here is the real question?
morris day and jesse johnson (whom i both love) left the time (along with some others) because of decreasing creative control. now, my point is - where are they now? they took off on their own but didn't last long.
so tell me guys, what was the deal.
if you are so creative - then where is your new music,and why do you say you got away from the music because of the industry.
isn't it really that you are not prolific enough to keep going and you want to blame everyone else.....

Camille, is that you?

camille and gemini died.
although i am waiting for gemini's other half
to be reincarnated.

tripp said:

Stop goofing around Prince, I know it's you. So whassup with some Ta'mar tickets @ the Fillmore?
[Edited 1/27/06 5:36am]

tripp said:

Like Andre Cymone, who everybody thinks is the uncredited ginus behind Prince's early stuff. My question is this. If he was all of that, then why is it that every single and album he put out was a flop, until he had his one hit, that was written by Prince?

The problem is,when you're a former Prince protege,you have an extremely hard time establishing yourself.Working with Prince is a blessing and a curse.Let's be honest,how many of Prince's former proteges and bandmembers are still around,creating music and selling records? Morris,Jesse,Wendy and Lisa,Paul Peterson,Sheila E,etc.....in the wake of "Purple Rain",they all had a few years in the spotlight but then they disappeared.Radio stopped playing their music and the record labels were no longer interested.

What's surprising though,is that Morris didn't really make it as an actor.He was so good in "Purple Rain" and everyone was saying that he could become a big movie star.I don't know what happened,but his career didn't exactly blossom the way many thought it would.

Where are most other old R&B and funk artists now? Morris and Jesse didn't drop out of sight because they weren't great. The 1990s rolled around and ruined things for everyone. Hip hop took completely over. The only reason Prince is still around is because he became such a huge star with "Purple Rain" and gained a huge following that is going to buy anything he makes whether it's good or not. If he didn't have that following, he would be gone too.

Andre Cymone's first album was more new wave/rock than Prince. I hear some stuff on that album funky enough for R&B radio but the new wave/rock thing turned a lot of R&B radio stations off. Actually, some of the songs on his first album should have been played on pop or rock radio but of course it's a racist world we live in. A black artist didn't get airplay on pop/rock stations unless their funk was watered down and they didn't play very many rock songs by black artists simply because they were black.

As far as his third album getting airplay because of the song written by Prince, the "Prince name" on it definately helped because Prince was huge the previous year. However, R&B radio played many of the other songs on the album that were not written by Prince. Also, this album had more funk and less rock. It had a place that R&B radio felt it fit in it's format.


Now, how did Prince have all this success as a black artist with a rock edge and Andre didn't? It's easy, Prince had Warner Brothers backing him and Andre had Columbia which did absolutely nothing to put Andre's name out there. People from the Rick James camp have said that during the tour that Rick was on with Prince, Rick was a much bigger star than Prince at the time. However, Warner Brothers had posters of Prince everywhere and Motown had practically nothing promoting Rick. Warner Brothers believed in Prince and they put his name out there. If Andre had a record label like Warner Brothers, who knows, he might have had more success as a solo artist also.

Andre later had huge success as a producer for Jody Watley with absolutely no help from Prince whatsoever. So Andre is far from "bitching just because he's bitter and jealous".

vainandy said:

I think Andre's first album was more funk then rock. The title track despite it's title was funk and then you have; Trouble, so fine, and get it girl. 1999 was a double album and it only had four funk tracks and controversy only had two.

Morris had some good new songs on his last album "Its About Time" I dont understand why they didnt get any airplay

Good lord...

Tripp... In a way, some people have never (and never will) let Morris or Jesse reach their true creative potential because they have tucked them so neatly into that TIME box. If any of us really stopped to think and think DEEPLY about this, we would realise that we- the "public" have not given either one (or anyone from that camp except those who defected in the EARLY/by choice) very much room to breathe or grow in a real way. Anything truly original that they've tried to do has been either shut down or so heavily criticized that they can barely recover. And how can an artist- a creative person and/or performer- risk everything to try something new when the "public" and music "critics" are poised and so anxiously waiting to lynch them for trying different things and going different directions? Now it looks like a lot of fun up there. And it looks like everything's fine. And it looks like they could surely do anything that they wanted to at any given time. But look again. Fame can be a prison, especially if your pay check depends on it.

Music is a give/take relationship. And an artist can only give what you're willing to take at any given time. Org-er's, let's take a poll. How many of you are willing ot go out on a limb for your alleged heroes? How many of you TRULY want some thing exciting and new from these gents and the others? Something unique and fresh, totally not like the old days blah blah blah.

Hmmmmmn.
*Scarlette P. puts on her shades and looks for a show of hands*
[Edited 1/29/06 1:16am]

potroastpony said:

But dude, that's not true! He had several hits with Jody Watley and he did that Adam Ant Record w/ Room at The Top!
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...dre_Cymone
God bless 'im!

VAIN ANDY- TOTALLY. The reason Prince survived/continued gathering momentum is because he stuck to his consistent songwriting formula. Standard Pop structure (more often than not) and lyrics but with a ton of new sh*t (instrumental & otherwise) to make things sound exciting/experimental/different. In this case (the 90's), stuff like scratching and recruiting rappers (when Rap became the rage), not to mention having House remixes done (which were very fashionable at the time) to win the dance crowd.

To illustate this point, listen to your copies of Grafitti Bridge, Diamonds and Pearls or the Symbol album. Subtract all the "new" elements and underneath you have the same hand that penned pop smashes DMSR, Head, Little Red Corvette, Let's Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, Raspberry Beret, Kiss, Sign O'Times, U Got The Look, Thieves In The Temple, My Name is Prince etc etc etc Infact never mind... Don't listen to any of the music. Read the lyrics. This even works Musicology and more recent releases. In fact, don't even bother read the lyrics. Look at what they (put several of them together) look like compared to each other from a distance, like a far away painting. It's all there- the same basic formula he used starting with some of his early hits.

One last comment in regards to the other artists Tripp mentioned. V-Andy is right. Prince had a much larger crowd to work with because he was out on the front lines touring and songwriting here and abroad before he helped organize THE TIME. And do think about it... He also made damn sure no one surpassed him.

BRUTHALUV- lmao
I hope it is him, for the sake of entertainment!
[Edited 1/29/06 1:14am]

tripp said:

[u]HEY HEY NOW DON,T BE DISSN MY BOYS MAYBE THEY HAD SOMETHING BETTER TO DO BUT I WOULD LIKE 2 KNOW WHERE THEY ARE 2