30 years of Purple Rain.

The reason Musicology tour was such a success is because he was out of the spotlight for so long.

[Title altered as there is no truth to when - luv4u]

Why do you say that?

But 2012 is supposed to be it for us all

Is it just me or was there a thread exactly like this quite recently?

luv4u said:

Because he last MAJOR tour of the US before that was Lovesexy, not a commercially successful tour.

For years people didn't hear about him or only as a joke.

I think he had to escape all the "stigma" and just kind of "come back."

I think most concert goes on Musicology hadn't seen him since Purple Rain, if at all.

Also because it would be the anniversary of Purple Rain, without doubt his greatest commercial success.

sro100 said:

2004 Grammys, and The Art of Musicology
2003 Aladdin DVD, Today appearance
2002 One Nite Alone Tour, Leno apperance, etc.
2001 NPGMC had a lot of media coverage plus the Celebration that year.
2000/1 Hit N Run Tour, lots of publicity from media)
1999 Rave Un2 Pay Per View plus multiple TV appearances promoting Rave Un2 CD (like The View, MTV TRL,
1998 Multiple TV appearances with Chaka Khan and Larry Graham promoting the New Power Pak, plus Crystal Ball (like Vibe, Today Show, Essence Awards, Leno appearance)
1997 SO many appearances on TV and cable and a tour promoting Emancipation (Oprah, Muppets Tonight, Emancipation Celebration (at the end of 1996), Rosie, NAACP Awards, etc_)

So .....how was he out of the spotlight again?

sro100 said:

And he celebrated the 25th anniversary of that movie, and the DVD how exactly? Oh right....it's 2009 and he did nothing to even acknowledge the movie, the anniversary, the PR tour, etc.

I don't think so, let's hope not.

ernestsewell said:

That's exactly my point. Doing a tour r promotion every 5 years is NOT a special event. For example, if a high school does a reunion every 5 years they become poorly attended, but wait 10 years and it's an "event" and people are interested in going. If Barbara Streisand toured every 5 years she could NOT charge the astronomical ticket prices she can for an "event."
[Edited 10/23/09 11:19am]

ernestsewell said:

The 2004 Grammy's were meant to promote the tour.

Every thing else you mentioned was non-existent to the general public.

sro100 said:

Okay well HS reunions are meant to reunite folks that haven't seen each other in years. HS reunions are usually 10, 25, etc.

A tour is another issue. Tours usually go hand-in-hand with an album's release. However, if you're talking about a "major tour" to coincide w/ Purple Rain's anniversary, 25 is usually the time a special DVD comes out of a movie (like PR had), and that new featurettes are filmed (like PR had), and previously aired things are now preserved on DVD (like PR had). Prince chose NOT to participate in the 25th anniversary, the SILVER anniversary, of Purple Rain. Everyone else involved w/ the project were on those featurettes. Hell, even Marie France showed up! Did Prince? Nope.

25 years is a generation. That's why it's significant and special when releasing DVDs, or even celebrating an album with remastering and extra tracks (which we've all wished for with unbridled abandon). But to think Prince is going to do some 30th anniversary nod to Purple Rain is beyond insane. That's just Prince, not you. He'll play PR songs, but he refuses to ever really acknowledge the movie or the project as a whole. He's totally turned his back on it. He's played w/ Wendy, Lisa, Matt, Bobby, and Mark because he's maintained some sort of relationship w/ them, but he's never orchestrated a reunion, even for a one off PPV deal or something. Despite him knowing fans want, and would PAY, for a reunion, remastered albums, or some big tour acknowledging/tied-in with Purple Rain, he's refused to do it.

Someone once said, "the best indicator of future behavior, is past behavior". That is true for Prince, 100%. His business dealing w/ fans, his bullying, his denial of the past, or whatever, has been, if nothing, consistent to a fault.

All in all, there won't be a big tour in 2014. He might tour, but Musicology was probably the last HUGE tour he'll do for a while. He's dropped the ball w/ Lotusflow3r, and his attempts to resurrect it in France will be futile. Sure, Lotusflow3r ended up at #1 on the iTunes UK downloads. Wooooo. Whoopie. It's not there now. On the UK downloads on iTunes, he's not even in the Top 10 anymore (I just checked.) He's not in the Top 10 of the France downloads either (I just checked). I said this last week that someone should take a screen shot because the #1 spot wouldn't last. It didn't. Not really a big prophetic statement on my part, just logical.

Don't get me wrong in all this.....I WISH he'd do a Revolution thing, a Purple Rain thing...just to put a cap on it for the fans, and even for the Revolution members who are open to a reunion or something. But he won't. Such is life in the world of Prince fans.

sro100 said:

Nonsense. The general public watches Leno, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The View, The Essence Awards, The NAACP Awards, Oprah, Rosie, etc. That IS the mainstream spotlight. Those aren't niche markets, especially things like Leno, Today, GMA, The View, Oprah. Whether the performance on the Grammy's was meant to promote toilet tissue or a tour, the fact is, he opened the show, and people took notice.

ernestsewell said:

I think they may have meant "relevant" in the mainstream sense, when they said "spotlight".