I've just watched a DVD full of prince interviews I got off Lovefilm, called the purple interviews or something. It's a medley of interviews with prince over the years, but most are around the time of the emancipation album.

I gotta say, Prince seems like a bit of a dick when he's being interviewed and doesn't come across well at all. It almost seems, particularly on the earlier ones that he was trying too hard to come across as self important and mysterious. But to me he seemed rather unintelligent and slightly in articulate. (I guess he never did finish school).

I know I'm probably gonna be flamed for him being shy or some other crap, but come on, he was banging on about meeting Mayte in a past life in Egypt or some other nonsense.

They say you should never meet your heroes, and after watching that lot, I can safely say I never want to meet Prince.
[Edited 12/11/07 10:12am]

It's a shame he dosn't come across as more mature in interviews.

I'm sure he does try too hard.

The larry king one wasn't bad tho.

Also I notice he can get silly when asked probing questions. It's just how he deals with the media.

When asked by King about his Father, I felt Prince becoming uncomfortable.
[Edited 12/11/07 10:18am]

I dig his interviews cuz they give me a view of a diff. side of him that doesn't hit the stage.

He's like the complete opposite. Kinda him being the true Gemini he is

They also get me to learn me about him, the way the man behind the music thinks opposed to the man within the music (which I've gotten to know thru the albums). And I absorb every bit of "useless trivia" he has to offer when he speaks just to add to my cache of knowledge about him.

Prince really is one of the worst interviewees ever. Just awful. He must think it makes him cute or adds to his allure or something, but I just cringe when I watch his interviews.

My impression is that he doesn't like doing interviews unless its something he has to do.

i.e. promoting an album.
That's why he did multiple for Emancipation, Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic and Musicology.

He tries to keep his private life private, so he doesn't do many.
Give the guy a break

Oops, I started another thread on this subject 'Purple Doves Interviews'.

My opinion is completely different. I think he comes across as very intelligent, thoughtful and articulate! I would love to meet him and have a conversation, or just listen to him I think it would be fascinating. He's also very funny when he lets his hair down. I think he IS naturally very shy, and finds doing a lot of these interviews difficult, but I think he does a good job anyway - he always replies with a well thought out answer, and doesn't just come out with drivel, like most people nowadays.

Oh well, different strokes eh.....

Jeffiner said:

I agree with ur post

His answers really are well-thought out... in fact, his answers are complex.
He really is doing the best he can.

I haven't seen a great many interview's. Some are good some not so good.

I have the Purple Doves DVD on order.

I also have a cd interview that came with SMF single, it's quite old. It comes up every now and then on Ebay. It was available on vinyl too I think.

Most genius's have social intercourse issues. I'm sure it does'nt bother him too much.

He's also always said he prefers to let his music 'speak' for him.

He can't really win, we complain that he doesn't give enough interviews, yet when he does people complain about what he says / doesn't say / the way he comes across etc. etc.

Jeffiner said:

Oh, come on. The "he can't win" argument is so tired on these forums.

Just to clarify, though, I cringe at his broadcast interviews. Some of his print interviews are very interesting to read. But the way he mumbles and speaks with absolutely no energy when on camera is hard to sit through.

Bewdy said:

It would be nice if we knew what interviews your speaking of...The oprah one? Chris Rock interview?.....those were around emancipation....I thought the Chri Rock one was cool, but P came off as crazy in the Oprah one with all the talk about 2 people in him and past lives.....

well it's what he says that makes me cringe, not so much what he says.

I got the DVd interviews as I thought it would be good to see the other side of prince as someone put it.

I think I prefer the musical side, pre-emancipation.

One thing that did strike me however, was the orprah winfrey interview, and the questions about his son that died. That sort of thing must be pretty hard to get over, I guess that could be an explanation for the religious overload ever since.

The DVD covers lots of interviews, there is an early one from the parade days (which is simply awful to watch)

Oprah is on there, a few jay leno ones, some obscure amercian news ones, bit of a mixed bag really.

He looks like he's dressed up as priest on one of them, oh dear god!!

It makes me cringe when he starts to talk about religion. I've had some conversatiobs with a few JW's and read their books. On reading it i have found that I have become more of an atheist. Every time I go church now (Weddings, Christenings) I really want to walk out as I just don't believe the story.

Also, during his interviews I find that he often contradicts himself. Such as, he was saying that getting released from his contact with Warners Bros was for artistic reasons and then says that with his own label he can makes more money selling independently and that his idea of success is how much money he makes. It seems to me his 'slave' period was about money only.

If that's his reason that fine, just be upfront and say it instead of beating around the bush.

I've never really liked seeing Prince do interviews either, he likes deceiving people and I just can barely hear his voice he speaks so low. But he always looks good! It's because he really hates interviews because he is NOT that way when he's tlking on stage.
[Edited 12/11/07 11:48am]

Maybe he should bring the twins on interviews with him. I remember that pic when they were at a fashion show and one of the twins was staring down the blonde that was making Prince nervous.

I don't think that Prince is inarticulate at all...

RUHip2TheJive said:

Yeah, me too.

His interviews amaze me.Alwayz awesome.

wlcm2thdwn said:

I enjoy seeing all sides to him. That's why its cool to see him in an interview situation.

I didn't even know he had done ANY at all when I first got here. The day I finally decided to search for him on YouTube (I swore I wouldn't cuz I didnt think he approved of the site... oh right I was)... I find a rare interview he did in 2003 when he visited Australia. I never expected to see him in an interview EVER... so this was exciting for me.

Anyway, they had two parts to it. One where he was with his band and one where he was alone with the interviewer. I tell ya, on his own... he's a completely different person. He seemed so shy... a completely different person. I had no idea he even had an offstage persona so different from the one onstage.

After seeing that, it was cool to see the many others Housequake had. Now I have to scrounge around for them. But I'll probably never find that Aussie interview again, they said it was so rare that few have seen it (well at least outside Australia).

Everything I see with him in it helps me understand him better, so I enjoy all of it.

The most surprising thing to me otherwise was how soft-spoken he is. That's not a word I'd use to describe him at all. I like his natural voice as much as his singing voice with the large range it has.

well i think p has a delightful personality! he's very intriging & complex beastt...
he's clearly uncomfortable with interviews which does make them difficult 2 watch.
i think it's fair 2 suggest he is not on the same wavelength as most & wrapped up in his own little world.
he really has 2 listen carefully 2 the questions being asked & always seems completely perplexed by some.
i do feel he is genuinely confused about what he's being asked of at times, especially the more personal stuff, like it's trivial & irrelevant... some of his responses have been quite funny, but i'm unsure whether it's deliberate or not... he tries so hard 2 concentrate, i wonder if he he has adhd or something similar?
anyway, i imagine he's completely preoccupied with his music & finds interviews an absolute chore.

I'm waiting for 5 weeks now It still hasn't arrived.

If I don't receive it b4 Xmas, I'll kill myself.

wildgoldenhoney said:

I agree too
I enjoyed the interviews. I think he is wildly misunderstood !!!

Bewdy said:

1. He graduated from high school and got a full-time job as a rock star.

2. He's always been an awkward interview, but I wouldn't necessarily say inarticulate. He's just a better musician than interviewee.

Hubster said:

His idea of success is the finished product of his music, is what he has always said, and says consistently through all the interviews! IMO what gets really 'tired' on here is when people quote incorrectly and make statements that have no basis in reality or what was actually said!
[Edited 12/11/07 18:43pm]

I have only seen a few interviews. But to me it seems he doesn't seem to like them and he also likes screwing around with people. I mean, he seems so private that he talks borderline (sometimes complete) nonsense when he is asked something. I guess that how he handles being in a situation he dislikes.
He reminds me of my brother. He acts like that.

The only interview I saw was the Larry King one and I thought he did well. But I was surprised how different he is as a person compared to his on-stage persona. He came across as intelligent, polite, thoughtful and sincere and indulged the interviewer.

I have been hearing about these other interviews and how uncomfortable he becomes. As for the Oprah interview, I gather that she was asking about his recently deceased son and to me that is poor taste and disrespectful because the only reason for asking about such a touching subject is not out of sincere interest but purely for ratings. And no wonder people keep saying that he came across as crazy, because the poor guy was in a time of mourning.

Last week sometime, someone described a period where Prince was going crazy because of the things he would say, and this thread is helping me to see that that theory may be flawed because he just doesn't like interviews and just says stuff to get out of it.

Yes, that is my final conclusion!

Personally, I didn't care for his interviews in the beginning. Granted, I understand it probably was because he was shy. I did however notice, that as the years passed his interviews got better each time. Most likely due to the amount of knowledge he absorbed throughout the years & maturing.

One of my all time favorites is the Larry King Live interview he did in February 2004.

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/t...0219.html#


I remember watching it for the first time & thinking, wow, how intelligent he is & how I would love to just sit in a room & listen to what he had to say. I bet he has a lot of knowledge to share with people.

My DVR broke before I had an opportunity to put that interview on dvd So many times I wished I had it, just so I could watch it again I'd be forever greatful if anyone out there that may have this interview & would burn me a copy

See http://prince.org/msg/7/249397