I have been on this site now for some years and along this time, I have always received compliments and props for either my posts or my threads. Be it in this forum, the Non Music or the Ass. Artists forums. As some of u know, I have recorded with Morris Day and Andre Cymone and I have since stayed in touch with Andre. I have met Dez and through the years, being a musician, I have known others who have worked closely with P at one time or another. I have actually met Prince, which is something I had always chose not to discuss on here. I have been a fan of P's since I was a kid in 1978 and has seen P several times in concert. Especially early in his career. Regarding the Stones concert incident; It's something that I was aware of the day it happened. I remember actually hearing fans on the radio along with the dj's talking about P getting booed. My girlfriend at the time, her father went to the first show. I talked to her dad the day before, telling him about Prince. Someone who he had never heard of. He told me what happened when he returned. That and hearing the even worst reception P received the second day of the show and all of what I have read about through the years helped form my opinion that P was booed off largely based off of race and P's image. After onekeen's thread, someone here who didn't post at all on the thread, sent me the audio of P's entire set. Something that I myself never had the chance to listen to.

blackguitaristz said:

My computer was tripping so I had to stop for a moment. Anyway, after listening to P's set, he received a fine response. especially on the second song. It was only when he finished "Jack U Off" did things get bad.

P opened up with Bambi. A smart move considering the audience. He dropped the falsetto and sung in his natural voice. He then did When U Were Mine, another good choice. Again, he dropped the falsetto. P actually got some cheers from the crowd after this song. At this time, P definately had their attention, musically. But as I stated, it was AFTER P did Jack U Off that the received very loud boo's from the crowd. I think up untill that point, even though the fans were waiting for the Stones, they were very much listening to what P was doing because the band sounded good. But it was no doubt that the booing came because of the lyrics to Jack U Off. I myself after seeing the title of the song on the Controversy album when I bought it was wondering "Why did P do a song called that?" And I was a fan of his. But even after the boo's , P continued with Uptown. I think from P being pissed and shaken from the lood boos, he didn't sing at all through the entire show. But he played a cool solo at the end of it. Then they went on to Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? Even though P chose to sing on this, I could hear in P's voice that he was upset and a little rattled. Through Uptown and Why You Wanna, there was no booing. I think they were curious as to see how P was going to handle himself.

blackguitaristz said:

Typing mistake on "P didn't sing on entire show" obviously should have read "P didn't sing on the entire song.". Anyway my point is this, after hearing the show for myself, (the first concert), P didn't get booed off the stage. He did on the second but clearly not the first. He got booed after Jack Me Off because of the lyrics. And even after that, I didn't hear any booing during Uptown or Why You Wanna. Now of course, by the second show, it was different because word had spread about P and so folks came ready. I'm printing this too for others on here who had not heard any of the concert. if P hadn't done Jack U Off, I don't think he would have gotten booed in the first place.

I wanted to write all of the posts in one entire thread, but my computer was acting up so I had to split it up. My reason for doing a thread on this mainly is to let others on here who has thought the same thing I was thinking, that at least during the first show, P's choice of Jack U Off is what triggered the boo's. Really, if a white artist, known or not, had sung that song, especially if the audience had never heard it before, they would have booed. P's 1st show would have went down well if he had dropped that song out of the 5 song set. I gotta give P his props though for doing the song. That's probably why Lisa has called P "fearless". I don't know how P would have been received during the second show if he hadn't been booed from the first.

That was interesting to read. Thanks.

so he actually got through the whole set on the first night?

NDRU said:

Yeah..After Jack U Off, when he went into Uptown, P didn't even sing. From the sound of it, I intially thought P had just walked off stage, leaving the band to play. Like I had read that P had done during the second show. But towards the end of Uptown, u could hear P joinging in, playing a solo. Then he sung on Why You Wanna. During those last two songs, there was no booing.

blackguitaristz said:

interesting, so it was really only one song that was booed (until the second night!)

So much gets made of this, and rightly so considering they threw chickens at the poor guy. But it makes more sense that actually he went over pretty well with the audience, except for Jack U Off--a tough sell to any audience

I wonder, how did the word get out for the second night, though? There was no internet back then, no "Let's throw meat at the little guy tomorrow night" thread on rollingstones.org

NDRU said:

Well, like I stated, they talked about it out here in L.A on a very popular rock station, KLOS. They played the audio on the station where the booing was. The same part that I just listened to. But the radio station didn't play any of P's set. Dez had spoken several times about this in interviews about how P, after the first show, left the band in L.A. and flew back home. That Dez and Mick Jagger both had to talk P back into doing the second show. But yeah man, after listening to it, P didn't sing at all on Uptown. The song following Jack U Off. Then he sung on Why You Wanna Treat Me So Band. But like I said earlier, u could totally tell all the fire had been taken out of P's vocals. On Bambi, which was smoking, Dez and P were tearing it up on guitar. It had a very Hendrix-esque sound to it. I know the fans dug that and were like "Damn, who is this?". If they were going to boo cuz of P's image, they would have booed then. But then P said some funny shit to the audience like "C'mon ya'll, put your hands together...Right here....Rock and Roll California!". U can also hear Dez talking to the crowd as well saying something about "Get ready for the Stones". All of this was before "When U Were Mine". Dez and P were singing together at the end of it. Sounded very cool. P was VERY confident sounding at that point. But man, when they went into Jack U Off, P still sounded good but right when they finished, it was some SERIOUS booing. Nothing like that had went down on Bambi and especially on When U Were Mine. Like I siad earlier, quite a few people were cheering and clapping. U can clearly hear that. They had dug it so far.

Great thread as always B..Now you actually MET P??? Dang..now that might be a thread within itself;).

That's really interesting, thanks Blackguitaristz - I read somewhere that Prince didn't seem to realise that you don't use the phrase 'jack you off' about a women So, did he even realise what he was doing?

Oh, and that meeting P thing? Now, that sounds interesting too
[Edited 4/17/08 15:06pm]

Jeffiner said:

I didn't know that either until right now.


Anyway, nice point of view, Black. Considering the Stones audience, I can definitely see that.

blackguitaristz said:

You know what's weird...and I am a Christian speaking..."Jack U off" is a damn good song...and I bet if those lyrics were being boo'd...that thoze people in the audience were a bunch of goody two shoes. In other words...I doubt Adam Ant was throwing a tomato.

SPYZFAN1 said:

What it is, Spyz....Nah...

Jeffiner said:

Yeah, I think P definately realized what he was doing. P wasn't/isn't a naive cat. He knew what the term "jack u off" meant. He knew that it was always used in the sense of a woman doing that to a man. But P just reversed it and said to the woman, "I'll jack u off". Plus, P was playing with the theme from Controversy. "I'm I straight or gay?". P knew what folks would think. "Not that P was singing to a woman. How could he? How can a man "jack off a woman?...He has to be singing to a man." P knew most people would just assume he was singing to a male. But P just reversed the roles and because a man can bring pleasure to a woman by using his hands, that's what P meant by telling her "I'll jack u off". Did most people think that? I doubt it. Did I think it when I first bought the record? Hell nah...Like I mentioned earlier, I wondered why in the hell did P even write a song like that..I didn't understand where P was really coming from untill years later. Another example of role reversal; From the same year as Controversy, 1981. The Time's first album on the song "Get It Up". Why is Morris (with Prince on backing vocals) singing to a female telling her to "Get It Up"? That's what a woman would be telling a man. Again, P reversed roles by using a phrase that a woman would tell a man. But in Morris's case, he's telling the woman to "Get It Up". It's the same thing with "Jack U Off". So there is no way the Stones fans knew where P was coming from. From the sound of the concert, the fans weren't tripping on the way P was dressed. Or that he was black. That is evident from the audio. They dug "Bambi" and especially "When U Were Mine". But they couldn't fuck with "Jack U Off". And to my surprise, they didn't boo P when he started on "Uptown". P was probably so pissed and somewhat shaken by the crowd's response from Jack U Off that he didn't even sing a word during Uptown. I think P did walk of stage for a minute, cuz listening to the song, Dez is the only one playing guitar for like 3/4 of the song. It's not two guitars like it usually is. Then towards the end of the song , then u hear P blasting in with a guitar solo. And u can hear Dez playing underneath P's solo. So it sounded like P had left the stage, and then came back on and joined in by playing a solo. So since P wasn't singing, the rest of the band weren't singing backups either, like they always did. Then P sung "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" and that was it. The crowd didn't boo on that song either. Just "Jack U Off". P wasn't holding back when he was singing Jack U Off either.

I remember when the 'Controversy' album came out.I didn't even know "Jack U Off" meant! For a long time,I played the song without even knowing what Prince was singing about.

interesting insight . jack u off wasn't the song to play at all . very riveting recording i might add as well. great set. why u wanna treat me so bad is especially moving, cuz it sounds like he's sorta shaken up/bothered by the situation (as one would expect) and the song kinda takes on a new meaning .

Blackguitaristz brought up an interesting point about Prince's role-reversal songwriting in those days.

"Get It Up" by the Time....usually,it's the woman who tells her man to "get it up" Remember on "Nasty Girl" when Vanity demands "Get it up,get it up,I can't wait anymore!"? It's kinda funny hearing a man demand that of a woman.

Prince had to have known that it's odd for a man to be singing "Jack U Off".Even though he's clearly talking to a woman,most people didn't understand the role reversal.They were like "How can a man jack off a woman?".

purplepolitician said:

Thanx...that's what I was saying about Why You Wanna Treat Me...I truly don't think P thought the audience was going to react like they did on Jack U Off. I bet the rest of the band did! P's management, Everybody else was probably like "Why in the hell is P going to sing this song?...Here of all places?". Prince had guts, I tell u that. That or he was stone crazy. I think it was a little bit of both actually.

I am very suprised Prince did "Jack U Off" third. Sounds to me a like a real miss judgement from him thinking the rock arena audience would warm to mad, rockabilly, new wave funk. "Bambi" and "When You Were Mine" are great songs to kick off the set with though - I can imagine they would have connected (or at least shown off his rockin band at the time).

SoulAlive said:

Exactly.

Sydney said:

Yeah, I agree...I don't think P should have played Jack U Off there. But I'm not surprised that he chose it. That fits Prince to a tee. And he was searching through his rock catalog which he didn't have that much rock to pick from at that point. He played Uptown cuz Uptown was a bite from the Stones "Miss You" anyway. So that was a given. Bambi and Why You Wanna and When U Were Mine were all rock so he wanted to play those. Maybe he should have wrote a new rock song just for the Stones shows. Or played "I'm Yours".

Sydney said:

Yeah, I agree...I don't think P should have played Jack U Off there. But I'm not surprised that he chose it. That fits Prince to a tee. And he was searching through his rock catalog which he didn't have that much rock to pick from at that point. He played Uptown cuz Uptown was a bite from the Stones "Miss You" anyway. So that was a given. Bambi and Why You Wanna and When U Were Mine were all rock so he wanted to play those. Maybe he should have wrote a new rock song just for the Stones shows. Or played "I'm Yours".

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah. He really built an image on it, though, and I think he loved it. It's really odd for a straight guy to complain, "Baby, you come too quick" too, isn't it? And I'm sure he knew that most people wouldn't understand a song titled "If I Was Your Girlfriend."

Twiki said:

There it is.

Thanks for the follow-up and insight Blackguitaristz! I knew you were a logical/rational brotha who would speak the truth on the topic either way. That is when this site is most refreshing and informative. Often, it is hard to discern fact from fiction, especially when emotions enter the field of play. I know that I have posted facts on here before and folks were so emotionally charged that they totally dismissed them. However, I never have a problem acknowledging if I am mistaken about facts. That's why I appreciate your post so much. As much as folks try to dismiss your comments around here, you have shown yourself to be reasonable and I respect that big time.

bellanoche said:

Thanx for the very kind words. U know, to be fair to the folks on here, like I mentioned in this thread; I always get props and compliments from folks on here. Yeah, a few people got emotional because I said at first, I believed it to be about race. Cuz I did. But after hearing what I heard, and only because I myself had heard this with my own ears, then I knew when I heard folks cheering P up untill Jack U off, then I was like "nah, they just can't get with this song." I can't speak on the second show, cuz I haven't heard that one. But like I also mentioned on this thread and on the others, I think the crowd for the second gig didn't really give a fuck about P, but it was something fun for them to do. Bring a bunch a shit to throw. Which DEFINATELY isn't cool. Be it Prince or Elvis Costello. Doesn't matter. So yeah, after hearing it, I mainly wanted to let other folks, who also believed it to be about race, I wanted to let them know, from me, that it wasn't. That's all.

bgz, I have to give you props for being such a stand-up guy and admitting that your initial views were mistaken - especially when it is such an emotive issue.
Not a lot of people would have done that. You proved yourself to be a real class act. Thanks for sharing your objective views on what took place.

i'm so relieved 2 hear they got through the set despite the jeers..4 a little guy, prince is like his father - 2 bold!
it's easy 2 imagine how uncomfortable the guys in the crowd must've felt during jack u off...were any of them brave enuff 2 look like they were enjoying the song, u know, dancing around & singing along 2 that very catchy chorus?
prince is a riot! & he's also had the last laff!
[Edited 4/18/08 19:19pm]