Listen to pop music on the radio for a week. Prince easily has 24+ songs that could have been hits (or at least would have made good singles) if promoted/pushed correctly. Want a list?
[Edited 4/30/10 19:10pm]
[Edited 4/30/10 20:03pm]

JoeTyler said:

Seems your listening to the wrong music to be making a sweeping statement like that.

TyphoonTip said:

Re-read the original post. That is the "kind of music" that was suggested Prince follow to "go completely modern".

I tend to agree. Name anyone in the 00's that did something new and not just a recycled version of something that came before.
[Edited 4/30/10 20:05pm]

skywalker said:

Thanks for directing me to re-read the original post. I did. But unfortunately, as I suspected when I wrote the post you replied to, it added very little given that I was responding directly to Mr Tyler.

As for your request to find an original artist this decade, unfortunately it's a non-argument. This post-modernist point has been made in regard to every art form, popular or otherwise, for close to a 100 years. But now, possibly even the last 30 years, in popular music it's become a ridiculous rhetorical question.

To spell it out:
'Of course there is nothing original!'. There is very little (if anything) over history of popular music that can lay claim to being original. The small echo chamber that 'pop music' works in, it's inevitable that artistic plagiarism will take place. Some would perhaps even argue that that is actually the point, and that's what differentiates 'pop music' from other contemporary art forms, but that's a whole other can of worms.

Sometimes, however, in my opinion, the echo chamber can be so small that level of artistic credibility could well be questioned. And in US (American) popular music of the last decade, you could well argue that that has been the case. And I would agree with you. Which is why I listen to very little recent popular American music.

Now as strange as it may seem, there has been OTHER music released in the last decade OUTSIDE of the narrow confines of commercial American pop.

So to cut a long story short; to judge a whole decade's worth of music by this narrow slither of homogeneous commercialism, is perhaps a little short sighted.

Thank your lucky stars Prince is not making music like today's RADIO music.

skywalker said:

Imho, i thought that N*E*R*D's "Lapdance" brought something new to the table in 2002.

But everything gets indeed recycled eventually, but nevertheless, some fusions can be interesting,
such as the breakbeat electronica in the UK which partly evolved from drum & bass. Like Mindflux and
others explained in this topic, the underground-scene is always worth to check out from time to time.
[Edited 5/1/10 5:57am]

skywalker said:

Sure, I'd be interested to see what post 1995 Prince songs you think could have/should have been top forty pop hits. I think Emancipation probably has a few and no doubt there are some others ("4ever") but in general I don't hear a lot of potential hit songs on his albums from the last 15 years. That's not to say I don't like those albums, particularly the ones released from 2004-2009 but I don't think that Prince has his finger on the pulse of pop music in the way he did in the '80s and early '90s.

Also, keep in mind that Prince has released albums on major labels (Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic, Musicology, 3121, Planet Earth) but none of them generated any top forty pop hits.
[Edited 5/1/10 4:50am]

TyphoonTip said:

Sorry, but that's some of the biggest nonsense I've heard in a long time. In fact, I'm amazed.

I'm not going to make a list of the MULTIPLE styles and sounds that pop music has offered since the late 20s that have almost NOTHING in common with each other (we all know them); but if you really mean your words, the only thing that I can say is "Wow, you're wrong ". Sorry again.

The 00s decade has sucked on the legacy of the late 70s, 80s and 90s. It has been a post-modernist decade, no more and no less. That's OK by me; too bad that the production ideas were clear, but the material wasn't there: that's the difference between a weak album and a strong one in a post-modernist era: the material, the craft...that's why current artists like GaGa make millions all over the world with just a couple of strong singles...

Another difference? In previous decades, innovation and mainstream were close, very close. During the 00s decade, one had to go to the deepest levels of the underground to find something moderately innovative; that's why I gave up on new music by the late 00s...

TyphoonTip said:

I know, but this thread is about american mainstream pop, I mean, the current Billboard top40 /Wayne, Gaga, Beyoncé, etc). Should Prince adapt his sound to the current Billboard Top40? this is the essence of the thread...

The thing is, when Prince was in his prime, he was about the most modern thing out there, he was NOT pop mainstream. He was anything but!
I only first heard of him on college radio, black radio or alternative radio stations like KROQ in los Angeles that my older brother listened to. You would be lucky to hear him on mainstream radio before Purple Rain but for maybe "Little Red Corvette"

I remember when "When Doves Cry" was first released, it sounded like NOTHING on the radio anyplace on the dial. The older people were like "what has the world come to, what type of music is this!" That is the Prince I love, creating stuff way ahead of his time, not mainstream pop top 40

More importantly, on the contrary, Beyonce, Gaga, everybody on the dial are the ones that are and should be looking at Prince for inspiration, not the other way around. I think most pop artists on the radio today wished they were as modern as Prince and would be embarrassed to think anyone would want Prince to ape them in any form.
like asking a Rolls to be more modern like a Ford Focus or Toyota Yaris
[Edited 5/1/10 8:54am]

JoeTyler said:

No need to apologise. But I think it's safe to say you need to do a little more reading. You've got a lot of catching up to do.
[Edited 5/1/10 21:17pm]

He could make a fun, carefree, dance album for the fun of it and let it catch on, I think he's capable but he doesn't want that and doesn't have to do it. Black Sweat was great for that too in fact.

Well, he's dabbled in it somewhat with "Black Sweat" and to a lesser extent "Chocolate Box" IMO.

Most of the time it's bad when artists try to modernize. *Shivers at the thought of Alice Cooper and his nu metal material*

TyphoonTip said:

Empty words...

Paris9748430 said:

Well said. I would add, he was born with the kind of gift to do that.

If there is anything he could get from this era, that'd be collaborating with real talents. They gotta have some guts not to feel too small right beside him, in the name of musical expression. They should not be opportunists with their mind only on getting a big break by being associated with him and kissing his ass. After all, they're supposed to meet as fellow artists, equally, even though he's already an established one.

Also, I dunno if he listens to today's artists at all, but if he does, I think he is being influenced by them, of course, talented ones, not necessarily popular ones. But the thing is, he is in his own kitchen melting all the new ingredients from the influence in his own pot. That's what a genius do!

P.S. I'm wondering if the threadstarter was just joking...?

OnlyNDaUsa said:

Thank you, and this is what i was driving at with my question to begin with. Purple Rain can not be repeated, it was phenom.

TyphoonTip said:

Agreed, but the original post was not speaking of OTHER music. It was speaking about modern "pop" music.

rialb said:

Would you agree pop radio is less "open" than it was even 15 years ago? I feel like a song like "7" would never be a top 10 hit these days. It's too "out there" by today's pop radio standards.So perhaps some of the songs I think could have been hit singles are of the same ilk. I mean, I thought "Dolphin" was very pop friendly,single worthy, with a killer melody/guitar work.

It is hard to predict what songs would be "hits", but there is a lot of songs that could have been singles that would have done well commercially if properly promoted. One song that I always thought was a hit single waiting to happen was "so far, so pleased" with gwen stefani.

He's not interested in going "modern". His energy, spirit and state of mind are in a different place.
He may look great, but newsflash! He is not in his 20's or 30's anymore folks!
Now he is an older man, and his musical directions and tastes reflect that.

Especially since this is not his era anymore.
There are certain generational attitudes in pop music culture today and embedded within modern music itself that is just of the time, that he cant relate to.
He may get the ideas of using the modern sounds, rythms and synths, but the generation is something he no longer has his finger on the pulse of.
Sure alot of artists today may be biting off 80's cues, but they are updating it with the sensibilities of their generation. These particular sensibilities Prince is unable to get in step with.
But this because i dont think he really wants to.
Why should he???
20 years ago he took pop music experimentaton to the limit. He already took exciting and flashy performance to the limit. There is nobody out today that can match his past accomplishments.
So why should he try to figure out how to get into their thing today?

He already has his legacy. Hes already done it all.


Its not that Prince should go modern, its that NOBODY has picked up the ball from him or filled his shoes.
THe way that he did for the ones who came before him.

sexyfunkystrange said:

Well said.

I would say that in his career Prince never sounded "of the era". Sure, upon reflection Prince may sound 80's, but Prince usually goes against the grain or is just slightly off center of mainstream. The only time Prince is mainstream is when he has set the bar ie Purple Rain era, etc.

sexyfunkystrange said:

Dead ... On it

People are copying what Prince and others did in the '80s. Prince is gonna remain Prince.