Do u think its possible for fans who came on board in the last 5-10 years to be as
fanatical?

Reason i ask is cause the fans from the early 80's are not going to be able to
be rewarded with remasters/ vault tracks
until they're nearly dead.

Prince is waiting too long to release things.

i don't think that way. whenever i see vault stuff and remasters start to pour out into the wrecka stows, cool. if i never see it happen, then whatevs.

i think it's totally possible for younger fans to be every bit as passionate. i remember before i was into prince, i was nuts about hendrix and the beatles. it was even more exciting to me to think that they did their most legendary stuff before i was born...i felt like their music was part of history, which made it seem somewhat more...i dunno...profound? to me.

origmnd said:

More like until Prince is nearly dead...

Prince let me down when he relesed TRC, he should be whipped with chains and cursed out every day for that shit. I dunno, Prince is a strange man.

I think "fanaticism" has more to do with intensity or depth of obsession than age or duration. that's just an accident of birth.

And my fan status (yes 20+ years) has nothing to do with vault releases or masters or remixes or whatever.

Everyone's "relationship" with Prince is different and comes along at different times. To say it is more or less passionate is poop.

I say it doesn't matter because he has done so many shows and has so much released and unreleased studio material to last many, many lifetimes. I think it is very easy to become fanatical with P because of his legacy.

I think longer term fans are slightly more passionate about Prince's music as we listened to it as it was being recorded and released. It therefore became the soundtrack to our lives and I can personally remember the day I bought the 1999 album on tape and the Lovesexy album on CD, etc and what was happening with my life at the time.

I can only think that sometimes it must be overwhelming to a newcomer with such a vast back catalogue of music to collect and absorb. I remember in 88 I started work and so had more money to spend. I promptly set about collecting all the 12"s and not so well known albums from the Minneapolis scene and felt that there would be no way I could hear it all. Hours and hours was spent in second hand records stores trying to find that elusive record. Now, 17 years later it must be 3 times as difficult to do as vinyl and early CDs are sometimes so hard to find.

But like Anxiety, it doesn't bother me if I'm old and grey by the time more of the vault material is released. Over the years better and better quality bootlegs have been circulating so it's not quite as bad a situation as it was in the 80's and early 90's with the poor hissy 15,000 generation cassettes we had to make do with.

Anxiety said:

I remember when the 1999 Album came out. I was hooked, every release after that, I Have looked forward to. I remember the feeling I got when the clerk opened the cardboard box that contained the Sign"O" Times Album and handed me the first copy out of the box. I bought two copies on that day.

I still have that factory sealed SOTT today.

That store clerk is now the owner and to this day he puts aside the first copy (of Prince material)out of the box for me...I have never asked him to, he just does it.

Anyway, I never really considered anything about remasters. It does not matter that I may not ever hear the remasters, I was around during the 1980's era. I remember thinking "wow, Prince releases alot of material, he is a madman!" I loved every minute of it. Couldn't really understand why he released as much as he did, but I loved it.

Even today I still look forward to a Prince release. Prince does not wait to long to release stuff.

Anxiety said:

Absolutely. I was born in '72 so I relate more easily to music from the 70's and later, but music from the 60's and before has a bit more magic to me because it's from a time that I don't really know.

I definitely am as into the Beatles as I am Prince, maybe more so.

But the original post has a point. It has been very special to watch Prince grow, just as I'm sure it was watching the Beatles grow.

I think it's special if u were a fan when the Purple Reign hit...there was such a buzz....it sticks with u....not that new fans can't get Purple Crazy as well, but there is just something 2 being there WHEN it broke

I love the Beatles, but don't think I could EVER b as fanatical as those who watched Beatlemania rip the top off it all...

4 what it's worth....

MidnightFunk said:

exactly. there was no feeling like being in line at the movie theater to see purple rain on the day it came out. it's like being a part of history instead of hearing about it second hand. i think it is possible for fans that came after to get excited or be fanatically about Prince. However, I think it's a different kind of vibe that what we old timers got. as far as the master being relased, i'm not worried as to if I get to hear them or not.

I think it's possible for newbies to become fanatical, but I personally don't get it. I could never get into music from the 60s as much as I could the contemporary music I heard growing up. I needed my own identity as opposed to sharing music that my parents were into (ick).

In regards to Prince specifically, yeah it was totally different in the 80s than it is now. New fans will unfortunately never experience the magic of going to the Purple Rain concert or the Lovesexy concert, or hearing the first single from an upcoming album on the radio for the first time. That excitement was what made people fanatics. I can't understand becoming a real purple-head today, but that's just me.

I agree with MidnightFunk (as I always tend to do, hey babe, how've you been?) Nothing could ever compare to being there experiencing the magic as it happened. It something that stays with you and becomes apart of who you are.

I was born and raised in Detroit but I didn't get to enjoy the Motown experience. While I do love that Motown sound, I know it'll never be apart of who I am because my appreciation is second hand. Had I been able to watch it unfold and grow, like I did with Prince and his music. I'm certain I'd have a deeper love, appreciation and respect for it.

Hi Sexy, where have u been?

MidnightFunk said:

East Chicago, IN. Tending to my sick elderly-aunt. No internet at all! Talk about torture! Did you miss me?

SexyBeautifulOne said:

Of Course.....

BlurredEye said:

WORD!

A fanatic can surface at any time. I know lot of 80's fanatics who have left the fold My co-worker loved him until Emancipation. Go figure

origmnd said:

Yes, most definitely! Just about anyone can become a hardcore/obsessed Prince fan. All it takes is that one concert, or that one CD or, even that one crappy Prince movie (u know the one , that puts your whole existance into context; and then you're hooked! Once hooked, it wont matter how long it'll take or how much of a search you'll have to do to get your hands on as much Prince material as possible.

Imho, ol' skool fans don't need masters to be 'rewarded.' The experience alone will last 2 lifetimes.

phoenixxx said:

Don't forget being in the movie theatre clapping and singing to Sing of the Times

Anyone who knows me knows Im crazy about Prince and have been
loving him for about 6 years now.

Sure I missed all the Purple Glory, but I don't really mind
cause I was raised on his 90's stuff, (and dare I say?)
I've got alot of great memories of those times.

Playing my mom's maxi-single of The Most Beautiful Girl in the World.
Rushing home from school to catch the Oprah interview.
Going to the Musicology show and being blown away.
Making my best friend watch the entire Rave/2000 DVD.

These may not have been Prince's peek moments but they're the memories
that lead me to becoming a fan. It's all relative, I think its wrong
to say that one person is a lesser fan because he or she was born in the wrong decade.

thekidsgirl said:

This was a question for 20+ year followers.

klhk said:

is this a new point of view for you or is the Truth seeping out?


"he should be whipped with chains and cursed out every day for that shit."

expanding your repetoire klhk? don't know if the object of your...desires...
would find this very sexy

origmnd said:

no!!!!!

Oh yes! If you call yourself a fanatic, then your fanaticism should demand younger fans be equally as obsessed and enthralled as you are by the music. Yes, it is a priviledge to have been around when most of the classic recordings first made their impact, in the sense that it gives you that "witness" experience, but if the music is that good, then it can mean something just as intense and personal as it did to older fans.

As a fan of Prince since 1982..

I say: YES they can, because when the "Prince Bug" hits you, you are hooked & then everyone goes backwards and buys all this past albums!

I've been a Prince fan well over 20 years and I haven't really collected any thing any more. I've spent way too much money to even think about. But I know that new fans will get sucked right in to collecting.

Some of us are years ahead on the collecting. I would suggest only collecting the music!! SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

origmnd said:

Thank you for pointing out my mortality. I needed that today.

Bastard.

ElectricBlue said:

yes just like the prince bug bitten me. and i been hooked ever since.

I do agree that if you are a long term fan (or fam!) you have a different perspective. I remember my girlfriends by which Prince album came around that time, or where I lived, or the job I had based on what was the current Minneapolis vibe. The Minneapolis sound became many fans life soundtrack. The summer of Purple Rain is tough to explain to younger fans. Not that they are not as fanatical, but there is something missing when his entire catalogue is there for you to dive in, instead of trickling out, hearing Prince grow and his world expand. Seeing him tour and watching band members come and go. How exciting it is for us older fans to see Prince playing again with Wendy. Does that thrill translate to someone who wasn't there? I don't know.

I know older fans that have kept the silk rose petals that were dropped during some of his 1980s shows. Are they important to someone who wasn't there? Probably not.

Remember before the internet how everyone traded music in the mail, and you waited for days to get a tape? Every two weeks a new issue of THE PRINCE FAMILY NEWSLETTER would keep you informed and UPTOWN was just starting. I know that doesn't sound fun to people who get immediate information, but it was a thrill to collectors.

It's been a long strange ride. I don't know if those who are newbies appreciate it all, but I'm sure they can be as passionate as oldsters... it just may be from a different place in their hearts.