Prince’s 1979 Interview Disc.

This morning I drank my coffee listening to Prince’s interview disc. It must’ve been at least 15 years since I had listened to it. I Love the English city traffic in the background.
This 45:20 minute interview was recorded in early 79’ on Prince’s first European visit. Prince was not quite 21 years old. Even though Prince admits not enjoying giving interviews due to being misquoted, Prince seems very comfortable. The conversation is basically well known discussion for Prince fans.

The highlight of the conversation for me was when the interviewer whose name is never mentioned, said that Prince’s stage image is that of a “Hyper-Ultra-Super-Thing.” He asks if Prince likes to live up to that sort of thing. Prince replies, “It depends on what day it is, it’s kind of hard to be hyper in Church.” I laughed.

Prince more than anything wanted to be known for his own personality and not be compared to another artist, as that would be a restrictive boundary for his art.

The most interesting point to make about this interview is Prince’s, “youthful-age-dated-uncertainty,” about his own future. Prince says that he thought he would only do a few more records and then go on to do something different with his life.

Now in 2010, 30 years down the line, we realize that Prince has reached beyond the boundaries of any one musical classification. Even though Prince himself has been tamed with time and success, I know that most of us are sincerely grateful for Prince’s, “Hyper-Ultra-Super-Thing,” of his early career still carrying us through Prince’s latest endeavor, “LotusFlow3r,” and the next album we patiently anticipate. ~T
[Edited 2/16/10 6:44am]

I do have it too, and it has been a good 8 years since I last sat down and heard it....cant remember what he said anymore lol

Give it a listen. It's fun.

If it's the same interview I'm thinking of it was an interview with Steve Sutherland for one of the British music weeklies (NME or Sounds???).
Someone will post the correct date but I think it was circa June 81 when he played his first UK gigs to a handful of followers including the legend that is Bill Oddie!

Prince clearly states that he will be 21 in June. Prince said that he had done a show in Amsterdam that previous Friday.

I always thought this interview was done in 1980.

And as I've said before, that interviewer's voice sounds just like Chris Moon's.

I have this disc, too, but I think this interview was actually done in 1981 because Prince didn't play Europe until the "Dirty Mind" tour. His Amsterdam show was on May 29, 1981 at the Paradiso (source: "Dance Music Sex Romance Prince: The First Decade" by Per Nilsen). I believe Warner Bros. wanted to Prince to say he was younger so that he would seem even more precocious than he already was.

funkytriton25 said:

That's right! My disc says 1980, but I agree with your info. Plus, I forgot he took 2 years off his age, and not 1 year, so it had to be '81.

funkytriton25 said:

I guess U could be right, I don't know why Prince says he will be 21. The cd's jacket says nothing but, "Made in England."

Tame said:

It was one of those Warner Bros. promotional ideas to make Prince even more spectacular by making him a few years younger

funkytriton25 said:[quote]

Tame said:

It was one of those Warner Bros. promotional ideas to make Prince even more spectacular by making him a few years younger. Remember when Prince said he was 19 after his performance of "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on American Bandstand? He made that appearance in January 1980. That would have meant he was born June 7, 1960 instead of 1958. Prince didn't need to change his age. He always was and always will be PHENOMENAL

Just checked my copy of "The Vault" and my guess was right... Interview conducted in London with Steve Sutherland of "Melody Maker" magazine, sometime between 30th May - 4th June 1981.

Anything Prince-related from 1979 makes me happy.

It was not 1979, because I remember him talking about the song uptown.

therat said:

Okay I'll believe U...I just won't change the topic's year, because of Prince saying that he will be 21 in June.

Prince does mention in the interview that he had previously lied about his age, that Prince was 17 when making, "For You," and Prince said that he was 18. It doesn't matter anymore. We love Prince even if he is almost 49.