I'm gonna list several mistakes...


***The name change---changing one's name to an unprouncable symbol is just plain silly and Prince set himself up for alot of ridicule throughout most of the 90s.He said he did for "spiritual reasons" but we all know that wasn't true.He did it simply to piss Warners off.

*** Releasing the wrong singles ---Prince has a pattern of choosing less-than-brilliant songs as singles,which,of course,results in the album not doing well.I was so disappointed when in 1988,he chose the bland,uneventful "Glam Slam" as the second single from 'Lovesexy' instead of the kickass,exciting title track.(Of course,Warners must share some of the blame,as they probably picked many of these singles).


*** The war with Warners ---don't get me wrong,I agreed with many of Prince's complaints.But I just think he handled it in a childish,foolish manner.Many people thought he was being a spoiled brat,pouting and throwing his toys around when he doesn't get his way.

*** not bringing his 'SOTT' tour to the U.S. ---I think it was Eric Leeds who said that,in his view,not touring the U.S. with this album was one of Prince's biggest career mistakes.There was alot of momentum with this record,and by the fall of '87,there was alot of demand and excitement for a tour.Prince did give us the concert film,but it's not quite the same thing.

ocadv said:

You know what? In retrospect,I now think it was a mistake to release 'ATWIAD' so soon after 'Purple Rain'.I heard that his managers and Warners were both against this strategy,and I can see why.'Purple Rain' was still on the charts,and another single or two ("The Beautiful Ones" perhaps) could have easily been released in spring 1985.By releasing 'ATWIAD' so soon,Prince had two albums basically competing with each other on the charts,but I don't think he really cared...lol...

I think the manner in which he released ATWIAD was damaging, rather that the album itself.

The album is a great piece of work, but at the time, it was too much of a step away, in too shorter time. Some could argue that’s the master stroke, but at the end of the day, an artist wants people to listen to their work, and to some extent, ATWIAD backfired.

Instead of the album being considered revolutionary, it was labelled a Beatles homage. I think Prince should have slightly watered down the overall psychedelic feel, and added a bit more hard edge and he would have found the perfect mix, a bit like SOTT did, or a bit like Parade managed, with tracks like Kiss and Girls & Boys.

I also think the album should have been held back until the end of 85, to let PR die down.

Personally, I’d like to have seen ATWIAD looking something like this:

Side1
1.ATWIAD (Pop Version)
2.Paisley Park
3.Condition Of the Heart
4.The Dance Electric
5.Raspberry Beret

Side 2
1.America
2.Nothing Compares 2 U
3.She’s Always In My Hair
4.Pop Life
5.The Ladder

As for the singles, I would have made as many Purple Rain fans come on the journey and started with “The Dance Electric”.

Single 1: The Dance Electric/Hello
Single 2: Pop Life/Girl
Single 3: Nothing Compares 2 U/Temptation
Single 4: An EP: Raspberry Beret/Mutiny/Tamborine/Baby You're A Trip

And I’d make all the videos a cartoon of the cover!

Ok, it was just a though! I suppose the name change is the worst ever! Or The arseless pants!

Basically, everything after Purple Rain was a mistake -



No seriously, bad career moves are:
- changing his name to a symbol
- writing Slave on his face
- the whole Mayte-worshipping phase he went through
- ALL the clothes he's ever worn!!

meltwithu said:

Not 2 release
"When You Were Mine", "Strange Relationship", "Anna Stesia", "The Qustion Of U", "The Continental", "Dolphin", "I Rock, Therefore I Am", "Right Back Here In My Arms", "One Of Us", "Sleep Around", "Acknowledge Me", "5 Women", "So Far, So Pleased", "Prettyman", "The Work pt. 1", "When U Were Mine - live version" and "Musicology"
as commercial 7".

The whole name thing change (fight withWarner Bros.). Even though he was trying to make a point it seemed that everything just fell apart. His career took a major turn at that time period.

TheNewPowerMan said:

I was with you right up until "I rock, therefore I am!"!

ELBOOGY said:

Pass me the sick bucket.

For a singer basically obsessed with doing things his own way and for dashing expectations only to exceed them the next time out, it is hard to pick just one. Prince, with a smart strong-willed manager/producer, could have been one of the biggest artists ever, not just what many classify as a pop star but an ICON. But, so many times, the man chose to go his own way, his desire for artistic freedom outweighing his need for chart success. I can name all the same ones we all know:


***ATWIAD released too soon (no time to breathe and a real indication of how the man's career was going to go in hindsight)

***Under the Cherry Moon (a vanity picture in black in white with a non-mainstream soundtrack)

***The Black Album/Lovesexy switch. Just a confusing incomprehensible period in the man's career and Lovesexy, as good as many Prince fans believe it to be now, was handicapped by a terrible cover, virtually no material that could be considered a single, and the dame single track decision.


***Grafitti Bridge film, (maybe one of the worst movies starring a musician ever).

***The damn name change.

***Virtually every decision he made from 1994-2003.


As bad as all of these decisions were, I would say his (or his record companies) choice of singles has got to be the greatest reason he has not had more success. After Around the World in a Day, he released the wrong first or second single on almost every subsequent release, either killing momentum for the project from the get go or stopping it in its tracks.

Just a sample:

Parade: Girls and Boys or even Anotherlover would have been a better second single than Mountains, which peaked in the 20's.

Sign O the Times: Why God Why did he release If I Was Your Girlfriend as the second single. The title trackj had done so well and U Got the Look would have catipulted the album to blockbuster status. Instead he releases this song that virtually his entire pop audience (except for the diehards) misunderstood and this great landmark of an album almost died commercially right here. U Got the Look was a huge hit but by that time the album was plummeting down the charts in the 40's or 50's. Album could have and should have been much bigger.

Lovesexy: This is a tough one because may not have been a second single here...besides Alphabet St., nothing else would fit in any traditional market.

Grafitti Bridge: New Power Generation was an okay second single but failure to get the single in stores stalled the chart debut. The single couldn't chart until it was released commerically and the airplay had already peaked by the time the record company got off there lazy ass and put it out there.

Diamonds and Pearls: Why premiere the video for Willing and Able during the Super Bowl and then release the uncommercial Money Doesn't Matter. MDM did better on the charts then I thought it would.

0-+>: Auuuuuggghhhh...My Name is Prince instead of 7...what the @$%# was he thinking...7 was a perfect pop single...MNiP was perfect for flushing.


Come: Letitgo was such a great song but by then radio was tuning out.

Gold Experience: I Hate U as first single...this album never had a chance. Gold would have been huge if released first...all I can do is shake my head.


Emancipation: He's free, he has 36 songs to choose from and he chooses a f%$##^& remake...auuugghhhhh...so many possible single choices it makes me sad to even think about it.


Rave: The Greatest Romance Ever Sold....(crashing heavy sigh). This album could have been huge but it was doomed from the start.


Even with all the highly questionable, sometimes downright stupid decisions he has made, Prince could still have been exponentially huger if he just had a more attuned ear to what the public wants.

Oh well, he's got several more million dollars than I do so who am I to talk.

bds70 said:

Excuse me?!?
How could anyone consider ATWIAD a mistake?
Do you have ears?
Do you have a soul?

GottaLetitgo said:

I could have sworn The Most Beautiful Girl in the World was the single, and that it
did pretty well, but I could be wrong

Anywho, some of Prince's big business mistakes include:
Being too unattainable (but that part of the reason we love him)
The whole "slave" period (too much bad press)
Releasing the wrong singles (I've seen many examples listed)
Not making good videos more often (what can I say, "Video killed the radio star..."

But you know what, Prince may make some weird carrer moves, but 2004 is proof enough
that he knows what works, he would just rather take chances and give his real fans something to say "Wow! " about. So I say, thank you Prince for all the "mistakes" that make you interesting!

thekidsgirl said:

yes - i'm back again ...
Well; me thinks getting rid of W&L - or ending the coperation was a bad idea. SOTT was still great, but as the best songs from GB, those were in line of the "revolution" era. Not that he should have kept on making the "old " music, but changing his band on a regular basis ended in a NPG with 1st class musicians but bo team.

The revolution, although completly dependable on Prince's genius, was a group of friends with people like W&L feeding him music, views and tastes that enhanced much of what he was doing. The effect watered down over the years.

His albums became gradually less coherent, less edgy and more predictable poppy crappy. Of course he can write songs at the drop of a dime... that doesn't mean they're all good. W&L were probably the only two who challenged him and stimulated him to grow and learn; instead of gravveling at his feet.

All those people agrreing with him all the time made his output sloppy. of course; in prince terms - this is quite relative.

Not releasing the BLAck Album on schedule... seriously. Lovesexy bombed for him in the US. Black Album would have been considered so cool by many back then. People who didn't care about prince thought BOB George was wicked. Instead they turned to Public Enemy for the wicked sounds.... I'm talking about a big market fromthe white frat boys to r&b dj's....

The Black ALbum made it onto so many celebrities favorite lists back then (Edge and Bono come to mind in ROlling Stone)even though it was bootleg....

thekidsgirl said:

I Hate U was the first single and TMBGITW came second and did a lot better.
I Hate U was what made me buy TGE! I was a bit disillusioned with Prince, but when I heard that song I had to have that album!

NouveauDance said:

I got some dirty drawz 4u that might b better!

asg said:

Along with the whole warner issues name change and becoming an eccentric recluse kinda turned me off for a while but the whole breakthrough has been great 2 see.

PanthaGirl said:

I'ts the same thing Muhammed Ali did and he is now almost worshiped! Now look closely at what's happening 2 P right now!

bountyhunterseven2000 said:

On the contrary, I think being a recluse was a clever strategic move. It builds, mystery, intrigue and curiosity–Now he's doing the opposite... But I really don't know what his biggest mistake was, i'm actually not so sure that he made a mistake.

His biggest career mistake was definitely releasing "Around The World In A Day" after "Purple Rain". Prince should have milked the synth sound for everything he could get out of it and then change his style.

Exploiting Mayte ...


but it was fun though ... "shake your moneymaker"

agreeing with WB to cut the original 3 disc crystall ball album down to the 2 disc SOTT.

grtz
Kev1n

Voog said:

i agree with voog, and i liked it better when he didn't give any interviews and let the music do the talking

SO EASY, ALOT OF WHAT HAS BEEN MENTIONED R THE THINGS THAT LED PRINCE DOWN THE PATH 2 WHERE HE IS NOW, SO MAYBE NOT BAD CAREER CHOICES. THIS U HAVE 2 AGREE WITH ME ON, THE CONCEPT BEHIND MOST OF HIS VIDEOS SUCKED! I ALWAYS FELT I COULD HAVE DONE MAGIC WITH "INSATIABLE".

bds70 said:

yup and with it going in such a totally different direction, it was like throwing a bucket of water on a roaring fire.

Take your pick. ..

We Are The World

No Video for Sign O the Times

Grafitti Bridge (the whole project)



Attacking Controversy, Prince Family & Uptown

Crystal Ball Order Fiasco

Greatest Romance Ever Sold Video & Screwing Clive

NPGMC YR 2


.
[This message was edited Wed Jul 7 11:35:31 2004 by Savannah]

Well, I wouldn't call the name change a mistake, but it certainly did help to put him in the darkness for a good decade. If that was a good thing, or a bad thing we'll never know. Still, I love the music from that period. Infact, musically, I don't think he's ever made a mistake.
I think his biggest mistake was the whole baby incident. He should delayed the release of Emancipation and given himself some time to mourn, rather than trying to deny it ever happened and pretend everything was happy-happy for the sake of promoting the album. All those interviews around that era are weird
[This message was edited Wed Jul 7 14:31:03 2004 by toejam]

Looks like he just kicks mistakes aside and grooves on ahead, thankfully. Go Prince!

ufoclub said:

Cindy Crawford also carried the cassette in her purse.. CINDY C

Being too prolific and wanting to give John Q. Public all the music(we are not accustomed to it from other artist). I personally love it, but one bad review after another cannot be good for his career.