I can remember dancing in the middle of a street in Camden, London in 1990 2 a song that I thought was amazing. !New Power generation! In the song P was screaming "I hope they bury ur old ideas the same time they bury U"

In the song party up he has the same attitude "Ur gonna have 2 fight ur own damn war"

Uptown "Where I come from we dont give a damn, we do whatever we please"

but these days P keeps talking about how musicians need 2 put down computers and pick up 'old fashion" instruments, how "this digital age doesnt engage him" and worst he's attacking sites and fans just the same way that Warner Bros. used 2 attack and shit on him!


Prince has gone from a rebel 2 a grumpy old fart? Is it age or was all that "We need a new breed leader stand up organise/ Uptown/Lovesexy esque rebellion just a farce 4 a fart?

sexyAuntyFuka said:

err, take a look at the essay i posted in the TRC open discussion thread... it talks about the link between his current attitude and the "new breed" you are talking about. it's part of a common utopian thread throughout his work, in fact!

PeaceandLoveCowgirl said:

Thanks, i will look @ that. Do u feel cheated like all that escapism was just fantasy n he never believed in it so why should we?

sexyAuntyFuka said:

i think he tried to create it to a certain extent through the world of paisley park, actually...

the music has always come first, you know, that's what he really cares about. the rest is up to you & i, right?

In a word...YES!

i would say the main shows at his concerts have become boring

the problem is generational, prince is a boomer who had a gen x following, when we fell in love with him we thought he was one of us when actually he was 10-15 years older.

sexyAuntyFuka said:

To anyone who isn't wearing Purple Blinders, yes. He's no longer edgy, no longer interesting & no longer exciting. His musical output is lately bland, more often than not, & his actions against fans are appaling.

Yet it's clear from the number of fanatics that still exist he's got some audience out there that come back to him like a beaten wife with no place else to go.

his recorded output of late may be tame y princes own standards, but is still far beter than most out there.
i agree his live shows have become a little predictable and tame, but the aftershows are still cutting edge, exciting, better than anything else out there - i went to 14 of them this summer in london, prince played at most and everyone was 10 out of 10 - even when it was "just" the npg.

Of course Prince's live performances will seem boring & predictable to people who've seen him 15 times over & over again. Take a person who's never seen Prince live to any of his recent shows, and they'll tell you that it's one of the best shows they've ever seen.

Have you ever heard of the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt"?

Most of those big arena shows aren't for the hardcore orger-type Prince fan expecting to hear a 25 minute version of Empty Room. Most of the people who go to see Prince live probably haven't seen him in a while, so they're gonna want to hear Purple Rain for the billionth time.

It's not Prince's fault that you've gone to see him live in concert every time he's been in your town since '88 and now you're bored.

Paris9748430 said:

Exactly.

No.
[Edited 1/11/08 15:16pm]

Paris9748430 said:

well b4 the attacks on youtube couldn't u have seen multiple per4mances there 2 satisfy their fill? so what do u say 2 the countless people that bitched and moaned when the gold experience was done and NO purple rain, NO purple rain material was done live? no 1999! No controversy etc ..would u tell them the same as u tell those that have seen him multiple times oh well it's not prince's fault u didn't c him when he did those songs?
[Edited 1/11/08 13:43pm]

Paris9748430 said:

L4OATheOriginal said:

That stuff is still out there. You just gotta be willing to look for it. People managed before youtube. I seriously doubt that people aren't going to become Prince fans because he doesn't want stuff on youtube.

sexyAuntyFuka said:

Depends on your point of view. If you want to be part of the paranoid throng of fans that think Prince is attacking them and that this is all unreasonable whining on his part, then you may think he has betrayed you in some way and that his past war-cries for freedom (in many senses) were just an act.

Or, you could realise that, at 50, Prince shook the music world yet again by being a "Marketing Maverick" (not my words), showed leadership in standing up for artists rights by leading from the front and taking on major websites, acheived global media awareness and delivered kick-ass shows in London at reasonable prices, again against what we see as normal practice from the "big-names".

I fall in with the latter and see Prince as staying true to his artistic sensibilities, still taking risks and still showing everyone else how its done. Prince transcends your usual pop-icon.

(Oh and, by the way, your recent Prince quotes that you use to support your argument are entirely out of context - yes Prince is encouraging people to learn instruments (and what's "old fashioned" about an electric guitar, for example? Its practically brand new in relation to musical instrument inventions!), but its a wider point of having more musical knowledge and not relying on technology to replace musicianship. Prince still uses computers and he would be happy for any artist to do so, as long as they've put in the work beforehand. Unfortunately, now people can attempt to play what they hear in their head but, rather than having to rely on the fact they can actually play it, they attempt it and then let the computer quantise it, edit it and process it until it becomes what they intended i.e. not a lot of talent required. He also doesn't say that the "digital age" doesn't engage him, just that he prefers human contact to texting. Find some more valid points to prove your argument, please.)
[Edited 1/11/08 14:04pm]

Paris9748430 said:

L4OATheOriginal said:

I don't know what I would've said, because I was 12 then. Maybe I would've said that Prince didn't want to play the older material 'cause of problems with his record label.

L4OATheOriginal said:

What would you have said to people before the internet existed?

sexyAuntyFuka said:

Prince and boring, do not adhere together. Using the internet for some things is a useful tool...I feel the way that Prince feels about musical instruments, about good old fashioned, paper and pen.

A love letter on a computer, just wouldn't send shivers down your spine.

He's STILL rebelling against the perceived 'norm'

We all will eventually.

WTF! the man's almost 50! he wears makeup, exciting threads & some very sexy hats. not 2 mention his sofisticated pout & climax inducing cufflinx.
he'll always b a nawty rebel, just more subtle & dignified.

Paris9748430 said:

wlcm2thdwn said:

Yep

if were lucky!
[Edited 1/11/08 18:26pm]

Paris9748430 said:

No it's not his fault we hardcore orger-type Prince fans have seen him every time he's been to our town since '88 but if we hadn't, who would have? Hmm?

The leave Prince alone Chris Crocker johnny come whenever he's on top type Prince fans who hopped on board after Musicology? Uh, no! There wouldn't have been a Musicology or anything else since '88! How do you think he funded his 90's? Record sales? Yeah and that was us too!

It is his fault we're bored! He's a freaking party poop!

SexyBeautifulOne said:

How so?

i think it's natural though. he's been radical and crazy and fun and we love him for it, but it probably bores him after awhile, so he's drifted to the other side of the spectrum with time. just think of it in the sense that he's covering all view points. but yeah, i love those lines.

Did he think other people were boring?