Thought I would share this article I found in the Minneapolis Star Tribune with everyone. Pretty much stuff I think we all already know but just wanted to share

http://www.startribune.co..._Yyc:aUUsZ

The "Purple Rain" soundtrack zoomed to the top of the charts and stayed there for half a year. Los Angeles critic Mikal Gilmore called "Purple Rain" the best rock film ever made. Its premiere was in Hollywood.

- LISA COLEMAN: It was at the Grauman's Chinese Theater, across the street from where I'd wait for the bus to go home after school. Doing that whole red-carpet thing, it was a fantasy.

- BOBBY Z: I was sitting next to Prince and my wife and my mom. When people were laughing at the jokes on the screen, he cracked a smile.

The $7 million movie grossed $65 million. Suddenly, Prince was a huge star. His tour included week long stands in New York and Los Angeles - and a record five shows at the St. Paul Civic Center.

- BOBBY Z: We were at the Forum in L.A. Madonna knocks on the door and says, "Can I use the bathroom?" Sure. Bruce Springsteen needed to use the bathroom, too. My dad was there. "Dad, I'd like you to meet Bruce. Madonna, this is Harold Rivkin." My dad goes, "Nice to meet you." He didn't know who he was talking to.

- PAUL PETERSON: Prince brought Bruce up and gave him a guitar to play a solo. Then he took the guitar over Bruce's head and played a little bit, pretending like it wasn't working right. He gave it a little look. And then he gave it this look like, "It's fine now that I'm playing it." He was giving Springsteen the attitude.

- ALAN LEEDS (tour manager): For every outfit, there were matching boots. We're talking like a hundred outfits. Every night he was breaking heels. This kid was a hurricane onstage. Someone found a boot designer in New York who does theatrical wardrobe, an elderly Italian guy. He told her, "The only problem is I've got a dozen boots to make for Luther Vandross. As soon as that's done, we can move to yours." She looked at him, pulled out an Amex Gold Card and said, "Luther who?"

A sexy song on the B side of Prince's No. 1 single "Let's Go Crazy" introduced a new flame, percussionist Sheila E.

- DAVID Z: We were editing "Erotic City" at his purple house in Chanhassen. It was a hot summer day, and I wore this loud Hawaiian shirt. I said, "I can't hear the bass drum too well." He said, "That's 'cause your shirt's too loud."

The soundtrack went on to win two Grammys and an Academy Award.

- WENDY MELVOIN: At the Oscars we went on the podium with Prince, and we looked like the Addams Family. It was an amazing evening. The most incredible part was me and Lisa sitting next to Jimmy Stewart and just being absolutely amazed at the amount of energy in the room and around Prince.

Prince began looking at new directions for his follow up record.

- LISA COLEMAN: We used to spend hours and hours playing records for each other. Even classical music. Prince hadn't really been exposed to it. I remember one time I was living with his girlfriend Kim Upsher in Crystal. He came knocking at the door: "Have you ever heard this?" It was Ravel's "Bolero" - he'd just seen the movie "10."

- PRINCE (Entertainment Weekly Online, 1999): In some ways, "Purple Rain" was more detrimental than good. People's perception of me changed after that, and it pigeonholed me. I saw kids coming to concerts who screamed just because that's where the audience screamed in the movie. That's why I did "Around the World in a Day," to totally change that.

Before the psychedelic-flavored album came out, he broke his silence to the press in a Rolling Stone cover story with a Minneapolis writer.

- NEAL KARLEN: His limo took me out to a warehouse. I'm just kind of standing there like a dork. Finally, he sees me and gestures me out to his car, a 1966 T-Bird, which I guess was his dad's car. He was leaning over the steering wheel saying over and over, "I said I'd never do this again." So I stowed my tape recorder and everything, and we just started talking. We talked about Minnesota, the Twins, you can't get good Chinese food here, and finally he started up the car and started driving through north Minneapolis. We went to First Avenue. He pulls up right in front and the crowd parted - it was like Universal Studios where they have the fake Moses crossing the Red Sea.

Prince decided to direct himself on his second movie, "Under the Cherry Moon," filmed on the French Riviera with actress Kristin Scott-Thomas. It flopped, but the accompanying album, "Parade," had one of his biggest hits, "Kiss."

- WENDY MELVOIN: He was in a new place, and the whole look started changing and getting sleeker. There was something very Cary Grantish about him. He was happy, and he liked working with all those new people. You could see him growing exponentially. He was fearless, and he wanted to get his hands on all creative aspects of his career.

- JEFF KATZ (photographer): We were shooting in La Victorine studios in Nice, where Truffaut made his movies. It was just Prince and me and this little boom box in this massive room. I would shoot a few rolls; he would put on some music. This went on for a couple of hours, not really talking. We ended up with that "Parade" album cover. I was there for four months. He wasn't interested in candid photos. It was like, "This is my look, and this is how it has to be all the time."

- DAVID Z: I was mixing the soundtrack at a soundstage in Los Angeles. I pull up with two huge tapes under my arms, and I see Prince talking to somebody. "David, do you know Michael Jackson?" In this soundstage, there was a pingpong table. They come in with their bodyguards. Prince says, "You want to play pingpong?" Michael says, "I don't know how to play, but I'll try." The whole crew stops working to watch them play. Pretty soon, Prince says to Michael, "You want me to slam it?" Michael drops his paddle and holds his hands up in front of his face so the ball won't hit him. Needless to say, the game is over. Michael walks out with his bodyguard. And Prince starts strutting around like a rooster. "Did you see that? He played like Helen Keller."

Prince actually wrote "Kiss" for an album David Z was producing for Mazarati, a Twin Cities group discovered by Revolution bassist Mark Brown.

- DAVID Z: Prince gave us this straight version with just one verse, an acoustic guitar and voice, no rhythm. It was almost a folk song. We went back in the studio and stayed up all night doing this thing. In the morning, I came back around 9:30. Prince had been there, listened to what we did and put his lead guitar and voice on it. He said, "It was too good for you guys. I'm taking it back."

The Time broke up when singer Morris Day and guitarist Jesse Johnson left to pursue solo careers. The new edition of the band had played only one gig.

- PAUL PETERSON: We were all sitting around the warehouse - I'm making $250 a week even after a hit movie and a double-platinum record on the wall. Prince said, "Morris is gone. But I'm going to start a new band, and you're going to be the lead singer." He pointed right at me. Huh?

- ERIC LEEDS: The Time was basically his way of making R&B music without being pigeonholed as an R&B artist. So he put together the Family as a substitute, with the conscious decision of having the lead vocalists be white people. He was thinking of George Michael and Wham! - thinking he could get in on that market. The Family record is one of my favorite Prince albums. Basically, what he did was bring Paul Peterson in to mimic him. And it certainly worked, to Paul's credit. Prince wanted to make us look like these little rich kids who can be funky. The first day we did a photo shoot, I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "Oh, my god, this is not what I went to music school for." But it was fun.

- WENDY MELVOIN: Those warehouses were incredible breeding grounds for creativity. The Time was in one room rehearsing, and we'd be in the other. Prince was in the midst of doing the Family record. He was really driven, and his moods started getting more serious. He didn't have a lot of time for fun, except he would go outside and play basketball - in the high heels, which he's now paying for, I'm sure. With his heels on, he could run faster than me, and I was wearing tennies.

- DAVID Z: We used to kid that he never slept. He took catnaps. I remember him telling me: "You work better in the studio when you're tired because you don't overthink things."

Meanwhile, trouble was brewing in the Family.

- PAUL PETERSON: We rehearsed for months and months, and played one gig. It was a surprise gig, like he said, "We're going to play First Avenue tonight." Nobody knew who we were, except we were the new Prince group. He hugged me after the show, he was so ecstatic.

- ERIC LEEDS: In the fall of '85, there was supposed to be a Paisley Park package tour with Sheila E, the Family and Mazarati. The Family album was out and the single, "The Screams of Passion," was doing very well, but Paul was starting to have misgivings.

- PAUL PETERSON: He had me in singing, acting and dancing lessons out in Los Angeles. Still making $250 a week. They had a contract that they wanted us to sign. My lawyer said, "Don't sign it." I'd go to Prince, and he'd say, "Don't talk business to me. Talk to my managers." None of us signed it.

When the record came out, the band was scattered because Susannah Melvoin, the group's other singer was out with Prince on tour. My phone started ringing. John McClain of A&M Records said, "I want you to leave Prince." He showed me a figure, which was like $250,000. That was a lot more than $250 a week. Steve Fargnoli Prince's manager threatened me with lawsuits and injunctions. I got one of those rare phone calls from Prince: "What is this about? Money? You want a house? I can get you a house." I said, "It's too late. I've made up my mind." Here we are, 12 months after the Time broke up; we rehearsed for months and we did one gig. Prince was devastated.

cool, like I said b4 Prince is everywhere, I finally read the Spin article, interesting tid bits, I didn't know he was across the street when Lennon got shot, how eerie, I have always loved the Beatles

Great stuff. I wonder if Paul regrets his decision or if he ever actually collected all 250k. The Family project was always interesting. Paisley Park (the label) had so much potential and a lot of cool ideas.

A good read. I should have picked up the paper today. That David Z quote about Michael Jackson makes me cringe even more now.

fanatic4ever said:

My advice is to copy and paste that article to a safe place cause it has been taken down from the site before from web sheriff or Prince himself. (I printed this out myself)
I remember this from awhile back

Interesting, they only reposted parts of the special article that they did back 2004. THAT WAS ONLY PART OF IT. 4 the entire article that touches on a little of everything (from him growing up, him being signed with Warner Bros., him leaving Warner Bros., and even his vault):
http://ww2.startribune.co...index.html
[Edited 7/26/09 18:13pm]