This was posted in 2005 about a book that Bono was in discussion Prince:



Fans looking to get further inside the head of the already vocal frontman of U2, Bono, have a great new opportunity in the form of "BONO: In Conversation," a book complied by French rock critic/journalist (and friend of Bono) Michka Assayas.

Printed chronologically as a series of conversations between Assayas and Bono, each chapter focuses largely on major themes such as Bono's religious beliefs, his work in Africa and with world leaders, his childhood and his thoughts on his U2 bandmates.

What might surprise some, though, is how many times the name "Prince" comes up in conversation. Name dropped nearly a dozen times throughout, Here are a few of Bono's thoughts on the Purple One:

On living the rock star life:
"These white rock stars, they think they're authentic, and that Prince is just some sort of showbiz Christmas tree. But he has more soul in his little finger than a whole harbor full of these rock bands."

Bono talks about meeting Prince in the early 90s and asking him about the word "slave" written on his face:
"There's no excuse in the twentieth century for intelligent people signing a deal they don't understand. That said, Prince deserves the best deal in the world because he is the best in the world. He's Duke Ellington to me!"

After saying that he would much rather be in a band than a solo artist because solo artists are too prone to indulgence:
"I think, in some ways, it's easier to realize a vision that's singular and in your own head, but it's harder to keep the vision going without argument. Look at Prince. He's one of my favorite composers of the twentieth century. I really believe in him. But he needs an editor. He needs a row. He needs somebody in the studio to tell him to f*ck off. 'And guess what? There's six great tracks and four of them are pretty average. I'm sorry, sir. Your genius was having a bad day.' Does he have that? No chance."





What are your thoughts about Bono's comments? Specifically him needing an editor? Doesn't that make his works a bit more impure? I saw a documentary where Aerosmith was allowing some famous producer to just rip and rearrange one of their songs apart, and I was absolutely appalled that they would agree to dropping artistic integrity for a 'hit'.

"There's six great tracks and four of them are pretty average" - shame that on U2's last album are just three great tracks and the rest is awfull.. And I was hardcore U2 fan back in the day.

zaza said:

No Line on The Horizon... I agree Zaza, is average at best.

Magnificent
Moment Of Surrender
The boots song

these are great. I can't get into the rest.. and I am U2 fan too.

thedance said:

sorry, but Bono is right.....

thedance said:

Your list is nearly similar as mine, but I like No Line On The Horizon instead of Moment Of Surrender

Bono's right - it's always good for an artist to have people they can trust
who will tell them truthfully when they think something sucks, or could be
done differently or better etc. Even if their advise isn't taken, just having
that sounding board is beneficial IMO.

2005 rang, it wants its news back

thedance said:

same with "...Atomic Bomb" there are a couple of good cuts and
like 85% of he album is ballads
I miss the Actung/Zooropa/Pop days

TheChief said:

"Yeah, well the jerk store called, and they're running out of you"
- George Costanza

chewymusic said:

I LOVE "Pop" album..I know both critics and fans hate this album, but it's definitely in my Top 3 U2's album.

Bono's right !

BTW, I wouldn't have thought that he had such high regards for Prince !

TheVoid said:

i love the quirky innovative point of view frontmen and artists in general natually possess

Anyways, Bono pretty much hit the nail on the head
the fact that he appreciates Prince is just adds to the fact that he's a worthy musician
[Edited 1/16/10 9:00am]

Since I can't be thejason, my new nickname is going to be "Showbiz Christmas Tree".

toejam said:

"What's the difference? You're their all-time best seller."

Average prince is still miles better than the crud we endure 2day.The only reason prince goes down hill ever is the lack of support from a major label in the advertising and distribution department.If apple pushed prince on the net and record stores like hmv covered the rest it would be a start.maybe a 3 year deal with sony would work(it certainly isnt the music).oh,and if you put the output of u2 side by side with prince its obvious prince would win.there is more to his music.And it saddens me when i ask some young people who prince is? and they don't have a clue.i've helped them obviously but its still bad/sad.

DIAMONDGEEZA


A while back there was a topic about Prince's new stuff compared to the old. Many old fans do not like the new as much. Some of the New fans think it is better. Now it is not as popular (some of that is due to how he markets himself) but even in his heyday Prince said that success was not the same as quality (paraphrased from the 85 rolling stone interview from memory).

Also if we grew up listing to Prince then some of those songs would mean more to us than a new song. Which seems to be part of being older.

Prince also said "my only competition is well me in the past."

BorisFishpaw said:

I would agree with this to a point, but freakishly talented people are best left alone to their own whims and devices. If all of the talented people in the world who have created masterpieces of work, be it music, paintings, sculpture, etc., had someone telling them that their vision wasn't "good", what would this do to the artist's vision as it relates to his confidence in his vision? Im sure that most great artists throughout history had, for every one of their masterpieces, numerous failures. And failures are successes in a way. As Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

many orgers have said the same thing, prince needs a producer if he wants to be a commercial success

BlackAdder7 said:

screw that! last thing we need is another artist out there being unfaithful and un-authentic to their fans by letting producers monkey with their work for the sake of easy prosthetc $
Prince is above that
let the baker make the bread

BlackAdder7 said:

I am not sure about that but he could use someone to say "NO" to him once and a while.

trisha said:

He always talks about Prince with respect. The vocals in the U2 song "Lemon" was influenced by Prince.
[Edited 1/16/10 12:42pm]

Shawnt27 said:

That's true.

fucking bono..

zaza said:

Bono, is a nice kind person. But he made a slip up. Prince's editing suppose to be Prince and Bono conversation. So when Bono how talented Prince and said something like he needs editing it just doesn't sound right to me. He could call him or E-mail him. With the (editing) part of the interview.

I believe everyone thinks Prince needs someone around to say "NO". That is what Wendy and Lisa did. He was the boss, but they would tell him if something was wack. Where ever he had a band in the studio he turned out a GREAT record. In the early to mid eighties and then again in 1991 he turned out good music that sold everywhere. Both were his best periods and he had folks in the studio with him.

I have heard Clive Davis, LA Reid, and a lot of others who said he is a genius, but he some folks around him.

Don't get me wrong....he has produced some jams all by himself, but there also been times I thought "dang, homie....I could have told you that wasn't going to sell".

DIAMONDGEEZA said:

Prince's production doesn't bump like it used to.. there is a lot better produced music out there and he could be a part of that if he choose to. He just like's making his own productions & I get it.... but that doesn't mean that it's gonna swing! Love him though!

DIAMONDGEEZA said:

Trust me....If Prince released something that radio would want to play....they would play it. “Call my name” was getting a little play, but keep it real.....Prince doesn't release music that is considered "wow" anymore. I play a lot of stuff to average folks and they think its alright, but nothing great.

Trust me....Radio and everyone else wants to make money and if playing a song would get more listeners they would play regardless if they were independent or on a label.

As an artist myself, I know how precious it is not to have an ´editor´. But we must agree that Prince doesnt seem to be challenging himself that much, lately. I loved ´Lotus Flow3r´ because of the production, the guitars, etc, but most of his recent stuff (planet earth, 3121, Musicology) is retro with almost nothing that we could call ´masterpiece´ or ´genius´. Sounds like he is only having fun in his confort zone, which is something good. But a guy with Prince´s talent could do a lot more if he wanted.

GustavoRibas said:

I agree with you 99%.....but I think he wants to. He puts a lot of money and a lot of promoting just for a record he didn't put his all into.

You know...there are artists out there I don't like, but I hear something and I am like "wow, that is nice". I don't get that from Prince anymore. I still buy everything and enjoy it, but I don't get that "are you kidding me" reaction anymore. I do like "Call my name", "Future baby mama" and "Mr. Goodnight".....

Bono the guy that was taking mike from Paul Mccartney during live aid performance 1985
nobody should do that