So, since this is the FIRST I am ever hearing of YOU, Mr. Hahn... does that mean that THIS is your peak? And because I never will hear of you again, does that mean your career is over? Mind your own MF and let a Man be a Man...

LaMont said:

Is that like Franco-American Spaghetti-O's?

Don't waste you money on his book.
There is not much information in the book that was not already known. And the few *Gasp* revelations it did dig up aren't worth the price of the book.
The book basically tells the story of Prince, the one we heard a hundred times. But Hahn's approach was to really point out just how huge Prince's popularity and commercial success was in the 1980's and then point out ANYthing negative to really make Prince sound like his fall from popularity was a dramatic hard crash.
The casual fan who has enough interest to pick up this book will walk away with no future interest in Prince's career.
The timing for the book is a bit odd as well. With Hahn's percieption of such a low market for Prince's music should coincide to him how low book sales will be. It apppeared to me that he's bitter about Prince somehow. Otherwise why would he be SOOO interested to take on the Uptown case and then later turn around to write a trashy book on Prince?
I think he knows its only us, Prince's hardcore fan base, that will buy this book. To be totally truthful I wasn't about to purchase the book but the website's promoting the book made it sound like it would be an awesome read. Only credit I can give is that is was a great source to touch up one's knowledge of Prince 101. But I couldn't help to put the book down with a bad taste left in my mouth.
Hahn basically sums up his opinions on Prince in the last paragraph in the book.

"His universe is smaller than it has been in years, and it continues to shrink. But within that universe, his authority is absolute; Prince is in control"

Hahn is doing nothing more than cashing in on those of us fans who he feels will buy anything.

I have a family member with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (a form of depression), and after reading your book, I came to the realization that Prince also has this disorder. Prince's behavior detailed in your book is amazingly identical to what I have witnessed from my personal experience with the disorder. If you have a chance to read up on NPD, I'd like to know your thoughts on whether Prince fits the bill.

Mr. Hahn, I have a comment as well as a couple of questions for you. First mind your dog gone business. Prince is a human being and just like you and I we all make our mistakes and we learn from them. I am not one that is obsessed with him, but I do enjoy his style and his music. With that being said, my questions are
1) How do you feel about his new lifestyle (more religious/ less sexual-oriented)?
2) Have you actually sat down and talk to him and got these facts straight from his mouth?

"...Prince used cocaine and visited a rehab for a drug addiction..."

That´s ridiculous. Even if this was true it would be none of our business like so much other yellow press stuff that seems to be contained in this book.

Anything currently published about Prince that does not emphasize his post 2000 creative output is a joke.

sovembol said:

NOOO!!! Surely you jest!

I had mixed feelings about the book, and particularly about the description of Prince's musical downfall. Lovesexy was the beginning of the end, eh? Many (most?) would strongly disagree.

I'm curious about the author's musical credentials. Is it just your personal opinion and the sales figures that have indicated the quality of the music? Or were there some other sources involved with those assessments?

Supernova said:

How can Prince be less successful now that he has freedom of expression, no one telling him what to sound like or do?

How can he be less successful with all royalties going to him?

How can he be less successful when his true fams seek him out and purchase his product through him directly?

Your measurement of success doesn't necessarily have to be the same as someone else's and what gives you the right to judge?

LaMont said:

LOL.. that's my French showing. Actually, I think they say "afro-américain", but anyhoo, that's "black music".
[This message was edited Tue Apr 22 15:01:59 PDT 2003 by Aerogram]

wellbeyond said:

---
I agree with you. This review is no better than Jon Bream's

One question for you Mr.Hahn.

Who are you to say that Prince has fallen? He has not fallen any more than a lot of other artist from the 80's.

Why do you think that Prince's career would go beyond the normal five to ten year span of most artist in pop music.

I've read the first couple of chapters of this book, and I've already found errors. For one, Mr. Hahn claims that Jellybean quit the time right after Jimmy and Terry. Uh, not quite. Jellybean stayed with Prince for quite a while. Duh he was in PR!! (I've met Jellybean several times, once he was wearing a Diamonds and Pearls T-shirt, and playing pretty good guitar with Mambo's.)

Yes this bok does contain little more than what most of us already know, but, my wife is reading it and seems to enjoy it, although I usually wind up explaining things. One comment shee made was "I didn't know Prince had fallen???" And she's not anywhere near the fan I am!

Basically this book is an updated version of "Prince a Pop Life". Even one of the chapters is the same "Black". Come on!

Peace

Danny

Hello, and welcome to the org. I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions.

Mine are:

1. What drove you or inspired you to do a book on Prince, and why?

2. Have you heard from Prince and company any response to your book?

3. Will this book perk up his career in a sense that people will be curious about him?

Thanks.

tackam said:

I think I would say that Lovesexy was the end of the beginning.

We finished the middle circa 2001 and are hopefully moving towards a happy ending from now on in

Sadly, the book may proove to be pretty accurate in its portrayal of Prince. I am a huge fan of Prince, and probably always will be, but it amuses me that alot of Princes hardcore fans dont seem to be able to pull there heads out of Princes arse and realise that the man has made some "interesting" career choices, particularly in the 90's. As a live performer, Prince still provides brilliance in showmanship, and his concerts never disappoint. But sadly, it would appear that his music lacked relevance during the late 1990s, with perhaps the exception of "The Most Beautiful Girl..." and then "The Rainbow Children".

And the famous name change...well, that did no good at all.

questions:

1. according to you, who can be considered the "New Prince" in music today?
2. should Prince resume his acting/directing career?
3. would a "Purple rain 20 th adniversary" massive campaign (record reissue with bonus tracks, tour, etc) resume the myth?
4. has Prince received a copy of your book?

Hey Hahn...

1. Has anyone from Prince's "clique" (I use that term loosely) contacted you about the book (yet)?
2. Do you think you will write any more books on Prince in the future?
3. How many of Prince's album's do you have in your collection and which is your favorite?

Later Hahn!

P.S...Prince hasnt fell, tripped nor fallen. He's done nothing but rise to the occasion EVERY SINGLE TIME it was NECESSARY. A fallen star doesnt sell out at every performance when they are an "underground" star. No, Prince hasnt fallen anywhere, he's just skipping right along to the neverending funky beat.
ya Prince

Alex,
Among the list of conspicuous absentees from your list of interviewed sources is Morris Hayes. Is this because he refused an interview? Did you approach him? After all, he is probably the most accessible of any Prince band member, past or present. Or perhaps he, like many others, would have painted a picture radically different from that ultimately painted by your one-dimensional brush?

I wanted to know what you think I am a major Prince fan and have even met him through Little Richard but watching this guy contrdict himself is amazing! Did you see Prince on American Bandstand when he first came out in 78 ? How he treated Dick Clark and what did you get from his actions ?

And


Did prince have a drug problem ? I read he used Extacy I know that But I friend of mine works at the Beverly Hills Hotel where Prince has stayed numerous time and said he was always HIGH on something and looked really really Bad at times ! What are your comments on this ?

And

What happened to his relationship with Wendy and Lisa ? Seems like he goes tru friends and band members like water ? Comments

I will raed the book !!! Thanks for you time !!!

And Do you know the story of the song 319 and if you do that's where I used to work and heard the stories from ? (the man who live there and you know who I mean)Good Golly... Comments

and some extra ones from my previous list:

1. do you feel that prince ever regrets being so anti-the industry that he now struggles to get his music on a wide platform?

2. did any of the interviews you conduct only take place through the understanding that prince had given permission for them to speak to you?

3. while prince is single-minded in his approach, he seems to have been at a creative peak when he allowed talented business minds - who he trusted, Fargnoli being a prime example - to guide his career. Do you belief that his main problem was perhaps growing too big for his boots that he believed, like in his music, he was capable of doing everything himself?

4. what is uptown's relationship with prince like now?

ben said:

But before you do, read what Alex Hahn has said before. Plenty of useful links @ http://pr1nc3.com/news/bo...sessed.asp if you need resources: interviews, etc.

CherrieMoonKisses said:

Get over it: Prince has fallen. In the early 1990s, some 5 million people were interested in him. These days it's a miracle if he sells 100,000 copies of an album.

(And don't even get me started on the quality ofd those records -- do you really think it is a coincidence that Prince has barely played anything released post-1995 on his tours? He knows damn well himself that most of it is crap.)

How about all those artists that when they talk about Prince clearly talk in the past tense, about what he did in the 1980s and how great he was back then, and how he threw it all away? How many songs from the past decade or so were covered by other artists, vs how many from the 1980s?

As for selling out performances: that's easy when you switch from multiple arena dates to a single small theatre date. And even then he didn't sell out every time, there's at least one occasion on the 2002 Canada tour where they cancelled an entire gig for lack of interest.

(And if anyone thinks people are gonna talk about the 2002 ONA tour in ten years time the way they talk about say the SOTT tour, the Parade tour of the Lovesexy tour, they need to check their head.)

Pozitivity said:

AH: Uh.. No. Doing so wouldn't make the book as "juicy" as it's advertised to be.. Plus, saying that, "he couldn't be interviewed' feeds negative innuendo to the Prince-haters that will buy this book.



AH: It's great. Prince has earned enough money in his career. He shouldn't cry about something he cannot control. We'd all like to own vacation homes in Spain and Hawaii. We would like to have women like Carmen, Mayte, and Mani on our arms. It takes money to do so. I wish he would stop crying.

Pozitivity said:

AH: Technically, We did... When you factor in the loss of the rating of bootleg material for sale. Yes. We lost. Hopefully, we can begin to appeal with the finances gained from this book, and the group who is selling "The Las Vegas" bootlegs.

PURPLEJACKSON9 said:

AH: 1986. Wendy & Lisa were "released" from The Revolution to follow their successful solo careers.

As we know they are responsible for most of the material on "Sign O' The Times" (1987). Even though I have yet to speak to them, I'm sure that Lisa was responsible for some handclaps and background chants on "Housequake" and Madhouse 9 & 12.

OuzoPower said:

AH: I'm sorry. This book and discussion is about Prince. Don't you have VH1? My book would be useless if he accepted their offer to tape an episode of Behind The Music. Unfortunately, he did not want to address his private life, so the deal fell through. I guess that leaves the job of exposing his private life and relationships to the likes of me!
[This message was edited Thu Apr 24 7:53:46 PDT 2003 by Vindicator]

BinaryJustin said:

AH: I've never respected him. C'mon. He refuses to share his profits with psuedo-fan enterprises that I've represented! If they worked for him, they would not receive the pay and attention that they do now. He wants to shut them down.

He "canceled" the Revolution because Wendy and Lisa were ready to "move on". The fact that that they had a recording contract with a company other than Warner Brothers should never have been considered.

I respected his talent before then, but not since.


The slap of Appolonia in "Purple Rain" was legitimate.

He lost control. He thought that she was Vanity.

Jana91 said:

AH: The situation is mentioned in the book. You must buy it. I cannot give away good "details" from the book for free. The NPGMC will not. I cannot. Don't call The BBB. Capitalist Business is not free. I am not a Socialist.

AaronA said:

AH: Wow! It's great collection of thoughts from people who: knew people, who knew a Roadie crew member, or a person who attended Industry parties.

I'll write another.

He should never be allowed to chastise band members at sound checks.. It doesn't matter what kind of drugs they were on! It shouldn't matter that they were eager to capitalize on "The Minneapolis Sound" on their own.