in the film 'the breakfast club' the compulsive liar is looking at a record cover(?) depicting prince from the 1999 shoot..... i'm 23 and english so i'm not familiar with american high school in the eighties. my question is was prince an artist of choice for the slightly oddball or was he so mainstream around school at this point (83, before purple rain) that he was an artist liked by a transcending social group? i stumbled upon this film last week and noticed her with it. -the scene before she eats her lunch if i remember correctly.. my reason for asking is curiosity, as when i was at school it was seen as slightly odd that i chose to listen to him over what was being played on the radio at lunch.

I won't answer for the Americans here, but I'll just add that John Hughes (the director/writer) was a fan, and that Jesse Johnson appears on this soundtrack, and the one to Pretty In Pink, and there's a cover of 'Private Joy' on the Weird Science soundtrack - Mr. Hughes has taste as well as talent.

TBC is one of my all time favourite movies, and Aly Sheedy is just

In 83 Prince was mainstream in the R&B world but not in the rest of the world (Pop). I guess it's all relative.

I remember the hits like 1999 and LRC when I was in High School and it was all over the radio but it wasn't until I heard the rest of the album (stuff that the radio would never play) that I knew that there was something different and great about Prince and his music. It was a little off the grid as far as the rest of the album was concerned for most people and thats one of the reasons I was drawn to it.....maybe thats what Ally Sheedy's character likes it. Just a thought.

g3121 said:at school it was seen as slightly odd that i chose to listen to him over what was being played on the radio at lunch.

welcome to the slightly odd fan community, Prince wasn't properly mainstream until Purple Rain dropped.Defiantly one of my all time favorite films.I got to watch it with my 16 year old the other day...he said it was alright!....in teenage speak that meant he loved it...

Nouveau- jesse johnson appearing and the writer being a prince fan are main clues as to why this scene ocurred, that makes a lot of sense! Aly Sheedy gorgeous? No no no the criminal is!

Kewl- I'm guessing the girl wasn't into RnB so the sleeve must have been picked for obscurity reasons then?

Digifuwill- you very much agree with Kewl's thought so I'm definitely going with this, that as the character and prince were off the grid they made a good match!

KenKam- Yes she does! i never noticed throughout the whole film!

Joy- Why do people find our taste strange?! those who close their ears and minds to prince are by far stranger!

Thank you everyone, that was really interesting, since i saw the film it was annnoying me not knowing!

interesting, the movie was filmed March, April, and May of 1984.

I remember some of the kids at my middle school had 1999 tour shirts on the day after the 1999 show in a town about 50 miles away. I was jealous.

In this movie, Ally wears a Purple Rain (tour) T-Shirt. I think she's just a big fan!!

[Edited 3/27/11 12:54pm]

It might also have been Hughes pushing for midwestern authenticity by going with a midwestern artist.

I'll say the same thing I said on Housequake before it went defunct:

Ally tucked in the damn shirt and wrinkled the shit out of Prince's motorcycle!

The Breakfast Club is one of my favorite movies. I think I first saw this movie while in detention.

kewlschool said:

In 83 Prince was mainstream in the R&B world but not in the rest of the world (Pop). I guess it's all relative.

In other words, he didnt crossove to white audiences until Little Red Corvette was the best thing on MTV after decided to air some videos by black artists. In America in the early 80s, "mainstream" meant white people acknowledged and bought your music. Lionel Richie had a long successful career with the Commodores through the 70s but wasnt "mainstream" until he got on MTV and white teens started listening to him. The same could be said about Micheal Jackson and Thriller. He was an R&B (which stood for "black") act from childhood Motown days up until Off The Wall.

kenkamken said:

Ally looks a little like Wendy

Probably because she was influenced by the magical genius aura of Wendy and Lisa like Prince and everyone else in the 80s with an original thought or idea was...

purplenuts said:

Probably because she was influenced by the magical genius aura of Wendy and Lisa like Prince and everyone else in the 80s with an original thought or idea was...

Damn, imagine all that reconstructive cosmetic surgery she must've had to go through to do just that.

[Edited 3/29/11 6:58am]

Other films with 1999 references:

Risky Business(1983)

D.M.S.R. -Plays in the background during the scene when the college recruiter is interviewing Tom Cruise's character.

Delirious(1991)

A movie starring John Candy. I never watched this film.

edit

Any more?

I forgot this mess:

The Slugger's Wife(1985)

Rebecca DeMornay's character does a horrible version of Little Red Corvette

[Edited 3/29/11 7:21am]

kenkamken said:

Ally looks a little like Wendy

Agreed. In St Elmo's Fire, Ally looks even more like Wendy as her hair is shorter in that movie.

runphilrun said:

Other films with 1999 references:

Risky Business(1983)

D.M.S.R. -Plays in the background during the scene when the college recruiter is interviewing Tom Cruise's character.

Delirious(1991)

A movie starring John Candy. I never watched this film.

edit

Any more?

I forgot this mess:

The Slugger's Wife(1985)

Rebecca DeMornay's character does a horrible version of Little Red Corvette

[Edited 3/29/11 7:21am]

More references are here: http://prince.org/msg/7/99923?pr