what is the best prince line up?

i think mine would be

lead ... prince
drums.. michael b
keyboard.. mr hayes
bass.... sonny t
dancers .... the twinz
backing vocals... bonny boyer and rosie gaines

The NPG from the mid 90's is the best and tightest band. They trumped the Lovesexy band a tiny bit, IMHO.

Sonny T
Michael B
Tommy Barbarella
Morris Hayes

Done.

Himself.

One night only...



Levi Seacer, Jr
Miko Weaver
Michael Bland
Matt Fink
Patrice Rushen
Candy Dulfer
Margie Cox

THE REVOLUTION!!!! The ONLY Prince band that matters, all others after that were just a bunch of hired musicians by someone who kept them at an arms length.

For sheer showmanship and musicality I would say the Sign o' the Times/Lovesexy band.

For now i would love to see Prince team up with Sonny T and Michael B. Missing the energy lately in live-sets.
Montreux - with John B. and Rhonda - was a nice exception though!

Hard to say when the level is that high.

The improvisation capacities showed by Rhonda, John, Renato and Eric on "N.E.W.S." is really amazing, though.

The SOTT/Lovesexy Band

every post revolution band has been half assed and limp

the Revolution

and

the noituloveR
+ Susannah Melvoin

outside of the SOTT/Lovesexy band
none of the others had the chemistry and the (before 'fame') connection he had with them

those people were dedicated to Prince, there is no mistaking the creative burst and outpouring of music during the 1982-1986 years as a result...the Time/Vanity 6/Sheila E/the Family are also a part of that

Some people here understand the question as "technically", others as "stylistically"... So there r 2 ?'s in the initial ?

SoulAlive said:

That's the one...I dare say, the Lovesexy band specifically since the 2 dancers (Brooks and Wally, right?), added nothing to the table (for me at least).

of course



always and forever

OldFriends4Sale said:

That would be my very first choice. They made a Prince concert so much more that just a Prince concert. The synergy on stage was almost tangible.

chaos96 said:

I wouldn't even go as far as calling them dancers, or singers for that matter. Not sure what their purpose was! I have a boot of a Parade show and Prince is calling out everyone's names and he says Greg Safford and Wally Brooks and then says something to the effect "no one would know the difference anyway" (their names were Greg Brooks and Wally Safford).

Actually, I'd be happy with this power trio from here on out!

For me it's a cross between the Prince 79'-Controversey era (Andre Cymone, Lisa Coleman, Dez Dickerson, Bobby Z.), the "Sign O The Times" era band, The NPG, and the line ups with Reneo Nato, Rhonda Smith,Larry Graham, Sheila E., Kirk Johnson and John Blackwell,
[Edited 5/24/10 19:42pm]

motherfunka said:

That's hilarious! Credit where credit is due....one of them (think it was Brooks!) gave a fine reading of the line "A sweet, sticky THANG!" in the SOTT concert film!

chaos96 said:

Well technically Wally and Greg weren't in the band for Lovesexy, only SOTT, and they were left over Revolution add-ons with Jerome. So...yeah. That.

chaos96 said:

MacDaddy said:

Yup. There it is.

I was diggin the sign o the times/lovesexy band, also npg on the new power soul cd when it included marva king, i thought her vocals were so tight....that is all

WonderU said:

Christ! only made it 3 posts in before the Wendy and Lisa rainbow wagon rolled in.

It is probably easier to choose the quinessential sidemen:

Whoever Prince is using, if he has a sax, it should be Eric Leeds.
If he has guitar, it should be Dez.
Keys should be Hayes and Renato
Drums is a dead heat - Blackwell and/or Bland
Bass is tight as well: Sonny and/or Rhonda (slight edge to Sonny)

Brofie said:

I'm sorry, but what does Dez do again?

I'd pick Miko, Mike Scott, hell even Levi, over Dez as top Prince guitarists. But none of those guys can come close to the tightness that he and Wendy had on guitars together! It's pretty evident in everything they've ever done musically.

I think, I think... Dez just wants to be a modernaire, and that's it!

Brofie said:

Hayes? Really? I like Morris just fine but that dude barely made it into the band. Renato is really good I think, but he never quite jelled the Prince sound for me. Fink and Coleman covered all the bases and definitely contributed their individual style to the live show. I think the Revolution era band WITH Dez was probably the best Prince band live.

LovesexyIsThe1 said:

ironically - I love what W&L brought to the overall table of Prince's sound (and I'm not asking for a fight on this topic) but if you ever saw the Controversy or Dirty Mind show live in person you'd SEE and HEAR what Dez brought to the show. I saw both. Miko is a good guitar player, Levi is a fantastic player as well as Mike Scott, but I still never saw quite the edge in either of them that Dez brought to the live act. Part of it was that Prince was just starting out so it was more of a "band" feel that Prince and the " " as it sort of became later. They all brought something with them, even if blandness like the recent lineup

Brofie said:

WonderU said:

THE REVOLUTION!!!! The ONLY Prince band that matters, all others after that were just a bunch of hired musicians by someone who kept them at an arms length.

Christ! only made it 3 posts in before the Wendy and Lisa rainbow wagon rolled in.

Awww.....is the little Dez fan upset about something??? Don't like it, skip over it.