AaronForever said:

didn't he make a conscious decision not to re-sign with WB? i must have missed something.

please define 'the mainstream rejected'.

Moonbeam said:

Thats because you simply are the bomb

i became a fan in 98' ...at the tender age of 17

I know I'm not (or can't be) the oldest fan here, but I really don't think there's a generation gap. It's more of a music gap.

I can remember when rap first hit the scene and I still don't like it, but there are a few (and I mean a few) rappers out there that I like. WOuld I buy their albums? NO!!!

I think Prince has grown musically and so have I. I don't listen to the older songs as much as the newer collection. I like his musical endeavors and stylings. I like not knowing what he's going to come up with next. Do I like everything? No!!! Do I like most of it? YEAH, DAMN NEAR ALL, but there will always be favorites from past and present. And I want to be along for the ride in the future.

Life changes will take you to different places and God knows Prince has had a lot of changes these past few years, but I'm just waiting to see "what colors he's going to throw on the walls next." (the color purple reference)

I admire him for taking chances and doing what comes from the heart even thought I may not like it or understand it. This is America and everyone has a right to their opinion.

Just don't through age in there. That's just not fair.

Thecherryloon said:

sure. but then he signed with EMI and BMG twice. hardly going the indie route.

Christopher said:

Chris what are you doing here so early?

I don't think of Age when it comes to Prince or any other Artist.However the Vibe you got off that Artist will always stick with you in some form or Fashion.like now Prince doesn't Swear on Record or do certain things with His Material which is Night&Day to the Way he was.I think any Major Artist that has had Impact will Speak to anyone from age Group but I believe Preception is the Biggest Gap.like Me telling somebody How Prince was 20 Years ago with His Vibe&SWagger is a Bit different to the Guy Today.He hasn't fully Changed but He has Changed in a way to Distance that Being He was.somewhere along the line He truly Divorced Himself from what He was in alot of ways.

Supernova said:

i had to be home and wait for the manager to come check our place


dont worry i'll be creepin around here late in the night...eheh

Moonbeam said:

I'm with you Moonie, 22 also, though I like it ALL I don't divide the music up into eras. It's whatever I'm in the mood for 78-02, period.

Blue
[This message was edited Tue Sep 24 20:26:47 PDT 2002 by TheBluePrince]

I can see a generation gap in terms of how we perceive musical 'freshness'. Whether we are anticipating a new album and seeing it as the newest thing from an artist, or whether we are listening to a ten year-old album for the first time, it affects how we approach an album.

Emancipation would be heard differently between a fan who's been buying each new album since For You and a fan who is buying his first Prince album. Similarly, the new fan hearing Purple Rain for the first time will be approching it as a classic, or as an old album.

If we take the premise that the 80s stuff is better (IMO it is) then I'm sure a newer fan will be more tolerant of the latest albums, not having had that annual wait between each album and not having anticipated the next 'coming back to form' for the last decade and a half.

I don't believe there's a strong generation gap whereby a certain age group would necessarily like a certain era more. Most of the gap is based on what music the listener is exposured to. There is a huge diversity in Prince's music, but throughout it all there is a still a Prince sound, and once you like that sound then all of his music becomes accessible.

For the record, I became a fan in 1992 when I bought Diamonds and Pearls almost in a random gesture. I liked it, but didn't love it. Before the end of the month I was right into Parade and Purple Rain, by the end of the year I had all of his albums and since then I enjoy just about all of his music, both past and present. In only one day I heard all of these albums for the first time: ATWIAD, Controversy, Lovesexy, and SOTT. That must sound almost blasphemous to those who heard them over the best part of a decade!

I don't notice much of a generation gap in the Prince Fan world. It's like what I heard him say back on the World Music Awards in 94: Music, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder amd how I see an album like Rave, where I thought it wasn't his best someone else may thinks it's sheer brillance. That's what's cool about being a fan.

I became a fan in 84 when I was 5 and started to get his albums when I was 7 (Parade was my first) so I remember to a certain extent how big he was but I didn't become diehard till 90 or 91. Things were different in the 90's but Prince was still rocking and able to get new fans. The biggest thing out of all of this is that Prince can do all types of music and it can fit anyone whose willing to hear it. Thank goodness that at whatever age, we can all appreciate the beauty that is in his music old and new young and old.

Peace

I started a thread similar to this awhile ago. I wanted to know how fans who started listening in 1990 + view his pre-'90 material? Do they think it's better...
outdated...is the 90's material seen as
overproduced in comparison...do they see things differently cause they weren't
there from the onset of his popularity?
Does it make them less bias towards newer material?

Maybe I am just to simple minded, I judge a record by the excitement I got when I first heard it, and If I was still excited about it after hearing it 4 or 5 times. It is very hard for me to pick one record over another because I could relate to just about all of them.

The first Prince album I bought was Dirty Mind. It blew me away, It made me evaluate my views (racism, Sexual Views, etc.) It has such an impact on me that I was determined to be honest to my self and the people I talked with about what was right and wrong. EX. Whites didn't like music from blacks because they were black) and most didn't like Prince because he was a Black man playing Rock (very good I might add) And black people didn't like anything by Whites because they were white. (in general, so stop tripping)

So when ever someone said they didn't like this or that I would question them to find out why. And after going around and around they would finally admit that I was right.

dirty mind made me look at me and my influences, (where I come from we don't let society tell us how it's suppose to be) (Whites blacks pueto ricans, everybody just a freaking)

Then controvery took me to another level, Am I black or white, am I straight or Gay, do I believe in God, do I believe in Peace. (made me do some soul searching)

1999 made me dance until I couldn't dance any more.
At the time it was the best record ever made, (2 records)

Then Purple Rain hit, and I went Crazy. But the best thing about Purple Rain was that now other people was experiencing what I had known all along. That Prince was Bad.

Around the world in a day, took me by surprise, but pop life and raspberry baret made it worth while.

Signs of the time made me buy a new Car Stereo so everybody could be enlightened.

LoveSexy, made me glad that I was a Prince Fan except that it was just one track. couldn't skip from track to track. (I didn't like that)

Symbol. I used to go to the Army and Navy Base and challenge the soldiers and sailors to play something better. I always won.

Diamonds and Pearls, I converted an entire bowling league to this record. People still remember me now, they say you are the guy that used to Love Prince right.

Gold experience, Let me tell you a story, I lost my CD. For maybe 2 years, I put it in the wrong CD Cover, well somebody did.

I was looking through my son's Journal at school, and he had written most of the lyrics to this cd in his journel, (I want to do you after school like some homework) our Phone never stopped ringing from young ladies. (smile) I don't know if this is good or bad. well anyway, I tried to buy Gold, I went to all the stores, used stores, internet, everywhere and nobody had it, except for 50 dollars used. so I was debating should I pay that much, when I picked up a CD Sleeve and out came the Gold Experience, I was so happy that I told everybody in the house, The next day I looked inside my case to play it on my way to work, and I found a note instead, from my 13 year old daughter, that said. "Dad, if you can't find Gold, Its because somebody hasn't heard the songs in a long time and this someone has got to introduce it to her school mates. next time you look for it you will find it. Love. Can't tell you my name.

I love the old and the new, I can't even say old and new, I love prince. My children love him, the older ones and the newer ones, My 17 year old daughter thinks Adore is the best song ever made. And my wife made me make a copy of ONA. and she like The carpenters, and Ann Margaret. so I'm saying, if people listen to prince they will like Prince. He has an affect on all of us.

I think some of the older fans just hold on SO tight to his former glory, they can't tolerate all these changes he's made over the years. The folks I know are also very into "traditional" R&B, so if it's not beatin' (and being played on the radio, basically), they ain't listening. It's pretty sad - no loyalty to the artist himself, no room for him to grow...



It does kinda baffle me when newer fans are gaga over the Gold album but diss classics like Controversy & 1999. I dig the whole journey...

rdhull said:

I agree and I'm pretty sure that if you put the generation gap theory to the test it will show it doesn't work.

What I wanna know is when that Horny Pony is gonna come out and play again or is it going to be sent out to Pasture forever...Nahhh!!!

I didn't get into Prince until the Purple Rain era - prior to this he wasn't really heard of much in the UK

As an 'older listener!' I was 15 when him and the revolution strutted their purple stuff. I went and bought all the previous albums I could and loved a majority of it.

His music styles have changed throughout his career but that is because he is evolving as a musician - yeah there maybe a couple of tracks on each album that I don't like as much each time but I'm not surprised he has such a diversity of musical threads he travels.

There are songs on TRC that I prefer to songs from Controversy, songs on For You I prefer to songs on Lovesexy. But this is down to personal taste and I doubt there is one prince fan out there that likes everything he has ever done.

His more recent albums are different from his early stuff but I dispute this Generation Gap theory - it may be that some early fans music tastes have drifted away from the direction Prince is going - I'm thankful that mine has not.

There said my peace...now back to bed.

Who cares about the Generation Gap? We are all here because we like the music, let it be Dirty Mind or TRC. One thing unites us and that is the love of the music.

Peace to all.. If you young or old every1 knows Prince is funky...

I first started listening to Prince when Sexy Motherfucker came out. I was like 10 years old or something. I already knew Purple rain and Raspberry Baret from my childhood, but u know, as a kid, it just passes u by. When i listen to Prince i get this great feeling of nostalgia.

I'm 20 years old now and there aren't many Prince fans amongst my fellow classmates, it's a shame.

Am I a young fan?

I was born in 1983, and I like most of the stuff from the 90s, I feel that nothing that he did in the 90s can touch anything that he did from 78 to 89. I've been watching Purple Rain since i was 2, UTCM since 3, and SOTT since 4. So I don't think that the generation gap really makes a difference.

I'm 42, from the older gen. and think some of his best stuff is his 90's music. For as I'm concern, Prince was born funky,and still funky from his old to the new! (although I haven't got into RBCildren as much as the 80's 90's). 00's?

I'm 22. I became a fan with the Gold album. I knew him FIRST as 0(+> and had to adjust to thinking of him as Prince (seriously, when I first saw the TMBGITW video, I didn't know who Prince WAS, my mom had to tell me). When I think of the soul of the art I fell in love with, it is all about 0(+>, Come, Gold and Emancipation. Especially Gold.

I have come to have favorite songs/albums spanning his entire career. Controversy, Parade, and SOTT are in my top 5 for sure, along with Gold (and then about 6 more albums fighting it out for the fifth spot!). But my first love is 0(+> music, with a gun mike wrapped around Mayte's leg, and gold glitter in da hair. My feelings when I think about that are bittersweet, and I understand when others of you look at the Purple Rain or SOTT eras and feel that same sense of bittersweet, that it was SO great, and it is SO never going to be like that again.
I think the first songs you fall in love with are bound to hold a special place in your mind and heart, you know?

Doves,
Mel!ssa

camille2002 said:

i just turned 18 in july,i only got in2 our main man 3 years ago,i guess when i bought the Hits/b-sides set 2 get the stuff i liked on radio (which was like 6-7 songs maybe) & just fell in love with the jams,i knew when i heard Gett Off i was on2 sumthin amazing!
i love all his music,from For U right thru 2 TRC (altho its not my fave record,i will be getting in2 it alot more now as Prince may come 2 OZ in the coming months )

My fave era of prince would be either 83-87 or 90-95

Purple Rain SOTT & Gold r my faves.
it does suck that the younger generation listen 2 the crap they do,all the metal garbage out there ie: slipknot & yadda yadda or dancey generic crap & dont get where the real music & passion is at.
I guess if people are ignorant & go on about the weird thing with prince & stuff well thats their problem,we know where its at