For once, I don't know what to say. I do know that I'm a ball of nerves about this though.

Yes!

I assume you mean the ones that carried over from the original "lifetime" membership of NPGMC in the first place? I think this an excellent idea, but I think the well organized machine of 3121.com already deleted me. If they haven't, I'll make sure they do by the end of the work week.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Even more popular than my Thriller 25 thread?



I'm so hurt!

cries in the corner

bboy87 said:

Well this is bound to have a thousand replies at this rate

missmad said:

Me? I'm going to write "slave" on my face.

Well, well , well it was only a matter of time. Okay...fansites are here for people to express themselves...right. I'm sure we all agree that it is unconstitutional for someone to control what you right on a message board as long as it is not slander or libel.
The problem that I have is when celebrity whine and complain about petty things like this, this is the life that you chose. It goes right along with the territory! Do I condone stalking or obsession, NOT AT ALL! Do I condone downloading someone's music illegally, absolutely not! But, to me to dictate and commit these acts of extreme tyranny rivals the messages of the novel 1984, as well as his own disagreement and eventual schism with Warner Bros. He has become what they stood for.

In conclusion...the fansites are not only a haven for fans, but HELLO!!! A FREE ADVERTISER FOR PRINCE! NOT A SMART BUSINESS MOVE AS WELL! You push the fans away, as well as excluding up and coming P fans (like myself about 5 years ago) who want to know more about his music. My take is don't expect me to support you, when in essence by taking away these sites...you do not want me to in the first place. So I say, I'm not going to financially support you while you reign on the freedom. He has basically become what he tried to get away from.
[Edited 11/5/07 17:27pm]

laurarichardson said:

i think he hired greedy lawyers. lawyers will sometimes pump a case up into a bigger deal than it should be to generate fees for their firms....

Has anyone mentioned my name yet?

herb4 said:

Imago said:

no one is sure how to pronounce it

For the first time in almost four years, I've decided to change my avatar from my usual lion's head tattoo design. I realize this is not one of the most earth-shattering expressions ever dared in the history of human dissent, but what the hell do you people WANT from me on a Monday?


I fully support Ben and his partners in the PFU project. (Clever acronym, by the way. Subtle, guys. Real subtle.) I feel disgusted, disillusioned, disoriented and...just plain DISSED...by Prince's latest round of legal bullying. It feels as if he peels away a layer of trust and communication within the fan community and just before we have a chance to fully accept the latest compromise, he and his winged monkeys begin peeling away the next layer of what we can and cannot do when referring to His Royal Royaltyness.


For a while, I will admit: I thought Prince had a point. I thought he was being an anal retentive schmuck, but I also had to admit that he had a good argument for his schmuckiness.


Today, I think the man has lost the plot and his behavior is just plain MEAN.


I'm sure if he wanted, he could send in his team of legal stormtroopers and have them mandate that we are no longer allowed to use the word "purple" on unofficial Prince fan sites because the color has become a trademark of his pop culture persona and fans are compromising his marketability, blah blah blah. We all know this is absurd. Prince HAS to know this is absurd. Powerful lawyers know this is absurd...but the messed-up thing is, Prince can afford to let his legal team play every trick in the book until the resources of us mere mortals (read: not filthy rich pop stars) are completely tapped and we have to cry a collective "UNCLE!", et voila: no more using the word "purple" on the Org.


That was just a hypothetical situation, folks. But is it THAT unrealistic?


Freedom of expression is such a tricky thing. We want to wear it as an armor, but the armor has holes. Big holes. And just because you have armor protecting you doesn't mean that you want slings and arrows aimed at you, regardless of what is protecting you.


But we know what is right and we know when we have been pushed too far. Many of us feel that this is one of those times, and we're finally ready to push back.


Already the voice is loud. How long is this thread now? Ten, eleven pages? I started this thread not even four hours ago, I think. The PFU has already made it to Perez Hilton's gossip site. Associated Press and Yahoo News won't be far behind. Even if it's a bunch of people using keyboards to lob verbal bricks through Windows2007 in the privacy of their homes, Earth to Major Nelson: there's a riot goin' on.


All of this to state ONE IMPORTANT POINT I'd like to make about my support and participation in this so-called "revolt", and it's a point I direct to The Man Himself:


Prince. Dude. C'mere.


What's this all about? What's going on here?


Wait, don't answer that. We all know you're in "no comment" mode, so you wouldn't anyway.


I do miss your dialogs with the fans, though. I just gotta be honest. When you made some particularly crackety-ass demand of fans, it was a lot easier to accept when you talked about it personally on television or in a magazine interview, or even better, on your web site or in a web chat. I still may not have agreed with you, but at least I could respect the accountability you took for some of your wackier demands .


(which reminds me: I'm STILL not going to mail my import Prince CDs to Ohio, FYI - I don't even care that you'll send me a NPS baseball cap in appreciation).


Now, Prince, now...I think you've lost touch. I think a few snarky "fams" got a little too critical when you were extending yourself to the masses via NPGMC, you didn't have a thick enough skin to deflect it, and you began building walls between you and your fanbase. Then you dug a moat. Then you installed evil robot alligators in the moat. Now you're having the alligators run around the entire damn kingdom and zap us in the butts whenever we dare to take your name in vain.


PRINCE, STOP IT. YOU'RE FREAKING US OUT.


If you think what you're doing is so righteous, talk to us. We don't have a stake in your failure, and if you think you're creating an example for a more ethical or well-conducted information superhighway, well then DAMN - clue us in a little, willya? Shoot us a manifesto or have Mel B. interview you about it or whatever makes you comfortable enough to just TALK TO US.


Otherwise, a whole bunch of people who otherwise love you are going to be turning against you, and lemme tell you - as someone who's loved your music for over half a lifetime, that feeling really sucks nasty rotten eggs.


Which brings me to what I *really* want to say, not only to Prince, but to everyone involved in the fan community, whether pro/anti/don't-give-a-damn:


I am expressing dissent in this situation because I am a fan and I love Prince.


I'm not doing this because I think Prince is a big smelly [insert profanity here] or because I hate everything about him. In fact, I wish people would think twice before they started posting that kind of adolescent venom, because it makes the rest of us look really base and stupid, kthx.


The reason I "take sides" is because I love Prince's art, and I love other people who love Prince's art, and I love the idea of new eyes and ears opening their minds to Prince's art. It's a beautiful thing, talking about it - sharing it - enjoying it.


I think about all the artists in the world - perhaps a few whose talent might even make Prince look like a second rate hack, but those who we may never know due to the fickle finger of fate - who would ADORE having the attention and dialog surrounding their work that Prince generates.


I think about all the artists who DO have Prince's level of success, and how graciously and affably they interact with their fan bases.


Perhaps most notably, I think about what's really important in all this mess: duh. THE MUSIC.


I can't blame all this on THE MUSIC. It's pure and beautiful and genius and without it, we wouldn't be here talking about him and he wouldn't have mountains of money with which to make us stop talking about him.


THE MUSIC is the nucleus of all this, good and bad, and it's innocent and pure. When I put "Lovesexy" in the stereo, the music doesn't punish me for singing along off-key or in a silly voice. When I watch my "Gett Off" videocassette, the tape doesn't scold me for making fun of Prince's bathing suit in the "Gangsta Glam" video. The end product is the end product and it's there for us to purchase and enjoy in our own way.


Prince can't ever take that away from us, and we as fans can never cheapen that enjoyment for other people. THE MUSIC is impervious to all this racket. It's above the business of being a celebrity or the indignation of fans on the internet. Food doesn't care how you eat it, cuz it's going to nourish you the same no matter if you cut it up or eat it whole.


As long as Prince continues to create music that even a FRACTION of his fans enjoy, he's still going to be giving away a part of himself for people to own, and that bit of his soul will belong to the fans with every lyric, every solo, every melody we memorize. Will he and his lawyers decide to come after THAT someday, too? I wish they would. I wanna SEE that.


So yeah. I don't hate Prince. I certainly will not be giving up my Prince collection, hanging up my Mod hat or deleting my Org account anytime soon. If anything, it makes me even prouder to be part of this fan community, because...well...LOOK at all you people!


Prince needs every single bitchy crabby grouchy potty-mouthed irritated angry hurt disgusted annoyed PISSED OFF one of us as much as we've needed his music at one point or another throughout our lives...don't let him or his monkeytroopers tell you any differently!, and if he had one ounce of sense in his head (yeah, I know, but let's pray) he would realize that he needs to AT THE VERY LEAST reach out and explain why all this is necessary.


Cuz till then, a lot of us are going to be very vocal and very angry and we're going to educate ourselves and we're going to FIGHT.


We love ya Prince, but you gotta work this one out with us before we can even DREAM of coming around to your way of thinking, if indeed your way of thinking is even worth coming around to.


These aren't words of disrespect, but words of intervention. A message in a bottle. A valentine with a razor tip. Be careful where you touch, but know it's the thought that counts.


That's about it.


Banzai, Godspeed and all that other good stuff to EVERYONE,

Anx

laurarichardson said:

Then he should have just logged in under one of his aliases and said something! Big Baby!

lol @ P-F.U.

FUCK YOU PRINCE NELSON



There, I said it!

Hi everyone,

Maybe he is just unhappy?? There is a big problem he has and he may just need help. Can we help him?


or is he a lost cause

XxAxX said:

This is Prince: http://www.youtube.com/wa...eGD7r6s-zU

Anxiety said:

"perhaps a few whose talent might even make Prince look like a second rate hack" - so who would this be then?????

ritaw said:

that's my point.

dude, he's saying that, but for the good fortune prince enjoyed to have become known to the world, to have had the chance to be seen and heard, he would have gone unnoticed like others whose talent is as great as his.

meaning, that were it not for the fans, and their clamoring for his output, prince would be working the five and dime still
[Edited 11/5/07 17:47pm]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I'll do it too, Supes. I org noted you my REAL e-mail address, and gave it to PFU. Give it to the right folks. I trust you. My wife and I are a unique combination of sad and pissed off. She's sad and I'm pissed.

I've got an idea for a new avatar. Gotta go.

Peace, and B Mild.

Anxiety said:

copy. print. save.

Anxiety said:

sorry don't get your point - what I see on this thread is a lot of vitriole from so-called fans who have already gone off Prince's music anyway - perhaps he will just weed them out of his fan-base and be left with people who actually like to listen to his music and go to his performances without all the carping and criticism and instructions

BSK3478 said:

HA!

ritaw said:

prince, you really DO need a hug

ritaw said:

Really? Who's suing who here? Hang in there baby. You'll (hopefully) get to fuck him one day.

ritaw said:

then there are a lot more important points you're not "getting" than my hypothetical musical genius wishing he had prince's level of success. good luck.

Anxiety said:

That is perhaps the most beautiful, well thought out, well put, completely honest thing I've read on this board in all my years of hanging out!

I hope Prince reads this, learns what's really in our hearts and we can really just work all this nonsense out and get back to the music and having fun!

Til then...so what about those t-shirts?

ritaw said:

Get your Crystal Ball album. It is OBESE with FLAVA!

I think the main problem is that Prince is very, very sensitive to what is said about him and his music. Do you remember when Pierre Igot left Uptown and started writing for L4OA? The first thing he wrote about is how "fansites" write negative things that hurts people's feelings. Prince really takes everything seriously. He probably sits up at night and reads these posts... if we think his album sucks, his tour sucks, etc etc. I mean come on... his ex wife was a poster to alt.music.prince! You know he reads these posts, sites, etc. He even released the classic "Props 'n Pounds" that laid everything out. In Prince world, you do not speak negatively about him or his music. Case closed.