SoulAlive said:

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"interested from the start"

According to Alan they were not really interested from the begining. Please don't use Maddonna as in example because Maverick was taken away from her due to poor sales and 60 million in debt. 1 15 million selling cd does not keep a label going.

Rosie CD did not come out because the label was closed down. He played games because he really had nothing else to do with a no promo label.

laurarichardson said:

Yeah,Maverick eventually shut down (like most labels do) but it lasted a good twelve years or so.Several of the Maverick albums became huge hits.Alanis' first album sold 15 million copies.I don't think any of the Paisley Park albums even reached platinum status.From the very beginning,Maverick was a "serious" label.They signed REAL ARTISTS,it wasn't just Madonna's personal plaything/vanity label.She actually hired professional,skilled people to work there.Prince hired Gilbert Davison (his former bodyguard!!!) to be the president of his label.Later,he hired Levi Seacer,Jr (a bandmember!) to be the president of the label.You can't have a real label when you're just allowing your unskilled buddies to be in charge! In 1992,Meshell Ndgeocello was originally approached by Paisley Park,but she chose to sign with Maverick instead.Why do you think that is? If she had signed with Paisley,she probably would have only been allowed to make only one album (like Taja Sevelle,Jill Jones,Ingrid Chavez and all the others).Prince gets bored with his female proteges really quick.



Yeah...AFTER Prince convinced Warners to spend $2 million promoting the Carmen Elecktra album.That's why Rosie was pissed.Carmen was sleeping with him,so of course,her whack album was released with no problems.That's not a real record label.



If you were a Warner exec,would YOU wanna waste a ton of money promoting crap like Dale Bozzio,Carmen Elektra,Good Question and T.C.Ellis?? It's funny that you seem to approve of Prince's "games"....making albums with untalented females that he was sleeping with,lol.


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[Edited 1/24/08 7:07am]

Your going to believe what you want to be believe no matter what the facts are.
I noticed that you never addressed any of the things I have mentioned that Alan Leeds had to say. He was the VP of Paisley Park.

You can't compare Maverick to PP because Maddonna had support from the very begining. If WB did not care about the label from the very begining it would not have mattered who Prince signed. He figured that out and started signing up his friends and girlfriends. ( I can't run this the right way so I might as well get something out it.)

Maverick only had two artist who moved any CD's. Alains and a few of Michelle cd's. Other than that they signed a bunch of crap artist just like Paisley Park. (Prodigy and some awful RnB dudes whose names I cannot even remember right now.) How do you think they went 60 million in the hole?

I don't approve of what P did by putting his girlfriends on his lable. He was doing the same thing a lot of people in the industry do or do you think Rihaana CCirria,Little Kim or Foxy Brown got their recording contracts based on talent.

It is what is and I don't think that P has Purple wings coming out of his backside. He is dude on the make like lot's of brothers. I choose to live in the land of reality I am sorry you don't.

He did not sign Good Question the managment signed them according to Mr.Leeds
but I am sure this fact means nothing to you.

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SoulAlive said:[quote]

laurarichardson said:

laurarichardson said:

Don't forget Candlebox. Their first album went quadruple platinum.

sextonseven said:

Also,Meshell Ndgeocello may not have sold alot of records,but she was a credible artist with real talent (hell,she still is).She has alot more to offer than those talentless bimbos on Paisley Park.That's my whole point.Prince didn't want to have a serious,credible label.Paisley Park was his personal playground.

laurarichardson said:

I'm fully aware of what Alan Leeds said.I read his comments in the DMSR book.But it still doesn't change the fact that Paisley Park was never a serious,credible label.It was Prince's personal plaything and Warners knew it.That's why they didn't bother promoting most of that crap.



Exactly,but why do you think that is? Hmmm,maybe because Madonna herself took the label very seriously? From the very beginning,she hired skilled,professional people to help her run the label and find top-notch talent.In 1992,when Warners finally started pumping more money into Paisley Park,Prince hired his bodyguard Gilbert Davison (who had no experience in running a label) to be the president of the label.Shows you how serious he really was,doesn't it? LOL.



Once again,you're missing my point.If Prince had been serious about the label from the beginning (and hired skilled,professional people to help run things),perhaps Warners would have been serious,too.Perhaps if Prince had signed some truly talented,edgy artists (as opposed to friends and bimbos that he was sleeping with),Warners would have surely shown more interest.Perhaps if Prince had hired some talented in-house producers and songwriters,things might have been different.



Every label eventually crashes and burns,but Maverick had much more successes than Paisley Park.By the mid-90s,when NPG Records wasn't doing much,Maverick was selling 15 million copies of Alanis Morrisette's debut album 'Jagged Little Pill'.It was a credible,serious label.Alanis,Meshell and Michelle Branch were credible artists,and so was Candlebox.All of those albums outsold crap like Taja Sevelle and Good Question.



It's Prince's label,he had full 100% control over who got signed.Stop making excuses for him.I'm a huge fan,but I can admit that he is not a good businessman,and doesn't know how to successfully run a record label.He's also very bad with money.Why do you think he has had serious financial difficulties at least twice in his career?


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[Edited 1/25/08 6:16am]

blue22 said:

Yes. Unfortunately, it was the same one that you have.

laurarichardson said:

Maverick wasn't "taken away" from Madonna.It was her decision to sell it back to Warners.She had gotten tired of running the label,and wanted to focus exclusively on her own albums and tours,as well as her family.Maverick went as far as it could go,and achieved much more than most artist's labels do (remember Mariah Carey's CRAVE record label?).


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[Edited 1/25/08 6:32am]

Illustrator said:

Good. Now I can donate it to Science for their research into defunct studios and clones.

Georgio had 2 Albums for Motown.
SexAppeal & Self Titled Album

The 2nd cd was'nt half bad...Quite a few songs i liked such as "I Dont Want 2 B Alone, Car Freak was HUGE here in the midwest and Romantic Love was a big jam too here in Missouri. As far as his 1st Album i thought it went gold not sure so dont quite me on that, Also i liked quite a few songs on the 1st CD. Go GEORGIO!!!!!

"Lovers Lane" was my jam for the longest... Now, who remembers Troy Johnson?!

SoulAlive said:

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All those successful groups on Maverick that all still making music. (LOL) The power of the mighty white woman.

laurarichardson said:

Don't you dare try to bring race into this Just admit that Prince didn't know what he was doing.Paisley Park Records failed.Accept it and move on.I'm not gonna keep having this same tired argument with you.

SoulAlive said:

The comments by Alan Leeds were not in DMSR. His comments were done in a interview on Housequake. See you don't know the whole story because you have not read the article. If you took the time to read the interview you would no that he did not sign all of the groups.

I never said P was a good business man. I doubt he ever thought he would be working for himself.He is a musician so I do not expect him to be Donald Trump.

"Alanis Morrisette's debut album 'Jagged Little Pill'.It was a credible,serious label.Alanis,Meshell and Michelle Branch were credible artists,and so was Candlebox."

I am sorry you think these artist are talented with the exception of Meshell I do not like any of them.One of the measures of success should be longevity.
None of the Maverick artist are doing anything with the exception of Meshell.
Therefore, Maddonna track record is just as poor a P's.

SoulAlive said:

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never said P knew what he was doing. Most artist labels are not successful they are artist not businessmen. The labels are carrots to keep the artist around. See Alan's interview below and note what he has to say about the label being doomed from the begining.
It was the fault of everyone involved. Prince, the management, and WB.
none of these people have had a successful track record with groups in a long time.
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QUESTION 12:
If you could go back and change something about your time with Prince, what would it be?
(Orger: babynoz)

I'm not much for hindsight, because there are usually reasons why things turn out the way they do. For example, I would have loved if Paisley Park Records had turned into a ‘real’ record label - in the sense of seeking talent with legitimate and competitive market potential - but it was never meant to be.

Warner Brothers' original interest in the joint venture was based on Prince's success as a producer of acts such as The Time, Vanity 6 and The Family. Unfortunately, by the time he had authority over his own label, Prince's ambitions as a producer had changed. Some of the early signings were obscure acts that Prince's managers handled. Unwisely, Prince failed to disguise his lack of interest in most of these projects from Warner Brothers.

Signing icons like George Clinton and Mavis Staples were admirable gestures. Prince made some very nice records with Mavis, but trying to market her in a contemporary fashion - IE "Melody Cool" - didn't make sense to me. As for my friend George, his affairs were then in disarray and we inherited an unfinished album that was already dated. Warners and George had both hoped Prince would devote more time towards working with him but it never really happened. Soon the label became known as a playground for Prince girlfriends as albums by Jill Jones (whom I adore - a more talented lady than the album suggests), Taja Seville, Ingrid Chavez and finally an unknown Carmen Electra, came and went.

The fact is, unlike those who are primarily producers by trade, Prince's interest in working with other artists usually hinges on their ability to fit into an alter ego role or some other aspect of his own orbit. It worked like a charm with Vanity and Morris Day, but if an artist was married to his or her own ideas and concepts, Prince would often lose interest. And when he lost interest, that usually transformed into a lack of enthusiasm in the Warner Brothers promotion and marketing departments. I ended up spending several very frustrating years trying to get Warners and the industry to take Paisley Park Records seriously when Paisley Park Records simply didn't want to be taken seriously. Without competitive product and Prince's consistent enthusiasm, it was a no-win.

I hesitated citing this example because I don't want it to appear as sour grapes - I learned a lot and appreciated the experience of running a label. But I think the real tragedy is Prince's lost opportunity to build a legitimate, respected forum for his extra-curricular output.
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Note Alan's comments about "by the time P had authority"and comments have been made that the managment signed acts without P involement at frist
I am done with this topic.

I've read that article before,but it doesn't change my view.I still insist that Paisley Park Records could have been a serious,credible label if Prince had done these things...


***Signed some truly talented artists

***Appointed some skilled people to help him run the label

***Hired some in-house singers and songwriters (imagine if Andre Cymone had been supplying Paisley artists with hit songs.Jill Jones might have wound up with a hot groove like "Looking For A New Love").

***stopped making records with talentless bimbos that he was sleeping with


Prince's refusal to do these things is why the label never took off.It's a shame cause I think Paisley Park could have been the Motown of the 80s,if Prince had approached it as such.

After looking up Tina Cherry on Youtube, I decide to look up some of the other songs that Georgio had at the time.
The songs aren't too bad, but, to me, Georgio seemed like he was trying so hard to be Prince, that he seemed to come off as kinda goofy ( to me, at least).
However, with Cherry and Lovers Lane, he did a pretty decent imitation of the music.

SoulAlive said:

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It was never going to be the Motown of the 80's. If the funds and support were not there from the get go. In addtion, with Rap taking off and WB's history of torpedoing RnB acts ( Read what George Clinton had to say about his experience at WB) no chance.

I am not saying P is perfect I just think by the time he had control he had no real interest in the company anymore. Which backed up by Alan's comments
[Edited 1/28/08 10:46am]

laurarichardson said:

Lol you've got to be kidding. read your own quote "Unwisely, Prince failed to disguise his lack of interest in most of these projects from Warner Brothers" this shows how poorly he was running the label and why Warner Bros was hesitant to lend more support. So what's so hard to understand?

Madonna's track record with Maverick was far better, this isn't opinion - merely fact. I don't know how much you know about the music business (apparently not much) but NUMBERS rule everything, not all these silly little side rules you seem to be making. Maverick had far more successes than Paisley Park, just check the sales records (not to mention artistically, although I'll concede this is more up to a matter of opinion, but comparing the groups Madonna signed to dreck like TC Ellis and Ingrid Chavez, lol.. cmon.)

Prince is an EXTREMELY talented musician, one of the best in the industry (well 10-20 years ago he was ), but when it comes to business, not so much.

All record companies care about is MONEY. And simply put, they're not gonna back a losing horse.
[Edited 1/30/08 1:48am]

weirdozmedia said:

Exactly.Warners would have been crazy to pour more money into the label when Prince didn't know what he was doing.I mean,come on....Taja Sevelle and Good Question?! Disposable crap that wouldn't have sold no matter how much cash they threw his way.Prince has always been a poor businessman.That's why I say he needed to hire some skilled folks to help him run things..folks who actually went to college to learn this kinda stuff....people who took business courses and had artist development skills.

In 1992,Warners finally decided to help Paisley Park out,and what does Prince do? He convinces them to spend a whopping $2 million promoting Carmen Elektra,a pretty but talentless "artist" whose album flopped big time.Is it any wonder that they shut down the label shortly thereafter? If Prince wasn't gonna take the label seriously,why should they?

"LIFE MY ASS, MUTHAFUCKA!!!! THIS IS A BID-NESS!!!! AND U AIN'T TOO FAR GONE TO SEE THAT YET!!"- BILLY SPARKS (PURPLE RAIN)

woogiebear said:

There you go!!

BOTTOM LINE- U WILL NOT HAVE A SUCCESSFUL LABEL IF U'RE EITHER FU**ING OR FU**ING OVER THE HELP!!!!!

laurarichardson said:

True.
True.
Wrong.
Wrong.