I had a friend back in the day...1987 who would just know about things in regards to Prince; he introduced me to the concept of Joey Coco and the Dream Factory and all kinds of other things and would say to me "Robert, you just don't know!" And I didn't. I do now. I understand what he was talking about...NOW.

For those fnas that really know thier stuff when discussing Prince's music. How did you get to be knowledgeable? Were you as knowlegeable before the internet?

For instance where would you get information on any of Prince's projects like Black Album or Dream Factory? How would you hear music that was unreleased?
Were any of the fans able to connect with each other?

What was life before the internet in regards to Prince's music and being "in the know"?

Prince spoke to me through my cat.


Seriously, I went to Out of Town news or Newbury Comics in Harvard Square and found any magazine with Prince's name or Picture on the cover. This happened A LOT in the 80s

redsock34 said:

I to would get all publications with Prince in the mid to late 80's. Also I knew this guy who had all the earliest bootlegs and I got all my info from him as well as a few goodies on VHS and Cassettes back in the day so you know I'm taking it back. I was around 16/17 at the time in 87 and that when I found out that Prince had this mysterious vault of 100's to 1000's of unreleased music. Back then and at that age, it blew my mind as to what I didn't hear and it still blows my mind after hearing most of the bootlegs today. As everyone hopes for, one day they may see the light in their original form

Listened to the radio, called the stadiums and asked if Prince was coming they always have a line up for 6 months to a year in the future, watcthed T.V. that's how I found out about the Musicology concert.

E.Murton, D.Hawkins, ect ect... ring a bell with anyone? those were the days!!!

spending lotsa time in my high school's library, reading back issues of rolling stone and newsweek.

It was hard out there for a Prince fan back then.

Lotta magazines, MTV News: The Week in Rock, Radio (wasn't that hard to hear a few dj's who were big fans). Trade 1000th generation tapes with a friend of a friend. Hit the wrecka stow for the boots, 90% of which I couldn't afford.

Man I remember when I first found the old prince ftp site (I could download a whole song in only eight hours!) it was like finding the keys to the damn vault!

redsock34 said:

Oi! I used to go to tower records in boston (from NH) to get uptown mag. It was the only place that carried it.
I also was not aware there were books written about him untill I stumbled across an old one at a used book/record store. I about had a heart attack.
and please somebody tell me I wasn't the only one to call that number that was in uptown for news?

Shorty said:

There were at least two of us.

ElCapitan said:

Oh thank God I'm not alone!

NME would usually have the latest Prince rumours and/or scoop.

Shorty said:

As a New Englander, you must be familar with Newbury Comics. The one in Harvard Square was a haven for underground Prince shit in the 80's. Imports was thier biggest thing (I'm not sure I can say the B word, but they had plenty of them as well). This is where I got my one any only copy of God Instrumental. Someone stole it from me years ago and have not been able to replace it since

redsock34 said:

Yes, I'm familiar with newbury comics. I did get an interview tape from there one time (not the one in Boston) and I would always check them for stuff but the one near me didn't have much. Course I wasn't a big fan untill 92/3 so..I kinda missed out
that sux it got stolen...especially cause who ever stole probably listen to it once and said WTF is this? and tossed it! ugh! My exodus CD got stolen (hey, come to think of it I got that a Newbury comics as an import) and I used to always think they probably hated it and chucked it

Friends, trades, meeting people at concerts and keeping in touch, networking I suppose you'd call it. Magazines, fanzines should I say.

The internet has really made it all so much easier hasn't it, especially with regards to bootlegs. People just search on p2p networks now.... the days of hearing about a back-alley record store 50 miles away that stocked bootlegs, or "imports", or trading, visiting record fairs and getting friendly with the sellers there. Actually I think it was more fun back then

I belonged to a few fanclubs that would send out newsletters. I also bought Uptown magazine and collectors magazines. I was very much out of the loop before the internet. Now I know lots of Prince fans and when I hear stories of things that they got to attend/buy/know (pre internet) I'm always like "but how did you know??? I think that I missed out on a lot of things.

Rollingstone, MTV, Black Beat and Right On mags!

The Electrifying Mojo and Right On magazine.

sovembol said:

E.Murton yes


D Hawkins want he the guy from Otley?

reading biography books, magazines, using microfiche, and magazine and newspaper databases, watching tv, listen to the radio, and i managed to keep busy without the internet knowing about princy.

Before the internet I ain't know nothing.
The only bootleg I had was the Black Album on casette and it was hardly audible. And all I knew about Prince was what was in the magazines and that one horrible ass book that John Bream wrote.. man that was crap. Nice pictures though.
Now? I feel like I am one click away from being under that mufuggah's bed like the damn boogie man. just watching and listening.
*click* i'm following his car.
*click* i'm following him to work.
*click* the men's room.
*click* helping him aim.
*click* i'm sitting between him and his date.
*click* i'm finishing his half-eaten salad niscois.

I used to go down to the Western Union office and wait for telegrams.

When I wasn't getting the latest scoop from truckers via C.B.radio, good buddy.

NouveauDance said:

WHat's something you learned Post Internet?

alwayslate said:

superspaceboy said:

Oh lots I guess... A lot of info has surfaced in the past ten years, compare 'The Vault' to Per Nilsen's 'A Documentary'.... and there's people on here and HQ constantly dropping little tidbits of info that makes you go "Wow.... All this time, and I never knew that!".

Hell I knew more accurate info without the internet than with the muthafucka.

Anyone remember when Edna Gundersen wrote for the USA Today. She had the inside scoop on Prince. Hell I still have a few articles about Prince from the late 80's .

I met this girl back in 89/90 whose father was a Warner's v.p. She was a big Prince fan and had the real Crystal Ball and Black Album.I regret to this day I did not have her copy that Crystal Ball for me.

I can't remember Pre-Internet.

Digital Native, muthafucka.

Shorty said:

I called it too!

In the early 90's there was a mom and pop record store that had an entire book dedicated to Prince bootlegs. The owner had a lot of inside scoop.

The other mainstream shop in town (Specs Music) had an employee who had a relative that worked for paisley. I'd spend and hour or two a month picking his brain on all that he knew. He was a big fan as well.

There was also that period in the mid to late 90's of 1-800-NEW-FUNK. I ordered the "Exodus" album through that and a few other things. I always quized the operator when I called as well.