PeteSilas said:

Connected said:

Yeah this & as NorthC said...Zappa!

[Edited 6/23/16 6:54am]

where did todd say that? how would he remember him if he didn't know who he was? Prince was a nobody in the mid 70's and stars have lots of people trying to speak to them. also, what's a good song of his to listen too? I'll check him out.

[Edited 6/23/16 11:32am]

Here's one you might recognize

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsezr0qiFIc

(notice the crazy outfit and makeup too)

here is the article where he mentions prince

Is it true Prince, a real Toddhead, used to come backstage to try to meet you?

I did hear that. My most interesting experience with Prince was on Saturday Night Live. I was wearing a slightly racy costume in which my, er, package was prominently displayed. And there were some complaints. Then Prince came on for his first national TV appearance and he wore a pair of tidy-whitey underpants and a big cape. So no matter what anyone had to say about my costume, it became all about Prince in his underwear.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/may/01/todd-rundgren-interview

[Edited 6/23/16 17:42pm]

[Edited 6/23/16 17:52pm]

NorthC said:

PeteSilas said:

mozart didn't sing or dance did he? neither did beethoven. Duke ellington was known as a composer, not a pianist/singer/dancer. Cab Calloway danced his ass off and sang great but I've never seen him even play an instrument. anyone you care to name falls short in some way. and that's no insult, prince was the best.

Prince never composed music for an orchestra, never conducted an orchestra, he didn't play bicycle... Frank Zappa did all those things as well as being a rock guitarist and released more albums in his (shorter) lifetime.

you're right, but those guys didn't do splits, didn't have the fashion and image, didn't sing. Zappa was prolific and he was a forgotten guitarist but i haven't really been able to get into a lot of his stuff. could frank dance?

CROWNS1 said:

PeteSilas said:

where did todd say that? how would he remember him if he didn't know who he was? Prince was a nobody in the mid 70's and stars have lots of people trying to speak to them. also, what's a good song of his to listen too? I'll check him out.

[Edited 6/23/16 11:32am]

Here's one you might recognize

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsezr0qiFIc

(notice the crazy outfit and makeup too)

here is the article where he mentions prince

Is it true Prince, a real Toddhead, used to come backstage to try to meet you?

I did hear that. My most interesting experience with Prince was on Saturday Night Live. I was wearing a slightly racy costume in which my, er, package was prominently displayed. And there were some complaints. Then Prince came on for his first national TV appearance and he wore a pair of tidy-whitey underpants and a big cape. So no matter what anyone had to say about my costume, it became all about Prince in his underwear.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/may/01/todd-rundgren-interview

[Edited 6/23/16 17:42pm]

[Edited 6/23/16 17:52pm]

prince's first appearance was also on bandstand. he didn't wear a cape on SNL did he? i thought he wore a trenchcoat.

CROWNS1 said:

PeteSilas said:

where did todd say that? how would he remember him if he didn't know who he was? Prince was a nobody in the mid 70's and stars have lots of people trying to speak to them. also, what's a good song of his to listen too? I'll check him out.

[Edited 6/23/16 11:32am]

Here's one you might recognize

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsezr0qiFIc

(notice the crazy outfit and makeup too)

here is the article where he mentions prince

Is it true Prince, a real Toddhead, used to come backstage to try to meet you?

I did hear that. My most interesting experience with Prince was on Saturday Night Live. I was wearing a slightly racy costume in which my, er, package was prominently displayed. And there were some complaints. Then Prince came on for his first national TV appearance and he wore a pair of tidy-whitey underpants and a big cape. So no matter what anyone had to say about my costume, it became all about Prince in his underwear.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/may/01/todd-rundgren-interview

[Edited 6/23/16 17:42pm]

[Edited 6/23/16 17:52pm]

watching the todd guy, not bad, don't know much about him other than the name.

listening to his album a wizard/true star, not bad. I haven't seen him play any guitar,just piano and although the songs fine, they are just simple chords. There are guys who've played multi instruments, notably stevie wonder and paul mccartney, those two guys are monsters. I always thought the only reason stevie didn't try to play stringed instruments was because he didn't want to callous his fingertips. Both mccartney and wonder did their best work in conjunction with others. I guess some people think Prince did too with the revolution. I just don't think anyone covered as many bases as well as Prince, no one. Like i said, he's the sugar ray robinson of music. Millions of guys better at one maybe to or even three things but no one did so much so well. And as I've always said, you'd have to go back to ellington and the classical greats to find people who had the same aura of genius and magnitude to them.

fortuneandserendipity said:

There's a generally held belief in the media/music establishment that the greatest artists of all time will always be the Beatles/Bob Dylan/Rolling Stones, basically the same old faces you see on the cover of Mojo magazine every bleedin' month. Most people just seem to go along with this but some know better. I'm not trying to knock the artists I mentioned, I'm a big fan of Dylan, but it gets really tedious seeing these artists constantly worshipped while Prince is largely only recognised for Purple Rain in the mainstream media.

This is my favorite song of Todd Rungren's....

.

HELLO IT'S ME...

.

Hello it's me, I've thought about us for a long, long time,

Maybe I think too much but something's wrong,

There's something here that doesn't last too long,

Maybe I shouldn't think of you as mine.

.

Seeing you, or seeing anything as much as I do you,

I take for granted that you're always there,

I take for granted that you just don't care,

Sometimes I can't help seeing all the way through.

.

It's important to me, that you know you are free.

Cause i never want to make you change for me.

.

Think of Me, You know that i would be with you if i could...

I'd come around to see you once in awhile,

Or if i ever need a reason to smile....

And spend the night if you think i should

.

Loooooove this song!!!!!!! Todd Rundgren does compose, arrange, sings and plays all his instruments as well. And i do remember reading somewhere ages ago that PRINCE WAS A FAN OF HIS maybe he saw a kindred spirit in Todd???

.

[Edited 6/24/16 16:59pm]

massing said:

There's a generally held belief in the media/music establishment that the greatest artists of all time will always be the Beatles/Bob Dylan/Rolling Stones, basically the same old faces you see on the cover of Mojo magazine every bleedin' month. Most people just seem to go along with this but some know better. I'm not trying to knock the artists I mentioned, I'm a big fan of Dylan, but it gets really tedious seeing these artists constantly worshipped while Prince is largely only recognised for Purple Rain in the mainstream media.

the writers of those are all middle aged white guys, what else are they going to say. Little Richard complained how the people who admitted they were influenced and inspired by him came ahead of him in the RS greatest rock artists. The only thing i see anyone having an edge on Prince is the cultural shifts those groups and the early rockers may have caused. Of course elvis had a huger cultural impact and of course he was more innovative in his image and his music but he couldn't play better than Prince and he didn't really write his songs. However, I'm kind of thinking the story isn't finished for Prince yet, Jesse Johnson once said that Prince had things in the vault that are way ahead of their time, no telling what we'll discover.

GeniusLuv said:

This is my favorite song of Todd Rungren's....

.

HELLO IT'S ME...

.

Hello it's me, I've thought about us for a long, long time,

Maybe I think too much but something's wrong,

There's something here that doesn't last too long,

Maybe I shouldn't think of you as mine.

.

Seeing you, or seeing anything as much as I do you,

I take for granted that you're always there,

I take for granted that you just don't care,

Sometimes I can't help seeing all the way through.

.

It's important to me, that you know you are free.

Cause i never want to make you change for me.

.

Think of Me, You know that i would be with you if i could...

I'd come around to see you once in awhile,

Or if i ever need a reason to smile....

And spend the night if you think i should

.

Loooooove this song!!!!!!! Todd Rundgren does compose, arrange, sings and plays all his instruments as well.

that was alright, i don't know enough about him to compare him to Prince.

Connected said:

Because Prince was a product of OUR time

-

Imagine James Brown during segregation? "I don't want nobody to give me nothing...open up the door... I get it myself"

-

That shit was tantamount to "Dirty Mind" & "Controversy" back in civil rights day!

-

Prince is OUR genius...but let's keep some perspective

-

Mozart

-

Rachmaninoff

-

Nina Simone

-

Prince is OURS...but even he appreciated...was ne...humbled by the beautiful plethora of musical talent before him

-

Check how he "borrowed" from Elvis, James B, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Santana, Joni, Fleetwood, Sly, Jimi, Beatles etc...

-

Is he the best ever?...

-

Subjective

-

For me though...yes...in our generation...yes...because his music and lyrics are the constant soundtrack of our life

-

Best ever - for ever-ever?

-

...that is a loooong time of music to get through!

-

Oh the oxymoron!

[Edited 6/22/16 19:04pm]

Totally agree with you. In addition, past generations did not have the technology and connectivity we've had these past few decades. Not fair. Prince is the ABSOLUTE best in my lifetime. I'm very comfortable saying that, but it's not fair to say of all time without true knowledge of who came before him. And I'm talkin' millennium...

NorthC said:

PeteSilas said:

mozart didn't sing or dance did he? neither did beethoven. Duke ellington was known as a composer, not a pianist/singer/dancer. Cab Calloway danced his ass off and sang great but I've never seen him even play an instrument. anyone you care to name falls short in some way. and that's no insult, prince was the best.

Prince never composed music for an orchestra, never conducted an orchestra, he didn't play bicycle... Frank Zappa did all those things as well as being a rock guitarist and released more albums in his (shorter) lifetime.

I didn't think Cab Calloway could dance well though, he kinda looked clumsy.

[Edited 6/29/16 7:01am]

Bowie turned mostly shit after '87, Stevie Wonder after '76 (I love 3 tracks off secret... plants album and not much else) Dylan after '78 (did great songs, but only half decent albums thereafter). Lennon was for a time shit in the early/mid-ish 70s, Zappa only did 2 decent albums in the 80s and decided the rest of the time to be shit. And most other esteemed artists are shit most of the time. So prince owns it in this era because he is very seldom actually shit.

Of all time? That's like comparing apples and oranges. Maybe Mozart could sing, dance and play all the instruments. But I think prince is definitely up there with him bach and beethoven.

[Edited 6/29/16 7:30am]

fortuneandserendipity said:

Bowie turned mostly shit after '87, Stevie Wonder after '76 (I love 3 tracks off secret... plants album and not much else) Dylan after '78 (did great songs, but only half decent albums thereafter). Lennon was for a time shit in the early/mid-ish 70s, Zappa only did 2 decent albums in the 80s and decided the rest of the time to be shit. And most other esteemed artists are shit most of the time. So prince owns it in this era because he is very seldom actually shit.

Of all time? That's like comparing apples and oranges. Maybe Mozart could sing, dance and play all the instruments. But I think prince is definitely up there with him bach and beethoven.

But that's why this subjective debate is ultimately so pointless.

Bowie was "mostly shit" after '87 you say.... Dylan "half decent" after '78....

How many folks would write off post-early '90s Prince with those kind of dismissiveness? (Rhetorical question)

Why would dancing even factor into a serious discussion of the greatest musical artists anyway?

And where is Miles Davis in this discussion?

There is no greatest overall musical artist. Only after breaking it down by specific genre (and then probably by dividing each genre into numerous sub-categories) can such designations be realistically applied.

CAL3 said:

fortuneandserendipity said:

Bowie turned mostly shit after '87, Stevie Wonder after '76 (I love 3 tracks off secret... plants album and not much else) Dylan after '78 (did great songs, but only half decent albums thereafter). Lennon was for a time shit in the early/mid-ish 70s, Zappa only did 2 decent albums in the 80s and decided the rest of the time to be shit. And most other esteemed artists are shit most of the time. So prince owns it in this era because he is very seldom actually shit.

Of all time? That's like comparing apples and oranges. Maybe Mozart could sing, dance and play all the instruments. But I think prince is definitely up there with him bach and beethoven.

But that's why this subjective debate is ultimately so pointless.

Bowie was "mostly shit" after '87 you say.... Dylan "half decent" after '78....

How many folks would write off post-early '90s Prince with those kind of dismissiveness? (Rhetorical question)

Why would dancing even factor into a serious discussion of the greatest musical artists anyway?

And where is Miles Davis in this discussion?

There is no greatest overall musical artist. Only after breaking it down by specific genre (and then probably by dividing each genre into numerous sub-categories) can such designations be realistically applied.

Trust me, it's always bothered me. Like, my 10 favourite Zappa, Wonder, Bowie, Dylan songs are all on the same level as Prince. But I've always thought Prince when he's shit sounds mediocre, whereas the others almost know they're doing shit to my ears. But they're seeing if they can get away with it. like the record company were asking for another album and this is the best I could do.

I do think over half of the NPGmc material is shit. But then that could be indicative of the vault material in general, I at least hope not.

Miles Davis I mostly love, even dig his 80s material. I was restricting choice to the pop/rock canon.

fortuneandserendipity said:

Trust me, it's always bothered me. Like, my 10 favourite Zappa, Wonder, Bowie, Dylan songs are all on the same level as Prince. But I've always thought Prince when he's shit sounds mediocre, whereas the others almost know they're doing shit to my ears. But they're seeing if they can get away with it. like the record company were asking for another album and this is the best I could do.

I do think over half of the NPGmc material is shit. But then that could be indicative of the vault material in general, I at least hope not.

Miles Davis I mostly love, even dig his 80s material. I was restricting choice to the pop/rock canon.

By the way, I should've said I my response was really more about the overall debate - wasn't meaning to pick on what you were saying specifically.

I do hear what you're saying about sticking to 'pop' - in the thread overall there was a lot of Mozart etc being thrown around.

Not directed at anyone in particular, I think in general it is extremely difficult for even the most objective music fan to definitely separate personal favorites from truly objective choices.