cue a mere five six years later when he reclaimed the name prince and literally none of the media gave a shit

i was just watching that press confrence-definatly a time when prince misjudged his own media importance

kinda sad in a way.......still larry would have been there with doug e to cheer him up

To me he was always Prince no matter what symbol he thought he was lol

Timmy84 said:

To me he was always Prince no matter what symbol he thought he was lol

This, 100%.

I am just happy the 7 " years" are over and we no more need to call him Squiggle, LoveSign, Symbol, TAFKAP, The Artist, Taffy...... the list goes on.....

Prince, the name, is short, sexy and cool, just like him lol....

[Edited 4/2/11 15:40pm]

It's not 'if we remember it', I'm afraid most of us will never forget such cringeworthy move.

Like the rest, I never called him anything other than Prince. I'm not that stupid.

If only his name change/WB fights/slave-on-cheek thing would have brought what he hinted...

But we got less albums, harder to find, more expensive, out-of-print in a wink and, the worst of it all, mostly CRAP MUSIC.

Congratulations, Prince. You iz da masta!

[Edited 4/2/11 15:43pm]

That's when it became a stigma to be a Prince fan. I never said the symbol name shit, he was always Prince to me, but my friends would often 'correct' me on it. In fact, people STILL say to me, "Don't you mean The Artist?"

jonylawson said:

cue a mere five six years later when he reclaimed the name prince and literally none of the media gave a shit

i was just watching that press confrence-definatly a time when prince misjudged his own media importance

kinda sad in a way.......still larry would have been there with doug e to cheer him up

The reason the media couldn't give a shit when he reclaimed his name, is because the whole world had already switched off at the start of the name change shenanigans.

i wasn't in2 prince back then & my 1st thought was the symbol was male/female & that he had come out as bi

DoffieParker said:

i wasn't in2 prince back then & my 1st thought was the symbol was male/female & that he had come out as bi

that just made my day...funny as

he did a radio promo and he reffered to himseld as "the Artist" it was something like "this is the Artist and you're listing to 102.6 huh" (but I only heard it once the day of a concert)

Spinlight said:

That's when it became a stigma to be a Prince fan. I never said the symbol name shit, he was always Prince to me, but my friends would often 'correct' me on it. In fact, people STILL say to me, "Don't you mean The Artist?"

they must like the face u put on then!

Spinlight said:

That's when it became a stigma to be a Prince fan. I never said the symbol name shit, he was always Prince to me, but my friends would often 'correct' me on it. In fact, people STILL say to me, "Don't you mean The Artist?"

me tooo... some people have asked me that when i said i liked prince and.. the convo goes like this

"i thought he changed his name?"

"hes prince again ._."

"oh. okeh."

"D: mhm."

Freedom by any means is sweet. Warner Brothers knew what they were doing to a 19 year old Prince s they did with many other artists. He said it best: ownership of an artist's masters should be treated as "when you buy the house, you get to keep the house". Warners had been paid over and over again, but refused to give up the masters.

mzsadii said:

Freedom by any means is sweet. Warner Brothers knew what they were doing to a 19 year old Prince s they did with many other artists. He said it best: ownership of an artist's masters should be treated as "when you buy the house, you get to keep the house". Warners had been paid over and over again, but refused to give up the masters.

you have a point with the 18/19 year old Prince... sure.

but prince signed many contracts over the WB years. At ANY time he could have negotiated for an early release of the masters. His last contract he was in his 30s and had been in the biz some 15 years. He should have known better.

Spinlight said:

In fact, people STILL say to me, "Don't you mean The Artist?"

They do it's true! And when you tell them he's plain ol' Prince again, they say "since when?" - they can't believe it's been over a decade and no-one told them.

mzsadii said:

Freedom by any means is sweet. Warner Brothers knew what they were doing to a 19 year old Prince s they did with many other artists. He said it best: ownership of an artist's masters should be treated as "when you buy the house, you get to keep the house". Warners had been paid over and over again, but refused to give up the masters.

They're not going to change the rules just for one guy.

Does the system suck? Sure it probably does, but Prince has done pretty fucking well out of it no? He wouldn't be where he is without that record deal - think he'd recorded the music he did and have the legacy he has selling tapes out the boot of his car or on a myspace page?

As said above, he could've renegociated a better deal in the early 90s, but he chose to go for the "biggest $$$$$ deal in history" headlines instead of a solid structured deal. That deal was borked from the start - there was no way Prince was going to sell 5 million per album. So his own greed was what did it.

NouveauDance said:

mzsadii said:

Freedom by any means is sweet. Warner Brothers knew what they were doing to a 19 year old Prince s they did with many other artists. He said it best: ownership of an artist's masters should be treated as "when you buy the house, you get to keep the house". Warners had been paid over and over again, but refused to give up the masters.

They're not going to change the rules just for one guy.

Does the system suck? Sure it probably does, but Prince has done pretty fucking well out of it no? He wouldn't be where he is without that record deal - think he'd recorded the music he did and have the legacy he has selling tapes out the boot of his car or on a myspace page?

As said above, he could've renegociated a better deal in the early 90s, but he chose to go for the "biggest $$$$$ deal in history" headlines instead of a solid structured deal. That deal was borked from the start - there was no way Prince was going to sell 5 million per album. So his own greed was what did it.

Absolutely...and it's ironic that on his W2A tour, at a time when he's free to play whatever he wants, including his new stuff (wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity to give the people something new, since he doesn't get airplay?), he's once again relying on the hits from his days with WB's.

Ah, it's tough being a Prince fan sometimes...he's just lucky that he's awesome.

NouveauDance said:

mzsadii said:

Freedom by any means is sweet. Warner Brothers knew what they were doing to a 19 year old Prince s they did with many other artists. He said it best: ownership of an artist's masters should be treated as "when you buy the house, you get to keep the house". Warners had been paid over and over again, but refused to give up the masters.

They're not going to change the rules just for one guy.

Does the system suck? Sure it probably does, but Prince has done pretty fucking well out of it no? He wouldn't be where he is without that record deal - think he'd recorded the music he did and have the legacy he has selling tapes out the boot of his car or on a myspace page?

As said above, he could've renegociated a better deal in the early 90s, but he chose to go for the "biggest $$$$$ deal in history" headlines instead of a solid structured deal. That deal was borked from the start - there was no way Prince was going to sell 5 million per album. So his own greed was what did it.

he could have gotten them back as a term of a contract if he tired as was successful enough at the time. He choose the $100Million. He also billed (some say over billed) WB for studio time. Which may be some of the reason why many of the vault songs are still in the vault. It is possable that WB ownes them too.

Well, he at least made a permanent mark on culture - the phrase "Formerly known as" is now commonplace.

No matter how ridiculous it seemed to many, it was a daring move. I enjoyed this whole namechange thing a lot. 1994 will remain one of the most fascinating year in the history of his fans

I have a reference to it my Season 4 Fresh Prince DVD's the first episode aired in September 1993, has Ashley (aged 15) bringing a boy home to Phillip, and he asks the boy who lloks like a mall rat, his name, and he gives him a symbol on a card

Philip "Whats this?"

Boy "Its a symbol like Prince"

Philip "Prince who, Prince of where"

Boy "This is why Dads should not be allowed at the mall"

Philip draws something hands it to the boy

Boy "Whats this"

Philip "Its a symbol for GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

Boy runs out

Ashley "I loved him"

I remember it too, my Mum thought he had gone bonkers, making my faith in him wane a bit.

[Edited 4/4/11 3:00am]

NouveauDance said:

mzsadii said:

Freedom by any means is sweet. Warner Brothers knew what they were doing to a 19 year old Prince s they did with many other artists. He said it best: ownership of an artist's masters should be treated as "when you buy the house, you get to keep the house". Warners had been paid over and over again, but refused to give up the masters.

They're not going to change the rules just for one guy.

Does the system suck? Sure it probably does, but Prince has done pretty fucking well out of it no? He wouldn't be where he is without that record deal - think he'd recorded the music he did and have the legacy he has selling tapes out the boot of his car or on a myspace page?

As said above, he could've renegociated a better deal in the early 90s, but he chose to go for the "biggest $$$$$ deal in history" headlines instead of a solid structured deal. That deal was borked from the start - there was no way Prince was going to sell 5 million per album. So his own greed was what did it.

you know,i agree with all but one thing.if Prince reallyw anted to sell 5million of an lp he culd.at that time whenever he needed a hit record he got one..with little ease.examples..i wanna be your lover,little red corvette,u got the look,cream..and the most beautiful girl in the world