I know this topic is late, but did anyone see the A&E special on Carmen Electra on Aug. 3?
They had some footage of her Paisley Park days. It brought back some nice memories, what with her big hair, flat chest and Ann-Margret looks she was sporting back then.
They talked about her childhood, back when she was still Tara Leigh Patrick. Her mother was a teen mom and had had two or three kids before Tara. Once Tara was born, her mother was determined to give her daughter all the opportunities she'd missed. So she enrolled her in performing arts classes and pushed her to auditions. They showed footage of her doing the moonwalk in a school talent show.
And I guess she didn't need Monie Love to get her rapping, because Tara was already doing that by the time she was in high school. If she was bad, I don't think anyone noticed because she was already one of the most popular girls in school.
Of course they discussed how Prince discovered her in an L.A. nightclub. He gave her her famous name (which she wasn't crazy about; she thought it sounded like a superhero name), fancy clothes, jewelry, and worldwide exposure as the opening act in his Diamonds and Pearls tour. Then her album was released. "Go Go Dancer" became a minor club hit and then nothing. Her album flopped.
Then -- big shock -- Mayte came along and Prince turned all his attention towards her. Carmen called up one of her best friends and complained to him (just paraphrasing), "Prince found this girl named Mayte and now he's just concentrating on her." So she left.
Carmen never admits (in the special) to a romantic relationship with Prince but the implications are clear. Mayte came along and Prince had no more use for Carmen. Carmen did perform in Prince's Glam Slam Ulysses shows a year or two later, but she did that only because she was unemployed and she was desperate to get back to work. It wasn't long after that MTV came calling and then shortly after that Baywatch.
Not long after that the Baywatch producers cleaned house, Carmen was out of work again and then she lost both her sister and mother to illness in the same day. Even as she talked about the tragedy, she seemed very poised and controlled. Either she's a very strong person or she had a make-up person nearby touching up her face as she recalled her loss. Maybe she's done all her grieving and can now leave it in the past. Even though some people like to bash her, I can't help but respect her a little more for how she's carried on. I'd be interested in hearing her release another album, just to see how she sounds without any Prince-ly influence.

I saw this and I only watched cos I knew Prince would be mentioned. I didn't know PRINCE plucked her out of some crowd at a club. You have to look really good, then, for PRINCE to notice you and pick you out and ask, "Can you sing or dance?"

Wow, some people have all the luck...

TheDreamingPeasant said:

Well, you at least have to look like Carmen Electra.... bu even she has to put up with Dave Navarro's high colonics.

Prince does seem to like a certain type. Carmen Electra, Anna Garcia, Mayte, Vanity and all those long haired, beauties. But there is something more to them (it seems) than just being pretty.

It's one thing to be beautiful like Penelope Cruz, but for Prince to like you, you have to have that Penelope Cruz world class beauty type look mixed with Angelina Jolie's dark side (or something like that).

TheDreamingPeasant said:

which one of prince's chicks had class?

I saw it, and taped it but ended up taping over it with something better....Growing Up Gotti