Prince’s legacy is set but it seems like it is going to take work to do it properly. Whom am I to say it isn’t being one properly or what’s already out there isn’t good enough? Just my opinion. His legacy is all part on cd and vhs for the most part. And of course for a proper legacy imho these things need transfers to dvd and re-mastering. Prince once said how wanted to have one of the biggest catalogues in the music bin...when I look at artists like Hendrix and Miles Davis in the stores there is a plethora of material. I think this is what he meant. And the material by those artists as well as others have all been given the legacy respectful treatment by their respective record companies etc. It’s just my luck the artist I latch onto has beef with his past in all endeavors music, personality and otherwise. Lets see what is possibilities of remastering and transfers.

Music releases:
SOTT , , DM, Prince, Lovesexy, Parade, 1999 (desperately needs work), Controversy. For the most part the 90’s output seems pretty top par in sonic sound imo. Plus this is not what some consider as his classic music.

VVHS-Performances

Purple Rain ( many possibilities but there just may not be available extra material….probably has peanut butter all over the extra film stock.. But it’s be cool to see him come and try to take Apollonia during the rehearsal and swing at Jellybean which was allowed in Graffiti Bridge sort of. Plus the other scenes from the trailer on the dvd that are cut from the released film like when he is running in front o f some billowing white linen)

UTCM…needs a dvd release even if there were no extras. A color version would be too cool too…somehow I think he is embarrassed by this though.

SOTT-nuff said. If it isnt already actually being done etc.

Livesexy-nuff said. “Liberace on acid” over excess but at a peak of inspiration

Nude Tour.

Undertaker-just for proof
And the other assorted vhs releases such as 3 chains O Gold etc.

A comprehensice video release on dvd

Hendrix, Clapton , Rolling Stones etc has much of their concerts etc released and many of them are on dvd. I know this takes some money in itself to produce from the record companies or production companies that own the rights, and prince himself, but I’m not sure anyone working in these media outlets are concerned or fans to help preserve princes legacy. I’m sure he is a little shit about certain aspects but Davis et.al. wasn’t? And the profit margin is actually not a huge excuse because as stated, other artists with an overabundance of material transferred, do not sell in huge huge numbers anyway. It must be a love for the music and legacy with some of these releases. (Is there anyone at WB at least who is fan enough to get the ball rolling on his own?) Not all of Claptons, Stones, Davis etc are all very very very profitable. Talk about flooding the market. Prince material is out there and even though he has been quite prolific, in the long run it seems he has not flooded the market as much as could be, as much as others. And what he has flooded the market with needs to be given the legacy treatment.

There is just so much material out there already released that if given the legacy treatment that there wouldn’t even really need to be any vault product release to satiate the public, fans, and let this mans music and creativity to be appreciated properly. Many of these releases would show the ups and downs of his brilliant career.
Just as others and their catalogue does. I mean its 25 years into his career I think it’s about time. Even if that means him swallowing some of his pride and taking time off from creating new things for a while. Take some time to work things out and make ones past able to be appreciated. Maybe its not in the cards which would be so Prince-fandom like but gotdamn,throw us a friggin bone here and there…WB, Prince, somebody. Folks are left with fan re-masterings of Lovesexy and SOTT (and they are brilliant works from them , not taking away from that) but it seems like the fans have more passion than the original artist and companies ( which is understandable from a fan vs. company pov I guess). Its been 25 years and many many artists have their works remastered and transferred even when in their prime. I hope this all comes togethe r some way somehow before it gets too damn late in the game. I mean hes had his comabcks, returns to form , personal bests, personal highs and lows...instead of rushing to the next forward movement project it would be great if he now concentrated on some things of his past while living his life so the future can be seen and entered with an approach of accomplishment form his pov and from the fans pov etc. Just my opinion. Everyone is allowed to live their life and he can run his career the way he wants to...he has been successful and its obviously working for him. This is only a wish, not a demand or advice since I’m not a manager etc.

rdhull said:

LOL he is embarrassed indeed "shakes head"

Accroding 2 the great DMSR liner notes topic that "you" posted

I think that Prince is a very very VERY reversed person(like myself in real life) those kinda ppl impress others when they express theirselves openly(like his attitude in UTCM) but they're neva impressed with theirselves after that.

Harlepolis said:

I would LOVE 2 C UTCM in color...I liked the movie...I thought it was cute...Life...Would B so Nice...

Harlepolis said:

I would LOVE 2 C UTCM in color...I liked the movie...I thought it was cute...Life...Would B so Nice...

I wish we could all sign this and take this to someone who'll listen and act on it. Out of all the great legends of music (and Prince is indeed one of them), why is so much being held back on Prince? Is it really all because of Prince's choice? I mean, look at Tupac. How long he been dead and STILL releasing CDs!! Come on! I'm still dumbfounded over the Purple Rain DVD. What the hay!! No extras?!! Director's cut?? Deleted scenes?!? Extra music?!?! Throw us something!! rdhull, i hear you all the way thru your post... and i just keep hoping the day will come when someone will visualize and realize the same things you've written.

rdhull said:

As well he should be.

I've been saying over the past year that AT LEAST his first decade's worth of albums needs to be remastered badly. It's VERY NECESSARY! It would bring a resurgent attention to his music, and younger generations would find out more about that symbol guy, whether they liked him to begin with or not.

Like all great artists, Prince has a stubborn streak. That streak is part and parcel to his success, whether it was commercial success, or artistic success. But that streak can and has hindered his legacy too. So far I don't think he wants to balance it.


There's a big difference: most (if not all) of that material from Miles was remastered/reissued/released after his death in 1991.

Harlepolis said:

This is a possibility true..but then too if he isnt pleased with his past why not spruce it up with remastering and adding extra footage etc?

Jasziah said:

So much can be the cause with Prince



I myself never alluided to that being the only cause but he is essential I would think to starting the process..even though other artists who belong to many different labels throughout their career have the companies release certain things because they own the rights. Maybe they respect Prince and his feelings and output too much to disrespect by doing things without any of his input..maybe I said, so dont flame me..or maybe they dont want to, or maybe it's due to copyrighted material etc..Im sure there are a lot of factors as to why and again I think such drama is involved that it would probably take a conscious effort on Princes part to start anything moving...



That I fel is a bastardization of an artist--taking so much material and releasing it ina sometimes sub-par level..but then again thats a different angle I feel that Tupac releases are coming from..a profit angle at the fore imho..



I agree...maybe its in the works, maybe so much was going on in life that it was nto an issue that was pressed..but now that it is coming up to some importance in his career time element maybe here could be something that happenes..again I would think Prince would want or ned to have a hand in this..

Supernova said:

I agree..it sems hat he is stubborn with etc (to us at face value) is akin to getting peanut buter all over th e recording equipment and havuing dirty dishes piled up


There's a big difference: most (if not all) of that material from Miles was remastered/reissued/released after his death in 1991.[/quote]

yeah but LOT of extensive material on Davis was released while he was stil alive. Seems like everytime Davis took a shit there was a recording of it released especially after his 1980-81 comeback resurgence.


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[This message was edited Sat Feb 8 13:56:06 PST 2003 by rdhull]

Im thinkinig ultimately there are factors of bringing togethe r past folks form his past manager, band , company-wise that would be instrumental to remastering etc..copyrighted stuff as well that may just be to much to sort through what with his many outings in vhs, movies, cd, albums etc. each release seems that a lot of logistics would be involved ot get started. Hmmm..such is the curse of prolific-icity hehe. Or having others involved in your creative process

Great read. I like your long posts.

I too am jonesing for remasters. That would make my day.

I think most of what you speak of is inevitable. I guess the only question is how long will it take and when will they finally get started?

Warner Bros. has already released all the material Prince gave them to part ways and they've released the predictable single-disc greatest hits package in 2001. There's not much left for them to do but to re-master and repackage that which has already been.

All of these companies are always looking for ways to keep their back catalogues alive, and re-releases are a relatively cheap way to do that. I'm thinking it could all start with a potential Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction next year. But of course he has to get nominated first. Prince is still very much in that middle period, where he's looked at as being too old by Top 40 standards, but too young in terms of seeing him as a legend, but induction could start things in that direction.

If this does happen it would be a perfect platform for Warner Bros. to use to put together a very professional 4- to 6-CD box set, covering the best studio material of the Warner years. Perhaps there could even be a 2-CD box set companion piece for covering the best of Prince's side projects.

Call the 6-CD box set simply, "Prince: Genius" and the 2-disc companion piece, "Prince: A Side of Genius".

On the heels of the box set they could start a re-master series, starting in 1978 and going through 1988. I think the rest of the discs sound pretty darn good, from what I remember. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Either for the 20th or 25th anniversary of "Purple Rain", release a special edition 2-DVD set that includes the film presented in its original aspect ratio (1.85 to 1) and with as many bonus materials as they can scrape up, including interviews with the participants.

Next as part of an ad campaign promoting Prince as one of the greatest live performers to ever walk a stage, release the following triple threat:

- “Sign O’ The Times” DVD with bonus materials and in the original aspect ratio.
- “Livesexy” DVD with bonus materials.
- “Prince: Showman”, a 4-CD set much like Bruce Springsteen’s “Live: 1975-85” set where you put together a collection of great live performances of much of his best material, spanning much of his career. It would contain 50 to 60 of his best tracks, each hand selected to be one of the best and most representative performances of each track, covering all the different periods and concert tours.

Of course some if not all of this will take at least some cooperation from Prince. Something that's quite possible if you get a very smart businessman to approach Prince who understands Prince's music and what NOT to say to Prince. You need to stroke his ego and talk about legacy and how important his place in music history is, send some major cash his way, and show a lot of enthusiasm and I think Prince will come on board. But I'm not sure there is many really smart folks over at Warner Bros. right now.

Having said all of that, though, I think Prince is currently in one of his most inspired creative periods. It’s like he’s been reborn as an artist, much like he wanted to have happen back when he changed his name, so I'd really hate to see him get side tracked with worrying about documenting his legacy. I'd just like to see him cooperate by giving up some extra studio tracks and additional live material, and let the professionals handle everything else.

But of course perhaps it’s naïve to think that the ultimate control freak will allow any of this, but he did once with the “The Hits / The B-sides,” and I think that ended up being a very well put together professional package.

I Hope His Gets the Proper Treatment His Work Merits especially the First Decade as SuperNova has Pointed out several times.but all things must be crossed&dotted&it seems neither side will budge.I think Prince has to do something because the longer times go buy the harder it is for His work to still getting a Proper Respect.Prince is one of the Major Links to just Content that Paved the way with Rap/Hip-Hop meaning from a Freedom of Expression alot of People wouldn't know that.when you hear the Content of Prince's Stuff from Dirty Mind through 1999 you can see a Big springboard for alot of Rappers with the Content factor so many people don't even know.

If I ever own a record company, I'm hiring RDHULL and BRENDAN off the bat!

PEACE 2 NwPwrSOUL !

Damn this was the best topic on this site in years !

I seriously doubt that all of your great ideas will ever take place because of the bad blood between both parties.
The only hope is for a new team to take over at Warner's(one without ties to the current Prince hating regime).

Brendan said:

I should add to my original post, as I was in a hurry and forgot a few ideas I meant to include.

On a smaller scale I think Prince should release a "One Nite Alone...Live" type release of each major tour. They would be made up of both full concerts and compilations like "ONA". All of them would come with one or two extra discs for inclusion of particularly great aftershow or, again, a compilation piece like "It Ain't Over." A few of the concerts not yet released on video might also come with DVDs. This project would be more directed at his hard core fans.

In addition a series would be started to clear the vault. It would be called, "Prince: The Whole Story" and be released chronologically. You’d release a double CD every 6 months for years until you had a 10, 20, hell, 50-volume set, whatever it took to hold all the vault material Prince wishes to release. This would include themed releases like extended takes and remixes, as well has tons of unreleased outtakes and never-before-heard tracks. Again this is aimed at his hard-core fan base, not the record stores, although they should be able to order this stuff for people.

Lastly, release a 3- or 4-DVD set (whatever it takes), containing every promo video Prince wishes to release, presented in chronological order. This would be aimed at a slightly wider audience like the 6-CD box set and other ideas mentioned above.

That should pretty much document his legacy like few have been. And on top of that he'll hopefully continue to release awesome new material that will need documenting a decade or two from now.

Just writing about documenting this prolfic artist’s work is a tiring process.

GREAT posts, you guys

RD said:

That's what I'm sayin'! Time is just passing by - I want to experience all I can NOW. Fuck a 20 year Anniversary of PR - the same fans who are interested in it AT ALL are gonna buy that mutha as soon as it's out regardless of an anniversary. Shit needs to be done right, he's too good for this. I'm tired of sub-par materials to choose from. Where's the video collection? Where's the letterbox version of PR? It's ridiculous, has to be corrected...

Brendan said:

I dont think him getting ivolved is a sidetrack..I woud like for him to do this while he has this newfound inspiration. I dont want him to go into it half-assed. Of course others should and would be involved but I think Princes "effervescence" (heh)is key.



You gota be kidding me. You like what they did with that?Man did they ever mess their career up, and his wifes too.

Brendan said:

Im not to thrilled with this as it will probably never happen. Or it will be like a Dylan Basement Tapes thing released 30 years from now when Im too old to give a dman anymore..but I just want to go in baby steps and have the remastering project and vhs transfer to dvd to happen..thats enough for me.



Yes as mentioned, I do agree with this one too as well as the live release of every song etc. such as Bruce Sprionsteens Live 1985.

rdhull said:

I honestly don't know what you mean by that last comment. Confused! I'm not talking about the behind-the-scenes stuff, as I'm no expert in that area. I'm merely judging the quality of the release, from the tracklist, to the artwork, to the liner notes.

I just feel that given the limitation of only 3 discs, 2 of which are devoted only to hits and one that is completely devoted to B-sides, that they did an excellent job. It's kind of a mini-box set for the first 14 years of his career.

I keep hearing people complain that they should have put the longer version of this and that song, and included this song (and I usually agree with this sentiment), but what people seem to forget is the limitation of trying to fit as much great stuff as possible given only 3 discs. And the CDs are packed out to 78 minutes if I remember correctly.

I just don’t think it would have been as good with Prince’s involvement, especially the artwork and liner notes, of which Prince is awful at. He’s never struck me as someone who understands how to package stuff that is proper for not only what his fans want, but what his legacy demands (see “Crystal Ball” or his lack of other ideas on how to release his past). I kind of think that’s a positive, as he’s the true artist who is almost always on to the next project. Of course he surprised me with the excellent “One Nite Alone…Live” box set, so perhaps he’s getting better at documenting his legacy. Or perhaps this was just a one-time thing and we get no more live CDs for another 20 years.

Brendan said:

Im just disappointed in hindsight of what they did and what it could have been. To me it seems like a slapdash rush job they did. What they did was bullshit in my opinion. They gave him the star treatment yes but half assed ..I dont think they realize what they had-have in Prince. This is not just some ordinary mutherfucker. He isn't "Journey" and even though they did try to do something special with it utilizing the b-sides (thank god for that!) I just feel it was a halfhearted job. At least they put Peaches' ass upinthere. Im sure in the future if a comprehensive set is produced they will do much much better.

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[This message was edited Sun Feb 9 11:35:48 PST 2003 by rdhull]

Wow! You guys want his damn legacy, and you want it NOW!!

Prince is still thankfully very much a vital artist, probably will be until he's 70. Most of the artists I'm seeing listed have great legacy treatment because they are either far older than Prince and/or are dead. In addition some of these artist have frankly done little to nothing artistically for years or decades, so they have plenty of time to focus on repackaging their great histories.

I'm trying to look at this as a marketer would. They are looking for synergies and other such nonsense. They are not interested in the hard-core fan, they know they have your money regardless of when they act. They want to try to get a slightly larger audience and make more money. I could care less about tying this stuff to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and as far as I time table goes, if it were up to me, I'd would have started long ago.

But I was trying to remove my frustration of not having much of anything that would properly document his legacy and look at it how Warner Bros. might approach this in reality.

As far as the vault cleaning not likely happening, I tend to agree. I'd settle for a 4- to 8-disc set that contains the "cream" of the vault and perhaps a release of some shelved albums such as "24", "Roadhouse Garden", or a Miles Davis collaboration CD. I really don't think we are going to see it all released, or that it would even be wise from a legacy perspective.

rdhull said:

I agree man, and I really like your passion.

But we have the 1-disc greatest hits and the 2-disc greatest hits (or 3-disc set) that almost every great artist has. Now it's time for the big box set. They damn well better not muck that up, because this is the important one. I'm looking for a minimum of promoting his 100 greatest classic recordings. Which sounds like a lot, but in reality it's only like 5 to 10% of his output.

Brendan said:

I actually want it done right as well lol. "Done right" I will take over "right now" though.

rdhull said:

I'm with you. Better to get it right than to get it done fast.

But let us not forget that even Mozart and Beethoven have ridiculous 1- and 2-disc "greatest hits" compilations. So Tiffany and Mozart have something in common, right?

It seems terribly wrong and embarrassing on the surface, but what if someone discovers an artist like this with a meager collection like this? Perhaps a few of them end up loving what they hear, start to dig deeper and deeper and eventually they have it all? With a 6- or 10-disc box set monstrosity they may have been too intimidated or poor to ever dare get started.

That's why I think both treatments are important. Warner Bros., please get started on the big box.

Brendan said:

HELL YEA!!! There's so much crazy, bad shit in the world right now - I want as much of what brings me joy as I can get. I spend more time w/ my family, TRY to kick it as often as possible & DAMMIT I want my Prince music!!! And videos & DVD's & stuff & stuff!!