{{{More coverage of P's nomination for RnRHoF... good, longer article from St. Paul Pioneer Press: http://www.twincities.com...759596.htm

Posted on Sat, Sep. 13, 2003
Prince in line to join rock royalty
BY KEITH HARRIS
Special To Pioneer Press

Over the past quarter-century, Prince has sold countless records and elicited gushes from the harshest critics. Soon the Minneapolis native might add another notch to his purple belt: induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Late Friday, the diminutive superstar made the list of nominees for the Hall of Fame's 2004 ballot. Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Since Prince released his first album, "For You," in 1978, this is the first year he qualifies. If inducted, he'll join the only Minnesota musician to have more of an impact on popular music in the past half-century, Bob Dylan.

Other nominees include George Harrison, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne.

No one in the local music community seems surprised by Prince's nomination. "He belongs to the ages," said longtime Prince drummer Bobby Z (nee Rivkin). "He's one of the greatest performers and musicians of all time."}}}

Steve McClellan, general manager at the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue, was equally impressed. "Most artists are either retired or even dead by the time they get this kind of recognition.

This isn't the first time Prince has been recognized by the Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Two of his biggest hits, "When Doves Cry" and "Little Red Corvette," were among the institution's "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" in 1997. The coat Prince wore in the 1984 film "Purple Rain" is also on display at the institution's museum.

A multi-instrumentalist whose versatility and talent have earned him comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and even Pablo Picasso, Prince graduated from Minneapolis Central High School in 1976. He was already part of a thriving North Minneapolis music scene that included Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis when he recorded his first album with Warner Brothers in 1978.

Prince's impact in the music industry and the Minneapolis club scene blossomed in the early 1980s, when he and his new band, the Revolution, routinely took the stage at the jam-packed First Avenue. One particular show, on Aug. 3, 1983, planted the seeds for "Purple Rain," which a panel of VH1-polled experts named in 2001 the 18th greatest rock 'n' roll album of all time.

"It's one of my top five concerts of all time," veteran critic and Prince watcher P.D. Larson said in 2001. "It was hot — literally and figuratively. It was the first time anyone heard 'Purple Rain,' which has become sort of the 'Stairway to Heaven' of its time. I remember he wore that huge hoop earring, and all those new songs just had an immediate impact. They obviously felt the same way, like they couldn't recreate them, because they ended up on the album."

"Certainly," wrote former Prince manager Alan Leeds, in the liner notes to "The Hits/The B-Sides," "none of us had an inkling that those very performances, with only minimal studio alterations, would help define pop music in the coming year."

It also was arguably Prince's most prolific period, and astoundingly so: In addition to laying down all the "Purple Rain" material and B-sides ("17 Days," "Erotic City," "She's Always in My Hair," "God," "Another Lonely Christmas"), the sessions yielded material for his next album, "Around the World in a Day," the Time album "Ice Cream Castles," Apollonia 6's debut album, and Sheila E.'s debut album, "The Glamorous Life."

The "Purple Rain" album was completed in April 1984 and released in June. The film, which was shot mostly in November and December 1983, premiered in July. The movie became a critical and commercial hit — its soundtrack won an Oscar — and the album topped the charts for six months and yielded several chart-topping singles.

In 1987, he released the two-record set "Sign O the Times," now widely acknowledged as his artistic high point.

The '90s began with a bang for Prince, when he signed a $100 million contract with Time Warner in 1992, making him the second highest-paid musician in the world after Michael Jackson. Though many of Prince's '90s albums were adventurous and as strong as his earlier material, sales began to dip.

In 1993, he changed his name to an unpronounceable glyph symbol, and fans and journalists alike began referring to him as The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. His downtown Minneapolis club, Glam Slam, was short-lived, and the club The Quest occupies the space now. After a series of label difficulties, first with Time Warner, and later with Arista, he began independently releasing his own music.

He began calling himself Prince again in 2000 and celebrated with a six-day open house at his Chanhassen estate, Paisley Park.

Recently, a magazine in France called New Times reported that he has been in the studio since January recording material with Sheila E. and working on an album tentatively titled "Two Thousand Free: the Revelation year."

His last official album was "N.E.W.S.," a jazz instrumental album released July 29. He also recently released a DVD "Prince — Live at the Aladdin Las Vegas" in August.

According to the Hall of Fame's Web site, criteria for induction include the influence and significance of the artist's contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.

A nominating committee, composed of rock 'n' roll historians, selects nominees each year in the performer category. Ballots are then sent to an international voting body of about 1,000 rock experts. Those performers who receive the highest number of votes, and more than 50 percent of the vote, are inducted. The Foundation generally inducts five to seven performers each year.

Inductees are to be announced in December.

Reggie Royston contributed to this report.

I personally think that he's a shoe in! Unless by some formality that they subtract the years that he was O-)->...
He rocks therefore he is!

A great positive article. Talent wise, there's no doubt he'll get in. Red Tape wise, he has pissed off alot of people in this industry, so let's hope and see.


Also too, have a read of what the general public think of Prince being nominated for induction. If these views reflect what the judges opinons are...then, he should get in:

http://forums.fark.com/cg...ink=649457


Check it out!


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[This message was edited Sun Sep 14 5:24:17 PDT 2003 by dnaplaya]

He will get in.first time up.

dnaplaya said:

I like this quote from the link you provided:

this guy hated record companies before hating record companies was cool. Gotta respect the talent, even if his tunes aren't your style. The guy can pretty much play anything, I hear.

word.

I gotta say, there's some serious competition here. If he doesn't get inducted this year, it won't surprise me.

But I hope he does.

Im just glad that he has been recognized as being apart of this "hall" He deserves it and I hope he gets in eventually.

Only real competition here would be Harrison, but every1 knows Harrison's contribution wasn't nearly as prolific as P's. The other side is that HoF may prefer more of a 'live' celebration, and having P perform 4 his peers would be fairly anticipated.

I will mark my ballot with a P.

and... I think I'll begin a drive this week to influence the vote.

People, please understand, this is not a competition. All of those nominated could be inducted at once.

Wow, it's really starting to pick up momentum... with the media...

cloud9mission said:

Sad thing is that most people commenting on that site speak in the past tense about Prince, like: "Prince was this, was that..." etc. Like he he is a has been.

this comment struck me especially:

"Prince has written HUGE hits for other artists: Sinead O'Connor "Nothing Compares to You" among them.

He can play all the instruments in all of his songs. And was the most talented guy in his field for over a decade, until he found Jesus and went into reclusion."

is that how the general public thinks about him? --> he was the most talented guy for over a decade, untill he found Jesus...

Abrazo said:

- I disliked most of the comments there, specially from the ´fams´. General public doesn´t know that Prince is much more than a ´weird pop star and hit maker´...but we know his incredible skills as musician, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter
The best comment there was from a non-fan. Something like that: `I dont know much about him, but I saw some of my heroes praising him (Jeff Beck and Steve Vai), so he must have something´
It´s awful to see that even some fans seem to focus more on his pop star image instead of the music.
NOBODY mentioned that he was covered by Herbie Hancock and Joshua Redman or that Miles Davis admired him. They preferred to talk about the HITS he wrote for Sinead, or that he screwed Kim Basinger for a week. The fams preferred to comment bullshit like: ´Oh, he deserves because he is cute´ or ´I love Prince. He is the best´ ...stuff like this...what a shame...
If even the fans can´t point his qualities as a MUSICIAN, the non-fans will agree that Prince is nothing more than a has-been pop star
[This message was edited Mon Sep 15 6:30:16 PDT 2003 by GustavoRibas]

I think he may have trouble on his first time around...though he obviously deserves to be there. If they do vote him in, will he show up to the ceremony? And can you see him actually joining in the All Star Jam at the end of the show?? No way, as he never likes to be anything other than the center of attention when he's performing (although he will perform if the other talent on stage is clearly his inferior.)

I would love to see Mellencamp and him share a song or two as Mellencamp has always spoken of his love for Prince's music. He's even said he wishes he could dance like him!

GustavoRibas said:

I did read somebody mentioning Miles' admiration of Prince and there were quite a few comments about his musical abilities, but indeed little about his musical achievements and respect in general. That could have something to do with his lack of public exposure for many years tho'... Maybe some orgers have to go there and bring in some real info about Prince! Or better yet, let the NPMGC do that, or do you think that they and Prince himself do not want the induction, since it would maybe only be adhering to the "devil's deal"?

What's this about an album called "Two Thousand Free: the Revelation Year"???!!!

Abrazo said:

- I will post a comment today. The Miles admiration for Prince post was very shy...the vast majority of the comments was silly

It's about time, yeah, yeah, yeah.

savoirfaire said:

It's not really a competition. But it IS political.

People at EURWEB.com are discussing his nomination. As you can tell from this link, they really dig Prince:

http://www.eurweb.com/int...tory=11299

july said:

He deserves to get in. Definitely.

Prince Roger Nelson is one of the greatest performers of ALL TIME.His record of consecutive top 10 hits may be unparelled in the near future.

He should get in ,however the music powers will likely try and block his induction .Then the HOFers themselves will override their bullshit.

WOULDNT YOU JUST LOVE TO EAT MAYTE'S HOT PUERTO RICAN PUSSY? MMM...

You just have to hope that when Prince goes up to accept his award, that he doesn't do (like suck on a lollipop , have his bodygaurds attack the presenter, etc, etc) or say (any number of previous acceptance speeches) anything stupid or offensive. This could be his one, only, and last chance to patch up some of the bridges he burned within the musc industry.

chrisslope9 said: You just have to hope that when Prince goes up to accept his award, that he doesn't do (like suck on a lollipop , have his bodygaurds attack the presenter, etc, etc) or say (any number of previous acceptance speeches) anything stupid or offensive. This could be his one, only, and last chance to patch up some of the bridges he burned within the musc industry.




That's if he even gets inducted.

muleFunk said:

- S##t! It´s not about hits or money!
Mariah Carey and Madonna are constantly on Billboards, but does that make them geniuses? Course not!

As it has probably been said before, the R&R Hall of Fame is just a way for Cleveland to rake in some tourism money. It means little beyond that. I hope he snubs the induction, although I doubt he will.