Was wondering if some of you fine folks might be so kind as to advise me concerning my Prince collection. While I've always had the highest respect for him as a musician, it's only been about 6 years ago or so that I really dove in and started seriously exploring his body of work. So I missed out on alot of the B-sides and obscurities.

Anyhow... I'm finally getting down to the bottom of the list as far as the "easy-to-find" stuff, and I'm starting to wonder where to go next. I'm not much into obtaining "collectibles". I'm mainly comcerned with amassing as complete a collection of his music as possible.

So... I was hoping that if I leave a list below of what I currently have along with a few items that I have yet to purchase (which I can easily find at Amazon), someone could throw me a few hints as to other items that I should be keeping an eye out for.

Thank you in advance. I appreciate any and all comments!


Current collection(sorry - not in chronological order)
*The Gold Exp.
*Musicology
*1999 New Master
*NEWS
*3121
*TRC
*New Power Soul
*Graffiti Bridge
*Around The World...
*Ultimate Prince
*SOTT
*Batman
*S.S.T.
*
*Scandalous Sex Suite
*Exodus
*Emancipation
*The Beautiful Exp.
*The Black Album
*Parade
*Lovesexy
*Come
*The Vault
*Rave (Un2)
*Power Of Soul (Hendrix trib.)
*Purple Rain
*Diamonds & Pearls
*1999
*Controversy
*Dirty Mind
*Chaos & Disorder
*Guitar (download)
*Graffiti Bridge (DVD)
*Purple Rain 25th anniv. (DVD)
*@ The Aladdin (DVD)
*SOTT (DVD)
*UTCM (DVD)
*Purple Rain (reg.) (DVD)
*The Reign Of The Prince Of Ages (DVD)
*D & P Video Collection (DVD)
*& The Revolution - Live (VHS)

And the following items are still available on Amazon (in some form or another)...

*Girl 6
*Crystal Ball
*If You Feel Like Dancin' (w/ 94 East)
*Mpls. Genius (w/ 94 East)
*The Hits/The B Sides
*Prince (self titled)
*For You
*Purple Medley
*3 Chains... (VHS)
*Sexy MF (VHS)
*Gett Off (VHS)
*Hits Collection (VHS)
*Unauthorized (VHS)
*Lovesexy Live 1 (VHS) (<---What the heck is this and why do they want $75 for it??!! Only 1 available if anyone's interested!)


I know that there were a lot of things from NPGMC that I missed (I'm still kicking myself for never joining!!), but if some of you e-bayers, or hard-core collectors have any suggestions in the way of gems that I should be watching out for I'd really appreciate it!

Thanx a million!


~Maxx

PS - Almost forgot... Just ordered the ONA set, which I'm really excited about! I love TRC era stuff!
[Edited 3/29/07 21:39pm]

I think you can skip Minneapolis Genius and If You Feel Like Dancing, or at least buy those last. The Lovesexy Live is probably the video that was broadcast on European TV back in 1989. It's not the highest video quality. If I didn't have it already, I'd pay $75 for it--it's that good. Then again, if you didn't experience it first-hand, maybe it won't have the same impact. But damn, that's my favorite tour ever and still the best concert I've ever seen.

From your list below, I'd suggest you get Prince next. I envy you getting to hear Bambi, Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad, Sexy Dancer, and When We're Dancing Close and Slow for the first time. No matter how many albums he releases, the first time you hear the Prince album is a pivotal experience in any Prince fan's life, if you ask me.

Go and buy "For you" and "Prince" immediately!

Skip the video’s, because there are far superior bootlegs available.
The Lovesexy vids contain the Dortmund 1988 show, but the complete show is separated on two videos (part 1 is actuality the second part of the show).
There's a perfect boot-DVD available of this show.

Go search for some elementary boots!!!!

Maxx said:

The chocolate invasion and the Slaughterhouse are very decent, but I advice you to skip all the other NPGMC garbage

What's Power of Soul?

You Really need the first two albums of The Time: "The Time" and "What Time Is It?"
In essence those two albums are among the greatest Prince albums ever!!
(Don’t buy the other two albums of The Time)

bellanoche said:

The Various Artist, Hendrix tribute album which has Prince (with Larry Graham)'s studio recording of 'Purple House' .

.

My advise, get everything! Whenever somethings available grab it cause sooner or later it'll be gone and you'll kick yourself for letting it get by you.

get crystal ball

I figured there would be varied opinions on this. But that's what I love about Prince and his fans! At least I have a bit of direction now. I had intended that my next order be either "Prince" and "For You", or "The Hits/The B Sides" (purely forThe "B Sides" disc).

A couple of ?'s though...

Is is it possible to find the extended "Crystal Ball" collection? Or should I snatch up the 4 disc set while I can?

Did P write everything on the first two Time albums? Or just select tracks.

How do I go about searching for "The Chocolate Invasion" and "Slaughter House Rules"? Assuming that NPGMC was the only place that sold them - does anyone think they'll be available on whatever future website he's got in the works? What else am I missing from NPGMC (no matter how miniscule... remember - I'm a big Rainbow Children fan!)

Thanx again for everyones comments. I know I never post, and noone owes me anything - but I've been a member for years, and I read the forum frequently. You're all the best!

~Maxx

Is is it possible to find the extended "Crystal Ball" collection? Or should I snatch up the 4 disc set while I can?

Disc 5 sucks even harder than discs 1 - 4 ....
This could have been a great project, but it turned out to be a great disappointment


Did P write everything on the first two Time albums? Or just select tracks.

almost everything! ... and played everything too ... even sings on some tracks


How do I go about searching for "The Chocolate Invasion" and "Slaughter House Rules"? Assuming that NPGMC was the only place that sold them - does anyone think they'll be available on whatever future website he's got in the works? What else am I missing from NPGMC (no matter how miniscule... remember - I'm a big Rainbow Children fan!)

make friends in the P community!

Maxx said:

Grab the 4-disc set. All you're missing from that is Kamasutra which, as someone else so delicately put it, "sucks harder than..." Personally, I think that's generous.

I bought Kamasutra at the NPGMC purely for the sake of completeness. I never listen to it -- trust me when I say it is truly cringeworthy.

I would prioritize them this way if you're looking at what amazon.com has available and trying to decide.

#1 - Prince and For You. You really need to pick up his first two albums if you're goal is to experience/collect his entire body of work. (Released material, anyway).

#2 - Crystal Ball. Same reason as above -- It's a proper release that is sprawling but is full of wonderful gems, including the (mostly) acoustic album The Truth.

#3 - The Hits/B-Sides. You would essentially be re-buying stuff you already own for the most part (60% anyway), but you would be investing the b-sides disc (although they are b-side edits, it's a nice collection and makes for an easy pick-up of a bunch of officially released b-sides difficult to find on CD) and the few previously-unreleased tracks included on discs 1 and 2 (Pink Cashmere, The Pope, Nothing Compares 2 U (live), and Peach).

After that, you can't really go right or wrong.

I would also suggest visiting iTunes and picking up SST/Brand New Orleans for $1.98. These are NPGMC era tracks still avaiable online:

SST: http://phobos.apple.com/W...i=83767513

Brand New Orleans: http://phobos.apple.com/W...i=83767524

Oh, and if you like the sound of The Rainbow Children, you'll definitely want to get XPectation, which is an instrumental release only from NPGMC. Not available anymore for purchase, but make friends.

Doozer said:

Got 'em when they came out! I actually went ahead and ordered the disc as I much prefer .wav format over mp3 when I have a choice.

Doozer said:

I was trying to think of that one the other night so I could search for it! I remember reading a couple of conversations about it here at the org, and it really had me interested! As far as making friends though... In case you haven't noticed I'm a real jerk most of the time, so that could prove to be difficult. Seriously though... Everyone here is so much more knowledgable that I am, I never feel that I have anything to offer! I've been a member for 4 years or so, and I don't think I've participated in more than a dozen threads. Mostly just little blurbs here and there. Maybe I need to work on coming out of my shell a bit though...

ThataintFunky said:

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands"

Simple enough. But I get the feeling that I'm missing something. Care to elaborate?


Well... I'm off to dinner. Thank you all again for your invaluable input!

Maxx said:

I've sent you an orgnote !!!!

You need Crystal Ball right now! i mean get on amazon or ebay and get it! Your getting The Truth album with that as well and in some packages Karmastruta. I would then go get For You and Prince albums. These are amazing albums. and the start of it all. I would also get The Hits/ B-Sides. Yes there first two disc's are what you already have, but the B-Sides are worth it all. The B-sides are some of his greatest work.


I would then get The Lovesexy VHS, you can find it on ebay ALOT cheaper. I've seen it around.


Once you get all that, go after "3 Chains O Gold" it's bit corny and funny at times, and very naked womeny! lol but it's still part of any collection, also pick up the hit collection which is avaible on dvd now. IMO Prince doesn't usualy make the greatest videos. but it's still part of the collection that must be in there.

P2daP said:

The Hits/ B-Sides ???? Why do you need this half-ass collection?
What you do need is the 12" Archive v2.0 (6cdr) release,
which is complete untill 1988

SaTim Records Catalog # T2001 A-B-C-D-E-F (CD-R release)
Release Year 2001
6CD Length 69:34 | 48:03 | 74:15 | 67:30 | 69:09 | 73:28
Date/Venue 12 Inch Releases & Promo’s
Source Pirate Of Released Remixes / Extended Versions

Sound-quality EXC+
Rating 10

Track Listing

Disc 1: Just Another Sucker (Dance Mix), If You Feel Like Dancin' (Dance Version), If You Feel Like Dancin' (Radio Edit), Just As Long As We're Together (Disco Mix), Soft And Wet (Disco Mix), Sexy Dancer (Long Version), Gotta Stop (Messin' About), Let's Work (Dance Remix Long Version), How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?, Little Red Corvette (Dance Mix), Horny Toad, Irresistible Bitch

Disc 2: 17 Days, Let's Go Crazy (Special Dance Mix), Erotic City (Make Love Not War...), God (Instrumental), God (Vocal), I Would Die 4 U (Extended), Another Lonely Christmas

Disc 3: Paisley Park (Remix), Raspberry Beret (New Mix), She's Always In My Hair (New Mix), Pop Life (Extended Version), Pop Life (Fresh Dance Mix), Hello, Hello (Fresh Dance Mix), America (Extended), Girl (Extended)

Disc 4: Kiss (Extended), Love Or $ (Extended), Mountains (Extended), Alexa de Paris (Extended), Anotherloverholenyohead (Extended), La, La, La, He, He, Hee (Highly Explosive Mix), Shockadelica (Extended), U Got The Look (Long Look), Housequake (7 Minute Mo' Quake)

Disc 5: Hot Thing (Extended Remix), Hot Thing (Dub), Alphabet Street (This Is Not Music, This Is A Trip), Glam Slam (Remix), Escape (Free Yo Mind From This Ratrace), I Wish U Heaven (Parts 1,2,3), Scarlet Pussy, Scarlet Pussy (Extended), Feel U Up (Long Stroke), If I Love U 2Nite

Disc 6: Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Minutes), Gett Off (Thrust Mix), Gett Off (Rosie's Dub), 7 (After 6 Long Version), Pope (Remix), Pink Cashmere (Remix), The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Beautiful Extended Club Mix), Beautiful Beats, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Brian's Mix), Face Down (A Capella), Face Down (Instrumental Money Mix), Face Down (X-Tended Rap Money Mix), The Greatest Romance Ever Sold (Jason Nevin's Romance Beats)

An orgnote has been sent.