It struck me the other day when watching some Prince concert footage that having achieved stardom, P doesn't need to prove himself anymore and apart from the odd occasion he seems to be on autopilot. Casting our minds back some 30 odd years ago when a hungry lion called Prince was threatening to undermine funk star Rick James on tour, how would the current Prince react to an enfant terrible like he was 30 years ago opening for him now. Would he react like Rick did back in the day and who in the current music scene would play the role that Prince did back in 1980?

bigbrother said:

It struck me the other day when watching some Prince concert footage that having achieved stardom, P doesn't need to prove himself anymore and apart from the odd occasion he seems to be on autopilot. Casting our minds back some 30 odd years ago when a hungry lion called Prince was threatening to undermine funk star Rick James on tour, how would the current Prince react to an enfant terrible like he was 30 years ago opening for him now. Would he react like Rick did back in the day and who in the current music scene would play the role that Prince did back in 1980?

1. Was Rick as far into his career, or have as much success/acclaim, as Prince is/does now? No...he had legitimate reason to feel threatened.

2. Is Prince on autopilot? Man, his autopilot still kicks most acts ass. I mean, you tell me: Janelle Monae is really hot right now. Did her opening set threaten to overshadow Prince? Nope.

Is there a single act that is a threat 2 Prince on a stage?

Graycap23 said:

Is there a single act that is a threat 2 Prince on a stage?

There was during the Triple Threat Tour, but see what happened to them, lol

ecstasy said:

Graycap23 said:

Is there a single act that is a threat 2 Prince on a stage?

There was during the Triple Threat Tour, but see what happened to them, lol

Real threatening, when they are singing someone else's songs...

Spinlight said:

ecstasy said:

There was during the Triple Threat Tour, but see what happened to them, lol

Real threatening, when they are singing someone else's songs...

emm hmmm

But the crowd at the time (no pun intended) didn't know that

skywalker said:

1. Was Rick as far into his career, or have as much success/acclaim, as Prince is/does now? No...he had legitimate reason to feel threatened.

Right. I know he'd been in the business since the 60s, but his first solo album was released the same year as Prince's, so the analogy is kinda off.

Graycap23 said:

Is there a single act that is a threat 2 Prince on a stage?

There's quite a few, actually, but I'm not sure if anyone can actually top Prince besides James Brown.

[Edited 1/20/11 15:42pm]

Its a moot point because there is no youngster alive who could threaten Prince the way he threatened Rick james

purplenuts said:

Its a moot point because there is no youngster alive who could threaten Prince the way he threatened Rick james

skywalker said:

bigbrother said:

It struck me the other day when watching some Prince concert footage that having achieved stardom, P doesn't need to prove himself anymore and apart from the odd occasion he seems to be on autopilot. Casting our minds back some 30 odd years ago when a hungry lion called Prince was threatening to undermine funk star Rick James on tour, how would the current Prince react to an enfant terrible like he was 30 years ago opening for him now. Would he react like Rick did back in the day and who in the current music scene would play the role that Prince did back in 1980?

2. Is Prince on autopilot? Man, his autopilot still kicks most acts ass. I mean, you tell me: Janelle Monae is really hot right now. Did her opening set threaten to overshadow Prince? Nope.

[Edited 1/20/11 16:22pm]

ecstasy said:

Spinlight said:

Real threatening, when they are singing someone else's songs...

emm hmmm

But the crowd at the time (no pun intended) didn't know that

Xactly.