after selling 18 million copies of the Purple Rain album, the backlash happened, people seemed to have got tired with Prince, he was often described as a weird freak - and suddenly his albums & singles weren't selling that much,

fantastic albums like Parade, Sign O' The Times and Lovesexy were selling rather poorly.... compared to his own former success - and compared to artists like MJ and Madonna,


the music was still so fantastic,

what were the reasons to this backlash.....?

One of the reasons was that straight after Purple Rain, he completely changed tack and came out with ATWIAD a totally different album, musically and conceptually!! It was basically a HUGE culture shock to many people!!! If he came out with a Purple Rain Mk. 2, and kept the music theme going throughout his career then people would have held him in the utmost high esteem right down to today!!!

thedance said:

First off, Prince was still high in pop culture after Purple Rain, everything he did generated excitement.

Against consultations with managers and band members he wanted to release ATWIAD which is one of my favorite albums but it was way to drastic a change from Purple Rain.

backlash? It was a bit of Prince's ego thinking the world would just soak up whatever he did. As well as Prince's fear of the success of Purple Rain.

This affected the making of Under the Cherry Moon too, the Revolution and possibly other protege bands/members should have been visible in the movie as well.

1. People seem to hold Prince in the "utmost high esteem" today already.

2. Purple Rain was lightning in a bottle. It would never happen the same way twice. Whatever the next album was it would have been a let down from that pop culture moment of Purple Rain. Kind of like Michael Jackson's Bad...it's a good album, but anything after Thriller was going to be viewed as "less than" by the masses.
[Edited 6/1/09 6:26am]

OldFriends4Sale said:

but how could Purple Rain sell amazingly 18 mill. copies and then the sales dropped to only 2 or 3 millions. If I remember right: Lovesexy sold less than a million in the US and the Lovesexy tour was doing badly too,

it wasn't sales that was wrong only, I think the main audience considered Prince to be a weird freak, it was like they lacked respect for Prince and what he did, during the years it went even worse. It wasn't until Musicology was released that the main public got respect for him again, he could sell out the big arenas again,

but let's go back: I wonder why people didn't liked Prince 1985-1988, they weren't buying his albums, and one of his greatest albums of his career: SOTT didn't get not even 1 Grammy,

I'm not saying sales and Grammy's are that important for an artist like Prince, but still it makes you wonder why he wasn't taken that serious by a broader audience?

Basically, hip hop happened. Raising Hell pretty much changed everything. If Purple Rain been released a year or two later, it would have only been a interesting footnote.

I'm guessing that "Parade," had something to do with a less receptive audience. I believe that a lot of people agree that had, "KISS," been the first song on that album, things may have been a little different.

This is just my personal opinion, "Under the Cherry Moon," was very "Gigolo Natured," and personally, this was when I began feeling emotionally intimidated by Prince's lifestyle...I have been a fan throughout Prince's career, and I can see where, "Darling Nikki," lost the reserved crowd...which I suppose wasn't me.

People were sick of Prince and all the "Drama"around Him.He was not a likable person.He made it very hard for many of us 2 say we were PRINCE FANS.There were lots of jokes about HIM.The pubic HATED-Sign o Time-people did NOT get it at all.A song like Housequake was not a big deal at the time.When UTCM came out,people were walking out of the MOVIE.
He stayed away from the USA He was not playing HERE.There was no web.People began to forget about HIM.
By the time LOVESEXY came out the whole Black LP was Floting around,After hearing the Black LP Lovesexy was lame-very weak.
The Tour was not sold out at ALL.The pubic did not care at all about the tour.I saw 9 showes and many of them were NOT full.
We all know that LoveSexy was a work of art-but at the time the only thing the pubic was talking about was the "COVER"
Not until 2004 Prince became Mainstream-(likable)

'Around The World In A Day' really confused alot of people.I remember I was in high school when it was released,and most of my friends were saying "Prince has lost his mind....his new album is crap!".They didn't understand what he was trying to do.It was the same situation with 'Parade'.It was really a case of the mainstream not being able to keep up with Prince.

Ever snorted cocaine?
u need double hits the next time around...
cause the feelin from the first hit can never be reached!
[Edited 6/1/09 8:25am]

loser!!!!!1

Tame said:

what does kiss being the first cut on the lp have to do w/anything?
It was the first single, so it dont matter.
P's popularity declined w/AGWIAD as he changed his direction/sound and even his hairstyle. Regular folks couldnt deal, the diehards and other stayed.
UTCM bombed at the box office and that also affected his popularity , I mean you have to be a die hard to like that movie.
Thru it all tho, these two albums have some of his best music of the 80s

Prince never sold that many albums before and after Purple Rain. He's never really sold more than 4 million for any particular album. I think he just slipped back into his normal selling range. So backlash? Eh. conjecture.

ernestsewell said:

true

Prince was basically an artist with a hardcore following before 1984 . Then, Purple Rain hit at the exact right time, at the right place.

As Prince once said, "The same people who bought Around the World in a Day are the same ones who bought 1999." Purple Rain wasn't the norm for Prince..it was an aboration. He wasn't trying to be a pop star like Michael or Madonna...he was trying to be something different, something more. It wasn't all about $$$ and being #1.



Prince was always considered by the mainstream to be "a freak". In the 80's he was viewed as being "weirder" than Michael Jackson.

Also, he sold out big arena's in the USA on the Jam of the Year tour which was 97/98 and he was





The broader audience is fickle. It is the natural ebb and flow of things in pop music. Look at a group like Pearl Jam. They were HUGE in the early 90's. They are still a great band today. However, the general audience has moved on to the next thing. It happens with almost every artist.

hese days the general public doesn't stay with one band/artist for a long time...things become divided amongst fans. Can you think of one group/singer that everyone likes these days?

emesem said:

1. Timing is everything. Purple Rain was embraced by a massive rock audience. Hip hop may or may not have affected it.

2. Oddly enough, Prince had one of his biggest hit albums once he embraced hip hop...Diamonds and Pearls.

Tame said:

You're insane.

Kiss was the first single on the album. And it went to #1 and knocked off the Bangle's "Manic Monday" to #2, another Prince song.

thedance said:

I don't think it was backlash, albeit for the first 10 years of Prince's career, his genius was always overshaddowed by gossip and the fact that he was viewed as a 'vulgar' popstar.


The difference between Prince and his peers, Madonna and MJ, is that Prince did what he wanted instead of just giving the audience what they wanted.
When has Madonna ever put out a work of art? Her stuff is product.
And MJ, even though he truly does have talent, puts out product too.

Neither of them have a SOTT, LoveSexy or PARADE in their arsenal of hits. Prince was going the "Sting" route, but doing it better.

ernestsewell said:

Not "conjecture" at ALL. There was a backlash, period-but I didn't buy into it. Prince was always in the gossip rags, etc.. after PR. They always had something to say about him being too wierd, or too nasty-Tipper Gore was going after him in Washington b/c of Darling Nikki-which is why the "explicit lyrics" warning label is now on music-the whole incident with his bodyguards & the paparazzi that the media had a FIELD day with.People did not know what to make of ATWIAD-and the controversy over the Lovesexy album cover that had record stores using stickers to cover what they thought to be offensive. I remember it all very, very well.
My mom and my friends mothers would always say how "nasty" Prince AND Madonna were, and we were living in the times of Ronald Reagan & George Bush. There is absolutely NO DOUBT that there was a major backlash, and it's a shame.

skywalker said:

yeah I think Chris Rock mentioned this in the 1997 interview on VH1 ?

Thank to God this has changed now, now it's the other way around

btw... wasn't "a backlash" mentioned by Prince himself in the 1986 MTV interview ???

I can't remember what he said,

but most likely Prince just avoided that question.. like he uses to do with anything "controversial"..

Prince in Print: The MTV interview 1985:

I found that question about Prince's "fear of a backlash"...



Great interview btw...

credits: http://princetext.tripod....mtv85.html
[Edited 6/1/09 9:27am]
[Edited 6/1/09 9:33am]

thedance said:

I saw that interview. It was cringe worthy.

Prince came across as pompous and rehearsed....and creepy.


It's as bad as Graffiti Bridge.

^ haha, really..... cringe worthy... ??

I enjoyed the clips I saw, felt it was very humourous...

skywalker said:

The thing with Michael, is that he waited a long time to release another album, I know he did the 'Victory' tour/album with his brothers and he was doing a lot of collaborations and what not, but I think the time affected the next next album

Prince had so much music created during the 83-85 Purple Reign that had the feel of Purple Rain but sounded different that he could have released a follow up that was just as spectacular, of course the Purple Rain movie was a part of the lightning in a bottle.

I think it would have been a strategic movie to release Around the World in a Day and PR II(Our Destiny) or the Roadhouse Garden album

Roadhouse Garden
Our Destiny
Go
Splash
Traffic Jam
Lust U Always

thedance said:

All it takes is one 'critically wrong move' to set thing in a downward motion

The drastic change of music/image

I think as well SOTT had great potential but Prince wasn't happy cause he really wanted the 3 set Crystal Ball.

Lovesexy sales was the result of cancellation of SOTT US tour, cancellation of the Black Album

too many changes

With Purple Rain - ATWIAD it was just to drastic of a change. Everyone even other musicians and artists were trying to duplicate the PR look and sound even years after

It's not that people didn't like him,

skywalker said:

I agree,
but rap was very different in the early/mid 80's

music in the 80's in general was very cross over friendly or fusion like
Even rap music had a lot of rock n roll elements
Run DMC being one of the biggest rock groups of the time were rock music fans themselves: King of Rock
They also were responsible for resurrecting Aerosmith when they joined with them to do Walk This Way,(which by the way was had a more metal feel than Aerosmiths funkier version)

And Public Enemy had 1 or 2 songs using the rock guitar solo from Let's Go Crazy

Also Sheila E.'s Romance 1600 album saw her bring Erotic City to Hip Hop via Krush Groove, she definately had the 2 best performances of the movie:A Love Bizare and Holly Rock

Imago said:

Pompous maybe but no rehearsed or creepy

Prince just doesn't interview well in my opinion. And see "the Kid" talking openly made me nervous too

Imago said:

Artistically I don't think we can put Michael Jackson in the same catagory with Prince / Madonna

I doubt Madonna was doing what the audience wanted she probably took more better risks than Prince that helped her career especially being a woman who was openly sexual(that's a backlash for a woman back then) her performances:Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer video kissing a black saint and the controversy that video caused. the SEX book, Truth or Dare, Erotic, (putting homosexuality in your in visuals via videos and tours) the Girlie Show which I saw and was spectacular

She might not be the same as Prince but she is an entertainer who was always in charge of her career, she had a F you attitude in a lot of her choices. And she is still at the top of her career.

dance4me said:

Let's remember the facts:

Your conjecture is hit and miss covering a four year span with tabloids vs music, covering different and totally unrelated incidences in Prince's life. Bodyguards? Didn't hurt Madonna's career when Sean was fighting off photographers. The True Blue years were her most successful and fruitful to that point by far, and the stadium-filled Who's That Girl? Tour was a blowout of success.

First of all, everyone thought Michael Jackson was a freak back then and still does, yet he had three #1 albums in a row during all that and a string of #1 singles from all those albums, rumors including but not limited to hyperbaric chambers, elephant man bones, skin lighter, different nose again, shrines to Elizabeth Taylor, etc etc plagued him (although a lot of those were planted by Frank Dileo, his manager, to garner attention but they backfired on him in the public's perception of him, yet he still had a #1 album). Bad sold 30 million records. Dangerous sold 32 million. HIStory (post first child molestation case) sold 20 million (which totaled 40 million units - 2 disks). So that whole tabloid thing is a LOT of conjecture and reaching, and obviously influences NOTHING in record sales. Prince wasn't caught fondling children. MJ was, yet still sold records. But comparing MJ and Prince is apples and oranges anyway. What did Prince sell even close to that BESIDES Purple Rain? How long does an alleged backlash last? MJ has been out of public favor for over a decade, yet even his weakest album Invincible still sold 10 million records.

If Tipper Gore did anything, it was sell more Purple Rain albums. The whole banning or labeling of rock albums have never done anything BUT sell more records. Put a rock band's name into the limelight and point fingers, people will ALWAYS side w/ the rock band. Their rebels, and become the underdog against THE MAN. People love the underdog to win. And remember again, more clearly, Lovesexy was either not racked, or put behind the counter because of the cover, not the content. It didn't garner a "Explicit Content" sticker because it had no explicit content. Some places just put it in a brown wrapper.

There were a slew of albums Tipper was going after. It was "Darling Nikki" that alerted her to it. Everyone from Dee Snider, Frank Zappa, and John Denver showed up in defense of music. Madonna was also attacked for her sexuality onstage and on record, yet her Virgin Tour was a huge, sold-out success. And her albums didn't have a warning label on them until 1992's Erotica. But Tipper holding up a copy of Purple Rain, using the word "masturbating", and talking about how lewd the song was sexually, and Prince is out on tour at the time....that's a major CHA-CHING moment.

Also remember this clearly: The record industry decided to police themselves, there was NEVER a law passed mandating stickering of an album. Tipper wanted a laundry list of codes, like O for Occult, X for sexuality, V for violence, L for language, etc on the album cover. They also wanted the lyrics printed on the back of an album, so parents would supposedly spend 20 minutes siphoning through a list of 8 point fonts to see if FUCK or SHIT was PUSSY was in a lyric. Yet no one ever did that. NONE of the "requirements" that Tipper and company wanted were EVER used. In fact, it's only TV that uses a system even remotely close to that. And not all records w/ cursing have a sticker. Michael Jackson's HIStory was filled with F bombs, yet "dedicated to all the children of the world", and there was NO sticker on that album, and a very small "warning" on the "Scream" single which had "fucking" in the lyrics. And what was Prince's first album with a sticker? Hmm, not Parade. Not SOTT. Not Lovesexy. Not Graffiti Bridge. Not Batman. Not D&P. Not . The Hits might have, I think. Emancipation did. An artist w/ clout could probably fight having a sticker on their album if they really wanted. MJ and Prince aren't the only examples of that.

Prince never sold TONS of albums before or after Purple Rain. Purple Rain was the stand out moment. The same Thriller was for MJ. The same Like A Prayer was for Madonna. The same Born in the USA was for Bruce. The same Rhythm Nation was for Janet. Those were the apex moments for these artists. Everyone gets one, but rarely gets two. It's the monster, not the norm. Prince was selling a million or two records each BEFORE PR, and he went back to that AFTER PR. #1 doesn't equal a million records, as we know. Lotus was #2, and wasn't even near the half way mark to even making Gold status, much less platinum (which it will NEVER reach).

The fact also remains that despite Ronnie and Georgie being in office, Prince still did what he wanted, and people still bought the records. The same people who bought Controversy were buying Lovesexy. And Lovesexy sold a bit more, so his popularity (yet both of those albums only went Gold in sales status.)

OldFriends4Sale said:

stage antics aside, her music has never been edgy or veered from pop, except for 2 stylized soundtracks. She's not a risk taker by any means musically.