There was an aticle from the 90's I believe where an industry insider spoke about Prince dancing on Warner Bros. chief, Jeff Ayeroff's desk to get him to okay some project. Paraphrased from a vague memory it sort of went :" ..and if Prince wanted Warner Bros. to back something such as a three disc Dream Factory project that was against the company's interets/wishes, Prince would get up on Ayeroff's table and do a dance. Ayeroff would be amused and give the okay."

I died laughing when I wrote read that (laughing and intrigued at the same time).

I also remember in the 80's another article (Im almost positive it was the famed Robert Hilburn L.A. Times interview from 1982, it's online) where Fargnoli I think said that even though Prince put on this shy character when cornered for interviews, he was just "as outrageous in his business practices as he is onstage."

I can see an 80's artist such as David Lee Roth (whom was mentioned in the famed RS article about the fanfare of Prince and The Revolution coming to present a listening party for the follwo-up to Purple Rain, ATWIAD, at the Los Angeles offices) or Madonna barging into the offices. It was a grand time for such larger than life characters.

Hell, if a musician is jumping on the record executives desk to make a point, it pny makes sense that darling Nikki would be made and performed the way it was originally. Humping speakers indeed. Devlish/decadent/diva of pop punk, Inger Lorre of The Nymphs fame/infamy was reported as to having peed on the desk of a record executive (David Geffen). Even in that dastardly deed, it doesn't seem as outrageous (or fun) as Prince doing some Girls and Boys UTCM type dance with heels move on a desk. Besides, Kurt Cobain said she was "fake crazy" whcih may have been true but Princes outrageousness "appeared" to be the authentic and the real deal (but thats another post).

It kind of is melancholy that the 90's debackle happened. And not just the slave incients but the changing of the guard in the industry where one could dance on a boss' desk and the boss took this behavior as endearing and something to capture in a bottle to market and/or nurture. I've read how when thos eold guards were gone or no longe rrelevant at warners, Prince was no longe rlooked as the artist who did what he accomplished in the past but an "eccentric washed up weirdo" to the new egghead marketing/mba graduates now in place. Hell, probably to everyone in the business as even Russell Simmons went on record stating at the time that "I wouldn't pay more than one million for his contract!"

So in retrospect, the magic wasn't only gone from Prince as most say, (not that he didn't still have it or use it in a different way) , but the way the industry was as well. Hell, we all grew up and SOTT/Lovesexy was a long in the past before the slave years came to fruition. I wonder if he remembers those days of dancing on desks. That humorous Superbowl commercial from a few years ago where the strategists were throwing out outrageous ideas for him to do for the performance and Prince finally walking out in disgust was exactly the opposite of the 80's . This toime Prince was the one who was ..ahem..behind the desk and the marketers were "dancing on the desks." But Prince did not find it humorous, inspirtional, or appropriate in th e commercial. And from his recent decade of speeches at award shows and such it appears that those may be his true feelings. Of course he isnt 21,25, 30 anymore so it make ssense that he takes a different professional stance in his business dealings now. But oh what a time to be there to have witnessed the rock n roll of the times, person doing what he does not onstage but in every day stuffed shirt environments.

oh and I assume it must have been a..very large...desk.

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[Edited 12/3/10 16:38pm]

Guess the execs weren't much into the Detroit Crawl considering they didn't support Crystal Ball being 3 discs.

Spinlight said:

Guess the execs weren't much into the Detroit Crawl considering they didn't support Crystal Ball being 3 discs.

just in case I am paraphrasing from a vague memory which isnt shot yet so the project being Dream Factory may not have been the incident(s) if some folks may read this damn dissertation I hope not to get crucified about not perfect facts. Its the gist of just dancing on desks etc that is my point (crosses fingers).

xlr8r said:

Spinlight said:

Guess the execs weren't much into the Detroit Crawl considering they didn't support Crystal Ball being 3 discs.

just in case I am paraphrasing from a vague memory which isnt shot yet so the project being Dream Factory may not have been the incident(s) if some folks may read this damn dissertation I hope not to get crucified about not perfect facts. Its the gist of just dancing on desks etc that is my point (crosses fingers).

Haha, I'm just ribbing you.

It sounds very 1980s Prince to do something like that, lol.

a very large desk indeed