No answers here but I really like your screen name.

Simply because their retainers/contracts were up and Prince decided to go in a new direction. Prince plays musical chairs with his bands now.

joyinrepetition said:

Simply because their retainers/contracts were up and Prince decided to go in a new direction. Prince plays musical chairs with his bands now.

Dude look if you ask ANY question on here about why P did this or that NOBODY knows but him.

so i love it when we get replies like this

"oh its simple ...."

I wish Tommy Barbarella would have took his keyboard with him, that dire keyboard sound ruined over a decade's worth of songs

It is true that the contracts were up, and Prince didn't see fit to extend them though, right? And financial issues were popping up at this time too?

Not that that is a reason, I'm not sure it's ever been explained by the band if they knew why it ended - although I remember from Michael B posting here and some of the more recent biogs, it sounded like they were very much just employees and Prince kept his distance from them offstage.

Maybe it was partly about going in a new direction - not necessarily musically, but image-wise, cutting ties with WB and 'old' Prince - surrounding himself with a new cast of characters and a new wardrobe has always been Prince's thing.

We want to know becaus most of us like that band/era/core line up. I think Mr Hayes was probably kept on for similar reasons to Dr Fink - I guess they do a lot of housework, programming and such, and having someone around who knows all the shortcuts and cues without Prince having to teach a new guy everything helps a lot. Not to make him sound like a secretary, I'm sure his playing had something to do with it too!

[Edited 10/21/11 3:48am]

NouveauDance said:

RicoN said:

I wish Tommy Barbarella would have took his keyboard with him, that dire keyboard sound ruined over a decade's worth of songs

This is so true!!! Prince seemed to lose that great synth sound from the 80's. Everything in the mid 90's to 99 seemed so stale and exactly the same.

So we all agree that Matt Fink & Lisa Coleman were more valuable than every other keyboardists that came after them?!?

TonyVanDam said:

So we all agree that Matt Fink & Lisa Coleman were more valuable than every other keyboardists that came after them?!?

Yup!

joyinrepetition said:

TonyVanDam said:

So we all agree that Matt Fink & Lisa Coleman were more valuable than every other keyboardists that came after them?!?

Yup!

I guess not to Prince. Renato and Hayes have outlasted all the others.

Emancipation = new era, new music, new sound.

Prince wanted to move on, as always.

cracknbush said:

joyinrepetition said:

Yup!

I guess not to Prince. Renato and Hayes have outlasted all the others.

Fair enough (even though I personally think Renato is better off in jazz than funk). But at least Prince agrees with some of us that Tommy Barbarella is overrated!

TonyVanDam said:

cracknbush said:

I guess not to Prince. Renato and Hayes have outlasted all the others.

Fair enough (even though I personally think Renato is better off in jazz than funk). But at least Prince agrees with some of us that Tommy Barbarella is overrated!

Was he even ever considered relevant (by Prince)? Even when he was a current member? He seems like a simple pretty boy blip.

al said:

TonyVanDam said:

Fair enough (even though I personally think Renato is better off in jazz than funk). But at least Prince agrees with some of us that Tommy Barbarella is overrated!

Was he even ever considered relevant (by Prince)? Even when he was a current member? He seems like a simple pretty boy blip.

I actually liked quite some work of Tommy. His solos were often simple, and he had that 'swing'. Renato's solo's dont swing to me, often I think they do not go anywhere and they do not have a clear beginning, middle and end. He does not srike me as a Jazz player, more a traditional Latin Player.

hendrikus said:

al said:

Was he even ever considered relevant (by Prince)? Even when he was a current member? He seems like a simple pretty boy blip.

I actually liked quite some work of Tommy. His solos were often simple, and he had that 'swing'. Renato's solo's dont swing to me, often I think they do not go anywhere and they do not have a clear beginning, middle and end. He does not srike me as a Jazz player, more a traditional Latin Player.

Babarella never registered with me. At all.

I believe Prince disbanded the 94-96 NPG in the spring of 1996, after the recording of Saviour.

I can only speculate on the reason, like most people here, but I would say he probably had recorded all the songs that he needed for Emancipation with them and I guess after the marriage etc he planned to change direction. Evidence for this is that his next albums were The Truth and Kamasutra, which were pretty different to what he did before. I guess he didn't think it was worth keeping them on the payroll if he wasn't planning to use them.

It's a shame though, that line up was excellent...and if 98's NPG Newpowersoul really was with the REAL NPG it would have knocked the socks off what was released!!

TheFreakerFantastic said:

I believe Prince disbanded the 94-96 NPG in the spring of 1996, after the recording of Saviour.

I can only speculate on the reason, like most people here, but I would say he probably had recorded all the songs that he needed for Emancipation with them and I guess after the marriage etc he planned to change direction. Evidence for this is that his next albums were The Truth and Kamasutra, which were pretty different to what he did before. I guess he didn't think it was worth keeping them on the payroll if he wasn't planning to use them.

It's a shame though, that line up was excellent...and if 98's NPG Newpowersoul really was with the REAL NPG it would have knocked the socks off what was released!!

You could be right. If I imagine a band and real horns this album could sound more like Exodus. NPS could certainly do with some solo's.

Do you know when Prince composed the songs for the NPS album?

I never did get the 'hate' for Tommy Barbarella... was he really that bad a player? or were people simply annoyed by his looks and his hair-flipping?

When i think of his input, i simply hear a competent player. Listen to the solo on Willing and able, listen to the synth-work on the Gold Experience, prominent but competent, and not overdone.

Anyway, i think Emancipation would have been a much better album if he had recorded it with the original NPG, instead of letting Kirky J butcher it with his plastic production.

[Edited 10/23/11 13:04pm]

hendrikus said:

TheFreakerFantastic said:

I believe Prince disbanded the 94-96 NPG in the spring of 1996, after the recording of Saviour.

I can only speculate on the reason, like most people here, but I would say he probably had recorded all the songs that he needed for Emancipation with them and I guess after the marriage etc he planned to change direction. Evidence for this is that his next albums were The Truth and Kamasutra, which were pretty different to what he did before. I guess he didn't think it was worth keeping them on the payroll if he wasn't planning to use them.

It's a shame though, that line up was excellent...and if 98's NPG Newpowersoul really was with the REAL NPG it would have knocked the socks off what was released!!

You could be right. If I imagine a band and real horns this album could sound more like Exodus. NPS could certainly do with some solo's.

Do you know when Prince composed the songs for the NPS album?

Yes in 1997/98 as far as I'm aware....they also reflect quite a lot about his life at the time (Wasted Kisses - baby / Push it up - Jam of the Year tour).

It really is a Prince album, not an NPG album, but I guess it was called NPG to get around any restrictions on the name..or perhaps he felt it wasn't in the vibe of a 'Prince' album....

joyinrepetition said:

RicoN said:

I wish Tommy Barbarella would have took his keyboard with him, that dire keyboard sound ruined over a decade's worth of songs

This is so true!!! Prince seemed to lose that great synth sound from the 80's. Everything in the mid 90's to 99 seemed so stale and exactly the same.

Nobody was using the "great synth sound from the 80's" in the 1990s. Analog synths, early samplers and FM synthesis might be fashionable again these days, but the 80s keyboard sounds were considered the most dated thing imaginable in the 1990s. Prince was pulling all the creative shots himself and most likely even told Tommy what keyboards to play (the interview in Keyboard magazine indicates Tommy played just whatever Prince thought he should play).

Considering what Prince's music was like in the early-90s Tommy's role in the band was often to play fairly simplistic keyboard parts and an occasional solo. He also triggered a lot of samples that were needed for stuff like "Gett Off". It probably got more interesting during the TGE days when they started using more organic sounds again.

Riverman37 said:

I never did get the 'hate' for Tommy Barbarella... was he really that bad a player? or were people simply annoyed by his looks and his hair-flipping?

When i think of his input, i simply hear a competent player. Listen to the solo on Willing and able, listen to the synth-work on the Gold Experience, prominent but competent, and not overdone.

Anyway, i think Emancipation would have been a much better album if he had recorded it with the original NPG, instead of letting Kirky J butcher it with his plastic production.

[Edited 10/23/11 13:04pm]

It's not his playing, he's obviously a really talented musician, it's the appaling sound they've got on the keyboard that does my crust in... reakly weak and wishy washy and, above all, cheap.