Prince has finally got what he has always wanted. His music is no longer relevant. It has been something he's wished for himself for a long time. If one goes back one sees examples of this time and again. As early as 1984 (during promotion for Purple Rain) he talked about retiring. He retired again in 1986 after the Parade tour. Again in 1992 after the Act 2 tour, he "retired". (There were even reports briefly about his death-- planted?) In the film Purple Rain, Billy tells him, "Your music makes sense to no one... but yourself!" In Grafitti Bridge Morris says, "Kid, your shit ain't hittin' no more!" This has been a self-fulfilling prophecy since the early 80's.

It is even more evident in the choices he's made musically. If he were about the music, he would have given WB the trax for each of his LP's and let them market him (basically let them do their job). But he fought for singles he thought were stronger than others (Glam Slam anyone?) instead of letting A & R guys pick radio friendly tunes and proper lead off singles. He refused to do videos for Lovesexy and when he finally did (Alphabet St.) it was a thrown together video he shot himself in one night.

It has been argued that WB constricted his output and that if he were free he would have been able to release projects like Crystal Ball and The Dream Factory without interference. But if this were true and he just wants/wanted to get his music out at the same pace as he produced it, then why hasn't he released it all by now? He's been free since 2000. Ten years have passed and ne'er an Xtraloveable, Purple Music, Moonbeam Levels et al. Maybe he is saving it for a more lucrative (read: $$$) release, but if he waits any longer, nobody is going to care. (Especially if he keeps irking fans with debacles like lotusflow3r.com)

I speak for myself when I say I am getting old, but surely I am not alone. Bootlegs and concerts that he has locked away in his vault are becoming less valuable to me. Ten years ago I would have paid a hundred bucks easy for a CD/DVD with some concert footage from the Nude Tour or some Revolution era bootlegs with good sound quality. Now? Not so much. And at this point I've heard/seen versions online (and they are only becoming more available as the internet grows), that I would have to think really hard about paying anything at all for his vault material. I have a mortgage now, Prince.

So while he keeps his stuff under wraps, jerks fans around with super expensive websites that don't reveal what they contain until after the fans have paid (turns out it contains stuff we all already have--Greatest Hits Videos? Really, Prince? That was on DVD in 1994. Did we have to drop $77 for a digital version that isn't even downloadable?), and releases fight songs for crappy football teams (that wasn't "cool" weird like 1980's Prince, that was just "weird" weird) his fans are moving on (or at least this fan is). But if you look back at his messages through his movies, his career choices, and his treatment of his fans, maybe this is exactly what Prince wanted.

Yeah, the next time you have a thought. Let it go.

Spanky said:

Goodbye. Happy journey!!

I like the video for Alphabet Street.

i really dont mind cuz its ALL out there i mean really who could ask for more i mean REALLY wtf his music is fareakin everywhere so he sucks for like 10 years for whatever reasons i still get a couple shots of prince magic every year one way or another ... if its a couple good songs on a record or finding some old lost track or hearing an amazing live show ... i can complain but i really cant complain cuz well i kinda feel like if money werent a thang i'd probably give him a lot more than i have already ... so im glad to buy his 2 songs for 12 bucks on 3 cds cuz really i probably owe it to him anywayz .. and i want him to keep trying cuz i know hes got some mojo left in there fo sho oh e oh e oh ... yups ... and the truth is money dont matter 2 nite and it sure didnt matter yesterday so give up that paper chase cuz its an illusion for in the free world none of that means anything and when u stop stressin about numbers u will see the buckets of prince music to last a lifetime if he never drops another note ..

Spanky said:

Ah, the old classic. A fan hollering to the internet heavens that he is done being into (insert thing said fan likes enough to be a member of a website devoted to it). Fan is "quitting" being a fan and wants to know what other fans think about it.

Jump off the purple bandwagon brother, I am not stopping you. This is not about Prince, it's about you and your perception.

I bet $77 bucks you'll be back whenever Prince puts out his new album or the tour comes to your town. If not, oh well it's only purple rock n' roll. You have a mortgage.
[Edited 2/18/10 19:00pm]

Prince's music will be relevent, as long as, Prince has fans. And he has true fanatics on this site.

Interesting Spanky. Thank you for sharing.

too much text to read. can someone sum up what this is all about?

skywalker said:

Re-read it. Nobody is jumping off the Purple Bandwagon. It has already stopped so I am exiting in an orderly fashion. From now on I will be a casual observer. Sure I'll see him if he tours (nobody does it better live) and I'll pay ten bucks for his records. But am I going to give him $77 for a website-- sight unseen? No. If I hear from peeps here that it is worth it I will (as I said in my rant) "think really hard" about whether what I am getting is worth what I am shelling out.

The main point of my post was to say that I am disillusioned with him as a fan and maybe that is what his goal was all along. It would make sense as he claims he is JW and they are against idolatry.

From now on, I'll just be a 30-something who'll see Prince when he comes to L.A. and buy his records when he releases them and pray that he stops trying to "sound" like something and just kick our ass.

I wish he would release records with that "don't give a fuck" attitude again: Dirty Mind, TGE, yes even The Rainbow Children. But maybe that's just the high school kid in me wishing for the days of wild.

Spanky said:

it's relevant to my son

Well, I think you're mixing two or three entirely different subjects here.

1) I'm not exactly sure, that being irrelevant has been his goal. I just think he's had a very tough time dealing with how to make people go crazy about his music and at the same time ignore the person who wrote, played and produced it.
I bet he's loved to know how much his music sold and what a big success he was, and yet at the same time hated how the press and the fans were in his face. But since he can't be a "secret" big pop singer with hits, I think he's often thought to himself: "F+ck it, they don't just want my songs, they want everything. I'll retire".. And then be pulled in by the music again some months later.

2) As to the smartness of his choises in how to deal wih his past music, well, yeah. What can I say? I don't think it's because he doesn't care about it, musically, I really just think he's come up with this idea of master tapes and the freedom of the artists, and that's a hoot and what not, and at the same time, I think he might be really, really immaturely stubborn, thinking to himself he'll rather wait for the master to come back to him, than..

3) .. strike while the iron is hot and his fans hasn't begun to die out, because must of his fans are a generation that was young in the 1980s, and he ain't bringing new ones in with a spade, like he did for each album "back then".

I think Prince is fully aware about his legacy turning so dusty with age, that when he finally releases his "Purple Rain 50 years Anniversary Edition, with extra emancipated foreword by Prince" in 2034, no will care and no one will buy it. However, I think to Prince the principle of owning his own masters are more important than the simple question of "relevancy".

And maybe Prince is sure he can pull a "Beatles, the stereo remaster 2009" in the distant future? Who knows? I'm sure Prince is confident he can.

Anyway, it's not that he doesn't care about his music, but princples and ideas seems to me to matter more than anything else with Prince. I'm sure he tells himself, he'll deal with the issue of relevancy and hits down the road, but now first priority is the masters and his personal "spirituality" (I dunno what else to call it).
[Edited 2/19/10 0:22am]

ludwig said:

Did like Prince. Dont like Prince now. Bye.

Spanky said:

Wow.

Rebeljuice said:

yeah how dare someone write an actual thread on a Prince forum. Disgraceful. Quick, someone start a 'post a pic of Prince blinking' thread, so things can get back to normal.

Erik

[Erik said it better edit]
[Edited 2/19/10 0:58am]

erik319 said:

[Edited 2/19/10 0:53am]

actually - I feel exactly what you are saying....even in the ONA tour he was telling people to 'lose their expectations'.....its a ploy prince has used for years....

I too know what u mean about the 'value' of not only his music, but all music....somehow now, with the internet, P2P and easily downloadable links etc... the whole value of music has become a commercial thing...gone are the days of sinking into a chair and being uplifted...except for those of us who actually don't care about the charts and really 'listen' to an artist....

thing is..I don't know if it so much a 'real thing' happening or just an 'age thing'...

I've grown older and my values have changed...I have a mortgage, a wife, 2 kids and all the drama that ensues.....

I too will be thinking very very carefully about where my hard earned $ goes..and after the whole lotusfailure debacle, it will be very hard to give my $ to prince again...if he releases more music great, I'll more than likely support him and buy it....if I have to pay up front and 'see what happens' then I won't....simple as that....

he owes me nothing, and I don't have any obligation to him either..... which is kind of a weird thing after following his career and supporting him since '84....but I guess thats just the way it is for me..and maybe you too....

and at the end of it all.....life goes on

this does not seem like a weakness to me, esp since he's still running things on his own; i prefer the independent prince, than the 1 who's controlled by execs; now we're seeing him for who he is and what he wants to do. which is to remain a prolific artist...

erik319 said:

Spanky was honest and didn't disrespect Prince or anyone else and people made snide comments anyway.

So many times people want us less positive ones to leave them alone and not rain on their parades but some of the same people take every opportunity to be nasty to others. If you guys don't think it's cool when people do it to you, then don't do it to someone else.

I totally understand how you feel Spanky. A lot of people on this site are now casual observers but just don't post in this forum. I'm becoming more and more of the same.

Posting on THE Prince fansite, going to live show, and pre-commiting to pay for his unreleased albums? This is not exiting from the purple bandwagon in an orderly fashion . You are still hooked.



I hear you. I have not been thrilled with lotusflow3r.com and the lack of updates. However, I get 1st crack at tickets for shows...so it is well worth it for me. Still, no one made you shell out $77. You have a right to feel ripped off, you also have a right to not spend your $$$$. That doesn't have to do with being a Prince fan, that has to do with being a consumer.



I dunno. Prince has (and always will be) Prince. He does whatever he wants to do. I think that is his goal and that he doesn't give much of a shit about what others think/want from him...most of the time. Around the World in a Day, anyone? Think of how many of the purple masses were disillusioned by Prince in '85 because of that album.



Isn't that what being a fan is? Isn't anything more than this beyond just being a fan and sliding into some kind of wish fullfillment type of thing?



He doesn't give a fuck. That's why so many people are aggravated by him. Also, I love that you are nostalgic for the The Rainbow Children era.



I vote this as the #1 reason for people's broken purple wishes at prince.org. The past is passed, but you'll always have it. No one can take Dirty Mind from you. That Prince can always be yours.
[Edited 2/19/10 6:44am]

did mayte or mani remarry???

cuz maybe prince just is puttin out his worst work to sell enough to pay alimony and once the lil ladies remarry he is gonna drop the million sellars again ... that way they cant get at his new funds .. yup thats what is really going on so we gotta get those 2 remarried quick ... mayte .. call me .. yall can fight over mani

Spanky said:

May the road rise to meet you

Spanky said:

[Edited 4/2/10 7:07am]

skywalker said:

... classic...

Vendetta1 said:

yeah, forget about Prince and come over to General Discussion - we mainly talk about sex.

this seems like a cry for attention.


was lotusflow3r truly that bad in your opinion? (because we all know thats what sparked this thread.)

get over it

maybe you should be all about the music and nothing more.

there is no reason to get this upset over another mans personal decisions.

Spanky said:

When Prince wrote these songs he probably wanted to release them but under contract he couldn't put that much material out. Remember how long it took for DMSR to get on CD because of the limits of technology at that time. As artists move into new directions they sometimes have to leave behind songs that are hot and funky but don't fit with the current album they're working on. Prince has moved in directions that have delighted some fans and disappointed others but it's his journey to make. He could have been truly greedy and put out every 1999/Purple Rain outtake for the years 1985 - 1989. Then his fans would have grown tired of the same old stuff and longed for something different and fresh. I try to find what songs I like in his releases and don't focus too much on the ones that I don't care for. As for Lotusflow3R.com and the $77.00 issue. There's more that a hundred orgers who have spent more than that on far less and lived to tell the tale. If the money was such a huge deficit in your stack then you should have prioritized your budget with a little more stringency. Somehow I don't think it was the bank breaking transaction you're making it out to be. They haven't foreclosed on your home yet have they?


Hang around 4 a bit longer U might be surprised
[Edited 2/19/10 11:42am]
[Edited 2/19/10 11:42am]

Honest Man: Haha, no they have not foreclosed. I agree 77 is not going to break the bank, but that doesn't mean that I can't wish I got value for my $77.

Vendetta, Skywalker: You two have interesting points and I thank you Vendetta for letting others know that it is ok to express opinions on Prince.org.

To all: I am not, nor have I ever been, in the "Prince Hater" category. I see this category as someone who bitches about everything P puts out (insert Bart VH here). It's not that and I feel like some orgers have read this as coming from an angray place. I am not angry with Prince. I may have been too harsh saying "This fan is moving on". Prince has not lost a fan. Maybe he simply lost the "fanatic" I once was. My point is, if one day he did in fact lose every one of his fans, maybe it was his goal all along.