PurpleJam said:

I think that is the more likely the answer too.

Blackguitaristz kept banging on about colour, stating it wouldn't not have happened to Iggy. Yet when someone spoke up who was witness to Iggy getting booed off at a Stones show in the very same year, he ignored the fact it blew a big hole in his reasoning.

With the Stones so obviously pro black music, I think it was much more likely to be the stereotypical "rock fans don't like sissy stuff".

PurpleJam said:

I agree. I don't think it was race. I don't think it was even Homophobia!

I think it was more to do with Prince and the bands extreme image and as they were an unknown band that the crowd had no care or respect for, the crowd thought it would be fun to pelt the stage with whatever they could get hold of!

That's Rock and Roll for you!

The way this thread has gone on, you would think that it has never happened to anyone else before and Prince is the only Person in the history of Live performances to have ever had something thrown at him or be booed off a stage!!!


It happens alot. Let it go!

mentalist said:

Well said. But I get the impression that there will be a few people on here that won't let it go until we submit to their warped imagination.

Its not racism. Dumbass rolling stone fans are greedy. They only wanted TRS on stage. If U were at a Prince concert. U'd want 2 C him. Not Britney Spears stripping her dress and doing slutish splits. Just Prince.

Thats in my point of view. may not have 20/20 vision, but think it's the most possible reason. Not the most thoughtful, but very very very very very very possible.

SquirrelMeat said:

C'mon you're are way off base.
vague innuendo, paranoia and insecurities should be all the facts we need!.....(to start shit)
[Edited 4/4/08 7:46am]

blackguitaristz said:

Am I missing something here? I like people who stick to their arguments but if there was a jury looking at the evidence then this case is laughed out of court. There is no evidence to back up your argument.

Even if the whole thing was magically proved to be racist what is your point? Can you change a single thing from the concert. No.

If this is the sort of thing that keeps you up at night maybe you need to see a therapist to air your demons. Make sure that the first thing you do is confirm that they don't hold any deep seated racist opinions or that could make your scrambled brain even worse. Oh, hold on a second, just realised that you can't do that because it's impossible (whatever their race). You will have to learn to trust first.

Rightly or wrongly it sounds to me that you get a kick out of being negative and provoking a reaction. If you are of the belief that you will bring the world closer together with your approach, you are as wrong as can be. How many racists have you converted to your way of thinking?

I think you need to take a look at yourself and then look forwards rather than backwards. Try to make the world a better place rather than spouting off you antagonistic bullshit. If you do, I think you will find that you will get on with more people in life and less white people on here will feel they have to some how prove to you that they are not racist.

I will leave now so you can take a look at my profile to look for clues as to my race and then you can respond accordingly. You see, I don't feel the need to mention it in my profile name.

[Edited 4/4/08 7:54am]

edited after it was pointed out to me quite rightly by Painted Lady (thank you)that I had made an arse of myself. I thought that BG started the thread when he didn't. I stand by everything else though.
[Edited 4/4/08 8:27am]

funksoldier said:

Well you are missing the fact that BG didn't start the "fucking thread" Oneken did. And unless Oneken IS BG, you need to pull back on your own rant and read the thread completely before you try to go off on someone. Tonto (that means dummy in spanglish).

Now go pick up your face.

Oh and I applaud bellanoche for the excellent posts. Well said and I agree.

BG keep doing your thing, and forget the fraudulent wigger's personal attack, love it when they think themselves to be experts on the black experience, telling us what is and isn't in what black people deal with on a daily. It was not the only factor, but you can not dismiss it completely, and racism is still a sensitive and heated issue 'til this very day.

paintedlady said:

Ah, I did miss that. I agree that this weakens the rest of my rant.

I think its best that I let you all work out your issues on your own. I am off to my box to listen to Open Book.

funksoldier said:

What Oneken has done though was provide an avenue for important thought provoking discussion, passion is always OK in my book, even in disagreement.

These conversations only make things better in my book, it might not seem so, but in the long run, these types of conversations allow for better understanding of both sides of the coin.

No opinion should go unheard, ranting or not, how else are we to learn if we never talk about it?

And Thank you, Funksoldier for putting a smile on my face. And I do not say that to mock you..... well just a little

paintedlady said:

I could not agree more.

You should have seen my face when I read your post. This sums it up better than I ever could.



I then picked it up.

paintedlady said:

Made me smile!

How nice to see you still come out as friends (assuming here!).

If only more of people were brave to admit to their mistakes, and even more so, as forgiving to those that do.

paintedlady said:

Paintedlady, that is the ONLY point that I was trying to make. However, I have found that some people on this site are so irrational in an attempt to make their points and dismiss any opposing view that they REFUSE to even comprehend statements. For example SquirrelMeat, keeps going on and on about evidence. This is the same person who claimed on the "Beatles influence" thread that Wendy and Lisa introduced Prince to Joni Mitchell, yet I posted a Joni Mitchell interview where she stated that Prince came to see her in concert when he was 15 and sent her fanmail. So, I am not even going there with him/her about evidence.

He/She refuses to understand that my comment about situations where racism is evident and dismissed here and other places was a general one and not specific to the Stones concert. However, when I referred to the Stones concert specifically, I CLEARLY stated that the racial element could not be denied, which I still hold to be true. I made the mistake of thinking that people knew the definition of the world element, which is a COMPOMENT of a whole. Racism is so deeply woven into the fabric of our world that we act and react to it on subconscious levels without even knowing it. Like the whole anti-disco movement. Many surface-level "thinkers" say that it was solely because the genre was overblown and played out. Whereas, the racial and homophobic elements are present there as well.

However, I have found that it is useless to discuss this when folks STILL don't want to have honest discussions about race/racism. It is also very offensive when people like some of the posters on this board immediately dismiss people who talk about race/racism as being racist, paranoid, insecure, overly sensitive, blah blah blah. Just look at the reactions to some of these "liberal" Prince fans to TRC. That's enough to support the fact that they are not willing to openly and HONESTLY discuss race/racism. They just resorted to calling Prince racist. Until the day arrives when people want to honestly discuss race and examine themselves, we are doomed because we will never be able to move forward.

bellanoche... for some people, the truth of their own happiness comes into question with this type of issue. How do you know what racism really is when you are never placed in position were your position on the issue will not be truly tested. Some of us do not live in a diverse community, black or white so their view tends to get one sided and or narrowminded.

Racism is huge everywhere, but we are chipping away at it little by little... progress is slow, but there is progress. We just have to keep communicating.

For those who don't want to listen, I hope they always will be forced to hear.

Maybe race was a factor for some of them, in fact it probably was!

The problem with this thread is that it suggests in the title that the ONLY reason was race. It ignores the fact that Prince is one of the most extreme onstage personalities we've ever seen. In an effort to defend Prince, the importance of his character is ignored in favor of his race.

The problem with denying that race was a factor is that you then appear to be denying racism, or denying that racism manifests itself in both obvious and subtle ways or that it's still prevalant today.

I would never deny that, I think along with population and environment that it (general prejudice against race, religion, culture, etc) is the biggest problem our world faces.

But the other problem with threads like this is I don't really believe they help the cause. People get all angry arguing about a guy who has become one of the most loved entertainers in the world. Energy is wasted and feelings are hurt, and meanwhile there are true injustices happening as we speak.

bellanoche said:

Sorry, but thats a pretty poor excuse. In one hand you say the racial element cannot be denied, yet on the other hand you have not given a single reason as to why is should apply!?

You seem to be trying to turn the discussion of the topic of the thread into something far more deep rooted, and basically,accuse anyone who has a different opinion as someone who doesn't want to be honest about racism. Sorry, but that approach is just arrogant.

Even when "facts" are introduced you seem to dismiss them, or at the very least, twist them. Look at your Joni comment. Your only defence seems to be to turn to a completely different thread, and suggested I made the claim W&L introduced Prince to Joni. I never suggested that ever. I said they gave him more exposure to. One of the reasons Lisa was hired was because her and P were Joni fans. Lisa was a huge fan, and according to Lisa, got Prince listening to her whole catalogue, not just the couple of records he had.

Even so, are you therefore saying that you think I made up the comments made by Dez Dickinson, Ron Wood and even the poster on here who waa at the gig? Do you think I faked the circlulating audio of the show? Would you really be that blinked to dimiss the facts of the current thread, simply because you don't like something I said about Joni Michell?

If you want to have a discussion about racism in the "fabric of our world" I suggest you try the P&R thread.

But the topic here is whether racism is the only reason P was booed of at the Stones gig.

I've clearly stated my view. That I think thats an ill conceived notion based on what is known to date, and that the only facts we have don't point in that direction.

You state its evident that it was racism. I'm not saying it isn't racist, I'm asking how you came to that conclusion, not just say "because it is". Because I don't see it. Convince me, rather that sling thinly veilded accusations that those who don't think is racism are not honest.

Join the debate rather than avoid it.

bellanoche said:

If I may continue on with my stance on the whole disco backlash situation. Now disco did of course start in the predominately black and gay clubs of New York City in the early to mid seventies. But you must also remember that the whole 'disco fever' or 'disco explosion' phenomenon actually started when the movie 'Saturday Night Fever' came out in 1977. And who was the predominant group on that album and who was it that also had their name on the cover of it as well? The Bee Gees of course. What about the huge backlash against them musically, from which they never really were able to shake off for the rest of their carrear and were forever labelled as being a 'disco act' as well? So like I said, disco was started by the black and gay communities of New York, but by 1977 The Bee Gees were basically the major face of disco music.

And lets also not forget that the movie 'Saturday Night Fever', which really brought disco into the mainstream of music, was about a group of straight, white kids from New York who basically lived for the entire disco nightlife.

Race is an issue in many situations. But sometimes it might not actually be were some people claim it is. There are clearly other possible motives. Racism cannot be called the sole reason for the disco backlash.

[Edited 4/4/08 10:44am]
[Edited 4/4/08 10:45am]

i don't think why he got booed is really that important. to me what's important is "how was he affected by it? was his reaction positive or negative. did he resent the crowd. or did he chalk it up as a learning experience? looking back, does he regret doing it? i think it was a big positive for him. he got a big dose of reality, and realized, you can't please everyone all of the time. and he turned that inward. he played the record industry game until purple rain blew up. with that, he got clought.once that happened, he focused on music HE wanted to make, therefore pleasing himself. that's why "atwiad" was such a departure. and us fans are the ones who benefitted the most!!!

so, i'm glad it happened.

right or wrong,this is just my opinion.

theAudience said:

Best post ever.


As always

saundo11 said:

Great post.

oneken said:

Funny you talk about that, I did read an article from Uptown talkin exactly about that moment, an interview of Bobby Z...



Concerning racism, Mm,I don't think so, I disagree with that... Stevie Wonder was the Opening act for the Rolling Stones years before Prince and he was well treated...

And I don't think Prince wasn't "all that" as a performer at that time ... I'm sorry...

I used to do a radio show primarily directed at our local teen audience. Whenever I played something new by someone hardly anybody knew, they weren't interested and thought the song sucked. After that same band started to become well-known (usually a few months later), I'd play the same song again and the kids couldn't get enough of it!

People are afraid to buy into something new unless they see other people digging it too.

...and you can take that to the bank!

All I remember is the crowd going wild as soon as Iggy Pop came out.....They were all wild for the Stones (and only the Stones) as soon as they saw the opening act they didn't stop being wild until the Stones came out...I think they figured the sooner the opening act was over the sooner they would see the Stones.....Stones fans can be buck wild!!!! and insensitive and rude.....I hate to think Prince had to go through what Iggy Pop did...that was rough....They were booing sooo loud and screaming that they couldn't have heard the music if someone was playing it.....Prince probably didn't have a chance.....Their loss!!!!

Madison88 said:

I didn't know anything about the whole Iggy Pop situation. I am pretty shocked that he recieved such a negative reaction from Stones' fans. You would think more than a few Stones' fans would have really been into him. His songs and style would seem to be much more accessible to them than Prince ever could be. Not to mention that Iggy has called Keith Richards one of his personal heroes in music. Its pretty ignorant I guess, for this or any other crowd for that matter, to only want to see and hear one single group and to not give any other artist(s) a chance to perform. Their loss indeed.


[Edited 4/7/08 0:10am]
[Edited 4/7/08 0:12am]

PurpleJam said:

I didn't know that had happened with Iggy either. My thinking is alongside yours when it came to Iggy being "accepted" by the Stones audience. Also too, regarding Iggy, he used to damn near want fans to boo him. He was one of the first cats that I had ever seen curse directly at the audience. Giving them the finger, etc. Very much what many "punk" artists started doing later on, like the Sex Pistols. Iggy was the first that I was aware of to do that. So many times, I think it was more received in a sign of affection type of thing and not hostility. Folks knew Iggy was known for doing that so for fun, they would boo back at him. Don't know if that was the case with Iggy and the Stones fans.

blackguitaristz said:

True, I remember Joe Strummer saying that the Clash would be covered by spit by the end of a show, and not because the audience hated them. Though I see that as more of a small club thing than a stadium thing.

But that's why I don't play punk!
[Edited 4/7/08 16:21pm]

Racism still exists but dosen't all the pontificating about it just serve to bring it out in people more. I think EVERYBODY should chill. We're all basically the same. It's not like we're like ourangutangs and gorillas. Those orange guys have way longer arms.