prince stage appiriance during dirty mind controversy days had a lot of punk attitude.
was punk influance because of new wave impact on music or he liked something in that culture.
even his rhythm guitar work on dirty mind cd had that punkish feel

ive always thought that prince had a 'punk edge' too. i think that because at the time he was doing dirty mind & controversy it was 'different' and 'punk' was still vibrant. punk music usual had a 'message' just like those albims u mentioned had a message too. i would guess he was diggin that music genre too. plus prince was doing something different himself altogether so of course he could play a gig where 'punk' was played. of course he could blend right in with the punk music,because prince is punk too. i really think prince does dig it.
[Edited 1/2/09 22:36pm]

I've always thought of Prince as being punk in the extremely broad sense of the word that made Johnny Cash punk. Sonicly, there were only snippets here and there, and mostly only during the Dirty Mind/Controversy period, in his music that could be regarded as punk. But in terms of attitude I'd argue he's more punk than a lot of acts that are widely regarded as such. Lil Dude does whatever the fuck he wants, regardless of who does or doesn't like it.

I think Prince was co-opting a punk visual to telegraph a style and statement that was broader than just R&B/soul, which is where a lot of music folks would typically have categorized a black music artist (and did anyway, in many instances).

To those in the know, the multi-racial, punk-ish look probably persuaded some folks to give him a listen before they'd heard him.


None of which, of course, explains the heels.
[Edited 1/2/09 19:01pm]

ThreadBare said:

threadbare but what about new york dolls they were punk rockers with heals and make up

well if u look at the outtakes in that early era like "tick-tick bang","you","hard to get""turn it up""strange way of saying i love you"..they sound very punk/ska/new wave.

and i real good fusion of funk/punk with the original "irrestible bitch" and "feel u up"

thebanishedone said:

agreed

tangerine7 said:

Thready's heel jab was a joke, guys.

meow85 said:

yep joke is funny but new york dolls was relevant too

tangerine7 said:

I'm not overly familiar with the Dolls, but I think I remember reading somewhere that they did the makeup and heels thing to capitalize on Glam's popularity.

meow85 said:

actually the new york dolls was doing shows in the early 70's alot of ppl know Johnny Thunders the guitarist that played in the band
i really dont think they was capitalizing on the 'glam' i think that that kind of scene was just happening in the air just like bowie was at the time. back to prince i agree prince has a punk edge of course.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...y_Thunders
new york dolls wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...York_Dolls
[Edited 1/3/09 1:10am]

just some info. if u would want to make up your own mind

sry double post
[Edited 1/3/09 1:10am]

Yes. He identified strongly with the new wavers of that era - rather than the R&B acts, even if he still did ballads and the softer material from his first two albums when playing live. The "dirtiness" came from punk, and there really was nothing of the kind present in R&B of the time (sexiness yes, but not filth). This is in all the biographies.

You are right about the guitar riffing, and I would myself basically consider the stuff he did on "Dirty Mind" as his most inventive period he has had as a guitar player.

His "New Wave" influence was still somewhat present even on "Around The World In A Day", although by "Parade" it had more or less disappeared altogether. I think that's the key element when making a distinction between those two "psychedelic albums" that are usually lumped together as belonging to the same era.

Prince went thru a lot of changes back then, I'm glad he didn't stay with them.

khemseraph said:

I was going to mention Tick, Tick, Bang.

There's no question that he was interested (at least) in punk/new wave music.

Prince was Influenced by the music of the TIME. Punk New Wave was POPULAR in the 80's. I always thought Prince wanted to be UNDERGROUND. Being an ARTIST and MUSICIAN PRINCE doesn't just listen to one type of music. I was thinking that Prince should do some LOU REED and Velvet Underground stuff. I think he could do Sweet Jane. I'm sure he mixes it up to not get Bored. Plus, he's so Versatile.

Oh c'mon. Prince is not going to do a song like "Sweet Jane", which contains lines about men dressing up in corsets, at this point of his career. It's not going to stop him from wearing corsets though.

tangerine7 said:

Naw, I think they were glamming it up just because it was the in thing at the time. They never seemed all that comfortable in their girly gear.

Genesia said:

I think it could be a really interesting sound if he were to try working some of those influences back into what he's doing now.

novabrkr said:

Too true.

Prince: "Men should be men, and women should be women, and there's a gender hierarchy, dammit! Ain't no room to disagree. Oooh, but let me slip into this women's undergarment for an album shoot, honey."

I think whatever music Prince listens to he thinks 'I could do that better!'

But not in an arrogant way - hes just inspired by it!

meow85 said:

pepper7 said:

i can agree with that as well.