Se7en said:

Paisley Park (the record label) was merely an outlet for Prince's own music funneled through his friends and girlfriends.

It would have been really great if Prince had discovered or managed that next "big thing" without molding them in his image or putting their voices over his music. But in that vein, imagine if Prince had signed Terence Trent D'arby or Lenny Kravitz?

Look at Madonna . . . WB gave her a record label too (Maverick) and she had diverse acts like Prodigy, Alanis Morissette, and the Deftones.

Looking back, we were all lemmings to buy any-and-everything with the Paisley Park logo on it.

Prince approached Michelle Ndegeocello who ended up on with Maverick, I think. I seem to recall another major artist who was outside the purple cirlce who was approached - just cant remember the name.

Look at the list of Paislet Park acts - they werwe diverse. I mean where else would you see Dale Bozio, the Three o Clock, George CLinton, Mavis Staples, Sheila E, The Time, Good Question, Tony LeMans, TC Ellis, Taja Sevlle, and Eric Leeds? Some were more relevan than others but an effort was made to get different artists and genres

[Edited 5/16/11 6:37am]

NouveauDance said:

It's a shame Prince wasn't serious about it because it could've been so much more than it was. He had inhouse writers like Wendy & Lisa and it could've been a 'hit factory' like PWL or Motown. Imagine having Dez, Jesse, Andre, Jam & Lewis writing material for acts under the PP banner. A total fantasy, but it could've been more than it was no doubt. Prince just didn't put the effort in to - like now Prince starts something, then thinks his work is done, and if a project doesn't fly on it's own, it's someone elses fault.

It's true that there's vanity projects and girlfriend stuff on PP, but there's tons of great would-be hits on there from The Family, Sheila, Jill Jones, Mazarati etc, etc. There were hits to be had, they just didn't receive the backing they needed. You can have the hottest song in the world, but if no one knows it exists, it's not going to reach the audience it deserves.

[Edited 5/15/11 3:50am]

I think a real oportunity was missed by not getting Dez on Paisley Park - of course, he left Prince due to religious beliefs so going back for Paisley Park was probably never an option.

HonestMan13 said:

V10LETBLUES said:

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I cherish all my Paisley albums minus Tony Le Mans, Good Question and a couple of others.

I love Tony LeMans CD. Different Kinda Thing rocks! Good Question was the absolute worst. I actually saw them live at the Palladium in NYC. They and Apollonia opened for Guy.

It is ridiculous to call collectors lemmings for getting all Paisley Park releases. THose records are collectibles now. What serious Prince fan doesnt wish they bought Jill Jones, Madhouse, Mazarati, Apollonia 6, or The Family when they were in print?