bellanoche said:

Nice post.

I was ecstatic by the name change. By 1999, I was tired of the whole "Artist Formerly Known As..." thing. I understood and respected his decision to change it to but at that point, I was hoping that we were near the end of him proving his point to the record labels. Plus, I was tired of the name changing jokes, which unfortunately haven't stopped even with "Prince" back. But when I saw that he was changing his name back to Prince in May 2000, I was so happy you could've thrown me in a garbage can and I would have been partying in it stinking up the joint! I loved that he was going to be on the news cause it had been a long time seeing him on it. There have been up and downs since the change back to Prince but there have been more good than bad for me, especially the music cause I liked or loved TRC, Musicology and 3121.

It never really affected me. I was a kid and all I knew his as was "Prince". I saw the Muppets when they kept using the symbol to address him, but because I was so young, I didn't get it. So if I would have seen him any way, I would have been like, "Oh that's Prince" and he could have gotten mad. I don't care. He is and will always be "Prince" to me.

Was I glad




I was disappointed. Not that he had changed his name from back to Prince--that shit was long overdue--but that the symbol years ended up being such a disappointment.

Whatever Prince's real motivations, most of which I think we've come to realize, the presentation of the name changes were centered around Artistic rebirth through freedom; and thus, musical rebirth. He spoke of new and wild forms of distribution of his music (The Internet and other avenues), and of a massive collection of new material that he wanted to share with us. Moreover, the new material, according to him was so good, nobody would need to listen to the forgettable older material.

A couple of things that turned me off during those years:

1) Emancipation - the album that he was born to record ended up being a really long album of pretty decent music....and that's about it. It's bargain bin fodder.

2) Sueing his fans after saying that music should be free, it should be released, etc. Don't get me wrong, what the fans did was illegal...but that whole business was a distraction.

3) Extremely unproffesional service from L4OA then NPGMC with regards to membership service/fees and the way they handled their merchandise. Moreover, customer complains were often met with the most insulting message board posts and emails.

The list actually goes on and on.

So, with the change from back to Prince, I changed my attitude as well. From now on, I'll just listen to his music as he releases it, cuase I'll always buy it , but I won't actually get all excited about it.

For example:
There is no way in hell I'm gong to take a trip out to Vegas strictly to see Prince, but when I am in Vegas next, and if he is still there, I'll stop by.

There's so much good music out there by other artists right now, that it kind of self-defeating to obsess over one.

I was soo happy! Man, that was a long seven years. I was so tired of being teased and hassled like thekidsgirl.

Se7en said:

Me too!

Desire2006 said:

I like your sarcasm!! I mean we all know the symbol thing was at best naive idea that he proabably spent 7 years trying to get out of!

AsianBomb777 said:

Whoa whoa, hold on there.

What exactly was illegal about the fanzines and the websites that had lawsuits filed against them ?

It didn't matter to me either way. Actually, he should have changed his name in 1985 because he sure as hell didn't seem like the Prince I had grown up with anymore. The symbol would have been perfect then.
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[Edited 12/5/06 8:09am]

Since I knew why he did it, not really. However, because of the notariety (sp) that came with the name, I was glad for him that his fight was over. Funny though, that a co-worker was just asking me about the concert when he was glad when his name changed back to Prince, referring to as a crazy thought.

First of all, some of you need to (in the immortal words of William Shatner) "get a life!" Prince's name-change was obviously a desperate act by a confused artist who felt his career was going off-track and that he was losing control of it. Fair enough, he thought Warner Brothers treated him unfairly (I still don't see any evidence that they did), but changing your name to an unpronounceable symbol is more like a teenager's cry for help than some religiously inspired act of nobility.

Obviously, if he's as smart as I think he is, he knew that 99.9% of music fans were still going to call him Prince (as we all did). I respect anyone's right to change your name, but if it's to something unpronounceable after your birth name has taken you to mega-stardom, then you're just a few screwdrivers short of a toolbox and don't really get my sympathy. The authentic thing to do would have been to change his name legally amongst friends and family, but keep the "Prince" label for his music, since it's the name that his fans (i.e. his livlihood) knew and loved.

As far as him changing it back, I was vaguely aware when it happened, but like most fans, I had lost track of what he was doing in the late 90s and was still pissed off about the initial name-change.

65980 said:

Some need to "get a life" while you actually got pissed because of a man changing his name.

I didn't care one way or another about the name-change. I was just happy that people stopped laughing at him when he changed it back to Prince. He could call himself Shorty McNasty and I'd still buy his albums. As weird as it was, I think it took a lot of balls to change his name to an unpronouncable symbol. I can't think of any other artist who would have the guts to do this.

Gav said:

They were practicing their first amendment rights. That's not legal here in the United States.

her than he never really changed it? yes...

AsianBomb777 said:

you do not have the right to use copyrighted material with out permission.

SlamGlam said:

Thank you.

Could we have billed The Artist Formerly Known As Prince for trying to condone the use of his name change whilst using up both valuable space and ink in our publications?

These were amateur mags, run by people who loved his music, and he threw a hissy-fit when we didn't like one of his albums... as I remember it.

The name change was a sham. In my opinion. I hasten to add.

that had to be the MOST stupiest crap prince has ever done.
changing name to a symbol. i know the whole story behind that dispute w/ record company so dont even try to rationalize it.

he could have changed his name to some other name but symbol??
what the fu**k was he thinking???
sometimes you wonder why people dont take prince too seriously despite his gifted musical talent....well that's one of the reasons...

SlamGlam said:

What copyrighted material did the fanzines use then ?

Gav said:

photos, lyrics, music...

SlamGlam said:

Music in a magazine - damn that was clever !

If you could point out where Uptown used any photo's or lyrics without permission then I'd be even more impressed !

95% of the fanzines went out of their way to gain copyright permission for photo's - your accusations are pretty unfounded and offensive to those who took the time to produce these mags.

Well I became a fan during the late symbol period (RAVE, NPS) and let's say that the symbol was a magnet for me

Desire2006 said:

Amen! i thought Prince was cool as fuck by changing his name like that.. very bold and different..

Gav said:

what are you yapping about? was uptown sued? was controversy sued? ..

speaking of uptown... what ever happened to that "super honest" Nathan Wright that never ever ripped anyone off... and who certainly doesn't owe me over 100 bucks.,...that swell guy!

I was somewhat happyhe changed the name back. I loved the 94-96 NPG stuff. I just got sour at the press that would always joke about the name. I thought they no longer took him as serious.

yes for only one reason NO more Tavis Smiley & Oprah " why did you change your name" " should we change our name" dumb ass questions.

plus money wise he has made more in the last few years then he did in the past 20 years.

tour, vegas, going with major labels upfront money

The name change never mattered 2 me.Actually,I thought it was kinda cool!