There's no denying that when it comes to Prince and the MPLS sound, there is a cult following. Which had me thinking, why weren’t the artists associated with Prince, were never really recognized by their peers?

Did we (the fans) give them their 15min of Fame?

Did most of them think they would be the next best thing?

Did Prince have TOO MUCH control and stopped them from branching out and becoming a successful artist in their own right??

In the 80's and 90's 99.9% of the associated artists were signed to major label deals, and had a powerhouse of promotion and money behind them, something unheard of in today's music business.

If you look at Mazarati, Ingrid Chavez, Jill Jones, The Family, Tony Lemans, St.Paul, Appolonia 6, Vanity 6., Jesse Johnson, TaMara & The Seen, and so on and so....these artists never got the creditably nor the recognition from the likes of critics and more so the recording academy (Grammy’’s and American Music Awards, etc.). I don’t think The Time and Sheila E. were ever nominated for anything?? Wendy & Lisa alone, should have been nominated and recognized for their solo projects!!

Sales were very mediocre at best, and were never considered mainstream. Don’t get me wrong, most of the MPLS associated artists were (clear my throat) puppets and were told what to sing and play, however, they were VERY talented, gifted musicians and performers in their own right, that really delivered in the studio and on stage. There were a few bombs, but I'm really looking at the musicianship, songwriting, productions, and stage talent.

If it were not for Prince, these artists would not have seen the inside of the building!! What do you think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...associates

I'm not sure I understand your question, but I don't think any of them had a powerhouse of promotion and money behind them, with maybe the exception of The Time and Sheila E. But even their promotion seemed very much tied to Purple Rain and the huge wave the whole Prince family was riding at the time.

People like Jill Jones, The Family, and Mazarati got--at least as I recall--only the barest minimum of promotion.

I think what I'm trying to say is, were these artists and releases created to hopefully become big acts just like Prince, or were they just created to ride the wave of Prince's success and sell a few copies here and there, and help build his empire?

I'm only saying this, because there were SO many, and only one or two had mainstream success. We the fans are the only ones that really seem to care and appreciate them. Like I said, they are very talented and gifted musicians and can hold thier own.

Bulldog said:

There's no denying that when it comes to Prince and the MPLS sound, there is a cult following. Which had me thinking, why weren’t the artists associated with Prince, were never really recognized by their peers?

Did we (the fans) give them their 15min of Fame?

Did most of them think they would be the next best thing?

Did Prince have TOO MUCH control and stopped them from branching out and becoming a successful artist in their own right??

In the 80's and 90's 99.9% of the associated artists were signed to major label deals, and had a powerhouse of promotion and money behind them, something unheard of in today's music business.

If you look at Mazarati, Ingrid Chavez, Jill Jones, The Family, Tony Lemans, St.Paul, Appolonia 6, Vanity 6., Jesse Johnson, TaMara & The Seen, and so on and so....these artists never got the creditably nor the recognition from the likes of critics and more so the recording academy (Grammy’’s and American Music Awards, etc.). I don’t think The Time and Sheila E. were ever nominated for anything?? Wendy & Lisa alone, should have been nominated and recognized for their solo projects!!

Sales were very mediocre at best, and were never considered mainstream. Don’t get me wrong, most of the MPLS associated artists were (clear my throat) puppets and were told what to sing and play, however, they were VERY talented, gifted musicians and performers in their own right, that really delivered in the studio and on stage. There were a few bombs, but I'm really looking at the musicianship, songwriting, productions, and stage talent.

If it were not for Prince, these artists would not have seen the inside of the building!! What do you think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...associates

You may have hit the mark with that last sentence, at the same time, some seem to think Prince can't be Prince without a few of those associated artists mentioned, performing/creating music with the Prince of "now." I don't agree with the latter. I do agree, however, with you though, that it's the Prince fans that keep some of these former Prince associates' names alive on the unofficial Prince sites. Although they're all "doing their own thing", out of the few mentioned in your post, Sheila E. seems to be doing very well holding her own, performing with her family members/collaborating with other musician friends including Prince, and doing solo projects or basically still being seen publically performing.

With some of the latest social networking sites available, within the last 5 or so years, it would seem questionable if none or most of Prince's former band associates didn't take advantage of those tools to promote their individual music projects, that are Prince unassociated. Just my two cents and a bag of popcorn.

[Edited 3/30/11 12:52pm]

I blame prince for the rap communites birth of raps teams/crew such as G-unit,Murder inc , Rockafella, and RuffRyders.

but yes no one cares about AA but prince fans..

Depends on the artist. Of course you could also say Prince tanked their careers by having them in such a creative stranglehold that no one was exposed to their actual talent until they left, and then it was too late...

It also depends on your definition of success. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have certainly "made it" in the pop music industry. Wendy and Lisa may have only had marginal pop success, but have been VERY successful in their soundtrack and scoring career. They also have contributed in production and playing on some pretty great records. Sheila E. is probably the one talent who specifically gained recognition from the Prince association, though she has worked hard to maintain her status. St. Paul has toured with a lot of music heavyweights, written and produced for many people. Susannah has written successful tunes and done vocals on a lot of studio records.

So the answer is many have made it, just not to the degree Prince has. Though many of them have just as vibrant careers but behind the scenes rather than out front. Their "peer" recognition is in continuing to work and still be relevant in the areas of music in which they continue to work.

Well for me...The only associated artist I knew of before I really got into Prince was Jimmy Jam and Terry and Sheila E....The rest I know because of him...and I'm pretty there are lots of people who dont know some of these artists exist because they may not be Prince fans.

Award shows only pick acts who sold a lot of records and/or were campaigned to the voters by their record companies. That's not really a criteria for saying an act is valid or not. Marvin Gaye has only two Grammys, which is one more than Milli Vanilli.

Bulldog said:

There's no denying that when it comes to Prince and the MPLS sound, there is a cult following. Which had me thinking, why weren’t the artists associated with Prince, were never really recognized by their peers?

Did we (the fans) give them their 15min of Fame?

Did most of them think they would be the next best thing?

Did Prince have TOO MUCH control and stopped them from branching out and becoming a successful artist in their own right??

In the 80's and 90's 99.9% of the associated artists were signed to major label deals, and had a powerhouse of promotion and money behind them, something unheard of in today's music business.

If you look at Mazarati, Ingrid Chavez, Jill Jones, The Family, Tony Lemans, St.Paul, Appolonia 6, Vanity 6., Jesse Johnson, TaMara & The Seen, and so on and so....these artists never got the creditably nor the recognition from the likes of critics and more so the recording academy (Grammy’’s and American Music Awards, etc.). I don’t think The Time and Sheila E. were ever nominated for anything?? Wendy & Lisa alone, should have been nominated and recognized for their solo projects!!

Sales were very mediocre at best, and were never considered mainstream. Don’t get me wrong, most of the MPLS associated artists were (clear my throat) puppets and were told what to sing and play, however, they were VERY talented, gifted musicians and performers in their own right, that really delivered in the studio and on stage. There were a few bombs, but I'm really looking at the musicianship, songwriting, productions, and stage talent.

If it were not for Prince, these artists would not have seen the inside of the building!! What do you think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...associates

Well most of them were into the music industry of various sorts, (do a family background of the noituloveRevolution band members and you see what kind of musical background they are in) music industry doesn't mean 'record deal' What Wendy & Lisa are doing as far as tv/movie soundtracks is sorta where they came from before Prince.

But onto Jill Jones the Time Vanity (I don't count Apollonia) the Family Mazarati Madhouse

Again most of these people were a part of the earliest stage of Prince's career. So if you look at someone like Morris Day Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis, these guys were working hard in Minneapolis w/Prince(before he was 'Prince') to OneDayI'mGonnaBeSomebody

I don't think 'all of them' wanted to be as big as Prince, Just like in Purple Rain aside from some of the new members of the Time & Apollonia, you dealing with high school/neighborhood friends of sorts ...

Sheila E. was already into the the 'industry' before Prince, but I believe she wanted to be as big as Prince.

Prince in my opinion was similar on a more unfocused scale to Barry Gordy. I believe the protege groups of the 1980's were go along parts of his vision. The Time was already popular before Purple Rain, Vanity 6 could have been much larger... Vanity did have the drive to go and if she didn't have her abuse/addiction issues could have been a lot bigger. She too continued with albums and movies. Jill Jones overall was a background singer prior to Prince (live/studio) she came to Prince's camp in the Dirty Mind years and continued doing the same, Jill could have had a huge successful album if Prince would have focused and worked with her 4 a Controvery-Parade album release.

the bands definately had the talent. Even Vanity 6 for it's purpose and intents helped expand the Uptown concept Prince was going for along with the Time

I don't think this can be seen as a Prince vs the Protege issues because everyone doesn't want to be huge acts, some want to be entertainers and just have fun with it.

People get discovered, from Supermodels, to actors, to singers/musicians. It's not a bad thing, sometimes in life it's chance that we get were we go. And the people/persons just happen to have what it takes to carry it on.

Bulldog said:

I think what I'm trying to say is, were these artists and releases created to hopefully become big acts just like Prince, or were they just created to ride the wave of Prince's success and sell a few copies here and there, and help build his empire?

I'm only saying this, because there were SO many, and only one or two had mainstream success. We the fans are the only ones that really seem to care and appreciate them. Like I said, they are very talented and gifted musicians and can hold thier own.

I honestly don't think that Prince wanted these people to become as 'big' as him.He simply wanted another outlet to release all the songs he was creating.Look at how he behaved when The Time started getting great reviews on the '1999' tour.He removed them from a few shows in the major cities.He got pissed when Jam and Lewis began producing other artists,and he fired them.So yeah,these acts were simply intended to build his empire.

MickyDolenz said:

Marvin Gaye has only two Grammys, which is one more than Milli Vanilli.

Sadly, but not at all surprisingly, that speaks volumes about the validity of the Grammy thing (which I couldn't care less about).

To cut a long story short, I don't think any protégé/collaborator is well known outside of the Prince camp.

Let's be honest, even those who were talented like W&L and The Time wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it wasn't because of their involvement with Prince. In fact, they keep on playing Prince stuff to show the world where they were and what they did.

The exception could be Sheila E., who already had a career before Prince and continued with it after Prince. But ask those who are neither Prince fans or latin music fans (who might like the Escovedo family) if they know who Sheila E. is. Mostly, they don't.

The fact that Jimmy and Terry became huge producers with Janet Jackson and the like doesn't mean the John Doe entering a record store for a Janet album is aware of who they are.

All this paints a somewhat bleak picture of the protégé/collaborator ecosystems.

the only reason why people get famous is because of fans sooo yeah.

alot of past people had and still has alot of talent i guess the world just not checking for them cuz none of em really blew up besides jimmy and terry if it wasnt 4 prince i wouldnt have cared 4 none of em cuz most of em solo stuff i didnt like.

Efan said:

I'm not sure I understand your question, but I don't think any of them had a powerhouse of promotion and money behind them, with maybe the exception of The Time and Sheila E. But even their promotion seemed very much tied to Purple Rain and the huge wave the whole Prince family was riding at the time.

Right. This is the reason.

Being fair some of them were just pretty faces and nothing more - but a lot of these acts had talent of their own and the material itself deserved a bigger audience than it got. That was down to a total lack of promotion and backing for the projects.

I don't think any one was going to become a Madonna or a Prince, I'm not saying that, but there were hit singles to be had that didn't happen, and that was purely down to promotion/backing - and Paisley Park was a joke, so anyone signed to that was already doomed.

vitriol said:

MickyDolenz said:

Marvin Gaye has only two Grammys, which is one more than Milli Vanilli.

Sadly, but not at all surprisingly, that speaks volumes about the validity of the Grammy thing (which I couldn't care less about).

To cut a long story short, I don't think any protégé/collaborator is well known outside of the Prince camp.

Let's be honest, even those who were talented like W&L and The Time wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it wasn't because of their involvement with Prince. In fact, they keep on playing Prince stuff to show the world where they were and what they did.

The exception could be Sheila E., who already had a career before Prince and continued with it after Prince. But ask those who are neither Prince fans or latin music fans (who might like the Escovedo family) if they know who Sheila E. is. Mostly, they don't.

The fact that Jimmy and Terry became huge producers with Janet Jackson and the like doesn't mean the John Doe entering a record store for a Janet album is aware of who they are.

All this paints a somewhat bleak picture of the protégé/collaborator ecosystems.

You can't say that they wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the Prince involvement. W&L were both from big musical families and lived in LA and were VERY connected, so you have no idea if something would have broken for them earlier as solo or a group. Same thing goes for members of The Time, they all had talent and it doesn't mean they would not have found a way into the national spotlight without Prince. It's funny that you rag on the Grammy as no standard to know talent, but then say that the average record buyer does not know Jimmy and Terry. Kind of a double standard- like the average music consumer should be the marker for acknowledging talent versus people in the industry.

Bottom line is you can't accurately guess what ANY of these people would be doing in a different reality. Personally I could see some of them being bigger without Prince's help because they would not have been locked up with his control issues for so long. The 80s still cared about talent and many of the associated artists had that plus youth (an ingredient almost always required in America for pop success) - so who knows? I don't and neither do you.