, for more than a decade.

"Under The Cherry Moon" is of course something very special if you lived in France at the time.
The inner sleave of "Parade" was speaking about Jazz, Piano clubs... How human can you get
when you spend a bunch of money for a gigantic black and white videoclip, all made in your Father's honour?
If UTCM isn't "Look Daddy, look at your son living your and his own dreams, aren't you proud of me?", nothing else is.

I saw "Sign 'O' The Times" live, from the very first row. Seeing him in full force,
doing a split right in front of you, so close you can count the sweat drops on his forehead,
and he's already gone to the other side of the stage, chasing Cat.
Even if the movie captures the imagery, it cannot describe what an experience it has been.
As an european, I missed the first '86 Paris show.
It was already 3 years of listening to B-sides, seeing videos and concerts, and Prince was some kind of virtual creature to me,
still this older friend, that brought his universe full of idiosyncracies, and, most of all, fun.
Sad songs, sensual songs, political songs, move-yo-ass songs, peace and love song, Prince was a musical Wikipedia,
and I would not listen to stuff like Jeff Buckley, Stevie Wonder or Mötorhead, if it wasn't for him.
An array so vast covered by a single musician, is intriguing enough, and it HAS to make you wonder about the guy's childhood.
When I realized that the guy was not only made of flesh and blood, but that he could play with a spirit above virtuosity,
in front of you, in real time, in the fucking instant, without safety net whatsoever, I became obsessed.

I always have been obsessed about the human aspect of Prince.
Clearly here's a guy who uses his records as cathartic vectors.
"Bambi","Sister","Something In The Water" are just examples of how biographical he can get.

In fact, orgers responding by the negative, are, pardon me, not thinking straight: you cannot get into Prince's music without the persona.
It does not make any sense. If some people are really listening to "The Cross" or "Anna Stesia" from a musicologic approach only, I pity them.
They miss half or more of the equation.

Not only that : if they claim to listen to "When Doves Cry" without the emotional echo Prince conveys about divorced parents,
or less dramatic, a couple in crisis, they're lying. The pain is right there in the distorted, blues computerized voice of the intro.
The open vocal and guitar of When Doves Cry is something between a painful birth and an indian chant.
When you come back to, say, "Billie Jean", you still love Michael, but you get doubts about it being a 100% honest song.
Prince, he shreds his own guts on the floor right from the intro, and stares at his own blood flooding while the Linn starts hammering.
Quincy is one heck of a craftsman, but we're suddenly amongst adults : When Doves Cry speaks of divorce, about some yelped, whispered, screamed heart breaking.
This is not Jackson whining about some bitch running after his royalties.
Yeah, like you look at Bambi and the next thing you want is to get to his sperms for blackmailing purposes.

After When Doves Cry, Michael was forever left with the child prodigy role. Prince had the leather, the motorbike, the axe and girls underwear in his pockets.
A trauma so big he fell compelled to act "Bad" on his following album.
A duet would have made Michael's trauma too damn obvious.

To deny AOA from being a spiritual record is a mistake.
It has reminded some orgers of Lovesexy. Rightfully so. You have Bob, Camille and Prince, for starters. The Holy Trilogy.
You have the hibernation concept (wake me when it's a better world), the concept of time fleeing in "The Breakdown", "This Is What It Feels Like", "Way Back Home", "Time",
whether time means having fun or having regrets, and the constant intertwining of both.

But what makes AOA his most spiritual statement in years, is "Way Back Home".
I cannot affirm this, but I firmly believe we're hearing Mayte's sampled echography, slowed down.
Even if it isn't a direct recording of it (but after all we're talking about a guy recording women having orgasms),
it's obviously intended to be Gregory's heartbeat.

Do I feel emotionally invested at this point?

Bet yo ass I am.

This post is spectacular!

Prince is my inspiration. When I draw, I always have a Prince song running under my cap.

So, yes, I am very involved.

It matters to know what's cooking, the different phases.

I think Prince is way too high for his contemporary, too avant-garde for these times

I think the last step for Baltimore makes him even more respectable as an artist and as an human being, concerned by what's happening in the world.

I am especially awardness of his spiritual side too.

MattyJam said:

Negritaluvyu said:

Not anymore.

When I was younger I was more entranced by him than his music, honestly. I wanted to know everything about him, I dreamt of meeting him. Granted, I was an obsessive pre-teen. I think now I've kind of gotten over him as a human being. I don't think I could spend a night in Princetopia so nowadays I just wait around for his music. I can't remember the last time I waited with bated breath for the next Prince interview so I could just gawk at him in awe.

When Prince does pass on (though he gives me immortal vibes () I'm sure I'll feel just as sad about it as I did about Michael though.

But as someone said earlier, they way they were marketed and perceived are vastly different. I think, for the most part, we saw Michael as a really talented and sweet guy who was always put in the worst of situations or a victim of the tabloids. Whereas we've perceived Prince as some talented over the top weirdo who's just exceptionally talented and thinks himself a gift to earth.

But alot of this IS true though. I know MJ did manipulate his image to a degree to the media. However, it IS true he often was naive and placed himself in compromising situations that allowed him to be unfairly slandered in the media. It IS true that he was a nice guy maybe eccentric to some but nonetheless his personality had charisma to attract people (and we know this not necessesarily by the way he was marketed but by things his peers and people who have meant him have said about him). In addition, he connected with people on an emotional level through his music and donated to charities (which showed he cared about social issues and people). Prince on the other hand is the opposite. There are many many accounts made by his own peers that he can be a asshole. He has also done some questionable things toward his fans over the years i.e. suing his fans. I LOVE Prince dont get me wrong but he doesn't seem to really be invested in connecting with his fans on an emotional level or people for that matter unlike Michael which was a big portion of Michael's appeal. That was never something Prince invested in himself therefore most people are not emotionally invested in him and just stick to the music.

mjscarousal said:

Negritaluvyu said:

Not anymore.

When I was younger I was more entranced by him than his music, honestly. I wanted to know everything about him, I dreamt of meeting him. Granted, I was an obsessive pre-teen. I think now I've kind of gotten over him as a human being. I don't think I could spend a night in Princetopia so nowadays I just wait around for his music. I can't remember the last time I waited with bated breath for the next Prince interview so I could just gawk at him in awe.

When Prince does pass on (though he gives me immortal vibes () I'm sure I'll feel just as sad about it as I did about Michael though.

But as someone said earlier, they way they were marketed and perceived are vastly different. I think, for the most part, we saw Michael as a really talented and sweet guy who was always put in the worst of situations or a victim of the tabloids. Whereas we've perceived Prince as some talented over the top weirdo who's just exceptionally talented and thinks himself a gift to earth.

But alot of this IS true though. I know MJ did manipulate his image to a degree to the media. However, it IS true he often was naive and placed himself in compromising situations that allowed him to be unfairly slandered in the media. It IS true that he was a nice guy maybe eccentric to some but nonetheless his personality had charisma to attract people (and we know this not necessesarily by the way he was marketed but by things his peers and people who have meant him have said about him). In addition, he connected with people on an emotional level through his music and donated to charities (which showed he cared about social issues and people). Prince on the other hand is the opposite. There are many many accounts made by his own peers that he can be a asshole. He has also done some questionable things toward his fans over the years i.e. suing his fans. I LOVE Prince dont get me wrong but he doesn't seem to really be invested in connecting with his fans on an emotional level or people for that matter unlike Michael which was a big portion of Michael's appeal. That was never something Prince invested in himself therefore most people are not emotionally invested in him and just stick to the music.

Very, very true. Not to be the typical Prince fan, but yeah, he's not really invested in us.

Well then how do U explain paying all expenses 4 Jesse 2 c him live? Or flying another fan to Paisley Park and giving her a "private" tour and concert. Gifting us with box sets, free muziq several times a year,pictures,surprise per4mances,free spreecast @ his magnificent Paisley Park MEGA estate etc. Mj never did that 4 his adoring fans....

nope. Even though i've spent far too many hours listening to prince and thinking about prince, I don't really care about him as a person. Like, there's a baseline "i hope nothing terrible happens to another human" that i feel towards everyone in a very academic and non-emotional way. And there's a lot of "thanks for all the great music, Prince!!" for sure. But, for example, sitting down and having a conversation with him sounds like it would be the most disappointing thing ever. He's so distant in interviews and I just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is.

fusk said:

nope. Even though i've spent far too many hours listening to prince and thinking about prince, I don't really care about him as a person. Like, there's a baseline "i hope nothing terrible happens to another human" that i feel towards everyone in a very academic and non-emotional way. And there's a lot of "thanks for all the great music, Prince!!" for sure. But, for example, sitting down and having a conversation with him sounds like it would be the most disappointing thing ever. He's so distant in interviews and I just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is.

How rude.

Being distant in interviews can come from various reasons...

I respect the fact you just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is, yet I disagree about your statement.

Not everything is black or white.

There is also beige

The way these rude,nasty,ungrateful fans act. If I was EYe'd be the same way. keep my distance & continue to work on my endless masterpieces.....

PolkaDots said:

fusk said:

nope. Even though i've spent far too many hours listening to prince and thinking about prince, I don't really care about him as a person. Like, there's a baseline "i hope nothing terrible happens to another human" that i feel towards everyone in a very academic and non-emotional way. And there's a lot of "thanks for all the great music, Prince!!" for sure. But, for example, sitting down and having a conversation with him sounds like it would be the most disappointing thing ever. He's so distant in interviews and I just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is.

How rude.

Being distant in interviews can come from various reasons...

I respect the fact you just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is, yet I disagree about your statement.

Not everything is black or white.

There is also beige

.

Yeah, who knows why he's the way he is, but I'm not sure how much sympathy I should be giving the guy. For example in the recent John Blackwell interview, John describes his audition for Prince as being pretty formal and distant. Prince shows up, they jam, then Prince says "thank you" and goes to leave. So if this story is true, Prince is either incredibly socially awkward, or he's constantly putting on the "eccentric genius" act. My guess is the latter.

fusk said:

PolkaDots said:

How rude.

Being distant in interviews can come from various reasons...

I respect the fact you just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is, yet I disagree about your statement.

Not everything is black or white.

There is also beige

.

Yeah, who knows why he's the way he is, but I'm not sure how much sympathy I should be giving the guy. For example in the recent John Blackwell interview, John describes his audition for Prince as being pretty formal and distant. Prince shows up, they jam, then Prince says "thank you" and goes to leave. So if this story is true, Prince is either incredibly socially awkward, or he's constantly putting on the "eccentric genius" act. My guess is the latter.

dude, every audition i ever did was like that...thats normal. you get a call later form your manager or agent if you got the gig.

bonatoc said:

bonatoc said:

In fact, orgers responding by the negative, are, pardon me, not thinking straight: you cannot get into Prince's music without the persona.
It does not make any sense. If some people are really listening to "The Cross" or "Anna Stesia" from a musicologic approach only, I pity them.
They miss half or more of the equation.

Wow..........someone that GETS IT!

Great post.

[Edited 5/24/15 8:48am]

fusk said:

nope. Even though i've spent far too many hours listening to prince and thinking about prince, I don't really care about him as a person. Like, there's a baseline "i hope nothing terrible happens to another human" that i feel towards everyone in a very academic and non-emotional way. And there's a lot of "thanks for all the great music, Prince!!" for sure. But, for example, sitting down and having a conversation with him sounds like it would be the most disappointing thing ever. He's so distant in interviews and I just don't care anymore to find out who the "real Prince" is.

.

You can tell when Prince is on an awards stage, or even in interviews, that he feels uncomfortable talking. He's even mentioned it at one time, that he doesn't feel comfortable talking and feels much more at ease when he's performing his music. I get the impression that Prince can be very shy and insecure when he's giving an interview, not sure how he is going to come across, how things he says are going to be taken (and possibly, twisted). In my opinion, I feel that Prince may feel that anything of value that he has to say, he says in his music, and anything more is extraneous and not truly of value, unless he's talking one-on-one with someone that he *wants* to talk with. If he's interested in conversing with you, I imagine the subjects can be extremely deep and thought-provoking. If he's not, he's aloof, shy, quiet, because what if that person takes what he said out of context and makes it out to be something it's not? Personally, I would love to get into a deep conversation with Prince. There are questions I would love to ask him, and not at all related to his music.

He's a Badass MF.. I love Badass MF's so Yes!

ummm...cant say that I am...especially when Prince isnt emtionally invested in me...

Yes, I think that everyone who’s on this site feels invested in Prince to some degree. I’m 37 and I remember first seeing Prince on MTV when the video for 1999 came out. I wasn’t more than 5 or 6 years old. I was intrigued by his appearance and it drew me towards his music. I remember asking my Mom to buy me the 1999 album. She didn’t know who Prince was and so she went out and got it for me. Then one day she heard me listening to Let’s Pretend We’re Married and she smacked me senseless. I told her that she bought the tape for me so it was her fault and that just made it worse (LOL)! Anyway, ever since then I was enamored with Prince’s music and sought it out. As a kid, I washed cars in the neighborhood so I could by Prince music. At 15 I got my first job so I could continue to buy Prince’s music and attend my first Prince concert. When I started college and was out on my own for the first time in life, my Prince music was all I had. He was there all the late, late nights I stayed up studying. He was there all the weekends I was in alone. And when I finished college and got out into the “real” world, his music was there with me on my way to my first “real” job interview and my first “real” job. And when one of my closest childhood friends committed suicide his music was there. And his music was there through the death of my grandparents, and nephew, and cousin, and through 2 job layoffs, and the breakup of a 10 year relationship, and when I bought my first car, and the purchase of my first home, and my first promotion, and my first business trip (I can’t get on a plane without thinking about International Lover), through every miserable moment and ecstatic moment – and all those moments in between. So yes, I absolutely feel invested in Prince.

I can dig where you're coming from! my 1st date was a Prince concert & i worked all summer on my 1st job to get tickets.

wouldntulove2loveme said:

Yes, I think that everyone who’s on this site feels invested in Prince to some degree. I’m 37 and I remember first seeing Prince on MTV when the video for 1999 came out. I wasn’t more than 5 or 6 years old. I was intrigued by his appearance and it drew me towards his music. I remember asking my Mom to buy me the 1999 album. She didn’t know who Prince was and so she went out and got it for me. Then one day she heard me listening to Let’s Pretend We’re Married and she smacked me senseless. I told her that she bought the tape for me so it was her fault and that just made it worse (LOL)! Anyway, ever since then I was enamored with Prince’s music and sought it out. As a kid, I washed cars in the neighborhood so I could by Prince music. At 15 I got my first job so I could continue to buy Prince’s music and attend my first Prince concert. When I started college and was out on my own for the first time in life, my Prince music was all I had. He was there all the late, late nights I stayed up studying. He was there all the weekends I was in alone. And when I finished college and got out into the “real” world, his music was there with me on my way to my first “real” job interview and my first “real” job. And when one of my closest childhood friends committed suicide his music was there. And his music was there through the death of my grandparents, and nephew, and cousin, and through 2 job layoffs, and the breakup of a 10 year relationship, and when I bought my first car, and the purchase of my first home, and my first promotion, and my first business trip (I can’t get on a plane without thinking about International Lover), through every miserable moment and ecstatic moment – and all those moments in between. So yes, I absolutely feel invested in Prince.

Coming from someone with two P tattoos, I actually have never felt much of a connection to him as a human besides respect. We clearly have much different values and his attitude sometimes gets me frustrated but overall, his music is where I'm bound to him.

Would love to meet him though and see if we hit it off. Would be an interesting lunch date!