Okay... so here's the thing.

I just read a comment regarding at post on a clip of The Beautiful Ones, where the viewer said that they had never heard that song until Beyonce did it, and that they like both versions.

That is to say that they would take either version.

Let me just say that I have NEVER heard ANYONE redo a Prince song, in which their version sounded better. It's just not possible. It's just not fathomable. It's just the CRACK talking to these people!!

And of all songs... The Beautiful Ones?? Beyonce's version is just as good?? Seriously??

I don't even need to hear Beyonce's version to tell that this listener must have been on some serious Lindsay Lohan CRACK DOPE!

Even Mariah Carey's version of The Beautiful Ones. Or TLC's version of If I Was Ur Girlfriend.

Or Tom Jones' version of Kiss. PLEASE!!!

Just like no one can do a Smokey Robinson song justice.... no one... NO ONE... not Maxwell, not D'Angelo, not NOBODY (I know that's a double negative) can do a Prince song, nor HAS EVER done a Prince song better than Prince.

And I wish artists would just stop even doing them!

To say that Beyonce's version of The Beautiful One's is "comparable" to Prince's version is like saying Lady Gaga is original! The hell she is!!!

NO BODY can do a Prince song better than Prince himself. PERIOD!

[Edited 6/30/11 11:46am]

MantuaPharoah said:

Okay... so here's the thing.

I just read a comment regarding at post on a clip of The Beautiful Ones, where the viewer said that they had never heard that song until Beyonce did it, and that they like both versions.

That is to say that they would take either version.

Let me just say that I have NEVER heard ANYONE redo a Prince song, in which their version sounded better. It's just not possible. It's just not fathomable. It's just the CRACK talking to these people!!

And of all songs... The Beautiful Ones?? Beyonce's version is just as good?? Seriously??

I don't even need to hear Beyonce's version to tell that this listener must have been on some serious Lindsay Lohan CRACK DOPE!

Even Mariah Carey's version of The Beautiful Ones. Or TLC's version of If I Was Ur Girlfriend.

Or Tom Jones' version of Kiss. PLEASE!!!

Just like no one can do a Smokey Robinson song justice.... no one... NO ONE... not Maxwell, not D'Angelo, not NOBODY (I know that's a double negative) can do a Prince song, nor HAS EVER done a Prince song better than Prince.

And I wish artists would just stop even doing them!

To say that Beyonce's version of The Beautiful One's is "comparable" to Prince's version is like saying Lady Gaga is original! The hell she is!!!

NO BODY can do a Prince song better than Prince himself. PERIOD!

[Edited 6/30/11 11:46am]

I would support you.

(all written below is not addressed directly to MantuaPharoah, but to those "fans" who treat Prince bad for some reasons).

You know, a young aspiring musician composed some tunes - and his band (or he himself) became popular.

Lots of fans.....

And then - as some of these musicians are pure talents - the put all love. light, passion and time they have to develop themselves in a different styles, areas...

The same as everybody gets older - they mature. And Prince also.

But what happened with fans:

"His last album is a sh..t"

"HE should just kill himself"

"Return to 80-s (90-s) whatever..."

The same happened to Led Zeppelin.

Fans (in most cases) treat favorite musicians as THEIR possession!

For God`s sake why????

Why don`t enjoy the Life in all diversity?

If you don`t want to change - you will be changed. Either through economics or some political changes. Or even climate..

Times - they are changing. And so musician are. So does Prince.

Love him. hate him, enjoy his music or delete from your media library but do not try to change him. He is neither slave, nor your toy.

Denys

P.S. This is not meant to offense anybody. I DO respect and love all of you. Peace

Knightoflight said:

MantuaPharoah said:

Okay... so here's the thing.

I just read a comment regarding at post on a clip of The Beautiful Ones, where the viewer said that they had never heard that song until Beyonce did it, and that they like both versions.

That is to say that they would take either version.

Let me just say that I have NEVER heard ANYONE redo a Prince song, in which their version sounded better. It's just not possible. It's just not fathomable. It's just the CRACK talking to these people!!

And of all songs... The Beautiful Ones?? Beyonce's version is just as good?? Seriously??

I don't even need to hear Beyonce's version to tell that this listener must have been on some serious Lindsay Lohan CRACK DOPE!

Even Mariah Carey's version of The Beautiful Ones. Or TLC's version of If I Was Ur Girlfriend.

Or Tom Jones' version of Kiss. PLEASE!!!

Just like no one can do a Smokey Robinson song justice.... no one... NO ONE... not Maxwell, not D'Angelo, not NOBODY (I know that's a double negative) can do a Prince song, nor HAS EVER done a Prince song better than Prince.

And I wish artists would just stop even doing them!

To say that Beyonce's version of The Beautiful One's is "comparable" to Prince's version is like saying Lady Gaga is original! The hell she is!!!

NO BODY can do a Prince song better than Prince himself. PERIOD!

[Edited 6/30/11 11:46am]

I would support you.

(all written below is not addressed directly to MantuaPharoah, but to those "fans" who treat Prince bad for some reasons).

You know, a young aspiring musician composed some tunes - and his band (or he himself) became popular.

Lots of fans.....

And then - as some of these musicians are pure talents - the put all love. light, passion and time they have to develop themselves in a different styles, areas...

The same as everybody gets older - they mature. And Prince also.

But what happened with fans:

"His last album is a sh..t"

"HE should just kill himself"

"Return to 80-s (90-s) whatever..."

The same happened to Led Zeppelin.

Fans (in most cases) treat favorite musicians as THEIR possession!

For God`s sake why????

Why don`t enjoy the Life in all diversity?

If you don`t want to change - you will be changed. Either through economics or some political changes. Or even climate..

Times - they are changing. And so musician are. So does Prince.

Love him. hate him, enjoy his music or delete from your media library but do not try to change him. He is neither slave, nor your toy.

Denys

P.S. This is not meant to offense anybody. I DO respect and love all of you. Peace

Well stated, KnightofLight.

I go through my ups and downs with Prince as well. There are some songs... "Everybody Loves Me" for example, where I just listen and cringe. And some comments he makes where I read them, and say "wtf" ??

I don't want to go off on a tangent that's not related to my original subject, but I accept him for what he is. I admit that I probably would not like Prince as a person if I knew him well. He would probably eventually rub me the wrong way with that "way" of his. But the fact of the matter is... that when I go back into his vast library of songs, he's an incomparable talent.

Period.

And some of his music is, was, and continues to be special on so many levels.

But I digress...

I played How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore for a girlfriend of mine. She said "Isn't this Alicia Keye's song". I almost stopped the car and gave her bus fare.

As much as I love Alicia Keyes... not even she can do a Prince song better than the man himself. I don't even want to hear her try.

And PLEASE don't let Bruno Mars try to do a remake. Please dear Lord!

I played How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore for a girlfriend of mine. She said "Isn't this Alicia Keye's song". I almost stopped the car and gave her bus fare.

As much as I love Alicia Keyes... not even she can do a Prince song better than the man himself. I don't even want to hear her try.

Agreed, but on the same token, Prince should NEVER cover anybody's songs.

But there you are, the guy complains about other people covering his songs when a huge % of his fandom are mad at the amount of (lame) covers of other people's songs.

Oh yes that is Prince, the burqa-happy man.

That's your opinion. Not everyone likes the same performers. What difference does it make if someone else likes a remake better?

No one can cover a Prince song right but he can't do a cover right himself.

lol, im with Prince, just NO MORE COVERS in general. The OP and all the supporters are right when it comes to people "trying" to cover Prince's songs (and Princey stop doing others... Nevermind, u can do whateva u want, baby).

But Nope nope nope. Unmatchable, doesn't compare, even close relation doesn't exist. Others can't do it. Prince has that 1 in a millenium stlye, type, sounds, look. Come on now, a person of any age or experience cannot copy Prince.

Now think about this, a little girl or boy on youtube dancing and singing just like or better than one of these "artists" and/or "singers" now? Hah, their paid talents need to be relooked at...

ecstasy said:

lol, im with Prince, just NO MORE COVERS in general. The OP and all the supporters are right when it comes to people "trying" to cover Prince's songs (and Princey stop doing others... Nevermind, u can do whateva u want, baby).

But Nope nope nope. Unmatchable, doesn't compare, even close relation doesn't exist. Others can't do it. Prince has that 1 in a millenium stlye, type, sounds, look. Come on now, a person of any age or experience cannot copy Prince.

Now think about this, a little girl or boy on youtube dancing and singing just like or better than one of these "artists" and/or "singers" now? Hah, their paid talents need to be relooked at...

Uh, if we're gonna stop people from doing covers, Prince gotta stop too.

You can't have one and then have another. It's ALL gotta stop. Otherwise, what's the point?

"Only I can cover it because I'm Prince?" Please.

Chaka did/does a better version of "I Feel For You" than Prince ever will.

daPrettyman said:

Chaka did/does a better version of "I Feel For You" than Prince ever will.

Timmy84 said:

No one can cover a Prince song right but he can't do a cover right himself.

MajesticOne89 said:

Timmy84 said:

No one can cover a Prince song right but he can't do a cover right himself.

I forgot to edit "except for Chaka".

MickyDolenz said:

That's your opinion. Not everyone likes the same performers. What difference does it make if someone else likes a remake better?

Considering that anyone who was a teenager after D&P would know anything about Prince, it's no big surprise that as cited in the previous mails that people know only of the latest reincarnation of one of his songs. How come u dont call me anymore is afterall a b-side from 1982, why would a casual listener have heard Prince's version?

You can count it out on a technicality if you like, because written by Prince performed by The Family, but I much prefer Sinead O'Connor's version of Nothing Compares 2 U....and I've been on board since Controversy.

Covers by Prince of other artists, no thanks, much prefer he dig into his own archives for live setlists.

[Edited 6/30/11 13:20pm]

Oh yeah I liked Sinead's cover.

MickyDolenz said:

That's your opinion. Not everyone likes the same performers. What difference does it make if someone else likes a remake better?

I agree. Besides remake isn't necessarily meant to be "better" than the original...I'm sure the ones who ever covered Prince songs did that out of respect...And really they're just trying to interpret the song in their own way...I don't think there's anything wrong with that...even when they suck...

So far I like I feel for U by Chaka and Baby I'm a Star by Tina Turner...But I didn't like Chaka's SOTT cover at all..Oh and I liked Alicia's cover of Adore and Maroon5's instrumental cover of Purple Rain at a concert as well...

I generally don't like/don't care for covers...and Prince is easily the most difficult artist to cover...

I Feel For U is easily the only Prince cover that was an artistic success...

MantuaPharoah said:

I played How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore for a girlfriend of mine. She said "Isn't this Alicia Keye's song". I almost stopped the car and gave her bus fare.

As much as I love Alicia Keyes... not even she can do a Prince song better than the man himself. I don't even want to hear her try.

Same thing happened with me and my girlfriend. i make her wear Burqas now.

Shaka khans version of i feel for you is better though

Agreed, seeing Beyonce rape the Beautiful Ones at Glastonbury was laughable and really really bad, I couldn't stand it, what a fake.

On the other hand Prince has to stfu about other artists covering his songs, the hypocrit is doing it all the time at his concerts as well, even far too much imo which is mind boggling because he doesn't need to - he has so many absolutely great songs himself!! Ridiculous.

In general, I agree because Prince's music is really quite idiosyncratic. There are some really dreary covers of When Doves Cry and Purple Rain.

But then there's Chaka Khan and Sinead O'Connor, who both turn their respective covers into something unique and special in their own right. I love Prince's own version of IFFY, but all the elements of Chaka's version, and Arif Mardin's production just takes it to another level - I never get bored of it, and there are few big hits by anyone I can say that about.

BombFunk said:

Agreed, seeing Beyonce rape the Beautiful Ones at Glastonbury was laughable and really really bad, I couldn't stand it, what a fake.

On the other hand Prince has to stfu about other artists covering his songs, the hypocrit is doing it all the time at his concerts as well, even far too much imo which is mind boggling because he doesn't need to - he has so many absolutely great songs himself!! Ridiculous.

That's what is so crazy. He's complaining about people doing his songs but he has covers in his set list.

I know most of y'all won't agree but i thought D'Angelo did a HELL of a cover of "She's Always In My Hair". I don't mind Living Colour's "17 Days" either.

It's a hard task to take on, but The Time, Sheila E., Tevin Campbell, and The Bangles all did great covers of Prince music. (and Chaka Khan and Ms. O'conner as mentioned above)

Covers are a tricky thing. I never thought Billie Jean could ever be covered, but David Cook's version is good (Not as good as the original) and puts a new spin on it.

ButterscotchPimp said:

I know most of y'all won't agree but i thought D'Angelo did a HELL of a cover of "She's Always In My Hair". I don't mind Living Colour's "17 Days" either.

Nah I agree.

Actually The Time, Sheila and the Bangles recorded songs Prince created FOR THEM so they're not covers technically anyway.

I don't mind if anyone covers Prince... just make it your own. covers often fail because the performer is trying too hard to imitate the original artist with the same exact execution.

Let me just say that I have NEVER heard ANYONE redo a Prince song, in which their version sounded better. It's just not possible. It's just not fathomable. It's just the CRACK talking to these people!!

Really? I think Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" and Chaka's "I Feel For You" are better than Prince's versions. I mean, if you're expecting Prince's unique style, then you're not going to get it with another artist. So accept that before Justin Timberlake covers "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (ooh, that would be cool) or The Yeah Yeah Yeah's rock "Anna Stesia" (ah, that WOULD rock).

Hmm... Maybe a good tribute album would help remind the world how relevant Prince is in today's music. Lady Gaga doing "Little Red Corvette," Janelle Monae doing "Delirious," Cee Lo Green doing "In This Bed I Scream," Jack White doing "Bambi"...

OK, let the hate begin.

UltraLash said:

Let me just say that I have NEVER heard ANYONE redo a Prince song, in which their version sounded better. It's just not possible. It's just not fathomable. It's just the CRACK talking to these people!!

Really? I think Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" and Chaka's "I Feel For You" are better than Prince's versions. I mean, if you're expecting Prince's unique style, then you're not going to get it with another artist. So accept that before Justin Timberlake covers "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (ooh, that would be cool) or The Yeah Yeah Yeah's rock "Anna Stesia" (ah, that WOULD rock).

Hmm... Maybe a good tribute album would help remind the world how relevant Prince is in today's music. Lady Gaga doing "Little Red Corvette," Janelle Monae doing "Delirious," Cee Lo Green doing "In This Bed I Scream," Jack White doing "Bambi"...

OK, let the hate begin.

Actually... i think a tribute album would be interesting... sure you may get some lemons but you might also get some gold on it. Too bad it'd never happen.

[Edited 6/30/11 14:53pm]

When Prince authorized someone doing his songs, that's not the same as a cover version. A cover song is something that people already know, or maybe something obscure but they found it.

I understand why he speaks out against people covering his old songs, because he's referring to Universal who owns & controls most of his publishing. I don't know why some songwriters have control, and others don't. Maybe part of his Warners re-sign bonus was that he gave that ability up?

I thought it was cool that Prince accepted the Grammy for "I Feel For You" as a songwriter. To me, it just made people take notice on his songwriting ability that night.

dalsh327 said:

When Prince authorized someone doing his songs, that's not the same as a cover version. A cover song is something that people already know, or maybe something obscure but they found it.

I understand why he speaks out against people covering his old songs, because he's referring to Universal who owns & controls most of his publishing. I don't know why some songwriters have control, and others don't. Maybe part of his Warners re-sign bonus was that he gave that ability up?

I thought it was cool that Prince accepted the Grammy for "I Feel For You" as a songwriter. To me, it just made people take notice on his songwriting ability that night.

Depends on the contract Prince signed and explains why he's so bitter - and seems hypocritical. Last I checked Universal doesn't have his catalog - yet.