Hi all. As I've mentioned before on this site, I lived next door to Bobby Z during the release of 1999 and Purple Rain. My parents were his landlords. Me being quite young at the time, I didn't investigate all the details, but my dad remembers Bob complaining that he really had no power and very little creative input in the band. That he was under Prince's thumb. He was there for show, played along with the drum machine onstage, while Prince played drums for the recordings. Again, I don't know specifics and details.

What I do know is that while I played basketball in my driveway, Bob practiced his drums and sang for hours on end working on his solo projects. One song in particular he sang again and again and again. I never once heard him practice any Prince tunes.

On another note, my mom always talks about how extremely aggressive Bobby was about getting what he wanted, and that she could imagine him banging down Prince's door until Prince got so sick of him he hired him.

I didn't get the idea that Bobby Z and Prince were very close friends at all, more that he was a hired hand. Bobby Z and Matt Fink were pals though, and Matt would come over often and they would hang out. It was an exciting time. I'd watch them come and go from my bedroom window. He was housemates with a very cute long-haired cellist who I had a crush on.

Thanks for the thread Heartbeat. Very interesting I remember being in a drug store once, reading the magazines when I came across an article about Bobby in Black Beat magazine. They had interviewed drummers who had been to the Purple Rain show they said that Bobby didn't play any drums during the show, and that all he did was hit cymbal crashes. Well this was around the time that MTV was showing 2 videos of concert footage filmed during the Purple Rain tour. So when they came on, I would pay close attention. The first clip was the "I Would Die 4-U", Baby I'm A Star"Medley. Bobby wasn't shown at all during the whole clip. The second was "Take Me With U". At the end when the song breaks down, Bobby is seen hitting the toms But there's NO sound coming from them at all.

ThePunisher said:

My dad has mentioned several times that Bobby was just a hack drummer. Don't tell him he said that though.

When I was in 9th grade I interviewed Bobby for Career Day at school. He was really nice and open. Pretty exciting. I remember when the 1999 video came out and we would all rush to the TV to see Bob.

Members of The Revolution and The Time complained that they existed 4 live shows only but I'm sure they played on some songs.