I've been a fan of Prince for over a decade now and I've come to realize that there are certain things that come with the territory. Being 22, male and white, I'm not exactly part of a demographic that likes Prince or even remembers him. I've come to terms with the fact that encounters with other fans my age will be scant. However, that in itself is a blessing and a curse- it is nice to hold this well-kept "secret" so dear while at the same time it is frustrating to be rendered unable to find many people open to his music.

Another facet of being a Prince fan has to be excess. I haven't found many "casual" Prince fans- a vast majority of people either love him or hate him. There aren't many people who will own a few of his albums but not care too much. Prince, with his vast catalogue of material and captivating persona, is a fatal attraction. To date, I own about 150 Prince CDs, 50+ tapes and 50+ records as well as numerous articles, videos and posters. While these numbers seem exhorbitant to those who aren't fans, I am fully aware that there are many whose collections dwarf mine.

As a result, I've come to realize that most of those who appreciate Prince's music are in possession of a great wealth of his material. As a personal consequence, Prince and his music have become more than just a source of casual entertainment. For me, Prince means much more. Prince really does seem like a friend at times- who else has helped me get through so many lonely nights? Not many others have provided me with a resource of such encouragment and fulfillment. Subsequently, Prince is more than a mere musician in my heart- he's my boy!

With that in mind, the rare occasion of meeting a Prince fan is that much more special. On my flight back to Utah today, I was fortunate enough to share the aisle with a great lady. She's a stand-up comedian, so it is superfluous to add that she was a great source of conversation. She noticed that I had "Dirty Mind," "Controversy" and "1999" at hand and asked if I was a big fan. I began going into details about it and our conversation was set! She told me of her former obsession too. Being a teenager during Prince's mass popularity, she became engulfed in the mania and had the lace glove, the eyeliner etc. She mentioned that her colleague used to be so obsessed that he had made assless pants out of his khakis after the VMA's in 1991 and worn them to class! She name-dropped protoges like it was nothing special- Vanity 6, Apollonia, The Time, Sheila E., Andre Cymone, Dez Dickerson and the Family all were part of her collection. She and I then bantered back and forth with miscellaneous quotes from "Purple Rain" and "Under the Cherry Moon." I was truly captivated. Someone who had seen "Under the Cherry Moon?" Someone who knew The Family? Someone who could distinguish Prince's version of "Chocolate" from The Time's? Strange and crazy as it may sound, it formed a cool bond between us. Here we were- 2 people from completely different backgrounds, professions and experiences, talking about something so uniquely important to both of us at 7 AM while gazing out of the window at a vast expanse of undulating clouds not too unlike an ocean. What a serene moment it was and a rewarding one as well. Being a Prince fan certainly has its bonuses.

What are your experiences with random Prince fans?

This is one of those threads were someone else has articulated your thoughts EXACTLY. I'm 20, and I feel the same way.

There would be VERY few other people my age who are into Prince living in New Zealand. Very few. And, like Moonbeam, I have mixed feelings about this: I feel fortunate that I "discovered" Prince, but at the same time I long to be able to share my appreciation with my peers.

Like Moonbeam, I also feel that Prince is more than casual entertainment. He's not just CDs in a collection. He's not just something to listen to in the car. He's more than that to me. But to many of my peers, a musician or artist is not considered a passion in itself.

Thus, my only means of sharing my appreciation for Prince is through this website, where I can discuss topics like this with like-minded fans.

Well said Moonbeam. Your reflection of my own thoughts is uncanny!

ecnirpnz said:

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way!

Moonbeam,I'm glad you Found Prince and he makes you Happy and all. He makes me Happy with his music also. I think he is quite Endearing with his Music and his Humor. You are not Alone.

Natasha said:[quote]Moonbeam,I'm glad you Found Prince and he makes you Happy and all. He makes me Happy with his music also. I think he is quite Endearing with his Music and his Humor. I have many stories,but honestly I'd rather not go into everything and it would actually take up several volumes of Books as Prince has been my Passion since 1982. I have been Enraptured and Enthralled by him and no Other man will Ever Come even Close to what I feel for Him.

Natasha said:[quote]

Natasha said:

No stories about meeting Prince fans in unexpected places? Anything like that?

Don't have any stories to tell but I LOVED reading yours NICE...

I'm 23,and I too am alone in being a fan of Prince,and I
keep it to myself as well.

I've only been a fan for eleven months but in that time
Prince's music has become the soundtrack to my life.I
feel the way most of you guys do about certain songs
and albums,and how they affect you.

My experiences with Prince fans in person is sadly
very little.I only had one encounter.I went Suncoast
Video and was looking around for DVDs.I had just
bought the Rave 2000 DVD,Purple Rain DVD,
and the Symbol album.

As if my luck couldn't get any better I happened to find
The Hits DVD in the music video section.I didn't
know it existed until I found it,then I saw that it was a
collection of his music videos so I knew I had to get it.

I went to the counter and there were two girls there,a
Brunette and a Blonde.The Blonde was busy putting stuff
away so I went to the Brunette.When I handed the DVD over
with Prince's black and white profile all over it she
immediately turned to the Blonde and said "Ooh,he's
buying Prince".

At first I thought I was going to be embarrassed but
then the Brunette tells me,"She loves Prince".I then
saw the Blonde look at my DVD and fawn over it."Prince
is cool," she said.She looked surprised that she hadn't
found the DVD before.I left the store feeling good to
be a Prince fan.

I always wondered how much of a Prince fan the Blonde was,
whether she was an enthusiast or a casual.Either way it
was just nice to meet sombody who likes Prince.I drove
home listening to 3 Chains Of Gold and when the
part "This is the best day of my life" came on I
couldn't have been more happier.

I, too, know what you´re talking about.
Most people just don´t understand what Prince is about.
Usually when people ask me about him, they want to know whether he is gay or not or something similarly stupid.

Moreover, when I spent something like 150$ on the concert in
october, most people were obsessed about the price I had to pay and I was constantly met with comments about this.
Nobody understood the fact that Prince rarely comes to Copenhagen and that this was the first chance for me to see the man live etc. !

I find it tiring that people just don´t understand it and that most people think music is about hitlists and music they already know. I do know a few people who like Prince - and it´s nice!

One thing I was thinking about is the fact that mostly when you think about obsessed fans, you think about young teenage girls crazy about Take That etc. But, it seems to me, that most of the people who like Prince are obsessed and quite old (I mean not teenagers anymore). It´s funny, don´t you think?

Something happened to me that might relate to what your saying Monnbeam. One day I was gettin off the tube/subway and was wearing my symbol necklace. As the doors opened, this guy was about to get on . .he saw my necklace then looked at my face. So much happened in like 10 seconds or so. He got on, I got off and I turned around and we looked at each other and smiled. (He was REALLY cute too!) and we just knew that we both had a common love for one another! He was in two minds whether to jump off the tube and chat but I guess we both knew it might be awkward!

Moonbeam said:

I think I'm gonna cry...

I was very very surprised 2 meet this sexy sexy guy at my old job one day last summer...2 my surprise, he asked me for my phone number. Later we talked over the phone, i told him i was a very huge Prince fam...he said 2 me, "I used 2 be good friends with Ingrid Chavez"

He continued 2 say, "I was very good friends with Cat also..." From that point on, if we were 2gether or not, I knew he was going 2 be one of my best friends.

Now when he calls me, he acts in a Bob George style voice. He cracks me up every time.

Bambi319 said:

Moonbeam, this probably isn't exactly what you're looking for but...

During the O)-> tour in 1993, I was 7 months preg. w/ my first child when the opportunity for me to attend my first Prince concert presented itself. Unfortunately, I heard about it after it sold out. Regardless, I drove to Richmond, VA (a 100+ mile drive) just to be in the same town with Prince. He'd never been remotely close to where I'd lived before...

My husband insisted someone go w/ me so I took a friend. We ended up getting tickets...she went in first...third row. I went in next...upper left balcony behind a pillar. Couldn't see a thing.

She was telling the people around her about me. She told them..."I like Prince, but she LOVES Prince...she showed me this magazine she gets from England..."

At that point this guy turns to her and says "Your friend gets the Fanzine?" My friend says "Yes! That's what it's called!!" He gives her his ticket stub and says..."The seat next to me is empty...Go give her this and she can come sit w/ me." He was front row.

It was a wonderful night!

The first day of my Freshman (highschool) english class, I happened to mention that I liked Prince in a little paper thing about myself. When I got the paper back from my teacher it said in red pen "You mean ?" SO I came up after class and started talking to him.. It turns out he was a huge trader (one of the old school) and is friends with Harold Lewis and Per Nilsen and is even mentioned in the credits of the DMSR book. That was pretty wild.
[This message was edited Sun Dec 1 10:05:11 PST 2002 by PopcornFetus]

Moonbeam said:

There were 3 people I "met" who had the same emotions, cognitions, about Prince and his music that I do. The second one turned out not to be "THE ONE" and it almost wrecked the delicate balance. The last turned out to be "the one" and when I found this out I felt like crying. I felt like I was Morpheus and I had found Neo. This person is the one to the extreme. Like my own doppleganger. So late in the game its both rewarding and tragic. They did something that I would have done concerning Prince music but had never thought of but only talke d about. And when this was found out I almost couldnt hang because I knew that I had found another. Almost reverse in how Elijah sought out Dunn in Unbreakable. After all these years and many false postives there are actually two of them. Just knowing that there is two, even only one "who gets it completely" is enough to put some of this Prince shit to rest. The long strange trip has come up with another.

Moonbeam said:

You know why your story is beautiful? Because this happened outside of the Prince realm. You didn't find this person at the Celebration, the org etc. It was in a place where there is no Prince interaction so to speak. Damn that's great.

I don't know about "random" meetings, but I did meet an amazing girl in the line for Prince tickets about 4 years ago (before the NPGMC). We were waiting in the Hudson's basement at 7:00 a.m. (Ian, you know, the 8 Mile Hudson's at Eastland) WAY before they were allowing people in. We found an open door, and quietly made our way downstairs to be the first 2 in line. We sat on the ground, and held each other's spot if one of us went to the bathroom, to get a drink, etc. The doors didn't open until 10:00 a.m.

We got into a long discussion about Prince, the concerts, albums, whatever. There was a lot of stuff she didn't have, such as Crystal Ball or C&D. She was more of a "collector" in the sense that she had posters, tour books, etc - stuff that I don't really collect. She had been to a lot more concerts than I had, and had stories about those.

Further into our conversation, I found out that she was the niece of a famous Motown singer. My memory fails me NOW, but it was one of the groups - like the Tempations or The Four Tops. She showed me pictures, and described the horrors of being a mixed child in that Motown family. She was beautiful and intelligent -- unfortunately for me she was married too! Still, she made the 3 hour wait for tickets almost more fun than the concert itself.

This was the Jam Of The Year concert at The Palace of Auburn Hills -- I looked for her in the hall and in the crowd, but I didn't see her.

That was one of the few times I've had a Prince discussion with someone outside of family/friends. I actually love it when someone knows MORE than I do about Prince!

But there were also 2 guys I met up at Bennigan's - they were cool too! They made my bootleg collection look amateurish!


[This message was edited Sun Dec 1 12:02:06 PST 2002 by Se7en]

Moonbeam said:

Wow, I'm 20, and all my friends think I'm a loon for loving Prince!! I'm a singer, and in high school, we had Choir lock-ins. Well, we hired a karaoke man for the night, and my senior year, my assistant choir director got up and sang Kiss in front of everyone, and dedicated it to me, becuz I was wearing my Love Prince, Prince Loves Me shirt from the Jam of the Year Tour! Turns out he had been a fan that whole time! It was so cool!

I am 22 also and have no hardcore Prince fams. I wear my symbol often and find it odd that I've never seen anyone else wearing one (outside of concerts etc.).Most people who see me wearing my symbol ask if it's Prince's symbol and then they say "Wow!I didn't know he even had many fans anymore.I completely relish the times I have in line with other fams. Shout out to all the Bay Area Fams!

Moonbeam said:

P has a LOT of YOUNG fans... including myself... as u can c from the artists who follow him (Musiq, Dangelo, Alicia etc etc) he reaches the youth (I bet some won' admit it but are just closet listeners cuz most ppl think he is GAY) but they are out there =)~

therefore... I say Whatever!!! to your post!

Recently a friend and I were zipping through McDonald's drive through for some fries on our way to a Detroit based Prince gathering. The young girl working at McD's driveup window spotted the symbol necklace hanging from the rearview mirror and said Doesn't that mean Prince? and immediately started dancing and doing the dove cry. It was sooo funny cuz it was so unexpected!! We told her yes and we were on our way to a Prince party. She was so bummed cuz she said she loves him and wanted to go with us but was stuck at work! We drove off just cracking up!

What are your experiences with random Prince fans?

Hilarious.

Thank you Moonbeam. There is no way I could top your post. It's quite ironic that when I visit the org, I feel like there are more non-fans(fams) than fans(fams). It felt sooo wonderful to come to the org. and know that I am not alone. Thank you again!!

Mr. Moonbeam, all that I am saying is that I love Bubble Bobble, and I could go into a neat story like yours about Prince, but. I was struck by your poopla that it kind of paralled your point in your story.. like, how Prince fans are rare. Bubble Bobble people are rare too. Thanks for the...inspriration, I guess!

Basically, Prince will always be a secret. No one will truly understand his energies, except people with a certain something. Understanding Prince's bum doesn't work into the mix, however. Thanks for sharing your story.

great thread, Ian

bump

Almost every guy I've ever thought was hot, turned out to be a Prince fan. Strange statistic, but true.

wow. i must say, 6868 makes an interesting point about being a fan.

Moonbeam rocks!!!

It's nice to see this back up here again.