I've decided to compile all available information on Alex Hahn's upcoming book "Possessed: The Rise And Fall Of Prince" on a page on my website, including links to online retailers and much, much more.
http://pr1nc3.com/news/bo...sessed.asp

Yay I can't wait

love that lego!

Wonder what Prince would have to say about ths book? I'm guessing something less than favorable.

I knew that Bart would be really interested in this book

hang on, it says something about the most detailed appendix of song and recording information? How much are they talking about? I don't know about you guys but these appendices are not something i spend my time reading. It better not be too big!

wonder what kind of this will make. Don't think I am to quick to purchase the book. "the rise and fall". Don't recall that Prince fell. Makes me wonder if this book actually belongs in the Just my the rest is free.

Where's Berry? She would really be interested because we all know how eagerly she is waiting this book.

Billmenever said:

If Prince hasn't fell how come he went from a man who sold millions of albums to a man who sells a couple of hundred thousand? Don't say it's because he is independent, because the fall started in the early to mid-nineties.

It's cool though because I don't really care about that kind of thing; but in the general public's eye Prince has fallen.

Could you imagine if there was a website like this in the Purple Rain era? There would be 10,000 people logged on at any given time.

Ha ha.. sounds like something from the pages of the taboliods. Bart never changes, love your comment about the org -- Just how often is the site down? The cover of that book looks like it was copied at Kinko's. You must be getting a cut of the profits. Even you should be above reading trash like that> Did you ghost write it?

I think we're all going to have to wait and see what the content is like. We shouldn't judge it on the title - which isn't that untrue - even if it could be applied to everyone in Pop Music of the period (with few exceptions - perhaps U2 & Madonna). Althought that said, his 'basic fact' announcement re: 80's Prince - v - 90's Prince is far from the truth. And this statement alone suggests Hahn might be way off target and/or be harbouring negativity to the little fellow. But only time will tell.

What the book does promise, and I would be eager to see if it can produce, is a musical critique of his work that goes beyond the usual 'too fast, too slow, too crap', etc. It's being touted, at least by the author who doesn't appear struck by modesty, as the Prince equivalent of Ian MacDonald's Beatles book, Revolution In The Head (which, as it happens, namechecked Prince as the only comparable 80's artist to the Fab Four).

I'll be interested in hearing what some of you think about it.

I've preordered my copy!

2the9s said:

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Me too. Barnes and Noble told me it would arrive first week of April. Cool.

I have a very spotty knowledge on Prince's past, and his music. I have a feeling that even if this book is very critical it will only make me MORE interested in Prince, as I am still a novice and have not dried out the Prince mystère:)

lovemachine said:

Prince hasnt fallen. It takes some thinking to know that records sales numbers do not determine if an artist has fallen. Try it before stupidly following the so called fall of Prince. His greatest art came AFTER the 80s. THe Rainbow Children adn the ONA live set are not the work of an fallen artist. Those that know, know - those that dont, run their mouths

Actually, the ONA live set is totally the work of a fallen artist. A bunch of (half-length) live versions of old hits, strung together with a gaggle of new songs (no one wants to hear), with pakaging designed by an 8th grader, priced at $20 per disc. That's totally the work of a fallen artist. Those in denial should get out before the crocadiles cleopatra your ass.

LaMont said:

Utter, utter bollocks.

LaMont said

Right - who gave Larry Graham a sign-on name ?

Hands up !
[This message was edited Fri Mar 21 3:29:40 PST 2003 by freakyfeet]

lovemachine said:

I do not think this is true-not because I am obsessed. In Europe in the early nineties Prince was probably never more popular-entering the top five all the time. It really was when he broke from Warners. Markewting is so important-even madonna without advertising would not sell the volumes she does. Mass market purchasing is not driven by massive fan bases but people buying in passing who are probably quite indifferent to most of what will concern people here.

Yep, you could definitely make a case for Prince's popularity in Europe reaching its peak AFTER the 1980's.

In Britain alone... he won four of his five 'Brit' awards for Best International Solo Artist in the 90's (the first of those not coming until 1992). He had his first ever British Number #1 in the mid-90's, and as a concert force enjoyed the most popularity between 1991-1992.

lovemachine said:

---why do you assume that because an artist doesn't move as many records as he used to that he has fallen. That's now how I measure success. What if he's only selling a fraction of what he used to sell, but he's happy with the music he's been putting out? What if he can live with himself and be free to write and record whatever he wants? What if success is not seen by how much money a person makes? All this and more. A work of art is successful by virtue of its creation - does that sound familiar?

lovemachine said:

poetbear68 said:

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All artist see a decrease in record sales as they go along in there career. The music business is youth oriented as artist get older record companies and radio stations do not spend the same time and money to promote them as they do the younger artist.

In the general public eyes Prince has fallen because they do not hear him on the radio. The radio is were most people tune in to hear new music. The general public is never going to hear him on the radio as long as he is a independent artist and as long as he continues to age.

The odd thing is no one seems to care if Bruce Springsteens or the Rolling Stones are no longer selling millions of records. Only Prince fans seem worried about Prince's record sales(LOL)

laurarichardson said:

Bollocks. Prince's fanbase dropped from "easily selling 5 millions worldwide per album" in the late 1980s/early 1990s to "scraping by to reach 150,000 worldwide". That's not a dip, that's a massive drop, that's a whole lot of people who used to buy a new Prince album without listening to it, who've stopped doing so. And that audience fell away at the same time his records became crap and not worth the money. You could easily notice it when record shop suddenly started to drop the prices of his records mere weeks after the release because they were stuck with so many unsold copies. I remember seeing Come for less than midprice only a couple of months after it was released and there were plenty of copies to chose from.

laurarichardson said:

FACT: Prince scored a massive hit with TMBGITW, released independently.

FACT: Emancipation saw a massive promotional effort by Prince, so did rave. Both were supported by major labels. Both of them failed completely.

laurarichardson said:

That's because they still sell significant volumes of records.

BartVanHemelen said:

Have either sold more copies of new albums in total since 1994? Doubt it.

laurarichardson said:

Each one, teach one.