Good points. P was a master genre mixer in the sense that he had a TOTAL grasp of different styles and he UNDERSTOOD what certain inflections, when sung on certain tracks, what it would give off. He definately sung the track in a gospel tone more than anything else, really. Except for on the verses, he used his Marc Bolan from T-Rex vibe mixed with a gospel slant. Just enough. It's a black church in Britain. That's LRC. I spoke in my other thread about Dez's involvement in this song and WHY I thought P used Dez. I think because P KNEW this was a crossover hit, he wanted Dez's guitar sound AND Dez's vocals on this. On previous tours before this album, Dez was the one who was a favorite among the whites in the crowd. Dez WAS rock. Not a hybrid like P. Prince is a brother who plays rock. Dez was just rock. And P used that from Dez. Often. Especially live. Prince's guitar leads, at that time, although obviously rock, had more of a black sound to it. In other words, u knew that it was a brother playing a guitar solo when u listened to P. P's always had "soul" in his leads. Listen to the lead on Lady Cab Driver and the lead on 777-9311. KILLER solo's. Some of his best. But P's has that Hendrix/Santana thing ALL over his leads. Especially then. Dez on the other hand has none of that. Dez's sound is waaay more white bread sounding. So P wanted more of a white sounding solo than what he would have put. Dez was the man for that. And P understood that. He din't want to fuck up this song from getting all the crossover it could get. So the more twang the better. He knew he would take care of the rest with his vocals.

Could this be the reason why he's wearing jeans in the video?
Those jeans always kinda bother me when I'm watching the video.

Could this be the reason why he's wearing jeans in the video?
Those jeans always kinda bother me when I'm watching the video.

Very good! Yeah, personally, I DO think that's why he was wearing jeans. Tell me, when did u ever see P wear jeans?

There's a few pics from the early 80's of him in jeans (which are no longer here for some odd reason ).

Very good! Yeah, personally, I DO think that's why he was wearing jeans. Tell me, when did u ever see P wear jeans?

There is "No way" he hasn't heard of Marc Bolan? No way?....Damn..U sound like u HOPE he had never heard of Marc Bolan. As popular as Marc and TRex was, there is no way Prince HASN'T heard of him. He hasn't heard of David Bowie or Iggy Pop either? Two cats that Prince was clearly infflueced by, EARLY in his career. Which has been well documented. Just because you've never heard or read that P was influenced by Marc doesn't mean that he wasn't.Man, P has heard of damn near everybody. It isn't many artists that Prince isn't aware of. And someone as popular as Marc Bolan was. In a genre such as Glam, a genre that P himself was obviously influenced by. And Marc and TRex, along with Bowie, were the leaders of. Man, everybody is already hip that P obviously has wore jeans before LRC. No one took that seriously...but u. Sure. P bought those jeans in 76, BEFORE he even got signed. And hung them up in his closet untill 82 for that video. Cuz he KNEW.

I've ran a few threads on this very song awhile back. But mine of course, was dealing with the 12' version. The "MAYDAY" version. Or more specific, the "Black" version. Which DESTROYS the album version.

After hearing the 12", there's really no reason to listen to the album version. Only reason I can think of is if you're making a mix tape/cd, wanna include the song and need to save time. For realz.

"there are some things you do to me
that leave me in a velvet sweat
darling there are some things that I want to do to you...

...SO YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!!!"

I 've recorded with Andre Cymone and Morris Day. I know Andre fairly well. He has told me himself that Bowie was a big influence on Prince. I have seen the influence on Prince from Bowie. Bowie's presentation and stylistic approach. The aura that Bowie created in the 70's is very similar to what P did in the 80's. As far as Iggy, P's Dirty Mind period echoed Iggy as well as Johnny Thunders from the New York Dolls. This was written about in several concert reviews from 80-81. T_Rex DID have a fan base in America. Marc was written about a lot in American teen magazines such as 16 Magazine. P himself has said that he often had wished that he could have attended the English Disco club out here in Hollywood during the early 70's. That was a glam club that Bowie, The Sweet and others had attended. The club played the shit out of T-Rex. There is no way P wasn't hip to Marc. Others on here also have seen and heard Marc's influence on P. There was a thread about the very subject about two weeks ago. Personally, I'm not trying to convince u of anything. I'm the last person who gives a shit about what others think. But I'm much quicker to take the word of someone, like Cymone, who says that Bolan WAS a favorite of P's AND an influence on P. Someoone who grew up with Prince, who lived with him and worked with him than some cat on some site, like u.

After hearing the 12", there's really no reason to listen to the album version. Only reason I can think of is if you're making a mix tape/cd, wanna include the song and need to save time. For realz.

"there are some things you do to me
that leave me in a velvet sweat
darling there are some things that I want to do to you...

...SO YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!!!"

Marc Bolan and T-Rex were not popular in America. Never were, still aren't.

There's nothing of David Bowie or Iggy Pop in Prince's music. In fact, the mere suggestion is laughable. I'd guess he probably heard Fame or Young Americans on am radio, but that's about it. Prince listening to Iggy Pop and The Stooges or Lodger, yeah, right. Keep dreaming.

Prince's musical scope was limited to popular radio. I bet he loved Fleetwood Mac. I've read where Wendy and Lisa hipped him to the Beatles, of all things, and Eric Leeds mentioned somewhere recently how Prince's knowledge of jazz was a gaping hole of nothing until about 85 or 86.

Could this be the reason why he's wearing jeans in the video?
Those jeans always kinda bother me when I'm watching the video.

As if Prince had such a grand master plan that he was holding off on wearing a pair of jeans until the Little Red Corvette video. He wrote and recorded a pop rock song, nothing more, nothing less.

And there's no way Prince heard of Marc Bolan in 1981 or 1982. I doubt if he has to this day. He was likely ripping off the Power Station when he stole the groove from Bang a Gong for Cream. At best he heard the original on a commerical or some radio jingle.

I 've recorded with Andre Cymone and Morris Day. I know Andre fairly well. He has told me himself that Bowie was a big influence on Prince. I have seen the influence on Prince from Bowie. Bowie's presentation and stylistic approach. The aura that Bowie created in the 70's is very similar to what P did in the 80's. As far as Iggy, P's Dirty Mind period echoed Iggy as well as Johnny Thunders from the New York Dolls. This was written about in several concert reviews from 80-81. T_Rex DID have a fan base in America. Marc was written about a lot in American teen magazines such as 16 Magazine. P himself has said that he often had wished that he could have attended the English Disco club out here in Hollywood during the early 70's. That was a glam club that Bowie, The Sweet and others had attended. The club played the shit out of T-Rex. There is no way P wasn't hip to Marc. Others on here also have seen and heard Marc's influence on P. There was a thread about the very subject about two weeks ago. Personally, I'm not trying to convince u of anything. I'm the last person who gives a shit about what others think. But I'm much quicker to take the word of someone, like Cymone, who says that Bolan WAS a favorite of P's AND an influence on P. Someoone who grew up with Prince, who lived with him and worked with him than some cat on some site, like u.

Oh I place $50 bucks on Vanity....

Sorry, I don't buy any of it. I can see the gender bending comparison but I don't hear anything musically in Prince's music to suggest he was even faintly influenced by glam or any period of Bowie's career, especially his Berlin work. I wish he had been but honestly, I think that level of music is beyond him. I know Eno respected some of Prince's work but if you said Eno to Prince he'd likely thinking you were talking about a card game. And I also stand by my earlier statement that Bolan was never big in America.

Ultimately if any of these artists were such favorites of Prince, I'd think at some point he would have covered them, be it a few bars in concert, rehearsal or aftershow, but he never has.

And Dirty Mind, even the tour, was no where near as raw or charging as The Stooges or The Dolls. The only thing comparable there is the fact that skin was exposed. I think Prince would have been scared shitless by the Stooges.

Like I stated earlier, I'm not into trying to convince u or change your mind about some shit like who Prince was influenced by. It's not that serious. I know what I think and what I believe. U can stand by shit untill the cows come home. More power to ya. I DO think that u greatly under estimate Prince and his knowledge of music and different genres. Glam isn't the most difficult genre to write and it's far from being over Prince's head. Or out of his grasp. To me, clearly, P has been influenced by Bolan's material. ESPECIALLY his vocals. During the 80's, I have heard this from several other people. As I've mentioned, I have heard it from people on here. Besides Cymone telling me that he knew Marc was a fave of P. Bowie as well. Even Marc's solo's, the tone and type of distortion he used, P himself has used. Very Bolanish, I feel. I think it's even more OBVIOUS that P was influenced by Bowie. Musically and visually. Bowie is someone P has patterened himself after regarding his image. Especially in the 80's. The guitar solo to Moonage Daydream, by a fave guitarist of mine, Mick Ronson, echoes some of P's solos.The styling and phrasing of it. The way Bowie mixed rock with funk, starting from 74, I think, I think P was very hipped to.