I just came across a girls profile online and she had
3121 plastered all over her photos. Quite suprised i messaged her and ask her if she was a fan. She replied telling me "YES, a huge fan blah blah".
I thought hmmmm and asked her how many albums she owns?
her answer : "2"

My guess musicology and 3121.

How do you feel about people claiming to be MASSIVE prince fans
when they know nothing about him or his music?

Does it bother you at all?

I dont know, i think its good if new people come along for the ride
but why do people need to pretend?
i just tend to think 'oh god'
[Edited 4/4/06 11:10am]

the obvious bandwagoneers (like the woman you mentioned--then again, she might not be one...who's to say) bug the hell outta me, but as for the usual folks who are popping in...i don't mind 'em. it's like a litmus test for some people.



get off the boat, edit
[Edited 4/4/06 11:06am]

Couldn't care less. Unless you got on at For You, we were all fashionably late to the party.

I agree, the 'Oh I love Prince, my favourite song is that one about Cream' crowd are a mild annoyance, but if he's #1 in the charts you're gonna get a few sheep tagging along until he drops off the scale again.

funkii said:

Each to their own. i discover 'new' artists all the time, irrespective of how long they've actually been going or if they're still alive.

case in point, (mainly cause he was never big in the UK, and he was always badmouthing Prince) i never really gave Rick James the time of day while he was alive, alongside him i bought some Mary Jane Girls and Teena Marie.

wouldn't claim to be an expert or nothing, that'd be just stupid, but i like what i hear all the same.

im not bothered by people getting into his music as a result of
purchasing and liking 3121. i think its a great thing.

its just the ones who get all ''ahhhh i LOVE prince LIKE OMG'
about it now that they own a prince album.

but then again who am i to be bothered by it.
i guess thats what the charts are for eh

My first Prince album was Purple Rain, but are people who got into him before gonna slag me off.

I've just been getting into Neil Diamond. 12 songs! is my first album!

The more people who love Prince the better!

more like a skateboard than a bandwagon at this point but whatever, the more the merrier.

funkii said:

I am MASSIVE fan. Number of CDs: 4

It really doesn't bother me. Everyone should realise how much of a genius Prince is.

funkii said:

Oh, it annoys the fuck out of me.

Only those who have been to at least 5 concerts can consider themselves Prince fans.

Also, they must have at some point in their lives sported a jeri curl, worn a puffy shirt, and said stupid cryptic shit to friends for no reason whatsoever.

Plus, Prince must have personally handed you a slice of pizza.

Furthermore, you must be fluent in Prince hand signals, like that cool thing he does on "I Would Die 4 U," with the gun to his head. I do that shit in my mirror all the time. Without the song.

In addition, you must be short. Real short.

On top of all that, you must do that "Ow-ah!" yell at twice a day, once in the morning, and once before bedtime. This is crucial.

Only then can you call yourself a Prince fan.

May U live 2 C the dawn and shit, homies.

[end sarcasm]

Everybody has to start somewhere as a fan. How many CDs one owns isn't always an accurate way to measure another person's interest or appreciation of an artist (especially so if the fan is a young one, either chronologically and/or in terms of how new they are to having discovered a particular artist and so either just haven't amassed the entire back catalog, or don't have the $$ to do so immediately)

This whole pissing contest mentality of "I own more CDs and paraphenalia of XXX than do you, therefore I am a REAL FAN and you are not" is stupid.

A fan is a fan is a fan is a fan. What difference does it make to you and your enjoyment of the music if someone else is a short-term fan or a long-term one? Maybe this girl whose profile you read is new to Prince now, but in a year or so she'll be the next Zelaira or Krystal and will remain a Prince fan for life.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Why should this bug you? Why should it concern you? How many times have you walked by an image/painting and said "I love that...i'm a fan of that artist" but knew little or nothing about the person that created it? Could his long time fan say the same of you?

We all do this. We are newly moved by different people/things all the time. Sometimes that causes us to dig deeper into the artist sometimes it doesn't. Doesn't mean we're not a fan of what inspired/moved us.

I'm just starting to figure out what all the acronyms are that you guys keep mentioning so there's a lot of Prince stuff that I'm not familiar with(I'll work my way thru) but that doesn't mean I'm not a fan of what I'm a fan of.

i guess i just posted in the heat of the moment
i got so excited that this person was a local prince fan like me and
thought wow its going to be so great talking to her.
then i kinda got let-down haha


your right about how we all start somewhere as fans.
alot will drift away as they discover more and many will
have found something new, something great in their lives.
[Edited 4/4/06 12:22pm]

.
[Edited 4/4/06 12:22pm]

anon said:

none at all.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

That's good.

I know many people that "love" Picasso or Basquiat or whoever...but they only know a small body of work...or one period...or little about the artist himself.

I think it's all fine. If you are moved by even one piece then technically you are a fan. You don't have to know all of the work or anything about the artist to be a fan. Yes, many times this adds to the appreciation...so when you meet someone that knows less, share the things you know.

I personally love talking to those newly turned onto artists that I have been into for some time. I enjoy the fresh perspective without the history.

funkii said:

We all love to meet those that we can share our passions with. I understand the letdown.

anon said:

the way i work is that if i see/hear a couple things that i really like, then i'ma go and do my homework and find out all there is to find out more. if i like ONE single solitary piece of work from somebody, then i'm not an outright fan of the person.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

i c
I meant a piece that you recognize enough to know the artist that created it.
Anyway, I do the same. I think most people do.

I think it's good, she might want to learn more and more and at the end, buy all what he released... My boyfriend likes 3121, it prooves it's a good album...

I was at best buy the other day and I saw this girl walk in , go straight to the
cd new release area, she stared at the Prince photo advertisement and
than began scanning the cd's below it (there were none there of 3121)
so she walked down the aisle and found 3121, went straight to the counter and
bought it...this chick was bout 17years old..I was like,,,damn...she is a P
fan? I was proud to see the youngin'checkin out someone I have been following
for more than 25 years..

I love the idea that this younger generation is experiencing "real music" for a change. I'm glad they're discovering musical brilliance the same way I did back in '83. Spread the joy!

anotherloverholenyoass said:

You talk like an old man

virginie74 said:

Back in the good ole days we used to walk 10 miles in the snow with no shoes or underwear just to get to a record store and buy Prince cassettes for 6.99 and we still came home with change - that is if we made it home alive and weren't laying dead in some snow bank. You kids have it easy, that's all I gotta say.
[Edited 4/4/06 14:53pm]
[Edited 4/4/06 14:54pm]

I always liked Prince. But wasn't a FAN fan (fam?) until 1996.

welcome any1 who wants 2 b down. Have a seat on the purple chair.

It's not a problem at all. There's no prerequisite to fandom of Prince or any other artist. I'm more likely to be happy that they care about the guy at all.

NouveauDance said:

Excellent point!

But what exactly makes someone a new fan?

The first Prince album I got into was DIRTY MIND. That goes back a long way in Prince chronology, yet I feel like a new Prince fan when I read many of the posts on this forum. You guys bring up songs, bootlegs, entire albums that I have never heard of. "Crucial" with horns? "In A Large Room With No Light"? "The Chocolate Invasion"? Even though I've been a fan since the days of Prince wearing a thong, after coming here I consider myself a new fan to all that Prince has to offer.

ridiculous..why would anyone care who likes who?

My list of people to avoid is so long it wouldnt put a dent with these new people.