Get my Jill Jones CD out today and it struck me the same way it did when I bought the album back in the 80s: she really cant sing worth a damn. She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent that Prince propped up with great music and production. Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me. In fact, her Motown albums have some half way decent vocal moments. I always thought she got criticized for her sainging a little bit too much. Jill Jones, on the other hand, is a mystery to me. She doesnt even strike me as a good backup singer even though she obviously did it with Prince and others like Teena Marie.

Just relaized this is the wrong form. TOo late I guess -there is no way I can delete or move it

JoshuaWho said:

Get my Jill Jones CD out today and it struck me the same way it did when I bought the album back in the 80s: she really cant sing worth a damn. She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent that Prince propped up with great music and production. Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me. In fact, her Motown albums have some half way decent vocal moments. I always thought she got criticized for her sainging a little bit too much. Jill Jones, on the other hand, is a mystery to me. She doesnt even strike me as a good backup singer even though she obviously did it with Prince and others like Teena Marie.

Jill Jones is one of the few Prince proteges who could actually sing.Her problem is that her career was mishandled by Prince,but she has talent.

I love Vanity,but she has never been able to sing On her Wild Animal album,all we hear from her is squealing and screeching....but you cannot call it singing.Let's be honest....she and Apollonia became stars strictly because of their looks,not their vocal talent.

SoulAlive said:

JoshuaWho said:

Get my Jill Jones CD out today and it struck me the same way it did when I bought the album back in the 80s: she really cant sing worth a damn. She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent that Prince propped up with great music and production. Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me. In fact, her Motown albums have some half way decent vocal moments. I always thought she got criticized for her sainging a little bit too much. Jill Jones, on the other hand, is a mystery to me. She doesnt even strike me as a good backup singer even though she obviously did it with Prince and others like Teena Marie.

Jill Jones is one of the few Prince proteges who could actually sing.Her problem is that her career was mishandled by Prince,but she has talent.

I love Vanity,but she has never been able to sing On her Wild Animal album,all we hear from her is squealing and screeching....but you cannot call it singing.Let's be honest....she and Apollonia became stars strictly because of their looks,not their vocal talent.

Sure they made it for benig fine as hell. They were not singers. I do enjoy Vanity's voice on her second solo album more than anything I ever heard from Jill straining to do on the Paisley Park release. I laughed my ass off when she was squealing on Pretty Mess from Wild Animal and actually got on the charts with it. Blaming Prince for her mediocrity is bull. Former Prince associates and side peices with some talent have gone on to have their own careers?

JoshuaWho said:

SoulAlive said:

Jill Jones is one of the few Prince proteges who could actually sing.Her problem is that her career was mishandled by Prince,but she has talent.

I love Vanity,but she has never been able to sing On her Wild Animal album,all we hear from her is squealing and screeching....but you cannot call it singing.Let's be honest....she and Apollonia became stars strictly because of their looks,not their vocal talent.

Sure they made it for benig fine as hell. They were not singers. I do enjoy Vanity's voice on her second solo album more than anything I ever heard from Jill straining to do on the Paisley Park release. I laughed my ass off when she was squealing on Pretty Mess from Wild Animal and actually got on the charts with it. Blaming Prince for her mediocrity is bull. Former Prince associates and side peices with some talent have gone on to have their own careers?

What I mean is,Prince didn't treat her as a priority.She joined his camp in 1982,but her album wasn't released until 1987.She had to sit back and watch other (less talented) proteges release their albums and become famous.She appears in the Purple Rain movie,but wasn't able to take advantage of the hype surrounding it.A song like "Sugar Walls" should have been her debut single in late 1984/early 85.When her album was finally released,it was met with indifference by the general public.When she didn't like the tracks that Prince came up with her planned second album,he kept her locked her into her Paisley Park contract for seven years.That's why she wasn't able to move forward in her career.But it has nothing to do with her talent.She can sing.In fact,on the 1999 tour,she hid behind a curtain and was "singing" the vocals during Vanity 6's set.She was needed to provide some power to their weak vocals.

The Best Female Singers that Prince ever worked with: Jill Jones, Brenda Bennett, Margie Cox, Boni Boyer & Rosie Gaines. Whether He utilized Their talents 2 their fullest capabilities..........WELL????

Agreed, not only is she among the best singers he ever worked with but her album is probably my personal favourite album by any prince associate.

[Edited 3/3/15 1:33am]

totally agree with woogiebear and jaawwnn.

I think most overrated is Andy Allo,

I saw the picture of her with Prince, Ida and Hannah..

of what would become 3rdeyegirl.

She looks so miserable.

I'm glad Donna put her out of her misery!

Her album was one of my least listened to.

I'm glad there is the Liv album, probably up there with the Jill Jones album for me.

JoshuaWho said:

Get my Jill Jones CD out today and it struck me the same way it did when I bought the album back in the 80s: she really cant sing worth a damn. She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent that Prince propped up with great music and production. Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me. In fact, her Motown albums have some half way decent vocal moments. I always thought she got criticized for her sainging a little bit too much. Jill Jones, on the other hand, is a mystery to me. She doesnt even strike me as a good backup singer even though she obviously did it with Prince and others like Teena Marie.

You obviously have NO IDEA of what u're talking about

I used to be a singer, took lessons for 5 years, been working with musicians for a good part of my younger years and therefore developped an ear for what having the technical ability to sing means. If ONE Prince protégé had the skills from such a technical point of view, it was Jill.

It's cool if u prefer the sound of Vanity's voice over Jill's, I think I do too now that u mention it, but don't go and write nonsense on a public forum like that, u're making a fool of yourself. IDK, what u've written above would be a bit like writing "I think Levi was a terrible guitarist, Andy Allo can play so much better" only because u like the sound of Andy's guitar playing more than Levi's. It's silly.

I mean I love me some Vanity, like I LOVE me some Vanity - but Jill has one of the best voices of any 'protege' act and her album is one of the best on PP (perhaps it took a little too long in arriving, but the material is top drawer).

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

for the record i dont consider sheila a protege, she was already an active and working professional.

[Edited 3/3/15 21:31pm]

It's worth noting that Jill Jones was not some random chick that Prince was dating and decided to make a star She was a backup singer for Teena Marie and we all know that Teena wouldn't have been onstage with someone who couldn't sing,lol

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

I think Jill's problem was....she wasn't given the same amount of exposure as most of the others.Prince didn't treat her as a priority.In both Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge,she had small,insignificant roles.In the latter,she was supposed to be The Kid's girlfriend but he soon lost interest in her and became chasing an angel! When her debut album was finally released in 1987,there was no promotion whatsoever.I remember walking into a record store and seeing her album...totally surprised that it was released! There was no build-up,no hype,no nothing.The Taja Sevelle album received more promotion than Jill's album (even though Taja can't sing at all).

JoshuaWho said:

Sure they made it for being fine as hell. They were not singers. I do enjoy Vanity's voice on her second solo album more than anything I ever heard from Jill straining to do on the Paisley Park release. I laughed my ass off when she was squealing on Pretty Mess from Wild Animal and actually got on the charts with it. Blaming Prince for her mediocrity is bull. Former Prince associates and side pieces with some talent have gone on to have their own careers?

but that song wasn't a major hit,though.In fact,none of Vanity's solo singles were major hits.I love Vanity,but let's not overrate her talents.

JoshuaWho said:

Get my Jill Jones CD out today and it struck me the same way it did when I bought the album back in the 80s: she really cant sing worth a damn. She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent that Prince propped up with great music and production. Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me. In fact, her Motown albums have some half way decent vocal moments. I always thought she got criticized for her sainging a little bit too much. Jill Jones, on the other hand, is a mystery to me. She doesnt even strike me as a good backup singer even though she obviously did it with Prince and others like Teena Marie.

I will agree with you. I never cared for her voice on that CD. I do not remember hearing one song from it being played on the radio and I believe it was because:

Her vocals on that CD are high pitched and wailing. She had no chance of being played on RnB or Pop formats. I am not saying she cannot sing she does not sound good on that CD.

WB did nothing to promote the CD as they did with all Paisley Park artist. Some of you should read what George Clinton has to say about how WB was treating Paisley Park artist.

I remember reading that Prince and Jill Jones went to the Jack The Rapper Radio convention ( old black convention ) and people walked out on her performance. It had to be that voice of hers.

laurarichardson said:

I remember reading that Prince and Jill Jones went to the Jack The Rapper Radio convention ( old black convention ) and people walked out on her performance. It had to be that voice of hers.

Wow..........I'd never heard that story.

JoshuaWho said:

Get my Jill Jones CD out today... she really cant sing worth a damn.
She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent..

Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me

Vanity? Well you are entitled to your own opinion
To me jill jones album in one of the best PP releases

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

for the record i dont consider sheila a protege, she was already an active and working professional.

[Edited 3/3/15 21:31pm]

Sheila E became Prince's protege

just because someone played in bands and toured with people doesn't mean they aren't a protege

laurarichardson said:

JoshuaWho said:

Get my Jill Jones CD out today and it struck me the same way it did when I bought the album back in the 80s: she really cant sing worth a damn. She was one of many hot chicks with marginal talent that Prince propped up with great music and production. Believe it or not, Vanity's voice is far more enjoyable to me. In fact, her Motown albums have some half way decent vocal moments. I always thought she got criticized for her sainging a little bit too much. Jill Jones, on the other hand, is a mystery to me. She doesnt even strike me as a good backup singer even though she obviously did it with Prince and others like Teena Marie.

I will agree with you. I never cared for her voice on that CD. I do not remember hearing one song from it being played on the radio and I believe it was because:

Her vocals on that CD are high pitched and wailing. She had no chance of being played on RnB or Pop formats. I am not saying she cannot sing she does not sound good on that CD.

WB did nothing to promote the CD as they did with all Paisley Park artist. Some of you should read what George Clinton has to say about how WB was treating Paisley Park artist.

I remember reading that Prince and Jill Jones went to the Jack The Rapper Radio convention ( old black convention ) and people walked out on her performance. It had to be that voice of hers.

My first album was a very long pregnancy, good God, it took so long get out. It was a really ace album, but, the timing was way off. I don't think everyone was ready for it. Radio wasn't looking for it. There's a rap convention in Atlanta that I went to and people came up to me saying “you're Black? I didn't know you were Black! I would've played your record.” I just came back to Prince, like, “should I just get a tan?” White people somehow knew I was Black and they said “I'm not playing that house Negro on the radio.”

Jill Jones on the unfinished second Paisley Park album: We (Jones and Prince) were kind of were at two different roads. The song (“Boom Boom”) was from 1982 and it seemed forced. He kept remixing it. I went to do the video, but, it was late, it was too late. And I just ended up going back to New York, got married and waited until my contract expired. During this time he called me-- and I was at a friend's house-- and said, "you don't have any charisma, you should dye your hair black and you need to get breast implants like Brigitte Nielsen." I was furious... Dickens (CEO of Warner Brothers UK) was instrumental at one point with Roger Davies, my manager, when we were trying to complete my second album alone. Without Prince. But, Prince rejected every attempt we tried.

SoulAlive said:

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

I think Jill's problem was....she wasn't given the same amount of exposure as most of the others.Prince didn't treat her as a priority.In both Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge,she had small,insignificant roles.In the latter,she was supposed to be The Kid's girlfriend but he soon lost interest in her and became chasing an angel! When her debut album was finally released in 1987,there was no promotion whatsoever.I remember walking into a record store and seeing her album...totally surprised that it was released! There was no build-up,no hype,no nothing.The Taja Sevelle album received more promotion than Jill's album (even though Taja can't sing at all).

Right, wrong timing.

Jill should have had at least 2 albums out between 1999-Parade

SoulAlive said:

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

I think Jill's problem was....she wasn't given the same amount of exposure as most of the others.Prince didn't treat her as a priority.In both Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge,she had small,insignificant roles.In the latter,she was supposed to be The Kid's girlfriend but he soon lost interest in her and became chasing an angel! When her debut album was finally released in 1987,there was no promotion whatsoever.I remember walking into a record store and seeing her album...totally surprised that it was released! There was no build-up,no hype,no nothing.The Taja Sevelle album received more promotion than Jill's album (even though Taja can't sing at all).

I didn't even know she had an album out until many years later.

I didn't find out about the Apollonia 6 project until late 1987.

Graycap23 said:

I didn't find out about the Apollonia 6 project until late 1987.

You weren't a Prince fan in 1984?

sexton said:

Graycap23 said:

I didn't find out about the Apollonia 6 project until late 1987.

You weren't a Prince fan in 1984?

Ive been a Prince fan from day one, but I never saw a Apollonia 6 album until 1987. Never knew it even existed.

Graycap23 said:

sexton said:

You weren't a Prince fan in 1984?

Ive been a Prince fan from day one, but I never saw a Apollonia 6 album until 1987. Never knew it even existed.

Did you know "Sex Shooter" from the movie was released as a single?

sexton said:

Graycap23 said:

Ive been a Prince fan from day one, but I never saw a Apollonia 6 album until 1987. Never knew it even existed.

Did you know "Sex Shooter" from the movie was released as a single?

I had the vynil of that. I must have been asleep on the album. I laughed when a friend was playing the cassette in his car. When I read the j-card on the cassette I was really surprised that they had released an entire album.

SoulAlive said:

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

I think Jill's problem was....she wasn't given the same amount of exposure as most of the others.Prince didn't treat her as a priority.In both Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge,she had small,insignificant roles.In the latter,she was supposed to be The Kid's girlfriend but he soon lost interest in her and became chasing an angel! When her debut album was finally released in 1987,there was no promotion whatsoever.I remember walking into a record store and seeing her album...totally surprised that it was released! There was no build-up,no hype,no nothing.The Taja Sevelle album received more promotion than Jill's album (even though Taja can't sing at all).

You never hear of them after Prince because of the same reason they were proteges that never happened... in the first place. Fatal flaw: lacking enough star power/talent/creative vision on their own to get their own deal.

They have had lives after Prince and not one of them did much of anything worth paying attention to.

OldFriends4Sale said:

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

for the record i dont consider sheila a protege, she was already an active and working professional.

[Edited 3/3/15 21:31pm]

Sheila E became Prince's protege

just because someone played in bands and toured with people doesn't mean they aren't a protege

Shelia in my mind was never a true protege because she was a musician before prince and she's still a musician NOW. That makes my case she shouldnt be classified as a protege...because he didnt actually make her.

She has a storied and successful career. She would have been where she is now without Prince. I think its easy to see that w Sheila.

Cant say that for any of the others.

terrig said:

each protege has a fatal flaw...which is probably why they weren't signed anywhere on their own, had marginal, to no careers or went the professional rockstar girlfriend route.

for the record i dont consider sheila a protege, she was already an active and working professional.

[Edited 3/3/15 21:31pm]

yes they all had the SAME fatal flaw.

NouveauDance said: