The first Prince protege I remember was a singer named "Sue Ann" she had a minor hit with I song whose title I don't quite remember ("Let me let you rock me"). Her name comes up at Allmusic.com but no Prince-related info is given. Any thoughts?

btw, Whatever happened to "Tamara and the Seen?"
[This message was edited Tue Oct 22 10:07:15 PDT 2002 by UptownDeb]

sue ann carwell--she had...two albums out, i think...the only one i remember seein is the one titled "sue ann"...i keep seein copies of it at the wrecka sto.

tamara and the seen--probably durin my time, but i don't think i've heard of 'em...

"Carwell!" There ya go!

Re: Tamara I found this...

A fantastic band produced by a Jesse Jhonson who made Euro Dance long before anybody else, in 1985. A real classic of Jungle Love studio. The punshy "Summertime love" and the elastic "Thinking about You" are the pieces of conviction of an almost perfect funky crime. The back cover is as kitsh as the Mazarati back cover, but here, one speaks seriously about Dance Music.The singer, curiously, is a blondie as wild as the visual of the cover, with a serious and hot voice of Soul queen (comparable to Princess, for connoisseurs). "Lonely Heart" is an instrumental that resembles a soundtrack of a tragic and splendid imaginary movie. Solo album of Tamara left a "Bluberry Gossip" that deserved no comment in 1988, except the title track and a powerful version of "Every Day People".--Violet Radio Show

Sue Ann Carwell was an early Prince protege,but as far as I know,none of her recordings with Prince were ever officially released.In 1979,she recorded songs like "Wouldn't You Love To Love Me" for a planned album produced by Prince,but it was never released.

She released her first album in 1981,and it contained the minor hit "Let Me Let U Rock Me",but again,no Prince involvement.She became a background singer for Jesse Johnson in the mid-80s (that's her in his "Lovestruck" video").A 1988 album by Sue Carwell was produced by Jesse Johnson and it contained a remake of the 1974 Aretha Franklin hit "Rock Steady".I recall an interview she did where,she complained that many of Prince's ideas (such as Vanity 6 wearing lingerie) were HER ideas,and that some of the songs given to his other female proteges were REALLY intended for her.

Btw,her brother is none other than T.C. Ellis,who actually did release an album featuring Prince's involvement.She is currently married to a member of Cameo and does background vocals for many artists,including Whitney Houston.In many ways,she is probably the most mysterious "Prince protege" of all,because she was always around but never really a full-fledged member of that organization.
[This message was edited Wed Oct 23 5:50:17 PDT 2002 by DavidEye]
[This message was edited Wed Oct 23 5:55:43 PDT 2002 by DavidEye]

Excellent detective work DavidEye.

"Let Me Let You Rock Me" by Sue Ann has a version of "Make It Through The Storm" on the b-side.

Rioub said:

So I did get the title right. Thanks for confirming this and the additional info, Rioub.

She did many back-up vox 4 many R&B singers: Toni, Deborah, Mariah(live) and Whitney.

She did a stint as a hair dresser. She Prince's hair for the movie Purple Rain. And worked as a makeup artist. She is a family friend.