{{{http://www.sundaylife.co....ory=337791
MusicLife: The Squiggle is back
By John McGurk

THE man whose name is 'Prince' again, and who is still funky but funny peculiar, is back on the live music scene in Ireland soon.

For The Artist Formerly Known as ... well, one of those sex gene squiggles and other eyebrow raising nicknames ... is in Dublin next month after a seven-year absence from the concert front in this country.

Prince - the performer brimful of creative eruptions and temper tantrums - seems to have finally realised those eccentric refusals to be called by his original name have done him little but harm.

The 5ft 2ins pocket rocket rocker was once one of the most successful superstars of the 1980s and 1990s - matched only by Madonna and Michael Jackson in terms of record sales and concert pulling power.

With his magical combination of James Brown preacher man funk, Jimi Hendrix axe wielding and Marc Bolan feather boa wearing androgyny, Prince was the ultimate male diva with attitude.}}}

Though only small in stature, he was a towering talent who challenged rock music's racial barriers and straddled stylistic borders with his astonishing musical diversity.

Soul, funk, folk, new wave, rock and pure pop were all easily within the range of the Minneapolis born one-man music machine.

Few artists can claim to have enjoyed a six-month stay at the top of the US albums chart. But that's exactly what Purple Rain did, as it sold over 10 million copies in 1984-85.

Prince's undoubted musical productivity was reflected by his workrate - recording hundreds of songs, as well as writing and producing for countless other artists.

But that workaholic talent has, ironically, contributed to his fall from commercial grace, as he refused to conform to the 'album/tour every two years' record company game.

Instead, Prince immersed himself in a flurry of album releases and constant touring - with each project admirably following his creative muse, but showing little regard for career consistency or commercial longevity.

1987's sprawling, apocalyptic double set, Sign 'O' The Times, remains a classic album, displaying his deft artistic touch in a wildly eclectic variety of musical genres.

But a long-running clash with a record company worried by the bombardment of material and his surreal, self-defeating refusal to be known as Prince between 1993 and 2000, has reduced him to a relative chart 'has-been' today.

Adam Ant once sang that "ridicule is nothing to be scared of". But calling himself TAFKAP (The Artist Formerly Known As Prince) or 'Symbol' made him little more than a laughing stock, in spite of that extraordinary musical talent.

And though he has belatedly reverted to calling himself Prince again, all is still odd and unpredictable in his Royal Purpleness's kingdom.

For the man once nicknamed Imp Of The Perverse has taken to warning young people about the dangers of teenage promiscuity and drugs, and recently became a Jehovah's Witness.

However, the one ever reliable constant in Prince's career is his brilliant live shows - almost always marathon three-hour-plus celebrations of his gargantuan creativity.

If you're lucky enough to have tickets for his Dublin show, don't expect a greatest hits set. What you will get is a dazzling display from one of the music's world's true one-offs - a Prince Charming of the concert stage.

Prince plays the Point Theatre, Dublin, on Thursday October 12, as part of his One Night In Europe tour. All tickets, priced at 60 and 70 euro, are sold out.

"The 5ft 2ins pocket rocket rocker"

I like this line...

Mani fizzled that rocket in his pocket. Now he has cracker jacks in his nap sack.

I get the impression this reporter thinks Prince is short.

i will b there, and oh yes !! it shall b good !!!
this writer sucks however, enough already with this artist formerly bullshit, it's old

the writer DOES suck - what's with the one sentence paragraphs. that irish journalist market looks like a good one for rookie writers to get into.

What rubbish - I never heard of this journalist and see no value in posting this to prince.org