TheKing662 said:

I have kids older than you so I guess I qualify,

The first Prince song I heard was I wanna b your Lover. I liked his music but I didn't get into him right away. The first pic I ever saw of him was a small, grainy black and white photo in a newspaper. I remember thinking he was one of the Sylvers gone solo.

I remember reading about how he played all of the instruments on his albums and I thought that was pretty cool but you have to realize that music back then was so different. We had so many bands releasing mind blowing music all the time so there were lots of options and Prince had to bring his A-game to get noticed since there was so much competition. That's one reason why he's so damn good.

I got hooked for life when my boyfriend gave me the 1999 album as a gift. I had seen Prince on tv and I liked his style but when I played International Lover for the first time that was it...the man owned me! I wore that album out and don't even get me started on the album cover and the nude photo on the inside sleeve...I thought, "whoa, this dude is bold"!

I was captivated by the experimental sounds he created and his extremely clever lyrics captured my imagination. When Prince blew up he was the baddest mofo out there, I tell ya. He had the whole package with his music, attitude and look.

When Purple Rain hit, Prince pretty much blew everybody else out of the water. Everywhere you turned his style was being imitated but try as they might, nobody could touch him.

I was never the type to have a school girl crush on him or follow his every move, but what he expresses musically always gets my attention. To me he was and is the most phenomenally creative, dynamic and versatile artist and to this day he's still my favorite because his artisic expression resonates with me like no one else does.

It's about time you make thread, I don't mind getting into!


So you want to know about Prince from back in the day? Well gather around kiddies, Auntie Hatrina is going to tell you a story.

Back when I was in high school i used to sneak out at lunch every Tuesday to get the new single/12 inch or album that was coming out. I'd be all over the school showing off and couldn't wait to get home to check it out at full blast!
It was a fantastic time period for Prince and all of his fans. You'd get the album and love it then the 12 inch would drop and you'd flip for the remix/extended versions and then there were the b-sides! These tracks were like a gift from Prince himself to the fans. Amazing times.

Note to King662 - Don't let all these bitter assholes on here get to you. They seek out posts they have no interest in then answer with b.s. responses all in an effort to try to get you to stop posting. It's always the same 9 or 10 douchebags that do this. Don't let them faze you. Stay true young fan.

Old school 4eva!

35 years old and discovered Prince at the tender age of 7, riding to my cousins house with my dad as "Controversy" came on the radio. The chorus was stuck in my head and I walked around all day singing "Count your blessings" because that's what I thought he said. My cousin overheard and asked "Do u like Prince?" I said "Who?" and she took me inside and handed me the "Controversy" album. "He looks like a girl!" was my first reaction. I remember listening to that album over and over as Donna let me take it home.

Next thing I remember is seeing the "1999" video on MTV and it was all over! We all had our favorites in the band but Dez Dickerson and the kamikaze headband was top notch. I remember saving my $5 allowance for two weeks to buy the album, then getting to the record store and seeing that it was $13.99 because it was a double album and my father refusing to give me even a dime to pay the difference. That was one of the longest weeks EVER as I had to wait till next week to pick it up. Well...it was the longest week ever until the Purple Rain movie came out. Then I was in Oakland visiting my grandma for the summer. Another cousin of mine and her friend were going on opening night and I was invited along. Got dressed, sitting on pins and needles waiting for the girls to get ready. As we walk out of the door, grandma says "What are you going to see? Purple Rain...isn't that rated R? Raj you can't go..." I literally cried! Had to wait nearly a month before I went home and tricked my babysitter into taking me. Ahh...the good old days!

I remember seeing the world premiere of the "Raspberry Beret" video on MTV. It was the last day of fifth grade and for some reason I remember seeing it in the morning before school, then getting to school and everyone laughing and saying his hair made him look like Liza Minelli.

Worst memory---seeing MTV news and Mark Goodman announcing that the Revolution was disbanded. I was SOOOOO pissed at Prince for that one. When the "Sign O The Times" single hit the radio I tried my hardest to hate it...then the album dropped and I could no longer resist. I bought it the first weekend it came out and I honestly don't remember listening to anything else for a LONG time!

Many more memories clogging my brain...and I agree with one of the earlier posts. It is AWESOME to see "youngsters" digging on Prince. All the youngsters I know (other than my three kids who have been forced to like Prince over the years) even pay attention to him. Keep it up, young soulster!

The year was 1978, Disco was on it's last breath and Funk was all the rage. I was just a little tyke but I knew what I knew and I liked what I liked.

I used to love to hang my older brother and my older cousins because they were always playing music that I liked. They'd play Earth Wind and Fire, LTD, The Ohio Players, Parliament Funkadelic, Bootsy Collins, etc.

One night, I was sitting in the house bored and my brother and his friends came in and started playing their music. My mother told me to go to bed but my brother talked her into letting me stay up a little bit longer, as long as I stayed on the couch and didn't ask a whole bunch of questions, which I had a tendency to do. I agreed and happily hopped up on the couch with my dolls and brush to play with.

They were listening to the radio and a song came on and I remember the DJ making a joke that the song he was about to play was from "some cat that thinks he's a Prince." The song I would come to learn later was "Soft and Wet".

I didn't know what the guy was singing about but I knew I liked the music of the song, so when one of my brother's friends got up to change the station and my brother saw that I had my dolls dancing to it, he told him to let it play.

That was my introduction to the man that didn't think he was a Prince. He was Prince!

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I always like the stories of you guys who discovered Prince when you were really young...he's only 2 years older than me.

I remember
the thrill of seeing the words "from the forthcoming album []" on the first single of a new album.

going down to Revolver for bootlegs.

calling the local wrecka stow and asking "when is it coming out"

cutting school to go out and buy ATWIAD, PARADE AND SOTT.

the first time I heard "Ballad of Dorothy Parker" and thinking I dreamt of it the night before.

standing in line with hundreds of sweaty fans for Lovesexy tour tix.

I would hear "Soft and Wet" a lot where I lived. The females in the area seemed to love it. The guys, not so much, they thought Prince sounded a bit too feminine for their tastes.

By the summer of 1980, I would hear a lot of Prince being played on the radio, particularly "I Wanna Be Your Lover" Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad" and "Still Waiting". My female cousins and their friends were just crazy about Prince because they'd seen what he looked like by this time. I still hadn't seen him but I knew I really liked and enjoyed the music that he made.

One hot summer night, I was spending at my brother house, who had moved out of our house by this time, which was great for me because he'd let me stay up way past my bedtime. He lived on the upper level of a two family flat and since it was so hot out, he said my sister and I could camp out on his porch. We were listening to the One and Only Electrifying Mojo, something my mother would never let us do and he introduced me to the song that would make me a life long Prince fan. I remember it like it was yesterday. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and I was looking up at the stars and Mojo played, "It's Gonna Be Lonely".

Then and there, I knew I was hooked. Both on Mojo and on Prince. This is where my journey into the adventure that was Prince truly began.

Y'all have to forgive me, if I'm posting kind of slow. Since I'm on this trip down memory lane, I'm playing the soundtrack that goes with it. It's a damn shame that I can't do that for y'all too but yeah well


Play 'em if you've got 'em!

babynoz said:

Yeah, Yeah!

I had heard 'Soft and Wet' but it sounded like a gimmick to me and a minor one hit wonder . . . so I ignored it.
I had been listening to 'I Wanna Be Your Lover' for weeks on the radio when an experience made me think, "This man knows what I'm going through!." 7:00 am, Nov. 7, 1979. Been a fan ever since.
After school that day, I bought the 45, and then went back for the album.
I bought 'For You' because that was the only other album he had released.
When 'Dirty Mind' dropped, you either got it or you didn't. In Birmingham, Alabama, I only knew three of us who loved the album and Prince.
We all saw him someday being too big to be a cult act but we were gonna enjoy it while we could.
In the Army I had a wall covered in Prince, including the Controversy poster.
Controversial, yes. Few knew who Prince was or why my wall would be dedicated to him. The frustrating thing, is that my interest in Prince has never been sexual and yet that's what seemed to come to mind for people first.

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

You don't know how many hours I've spent listening to that song.
Prince and I have shed some tears together . . .
Great story.

By Thanksgiving 1980, I was straight up a Prince fan.

I would do everything I could, to get to spend Friday nights at my brother's house so that I could listen to Mojo because Mojo would always play me some Prince.

Since it was Thanksgiving and we had relatives visiting, my mother said I couldn't go because I had to stay home with one of my cousins that I didn't especially care for. I was one unhappy child but after our parents sent us upstairs so they could play cards and listen to Motown music, that would all change forever.

My cousin asked if she could play the record player that was in my room. I was about to say no, when I turned to her and she was holding the "Dirty Mind" Lp in her hands.

My young tender eyes for the very first time gazed upon Prince in ALL his glory.

The only thing I could do was point to where my record player was. She handed me the album cover and put the record on. From the first beat, it was over for me. I finally had a face (and a half naked body ) to put with the music.

By the time we through with "Party Up", I was to be now what I know as SPENT! I had been musically taken on a journey that my young mind could have never imagined.

I didn't make it back to my brother's house and listening to Mojo until Christmas break and Mojo was on it. It was me, Mojo and Prince, with Sister, having a Dirty Mind, getting some Head, Doing It All Night, going Uptown to Party Up my whole break. That is one of my absolute favorite Christmas memories.
[Edited 9/1/09 20:59pm]

http://prince.org/msg/7/314119 (reference)
[Edited 9/1/09 21:26pm]

From "Dirty Mind" through "LoveSexy" was an experience that I just don't have the time to do justice tonight because I have to get up early, so I'll finish this tomorrow night.
[Edited 9/1/09 21:36pm]

listening to Scandalous while having hot under the pale moon light

Lets see.... There was alot of school ditchin thats for sure. I snuck in and watched Prince rehearse for about an hour at Flippers in 81.I cut the line twice while ditchin school to get my ticket for the premere of Purple Rain at the Chinese Theater .My friend got a job at a ticket agency so we could go to the Purple Rain every night front row at the Los Angeles Fourm.Thats not including the times i actually saw Prince in a clothing store , or in clubs around L.A. This is pretty much how my life has been since the first time i heard his music and after i saw his picture it has been on every since.HOOKED.28 years never enough. ( AND YES I HAVE A LIFE )

41 year old. My cousin used to have a drumset and he played to records, mostly Rick James "You and I". One day he put on a record called Soft and Wet, there was a guy on the front with a big fro, this was 78'and i was like 10 LOL. In middle school i had a crush on a girl named Gayle, and there he was with "I wanna be your lover" on american bandstand-i was hooked. Once the 80's hit it was Dirty Mind, i was 12 and turning into a handfull, mamma thought that album cover was nasty. During the early 80's you could find Prince on all of the Black Teen Mags like Right On and read about him dating Patrice Rushen or Rick hating him. But you knew you were thinking about pussy (12, 13, 14) and he was singing about it LOL. Controversy hit when i was really getting into owning music, taping it and every now and then the DJ in my wack assed hometown would drop a 12" extended version of "Lets Work", 81 was the last year Prince really belonged to me. By 82 he was a staple on MTV and seriously, no matter how much i loved Thriller i thought 1999 was better. Being in High School then was cool because we were the first kids to see our music and generate our personal style from what we saw daily. Youngin, Prince vs. Mike was real LOL at least in the bedrooms and classrooms of my highschool-we argued ALL THE TIME even though none of us were able to experience either artist live. There was no in between you were either a Prince kid, or a Mike Kid and it basically let people know where you stand about a lot of shit loa. Prince kids were more rebellious, more anti click and most likely fucking LOL. Mike kids were mainstream, college bound and most likely making out. And 84? BOOOOM!! still havent seen anything like it, to add to all of the aclaim the award show performances gave a lot of us the chance to see our hero Live, to top it off he was mysterious kryptic and strange everything teens loved. For the rest of the decade his releases were like events, lining up at the record store at midnight, sitting around with your homies the next day (listening) and asking "what the hell?!!". Yeah youngin Prince was the shit back in day, and in no way could he come close to repeating that kind of synergy. He challenged us, sold a grip, waved the freak flag, recieved critical acclaim and trust me if you looked anything close to him (like i did in High School) Got you LAID!!.

dreamshaman32 said:

Godddddamn

Another thing, i was telling my 20 year old daughter this. You know how someone like Lauren Hill, D'angelo or Andre 3000 will do something wildly creative and then enter the witness protection program? like the genuis tag was too heavy to bear?. Prince once Dirty Mind hit followed up every year with something hotter and more creative, then facture in that there were albums in between like dream factory that the label wouldnt let him drop-insane!!.Thats why its hard for us oldheads to accept someone being called the next prince. Dángelo (although i love him) went nuts cus women were trippin on his body? Prince used to come out in a bikini! he didnt give a fuck LOL cus he might sport a suit on the next album.

I have been a fan since Soft and Wet was played on an Arkansas radio back in the day. Have gotten every album since then and continue down this road still. I remember all the dudes in high school who would hate on my listening to Prince. Saying anything negative that they could say but put him on at the party and they would be the 1st one on the dance floor. King, Don't mind the negativity that you get cause they just hate that youth is wasted on the young. So have a great time and enjoy your fandom like you want. Keep on funking!!!

He used to be great, i actually looked forward to new music from the man. It was exciting as my next sexual conquest, now it's about the equivalent of my next dump.

I was one of those cats that walked around with a "boombox" in 1978.

I heard Soft and Wet playing on the radio and I was hooked after 60 seconds. While song was still playing, I ran straight 2 the record shop and asked the cashier, what is this song playing? I want it RIGHT now. I lived 1 block from the record store at the time.

The rest is history.....

I think I became a Prince fan when he bought out When Doves cry and the video was very erotic for that time. Mtv was relatively new where I lived and all our music was on cassettes and I'd listen on my walkman. Purple rain was the first cd I think I ever owned (and Madonna) and it was the first type of "house party" because many numbers ran smoothly into other, there were not just individual tracks.

In those days there was no R&B which involves a lot of sexy erotic videos with almost naked bodies gyrating. Prince used a lot of sex I think to sell his music then. He was bad/naughty, and rebellious. Seeing hot videos was new and rebellious lyrics, matched my teenaged years. I listened to Prince for 10 years up until Diamonds and Pearls then moved to Asia and got into totally different music. Upon returning to Europe, where house had taken over and other branches of genres from that, I again changed music styles. I have only now recently started to try and catch up with what he's done since 1995.

RodeoSchro said:

TOO freakin' cool!

HIGH SCHOOL 1985/1986
THEY WERE PLAYING PRINCE MUSIC IN ALL THE CLUBS
IT WAS GOOD TIMES

My father gave me The Very Best of Prince and then it all clicked together. Prince - Purple Rain - I Hate U - - The Gold Experience - P Control - I Wanna Be Your Lover...


Those were good times, damn good times!



It's a shame I can't remember much of it any longer, I'm getting old...

I became a Prince fan with 1999 but my sister was a fan starting with I Wanna Be Your Lover in 1979.

My seminal Prince moment came with Purple Rain in 1984 and the hoopla that surrounded it. My favorite moments in my teenage years was seeing Purple Rain at 14. My "first time" and listening to Tamborine in the background. Kissing my high school sweetheart while Kiss is playing on her stereo.

Going to the record store and buying the 12 inch to SOTT the single and almost fighting the clerk who said that Cat was Prince in drag. Going to buy the SOTT album and finding out that I was short by about $8.00 and having to bum money from my mom to get the album.

Coming home from my senior homecoming game and watching the I Could Never Take The Place OF Your Man video on Friday Night Videos. My friends and I sneaking off 50 miles away from home and seeing SOTT the movie 3 times and gettting grounded for coming home at 3:00 am. Buying the USA Today Newspaper and seeing that a new Prince album called the Funk Bible was coming out the week before Christmas.Being hurt and confused when it was not released . Graduating from high school and listening to I Wish U Heaven.

I was 16 when I first heard Soft & Wet back in 1978, and had to find out who this Prince was. I saw his For You poster with the awesome fro and those piercing eyes at the wreka stow, and as a young girl, I was smitten and picked up that album that very day. I had to listen late at night with my head phones on because my folks would not have liked me listening to such suggestive music. With each listen, I fell deeper and deeper into a place where this dude would take you on a journey that was beyond what anyone else was doing musically. With each new album or 12 inch single, I just had to get them, then listen secretly and be taken on another purple destination. This dude was telling musical stories about things we all thought about, but couldn't talk about, or experiences we dreamed about that you thought would never be reality. It was a time where everything he did was just too funky or too deep and you couldn't just talk to other folks about what he did because they just didnt get it. For a straight-laced girl from a small US town, Prince was that naughty boy that you just couldn't get enough of. Listening to his music made me feel like I was walking on the wild side for a brief minute!

Graycap23 said:

LOL Love it.

dreamshaman32 said:

The best post yet...wow...u r bringing back memories....