I thought I'd bring a little blast from the past, 1984 to be exact!

I'll have to edit to add the article so please be patient as Ive typed it once only to be logged out of the org as I took too long!!!!!


enjoy!

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THE FACE

THE COOL RULER
Can Prince take Michael Jacksons crown?

THE PURPLE REIGN



With Purple Rain, Prince has at last fulfilled all the predictions. The soundtrack of a film that relates the struggles of 'The Kid' in urban America, how much is it his story too? Reportedly shy and soft-spoken but at the same time supremely confident, Prince won't be interviewed, But his megalomania has paid off. His music, with its themes of freedom and sex, belongs in the great tradition. His arrogant talent has caused a fierce controversy. he could be the devil's answer to Michael Jackson ... by Dave Hill.


ARTICLE:

Nothing intrigues quite like an enigma, except an enigma going public. In all the wyas that count the enigma is Prince Rogers Nelson is doing exactly that. For the last six years it has explored all its variations ad now it proceeds to soak us in a deluge of purple rain.

There may be no escape. Media minds all over the UD and the UK are beguiled by this latest escalation of the Prince phenomenon. It's an escalation which (you may have heard) advances on two interrelated fronts. Both carry within them the most fruitful elements of the Prince mystique as it stands. Yet they bear also the means by which his domain will grow. 'Purple Rain' is an album and a film. the music is his most rock-ish yet, and logically, his least funky. the movie, of which the LP is the larger part of the soundtrack, is daring in it's details but basically conventional in structure; our hero smartens up his act, gets the girl and acheives his rightful fame.

If, as he used to maintain, what Prince does in his art directly reflects the state of himself, then the film's finale seems like a self0fulfilling prophecy. Purple Rain is going to push Prince into the very highest league at last, and this is going to happen without any dissipation of the fascination reclusiveness generates. No, Prince is still not giving interviews to anyone. Those aforementioned media minds are working overtime, and all on the same problem; how to write about Prince when the fucker will not talk.


Rumours, allegations and speculation naurally litter the scene. Purple Rain is the story of Prince's life and career. Or is it? The publicity does not claim this to be so, but the script invites us to assume it. Whatever, those facts which have surfaced about the youth of America's most sexually forthright recording artist are not consistent with what we get on the big screen. The fiction is an adaptation of the truth. William Blinn, who wrote the original script and ultimately escaped with a co-credit, has described it as "an emotional biography". In other words the final story portrays Prince's subjective impressions of the reality. Fact and fantasy are blurred. It's all the rage.


In your local fun palace, our sticky-fingered hero plays The Kid, the self-obsessive front man and sole composer with a band called The Revolution. He is the only (visible) son of a black father and a white mother. All is not well at home. Dad, we learn, is a former piano-player who wrecked his career by alienating colleagues and public alike. These days the piano lies dormant in the basement. It's former exponent drinks, beats his wife, and generally decomposes inside. Mum spends her time not doing the housework dad considers appropriate, and dodging retribution. Junior's response has been to turn the basement into his private sanctuary; an exotic space populated with masks and ornaments, musical instruments and stereo cassette decks. Sometimes, it seems, there have also been .... girls.

The Revolution play live at a famed club First Avenue & 7th Street Entry. This establishment reaaly does exist, in Minneapolis (Prince's home turf) where the movie was shot. Yes, The Revolution are popular, but the real kings of First Avenue are an outfit called The Time, fronted by an ostentatious would-be cool black dude and lady0killer called Morris - in reality, Morris Day. Competition between The Time and The Revolution is intense. Competition within The Revolution is also intense. The stakes in both these battles of ego are raised by way of the hero's relations with the movie's pre-eminent women.

Onto the scene steps a traditionally luscious female called Apollonia, just up from New Orleans in search of stardom. Apollonia goes for The Kid's lurid magnetism and kinky demeanor but leans towards predatory Morris' liberal way with a promise. He beguiles her with talk of his brass water0bed and her star quality. The Kid has problems handling that.

Meanwhile, Revolution guitarist Wendy (Melvoin) and key-board player Lisa (Coleman) are becoming increasingly rebellious over The Kid's refusal to consider one of their compositions for The Revolution set.

The conflicts and pressures which surround The Kid pursue each other in an upward spiral. It looks like he's bound to crack, but then he bales out just in time. The hero learns to acknowledge the rest of the planet, Apollonia moistens visibly in her lacey black camisole, and the crowd yell for more. An American 'growth period' meets the electric guitar?
[Edited 9/10/08 8:22am]

syble said:

Ha! Fact and fantasy blurred alright! Thanks Syble, it's really interesting to read what was actually written at the time, some of that's really interesting, and funny too!

Oh, and I've learned to save every 30 seconds on here!

PS off topic - hope you're feeling a lot better today!? and have you been collecting the Daily Mail cd's? Spandeau Ballet (remember when Tony Hadley was SO cool?), Adam Ant ...etc?

No jeffiner, I havent, probably got most of that tho I was a huge adamant fan, also got 'Lookin' from then too with adam ant interviews and cartoons etc


Im still typing out the article see the 'face extract 2' thread

Thanks.

Thanks Tame have you read 2 and 3, 3's the final part.

i didnt spend ages typing this to have no-one read it!

Thanks for taking the time to post this intriguing article. The only other article I've ever read about the movie Purple Rain did not seem to show respect for Prince and his band's music.

hey thanks gyro!

the mags fab and has a fullpage ad for the movie soundtrack with purple rain that looks eactly like the glow sticks at the o2 last year! here comes the rain, one day Ill take some piccies of it.

I love reading these old mags and articles, its interesting how they slated apollonia only to find (in my experience) that most guys highly rated her! plus most of the quotes etc had even then to be pulled from US 'muisc' elite mags that seemed to have the real lowdown on what Prince was upto.