There has to be something you heard musically from this man that made it click in your head "This guy isn't just a mere artist, he's a certifiable genius" I think what elevated Prince from just "a guy who made some catchy songs" was the intro and the ending solo from When Doves Cry, I think that was the moment for me.Up til then I never heard a guitar solo of that magnitude on black radio before..that fact he could pull that off let me know he was far more advanced musically than anyone I've heard thus far.

Computer Blue.


It's often criticized by music critics, but I think it's brilliant.
I *HATE* the spoken parts by Wendy and LIsa at the end of the song (in the unreleased versions), but the rest of the song is just brilliant to me. I love how father's song is used.

When I first heard it on a stereo back in the 80's, I was blown away because nothing on the radio sounded like this---it wasn't a radio single of course (someone was playing a tape), but it was the first moment as a young kid (11 years old) that I realized that music could be more than just a singalong experience.

lets go crazy, the intro and the solo at the end

Well...maybe the whole Dirty mind album...

Gangstaglam said:

I'd have to say a combination of things. For starters the way he wrote, produced and played all instruments for The Time, and then had his own sort of Rock and Roll thing going on while simultaneously writing and producing for "Pop" artists. I thought that this man's musical scope is so very broad, and if he did not want you too, you would not even begin to be able to catagorize his music genre. I have to say that when I heard "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6, I had a feeling that the relatively "New Jack" was onto something really really big. Of course when I head "When Doves Cry", my decision was Solid. I also love Computer Blue, but I believe that's supposed to be written by his dad. I generally list Computer Blue as my favorite though.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there was no one "click" moment for me, it was a build up of watching his talent with various artists and styles of music that solidified my opinion.

Little Red Corvette.

squirrelgrease said:

!

watching him Play Drums on "Sign O the times" concert film... thinking, "Sh*T, U play Drums too?!"

Elle85n09 said:

Total "WOW" moment. I mean, I had Dirty Mind and Controversy - and loved them to death, but when the needle hit the groove on Little Red Corvette, it was all over.

I always immensely enjoyed his music, but when I heard "Let's Go Crazy", that's when I knew the guy was more than I ever thought he was going to be.

I always knew he was great onstage cause of the band, but once I saw a bit of his arsenio hall performance of playing the guitar and doing the spin and moves, then I realized.

good question...before '87, i confess my appreciation of music was not yet fully matured...i still do not know if it is



but 2 answer the ?, it would have to be the guitar solo in Play in the Sunshine, somewhere around where he says "ooooo dawgies"

The 1999 album. There were new cool sounds (synthesizers and linn drums). It sounded so fresh. The samples , monologues, everything he put it into the songs were so perfectly crafted. Even at my young age of 12 I thought to myself that was the future of music. With a song like Something In The Water ,I became a fanatic.

I was a little late to the party but for me.

If I Was Your Girlfriend.

No mention of Purple & Gold?

Gangstaglam said:

That is a pretty good example that you cited. When I want to prove to someone that Prince is the foremost genius in music, I put on When Doves Cry and shut up. Some 25 years after its release, it still blows everything else out of the water.

I personally recall being lambasted by friends when Dirty Mind was released and I called him a genius. I remember a friend of mine arguing that Stevie Wonder was a genius and Prince was just some fag in his drawers. We were young and he didnt get the entire concept of Prince. DIrty Mind was too new wave for him because through the 70s, the only black artist that did rock that anyone knew was Jimi Hendrix. Dirty Mind burst onto the scene in 1980 and was almost an entire decade ahead of its time. The fact that he did everything on the album was amazing - in fact, it still is. Uptown was my favorite song but I played that album for a solid year nonstop. It is the first historical milestone that indicated the genius that would be Prince.
[Edited 5/27/10 6:10am]

zaza said:

I was VERY late to this party, given my age. I knew of Prince through all the radio hits, but never latched on to him through high school days (daze). I was still to in to Ozzy/Sabbath/Zep etc. (I was a teenage white kid from the 70's who lived in the suburbs, what do you expect)?

Anyway, I was 19/20 years old and my girlfriend at the time's brother gave me a copy of Lovesexy. All he said was, "if you're a fan of good music you have to listen to this album". The SECOND I heard "Welcome to the New Power Generation. The reason my voice is so clear, is there's no smack in my brain", and the transition into the funky groove of I Know, I was HOOKED.

Within a month I had all of his albums and could not believe all of the joy I had been missing out on over the years.

Fenwick said:

Better late than never, Fennie.
(How's that nickname?? )

id say the song purple rain

every time it comes on i want to listen to the whole thing

and who says computer blue sucks thats one of his best by far

i could never take the place of your man always gets me too

just a perfect pop song if there ever was one ...

raspberry baret is pretty good too ... the whole story ... great lyrics ... u can smell summer in that song

Elle85n09 said:

I'll take it!

Soft & WeT.

From the beginning of his career where he had the natural ability to capture and crossover with his music, without allowing the industry or anyone else to lock him into one category of music or put limits on his music capabilities as a musician/artist. That’s when I knew he was a music genius.A lot of artists today can learn a lot from him.
[Edited 5/27/10 7:16am]

has to be sign of the times, the song, the album, the movie, princes best work, really highlights his talent, just blows everything away, his mixture of styles is a joy...
It's just a standout bit of work that never dates and get's better with time, i think any one who has not seen this body of work has missed a large part of modern pop history, it's even more important than purple rain and better than michael jacksons thriller as a collective body of work.

I don't really buy that people knew he was a genius from the For You or Prince albums. Sure it was great music, solid, good song writing, good musicianship, but they weren't ground breaking. He wasn't really playing with sounds, putting a drum machine through a guitar pedal, or anything like that. They were just straight ahead pop albums. It really wasn't until Controversy that he started delving into new sounds, like on "Sexuality" or "Private Joy". But earlier? Nah.

I had been a fan since I was 3 years old in 1984. I had heard the albums that came out each year after that, but it wasn't until 1992 at age 11 that I had heard For You thru 1999 when I got those cassettes for Christmas. I got the "Prince" album on cd and when I read the liner notes that stated that he played all the instruments himself on his first few albums, my mouth hit the floor. I said 2 myself "so everything I'm hearing is him doing it?!" I knew then he was a genius. I remember telling my parents and all my aunts, like I had discovered this new piece of hidden info and they're all like "Frankie...we know!"

ernestsewell said:

Of course they didn't, the people who actually believe that are releasing their Inner Fam..

For me you can't just hear one song or something and go "oh this guys a musical genius". Instead you have to look at the entire catalog of music created by him. From 1982-1995 was when he was shining brightest IMO. Since then he's been pretty stagnant and mediocre(well 3121 is an exception IMO).

Sadly his music the past 13 years does have me questioning if he has anything of great left in him but only time will tell.

i remember hearing the Prince album as a tweener and LOVING Bambi and Why U Wanna Treat Me So Bad. don't think i said to myself this guy is a "genius" but moreso what CAN'T he do. (esp. the guitar bridge in Bambi) i was appreciating his forays into "rock" with those as nothing else on radio sounded like that. i knew then he wouldn't be pigeonholed.

PurpleColossus said:

Interesting..... Go back and listen 2 Soft and Wet.