just wondering how was he in the 80's and 90's

During that era, if it had nothing to do with concert coverage, album releases, the movies, or the name change, Prince was never in the news.

That is, if you don't count that time he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.

In Minneapolis, he was in the news every time he took a dump. StarTribune, Pioneer Press, City Pages, Twin City Reader etc.

CJBabyDaddy said:

stop lyin

TheKing662 said:

What do you mean? He even wrote a song about. He's played it at nearly aftershow I've been to. Everybody I know has it on one bootleg or another.
The one way you know he's going to play it is when he comes out on onstage, with an acoustic guitar, and he's all dressed in black.

CJBabyDaddy said:

i dont get it.who he shot?

I didn't realize Prince wrote that for Johnny Cash....nice

djdaffy1227 said:

In the 80s, he made news during Purple Rain. The lyrics to "Darlin Niki" raised a lot of controversy. Tipper Gore had music retailers put a parental advisory label on his album. It was the first time this was done,

CJBabyDaddy said:

TheKing662 said:

CJBabyDaddy don't lie.

johnart said:

lol

TheKing662 said:

Really, he believes every damn word he says.

squirrelgrease said:

He was in the news a lot, not only locally in and around The Twin Cities, but also on a US national and International level as well during his marriage 2 Mayte and the subsequent death of their baby!!!! He tried so hard 2 keep the death of his baby out of the news, but eventually it all leaked out!!!

back in his commercial golden age, he didn't have to lift a finger to get coverage. In fact it was oversaturated, like all the other megastars of the era for about a year or so. He didn't grant interviews for several years and it actually helped him gain fans who loved the mystery. Then, after ATWIAD there was just a rapid cooling, he still got good reviews but the pop world moved on as it always does. I really don't think he liked that level of superstardom, just based on his career moves. So, yes, he'd get in the USA today, Rolling Stone or whatever but it wasn't hot news much past Purple Rain. People forget it today but All the post purple albums got lukewarm commercial receptions. I recall lovesexy not even going gold at the time of it's release. Parade and Graffiti Bridge were murdered by critics. I never had a hard time keeping tabs on the man if I tried, but he rarely got news. When he really needed to rally though, he sometimes did with great and sometimes not so great results. His Diamonds and Pearls era was triumphant, his emancipation era was severely marred by the high profile wierdness of his childs death. Moreover, he just put too much out there for anyone to miss him, he oversaturated and demand for his music tenfold. That may not have mattered to him but it does to the public and the business people. Only his genius could save him from some of the seemingly foolish things he's done.

candy2277 said:

I did my term paper on the "Filthy Fifteen" list they had in the Rolling Stone. My teacher actually gave me an A+ for going outside the recommended topics. First kid in my high school to quote cursewords and sexual references and not get sent to the principal's office.

Whenever Prince did a rare interview, the media would report on what he said. More times than not, they didn't report on him that much and that was BEFORE the name change. When I was a kid and just becoming a die-hard Prince fan, I used to get so mad at that cause I'd see Madonna on the news all the time or MJ but never see any mention of Prince or very little mention of him when a new album would come out. I didn't think it was fair at all and it made me look at many artists with a crooked eye cause I felt like they didn't deserve all the media coverage they got, especially when it didnt involve their music, like Madonna.
[Edited 7/27/09 8:56am]

Madonna worked the publicity machine like no one before or since. I can't think of anyone with less artistic merit going so far. Nothing personal about her, just not much there aside from all the image crap which, yes, all superstars must manage.

TheKing662 said:

Back in the day Prince rarely did interviews and the rare chance he did grant one the reporter could not bring a tape recorder just pen and paper. This gave weight to his "mysterious" persona and kept everyone guessing what really went on in his world. He always managed to keep out of the tabloids and gossip pages other than an occasional sighting out at a show or a club. never any real negative press about him. It was basically all about the music and whatever little tidbit he let on about himself. It was always "who is he dating?", "is he gay?", "where does he find these women?".

mozfonky said:

She's said it herself, she's not the best singer, dancer, or whatever. You have to give her credit for giving it up for her fans though. You can watch her videos on her website for free, her cds are remastered, she tours for all her albums worldwide, she releases her concerts and videos on DVD. If ONLY Prince would do shit like that, he might not have such disgruntled fans. He's always hyping his stuff up like it's going to be this and that, and for the last several years has failed to impress in my opinion. I guess I keep hanging on because I figure how could someone have been so great and keep cranking out crap like he does. As for Michael Jackson, he obviously is bigger than both of them, but come on...6 albums in 30 years? If Prince hoarded all of his material and just saved the best for 6 albums, he might have sold a lot more too. I'm glad he didn't do that though!

motherfunka said:

That's all true, Madonna worked her ass off but without a public willing to pay for someone that image oriented with no talent she wouldn't have gotten anywhere. She did have a great personality. Michael I think fell prey to writer's block and his own demons. Since 92 he hasn't really been a worry free guy. Prince on the other hand, in spite of his incessant prissy brattiness has never stopped moving, even when he's fucking up, he's doing something, he's always making an effort. As far as his stuff being really bad, it's all subjective, I liked musicology a great deal, I wasn't crazy about Rainbow Children (hardly even listened to it) 3121 and have yet to hear his new stuff. But If I were to listen strictly to his fans I would never even buy his new albums.

mozfonky said:

Well to say that someone with 37 top 10 hits has no talent, versus someone who doesn't even have half that...well I'm sure you see my point. As far as Prince's music being crap for the last several years, I did say in my opinion. I still go out and buy his new cds, even though they'll just be put away for good. Still have to give it a listen!

He also got a lot of negative publicity for not performing in "We Are the World".