Would prince have seen more commercial success and been more widely accepted if he had maintained a more conventional appearance?? I ask the question because over the years so many people have made comment that the reason they didn't like Prince was because of his appearance. Thanks for your response!

That's stupid!

Then he wouldn't be Prince. The fact that I "get it/him" makes me feel special. The ones who don't get it, I wouldn't want to be associate with anyway. Narrow minded folks don't have place in my life.

This is why we have the org!

NEXT!

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

squirrelgrease said:

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funkman777 said:

Would prince have seen more commercial success and been more widely accepted if he had maintained a more conventional appearance?? I ask the question because over the years so many people have made comment that the reason they didn't like Prince was because of his appearance. Thanks for your response!

YES. He does sometimes have a cool style that clicks with more conventional people (his 80's trenchcoat style, or his dapper blue superbowl suit) but as soon as he ties up a shirt into a half shirt, or wears something too feminine, I do think he loses to the prejudice of more conservative people.

Just to be clear...personally, I love Prince for he is, style and all. I was just wondering aloud if anyone thought that if Prince had maintained a more conventional, maybe conservative, appearance, he might have been accepted more by the average music fan, and thus enjoyed more commercial success. The man is who is. I'm not suggesting he should change at all. Its just a hypothetical question, and a good one at that. Maybe its a little too challenging for those that think its stupid!!

squirrelgrease said:

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

What. Theeee. Fuck.

Someone needs to put an end to these "Prince would've had more success if" threads

He was groundbreaking because he wasn't conventional.

Pricne isn't popular ANYMORE

GET OVER IT.

I dont think so. In a way its a good thing that prince wasnt too commecially successfull like mj, for example, because it can limit creativity. The public would have wanted him to do the same type of music again and again. For eg after Purple Rain, he went into a completely opposite direction with ATWIAD, something that 99.9 percent of artists would do if they were in his position. Most people would have expected a purple rain 2, but prince was so creative, he wouldnt have any of it. He was still selling 3-5 million copies on avergae which is excellent considering that he was making albums every year, not promoting them heavily and his music videos were more like side pieces.

Unfortunately in the 90's with the label dispute, prince lost alot of commercial success. Part of it had to do with his name change, and releasing too many albums. Then even after he was free from the contract, he lacked quality control.

For eg emancipation didnt need to have 3cs and so many songs. It could have been a very good single cd if he had picked the best songs out. But he didnt. Somebody should have told him about quality control but he probably wouldnt have listened to them anyway. So yes prince could have had more commercial success in the 90's had he picked out his best songs, released fewer albums and fewer songs and promote his material well.

He's a brilliant musician, but as a performer and dancer, he had to cultivate his own style, and, did he!!!

Lady Gaga's not as talented as he is (she's an adequate pianist and okay singer and needs to overcompensate.. and she does it bigger than Madonna did in the early 80s), but she does all that stuff for the same reason he did. It gets people talking about them.

But it's not just what he wears, what he plays, he cultivated a whole image that no one is sure if he's serious or he's poking fun at everyone by messing with them. He's known to make cryptic comments that leave peoples' heads scratching, but he is also straightforward when he wants to be. I don't know if he got that from Bob Dylan, but he did a lot of that when he was bored with an interviewer, or thought they asked stupid questions.

He's had commercial success... to me that means how he was promoted during the Warners years, but he never compromised his music. The only thing a record company should do is promote and distribute, they should never tell an artist what to do unless they're Paris Hilton or some actor that wants to sing pop music..... J-Lo.

But I do think that after he left Warners, he had an education in running a business, and finding people he can trust to help him. I think balancing the day to day operations of a business and trying to be creative is a difficult to impossible task.

In the mid 90s, if the internet had been high access and all the red tape involving digital licensing hashed out, he wouldn't be saying the internet's dead. I think he tried all these different avenues in distributing music and they all had mixed results. And when he did "Musicology" it was seen as a comeback?

insert the lyrics to "my way" here

squirrelgrease said:

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

OMG! Some snow blowing in the background would = absolute perfection.

squirrelgrease said:

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

?wtf?cleft lip?

dalsh327 said:

He's a brilliant musician, but as a performer and dancer, he had to cultivate his own style, and, did he!!!

Lady Gaga's not as talented as he is (she's an adequate pianist and okay singer and needs to overcompensate.. and she does it bigger than Madonna did in the early 80s), but she does all that stuff for the same reason he did. It gets people talking about them.

But it's not just what he wears, what he plays, he cultivated a whole image that no one is sure if he's serious or he's poking fun at everyone by messing with them. He's known to make cryptic comments that leave peoples' heads scratching, but he is also straightforward when he wants to be. I don't know if he got that from Bob Dylan, but he did a lot of that when he was bored with an interviewer, or thought they asked stupid questions.

He's had commercial success... to me that means how he was promoted during the Warners years, but he never compromised his music. The only thing a record company should do is promote and distribute, they should never tell an artist what to do unless they're Paris Hilton or some actor that wants to sing pop music..... J-Lo.

But I do think that after he left Warners, he had an education in running a business, and finding people he can trust to help him. I think balancing the day to day operations of a business and trying to be creative is a difficult to impossible task.

In the mid 90s, if the internet had been high access and all the red tape involving digital licensing hashed out, he wouldn't be saying the internet's dead. I think he tried all these different avenues in distributing music and they all had mixed results. And when he did "Musicology" it was seen as a comeback?

Hmm....That makes sense.

He's a lil' Trickster!

squirrelgrease said:

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

Yes! This picture does remind me of a deer eating some grass...LOL!

squirrelgrease said:

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YOU ain't even right...

Making music isn't just about appearance. Some of the people that claim that they would like Prince if he looked more "convential" are cold, mean and uptight freakazoids. Others are just nice people who are just giving their opinions. In the end, it is just a matter of different tastes. No reason at all for Prince to dishonor his true marvelous creative and healing self.

squirrelgrease said:

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I lost it!

Just like Elton John, the over the top drag he used to wear detracted from the great music for the general population imo.

i think his image has put shed loads of folk off-me included

during the typhoon and squigglstick on side burns-man I really couldn't get past that look-mabey the music at the time wasn't moving me like it should've-but his look sure didn't help

your average working man really does have trouble getting past the heels-make up-falsetto and all

i think the face thay think he's gay puts them off more

From the very begining I got "him" and I like the fact he's DIFFrent that's what makes him who he is and that is a good thing,matter of fact a WONDERFUL THING!

squirrelgrease said:

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

You need to STOP!! Im' sittin here eating all the halloween candy & choked on a baby ruth!

OK...so far some people are getting what I'm asking and have given some great answers. Others maybe think that I don't like Prince's appearance. On the contrary, I LOVE prince for who he is and what he is about. I'm one of the old fans that has been there from the beginning. I've always "gotten" prince. My question was more about Prince being taken seriously by the common music lover. I mean Prince is one of the most gifted musicians and singer of our time, if not, THE MOST gifted. However, not everyone can see past the stillettos, make-up and falsetto voice. The common man has a hard time accepting that without the whole "Oh God, if I like that, maybe I'm gay" thing.

So, imagine if Prince had maintained a conventional appearance such as, say, Al Green, just for example. Then, Prince would have been all about the music, and the music only. It's an interesting concept! How would he have been received in that scenario assuming the music would have been the same??

And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend I'll say it clear
I'll state my case of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes there were times I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out, I faced it all
And I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that
And may I say not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man what has he got
If not himself then he has not
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes it was my way

squirrelgrease said:

[img:$uid]http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n276/squirrelgrease/AnimatedGifs-5/Prince_Nom2.gif[/img:$uid]

robinhood said:

And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend I'll say it clear
I'll state my case of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes there were times I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out, I faced it all
And I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that
And may I say not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man what has he got
If not himself then he has not
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes it was my way

What is this?

Eyeofthelotus said:

robinhood said:

And now the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend I'll say it clear
I'll state my case of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Regrets I've had a few
But then again too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way

Yes there were times I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out, I faced it all
And I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing

To think I did all that
And may I say not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way

For what is a man what has he got
If not himself then he has not
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way

Yes it was my way

What is this?

a song by frank sinatra.

robinhood said:

Eyeofthelotus said:

What is this?

a song by frank sinatra.

Okay.