Hope no one gets upset by this, just offering a different perspective here and a very recent transformation I have had of my opinion of the man known as Prince.

I am an old school rocker, grew up listening to Black Sabbath, Nugent, GNR ect so back in the day, was not a Prince fan at all. Girls liked him so I tolerated his music being played and saw him on MTV occasionally, but I considered him a gimmick more than anything.

Never did watch purple rain and of course that was well before mp3's came out ,,, Never listened to any radio stations that would play Prince, so basically to this day all I have ever heard was 1999, rasberry beret and purple rain. Though it was far from my taste in music I was never disparaging of him - The way I see it, if I sold 50,000,000 albums then I'd have some room to talk, success speaks for itself and the 3 songs I mentioned above were no doubt catchy, widely played and were products of a talented person.

I saw a pic of him on stage 80% naked and in fishnet stockings, and that did it for me, I refused to listen or watch anything he did after that.


Anyhow when he died I thought too bad, but couldn't see it having any effect on me. Made me feel a bit nostalgic though just thinking about him, probably haven't heard anything about him for almost 2 decades. Was clicking around one of the articles about him and one of them led me to the jam he did with Tom Petty - I was shocked he played like that, sounded great and was far, far away from anything I expected. Saw his super bowl jam and the purple rain solo was amazing, sounded super sweet and I was very impressed.


Then I clicked on a link for an interview with Aresenio Hall, and since I knew next to nothing about the man and my last image of him was cavorting around in stockings, I expected an arrogant freak to come out talking wild gibberish ,,, But of course, he was nothing like that. He was soft spoken, insightful, courteous and intelligent and obviously a bit shy. I then realized his wild antics on stage back in the day were most likely done for shock value and publicity and didn't represent who he actually was.


So I now for the first time in my life have respect for the man and his music, and seeing how many people admire, cherish and love the man, I realize that the world has lost a very talented, creative musician and a genuinely nice guy and feel a little guilty for assuming he was something that he was not.


RIP from a rocker.

Have fun clicking around a little more... The one good thing about all this is, that some videos are finally availalbe. Who know for how long. Maybe look for The Undertaker or 3rdEyeGirl, these are more on the rock side.

Thanks. Glad you finally got past the clothes.

Youtube 'Prince motherless child' Enjoy the solo.

Thanks for the nice message. No need to come in with an apology - we all have our own taste, and there's not a thing wrong with yours, my friend!

Your experience is not that uncommon, I would imagine. Prince even himself felt that his image could be a big distraction from his music (as this recent interview with Bobby Simmons of ZZ Top will attest: https://www.washingtonpos...itarist/).

He was an incredibly gifted musician, performer, and entertainer, and I'm glad you have found a way to appreciate him in the end. As others have said, there are other nuggets for you to enjoy - Prince has such a huge catalogue of material, including a lot of rock songs.

I can see where you're coming from. His image is/was very different and flamboyant so that can certainly turn people off.

I recommend the song Endorphine Machine

Very honest post, Prince was a Black Man doing things "Black" guys shouldnt do?

Way before his time....

We are all playing catch up with this guy ....Even the most know it all Prince Fam is still learning

Dreamer2 said:

Very honest post, Prince was a Black Man doing things "Black" guys shouldnt do?

Way before his time....

We are all playing catch up with this guy ....Even the most know it all Prince Fam is still learning

Would like to thank everyone for their comments, and I have been browsing more topics here with interest. If you would have told me 3 weeks ago I would be interested in Price in any fashion for any reason, I would have laughed out loud. I'm man enough to admit when I am wrong, and from what I can see, I was wrong about the man and wrong about his musical talents and I am here not aplogizing at all, but just admitting it to the people who care about him most.

Too, back in the day when they played the hell out of him on MTV, I would never admit even to myself that I liked rasberry beret and 1999, but I did - Why else would I feel nostalgic hearing it 20 years later, why else would I catch myself singing and humming it sometimes ? I grew up with a rough and rowdy crowd, and admitting admiration for a guy like Prince I think would have been out of the question - I ended up joining the USMC which probably saved my life and serving for 8 years, once I got out went into heavy construction and outlaw motocycle clubs, once again crowds probably not very Prince freindly.

But once again, went I am wrong I am almost compelled to admit it, I even told one of my buddies the other day what I wrote here about hearing some of his guitar work and he said wow, no shit I never would have guessed that either.

I don't think race was a factor, there were alot of white groups you could not have paid me to listen to either. Too, I have always been a huge Hendrix fan, in fact he is probably my al ltime favorite, so I can't see even subliminal racist feelings being any factor. Thats why I quoted the reply of Dreamer2 because Jimi was probably the 1st back man to cross over in a big way doing things black guys shouldn't and can't do, and he did it in such an astounding fashion that it won him eternal fame, and very well deserved. I know Jimi took alot of heat from blacks in the day because they viewed him as catoring to whites and it really bothered him, but he was so consumed with his music that he never let that effect his output, thankfully.

I noticed in Princes solo with Petty he looked like he was trying to dredge up some Hendrix playing mannerisms, even looked at one point that he was going to play with his teeth but thought better of it at the last moment. Wise decision if such was the case because no one could succefully imitate Jimi just like no one is going to do it with Prince. Don't know how much the very private Prince has admitted to influence and admiration for Jimi but I'm sure that he, like countless others was fascinated with him to one degree or other.

Ok I've rambled enough, thanks for listening and I most certainly will check further into Princes musical talents, though I expect that still most of his studio stuff will not be to my tastes now any more than they were 20 years ago. I suspect that most people go through their entire lives pretty much listening to what they grew up with.

[Edited 4/30/16 9:12am]

Marrk said:

That's a cool story. Many of the rockers and metalheads that I knew (who weren't even casual fans) owned "Purple Rain". On the rock/metal sites he's getting a lot of praise from Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme), Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (KISS) and more. Ted Nugent said that he thought he and P were "blood brothers"...(no comment on that one). The only one who threw me for a loop was Phil Lewis (L.A Guns)..he said something nice (but racist at the same time). I think people from all backgrounds are going to be discovering P's genius and what he did.

I'll be the first to admit, I am very closed minded musically. I have been playing guitar since I was 14 and never had a whole lot of spare time to experiment listening to styles I am not keen on, and I still don't. I listen to mostly burnt CD's of music I like, the one in my truck has been in there for years, and I have much the same on my phone. There are 2 stations here in the Detroit area that play things I like, I have only listened to those 2 pretty much my entire life, never am I even remotely curious as to what else it out there.

Early on, I put Prince into the category of Boy George and I didn't take him out until after he died ,,, I can see now that was a mistake and Prince has more talent in his toe nails than Boy George will ever have - No offence on the off chance a Boy George fan wil lread this.

I have always been very anti rap and really don't even consider it "music" per se, but just the same I like a few Eminem songs and recognize his great lyrical ability ,,, So thats about the point I'm at with Prince now, belated recognition that never would have manifested itself had he not died and the internet not flooded with stories about him that kicked me into gear to find out a few things I never knew.

We all live n learn as we go, a process that starts from day 1 and ends when we draw our last breath.

XrayTed said:

I'll be the first to admit, I am very closed minded musically. I have been playing guitar since I was 14 and never had a whole lot of spare time to experiment listening to styles I am not keen on, and I still don't. I listen to mostly burnt CD's of music I like, the one in my truck has been in there for years, and I have much the same on my phone. There are 2 stations here in the Detroit area that play things I like, I have only listened to those 2 pretty much my entire life, never am I even remotely curious as to what else it out there.

Early on, I put Prince into the category of Boy George and I didn't take him out until after he died ,,, I can see now that was a mistake and Prince has more talent in his toe nails than Boy George will ever have - No offence on the off chance a Boy George fan wil lread this.

I have always been very anti rap and really don't even consider it "music" per se, but just the same I like a few Eminem songs and recognize his great lyrical ability ,,, So thats about the point I'm at with Prince now, belated recognition that never would have manifested itself had he not died and the internet not flooded with stories about him that kicked me into gear to find out a few things I never knew.

We all live n learn as we go, a process that starts from day 1 and ends when we draw our last breath.

you know, my best friend in the world is a white guy who's a stragith up rocker. Played guitar since he was 15 I think, and we always get into debates about music, and I've never been able to convince him of Prince's talent because all he knew was what was on mainstream TV. Then he saw the RRHOF performance, and he was blown away. Now he he's an avid collector who, like you, saw a small part of him back in the day that colored his opinion from then on, until he saw that guitar solo.

XrayTed said:

I know a decent amount of ROCK fans that are ALSO Prince Fans...I am one of those.. More on the Prince scale for sure as he was my #1...

I liked this a lot. Frankly, people write off Black Sabbath or G&R as gimmick bands - Keith Richards thought Sabbath was a gimmick band. People have a lot of impressions about Ozzy (especially after the TV show) and don't take him seriously as an artist, and, again, someone whose appeal lasts so long and reaches so many people...

mtlfan said:

I liked this a lot. Frankly, people write off Black Sabbath or G&R as gimmick bands - Keith Richards thought Sabbath was a gimmick band. People have a lot of impressions about Ozzy (especially after the TV show) and don't take him seriously as an artist, and, again, someone whose appeal lasts so long and reaches so many people...

Yeah, I guess it could work both ways never thought about that.

Sabbath IMO were the originators of true metal, Tony Iommi easily in the top 5 guitarists of all time, and Ozzy a towering frontman. GNR oddly enough I always liked them, but never was that much into them until they broke up, then I really started getting into them and appreciating their musical rock genius.

But you are right, those that stand the test of time like Elvis, Beatles, Stones, Sabbath, AC/DC ect speak for themselves, even if someone doesn't like their music it would be ridiculous to say "Elvis sucked !", because his staggering success and enduring popularity is the only proof that is needed that he didn't.

And I think Prince has eanred a place in such illustrious company, his success and accomplishements speaks for itself as well.

XrayTed said:

XrayTed said:

XrayTed said:

Hope no one gets upset by this, just offering a different perspective here and a very recent transformation I have had of my opinion of the man known as Prince.

I am an old school rocker, grew up listening to Black Sabbath, Nugent, GNR ect so back in the day, was not a Prince fan at all. Girls liked him so I tolerated his music being played and saw him on MTV occasionally, but I considered him a gimmick more than anything.

Never did watch purple rain and of course that was well before mp3's came out ,,, Never listened to any radio stations that would play Prince, so basically to this day all I have ever heard was 1999, rasberry beret and purple rain. Though it was far from my taste in music I was never disparaging of him - The way I see it, if I sold 50,000,000 albums then I'd have some room to talk, success speaks for itself and the 3 songs I mentioned above were no doubt catchy, widely played and were products of a talented person.

I saw a pic of him on stage 80% naked and in fishnet stockings, and that did it for me, I refused to listen or watch anything he did after that.


Anyhow when he died I thought too bad, but couldn't see it having any effect on me. Made me feel a bit nostalgic though just thinking about him, probably haven't heard anything about him for almost 2 decades. Was clicking around one of the articles about him and one of them led me to the jam he did with Tom Petty - I was shocked he played like that, sounded great and was far, far away from anything I expected. Saw his super bowl jam and the purple rain solo was amazing, sounded super sweet and I was very impressed.


Then I clicked on a link for an interview with Aresenio Hall, and since I knew next to nothing about the man and my last image of him was cavorting around in stockings, I expected an arrogant freak to come out talking wild gibberish ,,, But of course, he was nothing like that. He was soft spoken, insightful, courteous and intelligent and obviously a bit shy. I then realized his wild antics on stage back in the day were most likely done for shock value and publicity and didn't represent who he actually was.


So I now for the first time in my life have respect for the man and his music, and seeing how many people admire, cherish and love the man, I realize that the world has lost a very talented, creative musician and a genuinely nice guy and feel a little guilty for assuming he was something that he was not.


RIP from a rocker.

thank you for sharing, nice read!
it is fun cause for me it's a bit the opposite in some ways. I grew up loving Soul & Funk also Jazz and Rap, and so in the early 80s I naturally got into Prince. but he always pushed boundaries and musical limits and some of his noisy guitar stuff was not easy to accept at times
and when I heared GNR, Nirvana and alike on MTV or the radio, this was the natural "enemy" so I bitched about it especially against Heavy Metal. still I didn't want to admit to myself (or others) that I actually liked some tunes here and there.
But it was not until I joined this community here on prince.org that I opened up my mind. with fans coming here from all sorts of directions, ages, countries and with very diverse mucial backgrounds, talking about artists from all kinda genres, that really opened my eyes and made me not only tolerant to styles I had never liked before, but actually really enjoying it! so over the years orgers in here hooked me up to all kinda new music, and I bought tons of CDs I never would have touched 20 years ago, be it Nirvana, GNR, Hendrix, Clash and dozen of others.
thanks for that! I just love my purple family here

[Edited 5/2/16 3:07am]