I was 14 at the time and remember reading about it in Jet magazine.

I remember watching a local, lowbudget R&B cable tv show and the host announced it. Wasn't surprised, but was curious to see and hear what his next move would be.

I was in the bathtub making toast. When I heard the news, I said "fuck it" and dropped the toaster in with me. Somehow, I survived.

ernestsewell said:

Hahn used to be on here trolling for info.
Bastard sent me a PM with his phone number and e-mail thinking that I was a Prince insider.

Back on topic .

I did not know that Prince and The Revolution had disbanded until the SOTT single was released in late February 1987.

HobbesLeCute said:

I cant remember...But i do know it wasnt as emotionally shocking as it was when I found out Tony M was not on The Gold Experience. I was like "COME ON! After the phenominal job he did on Diamonds and Pearls and ?..WTF!?"?

What?

PrettyMan72 said:

Did it give you a heart attack?

ronnwinter said:

That's another thread topic: Where were you when Prince disbanded the Game Boyz?

muleFunk said:

And then... Did you cry? Just a little?

Prince was a solo genius before the Revolution - black fans knew this since 1978 from the first album; he didnt cross over until 1983 with Littel Red Corvette as one of the first to break the racist barrier that MTV had on black artists.

So the end of the Revolution didnt mean anything to those fans who had been there far before the Purple Rain bandwagon - and still doesn't.

Brofie said:

The usual nonsense from the usual suspect.

Brofie said:

Jesus.

Brofie said:

ummmm what fans, band members and those in his camp 'who were white' knew too

I hope Ur not saying prior to 1999 Prince had no white fans or that his audience was mostly black?

in heaven

thank god.

minneapolisFunq said:

r u saying you weren't born yet or that you died and have come back from the dead?

I wasn't even thought of.

A DJ on the radio had just finished playing one of the songs from the "Parade" album. He said that Prince had fired The Revolution and was working on his next album totally alone like he used to do in the old days. The DJ said "Hopefully, he'll go back to being his old self with this next album now that they are gone". Hell, I cheered! Unfortunately, when the "Sign O The Times" album came out, he was still in his retro mode.
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[Edited 3/25/10 23:34pm]

I was reading a music magazine in the studio for the school PA system. I was a member of high school's broadcasting committee and used to play Prince tracks. (For instance, I played both sides of 12" for "Mountains" fully for closing of a day.)

One small article in the magazine told me The Revolution was disbanded. It strongly shocked me. I was still in excitement of my first live experience with Prince then. I knew it was the very last performance for the band that I witnessed on September 9th and it made me more sentimental.

BTW, this is my third post here. I hope we can have fun

vainandy said:

And it still wasn't a 'solo' Prince album

I don't think Prince could ever go back to doing and album just like 4U even though some would say NEWS SST and some of those 2000 releases are.

Buy the time his Prince band was tour the 4U/Prince music he was changing, the band directly had a lot 2 do with the music styles and input. Dez & Lisa probably had the biggest influences on what was happening. I think he created with Lisa more than anyone.

Also in order for 'like he used 2' to happen Prince would still have to be hungry for making it, still eating doritos, working out with Bobbyz & Matt at the local gym, bike riding nude(was that real?) living with Andre or Morris and Lisa, while she made him a sandwich and they washed their laundry together etc etc

No, when I said going back to being like he used to be when he did it all alone, I wasn't referring to "For You". I was referring to sounding like he did from "For You" up through "Purple Rain" (although "Purple Rain" is listed as Prince and The Revolution rather than just listed as Prince).

Beginning with "Around The World In A Day", that was a drastic change in sound and a lot of folks didn't know if it was because he was letting The Revolution have input, or if he had gotten a big pop/rock fanbase after "Purple Rain" and said "screw you" to the old R&B fans like so many R&B acts do once they crossover, or if he was just simply tired of his sound and wanted to go a completely different direction. Remember, we didn't have all the resources and info on him back then that we have now and he was a total and complete mystery back in those days. Yeah, folks like Dez and Lisa may have had input in his early years but we didn't know it at the time because he rarely spoke or gave interviews. All we knew at the time was seeing "Prince and The Revolution" starting to appear on the albums so we assumed that's when their input started.

I was a 16yr old kid and didnt give a chit, I was too into PRINCE and didnt realize at the time w&l influence.
That said, I think he needed to do it to move on to other things/sounds/influences.

vainandy said:

that's true, back then it was known or at least put out that ATWIAD was a F You to the industry or those that said he has to do another PR album. and ATWIAD was a love letter to friends band member etc etc. I definately remember that. Probably 1 reason I appreciated it so much.

But being a fan of the earlier albums too as well as the proteges just little hints like credit of song writing or music to Dez & Lisa even then I kinda put 2 + 2 together. I was a Prince academian even then

OldFriends4Sale said:

I never understood how ATWIAD was a love letter to his long standing friends because that album was bullshit to them/us imo. Shoulda threw it right back to him like someone threw that glove back at that James Brown Michale Jackson show fiasco. If he wanted to send a love letter why not something he had in his stable like the Controversy-1999 era unreleased tracks.

thepope2the9s said:

The Revolution wasn't just about W&L either. Do people forget that Lisa was around since way early on, and she was doing her colorful solos on tour way before the Purple Rain tour? Yes, the band wasn't "The Revolution" until Wendy came around, but that was a technicality not the reason. We know Prince was already thinking of a name for the band as far back as 1982.

I'm not sure he needed to move on...yet. The Revolution only did 3 albums, but look at the impact they had. Look at how people constantly hearken back to those three albums as some of their favorite 80's music (although we pretty much love everything from the 80's). The Revolution definitely had more music in them. Prince had that band for a very long time, except Wendy's addition. He might have been itchy with that. We also know the strife he was having with Susannah at the time, and how that impacted his relationship with Wendy. And because W&L were in a relationship, that impacted Lisa as well. If that dynamic of strife wasn't there, I think Crystal Ball, and perhaps another album or two would have made it out. If Prince had really stuck with it, he could have continued The Revolution until the end of the 80's. Then totally switched it up.

Matt Fink told me he felt The Revolution had another few years in them; I would think a lot of the original members would think the same thing. Prince and the Revolution had a great momentum going, despite the failure of UTCM. He still had a #1 hit in 1986, and I think he was foolish to end it when he did. I'm glad he's still around, and I'm glad for SOTT (which still had a lot of The Revolution on it here and there).

ernestsewell said:

xlr8r said:

It was a love letter 2 me, I love ATWIAD, the whole package, the Bsides long versions, the artwork... loved it

It showed some range with Prince proving what was coming out of his camp had some depth and diversity

I don't mean this directed at U from me, but you would be one of those people who it was a F you too. because he didn't want to do the same thing at that momement like some were pushing him too do.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Indeed.

Although I (old fans in geenral) never pushed him to do the same thing. He went off and did PR and ATWIAD as quick followups to the previous music. We didnt even have a chance to get mad lol.

But I do agree.

I remember him saying something akin to "I would rather give people what they need instad of what they wanted." And yes, I myself needed my musical palette widened even though I was already electic in my taste. And I DO respect Prince for changing his script.

xlr8r said:

We're way off topic but ...

I think we mortals are pretty limited even in the wide spectrum of colors music notes we create. in 2010 how much more different can we really make music, I mean what new sound or style is there to come up with

I've always said, the sounds he had from Purple Rain - Dream Factory/SOTT were/are way beyond their years

ATWIAD and Purple Rain & 1999 included have sounds that can still be rocked 2day and it not feel like it's arrived yet

OldFriends4Sale said:

word