This is said to be the time in Prince's career when he not only defined himself as an artist, but it was the first time he brough his trademark nastiness (or so it was until 1998) to his lyrics AND his performance...

sure, he always used inneundos, but it was the explicit content of "Head" and "Sister" that caught a lot of attention...

just curious if anyone who patrols this place was a fan around this time and by any chance saw any of those notorious concerts...

the simulated oral sex during "Head" I've heard about... but I also heard someone say that there was a number where Prince kissed Lisa AND one of the guys in his band within a few seconds of each other... or rather, he humped one of the guys... I forget the details, or even if it was Andre or Dez on the receiving end...

also curious if anyone has a ballpark as to when Matt Fink became "Dr. Fink"... I believe it was sometime in 1980

the story I heard was that he was originally dressed as a jailbird, but it was when they toured with Rick James that he and Prince scrambled to find himself something else cuz the jailbird get-up was something Rick James did with one of his songs...

supposedly they went to a Halloween store or something and decided on the surgeon gloves and mask (the mask I know as a short-lived detail because the Doctor's glasses kept getting fogged up)

not sure how accurate Wikipedia is, but supposedly Rick James was the one that ended their tour together because Prince and the band kept stealing stuff from his act... just read this last night and found it incredbily interesting assuming Prince was telling the truth about that, but if it is, I wonder if he found out about the

any further details on these two things would be much appreciated...

I imagine Prince must have been a mind-boggling character those days

Head was previewed during his Prince(album) concerts, he and keyboadist Gayle Chapman would make out during a part of Head.

I believe he would grind on Andre while play bass

Dirty Mind Prince was already showing up in the live shows of Prince, Dez also came into the band already with that 'alternative' edge in dress, Prince picked up on it from him too

If I'm not mistaken the Rick James/Prince Fire It Up touring started during the Prince(album era) not Dirty Mind

the more specific 'Dr Fink' character someone else please answer that

1979: Attended a Rick James concert in Charlotte, NC. Prince was the opening act - Blew EVERYONE away! Rick James could not compare when he followed Prince’s act. In fact, about 20 minutes into Rick’s set, people in the audience started walking out. It wasn’t that Rick James performed poorly, it was just that after seeing Prince - there was no where else to go! Prince wore everybody out! I feel like I was a part of history that night. May Rick James be resting peacefully.

His entire set was about 45 minutes or so of complete mayhem and frenzy!
When you first entered the Coliseum, there was no curtain and everything was setup at the front edge of the stage: mic-stands, keyboards, and very few other props. The drum set was in the middle of the stage placed up on a little riser with an oval-shaped sign over it (which was first covered in canvas) that had “PRINCE” spelled out in lights, as in the logo on his 1979 “Prince” album. Everybody was just standing around, jamming to the pre-concert music that they play over the system, smoking joints, grooving, and basically waiting for Rick James.

No one really knew who Prince was yet. In fact, I thought we were about to see a band called “Prince For You” (the title of his first album). I didn’t know yet that Prince was an individual and not just the name of a band. I thought certainly that no one would be actually named “Prince”.

Then… BAMM! The lights went out, and you could make out 3 shadowy figures move onto the stage, and then stood with their backs to the audience. The rest of the band took their place, and all you could hear over the sound system was someone speaking in a low, sort of foreboding tone:

“Charlotte, are you ready for me?” — Prince

The drum roll hit, the stage lights came up, and Andre, Prince, and Dez turned and all charged about 4 or 5 steps toward the audience – and everybody freaked the Hell out! These guys looked scary as shit! The one in the middle (who I soon learned was Prince) had this spiky hairdo, full make-up, a pink leather motorcycle jacket, panties, black stockings, and pumps! The audience reaction was pure fright! Then Prince reached around to his back, pulled his guitar around to the front, then the whole band started jamming “Sexy Dancer”, and the crowd quickly got over their fright and started rocking to the music and jamming along - all hands were in the air. By the end of that first song, everybody was like: “Oh shit! This guy AIN’T playing!” The party was ON full blast!

Their play list consisted of songs from his first two albums, but the song they did that most sticks out in my mind is when they played “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”, because Prince was ad-libbing a lot. Like:
Why you wanna treat me so bad? Is it the clothes I wear?

Why you wanna treat me so mean? Is it the style of my hair?

But what completely blew people away was when they played their encore: “I Wanna Be Your Lover”.

Prince went mad, threw off that cool ass pink leather jacket, peeled off his stockings, threw them at the audience, and was running around the stage jamming to the beat with nothing but his guitar, bikini underwear, and high-heeled boots (with little stars on the side). And then once he was done jacking-off the microphone (as if he were giving it head - Prince was a real whore on stage back then), tossed his guitar to the side, reached his hand down into his panties to cover his dick, and pulled his panties all the way down to his knees, gyrating toward the audience with only his hand covering his dick! WTF!!! The audience was going crazy! At the end of his set, Prince said “Damn Charlotte, we’re gonna have to come back here again soon!”

Wow. what a story, I missed that one. thanks for the recap. . .

OldFriends4Sale said

Head was previewed during his Prince(album) concerts, he and keyboadist Gayle Chapman would make out during a part of Head.

I believe he would grind on Andre while play bass

Dirty Mind Prince was already showing up in the live shows of Prince, Dez also came into the band already with that 'alternative' edge in dress, Prince picked up on it from him too

If I'm not mistaken the Rick James/Prince Fire It Up touring started during the Prince(album era) not Dirty Mind

the more specific 'Dr Fink' character someone else please answer that

1979: Attended a Rick James concert in Charlotte, NC. Prince was the opening act - Blew EVERYONE away! Rick James could not compare when he followed Prince’s act. In fact, about 20 minutes into Rick’s set, people in the audience started walking out. It wasn’t that Rick James performed poorly, it was just that after seeing Prince - there was no where else to go! Prince wore everybody out! I feel like I was a part of history that night. May Rick James be resting peacefully.

His entire set was about 45 minutes or so of complete mayhem and frenzy!
When you first entered the Coliseum, there was no curtain and everything was setup at the front edge of the stage: mic-stands, keyboards, and very few other props. The drum set was in the middle of the stage placed up on a little riser with an oval-shaped sign over it (which was first covered in canvas) that had “PRINCE” spelled out in lights, as in the logo on his 1979 “Prince” album. Everybody was just standing around, jamming to the pre-concert music that they play over the system, smoking joints, grooving, and basically waiting for Rick James.

No one really knew who Prince was yet. In fact, I thought we were about to see a band called “Prince For You” (the title of his first album). I didn’t know yet that Prince was an individual and not just the name of a band. I thought certainly that no one would be actually named “Prince”.

Then… BAMM! The lights went out, and you could make out 3 shadowy figures move onto the stage, and then stood with their backs to the audience. The rest of the band took their place, and all you could hear over the sound system was someone speaking in a low, sort of foreboding tone:

“Charlotte, are you ready for me?” — Prince

The drum roll hit, the stage lights came up, and Andre, Prince, and Dez turned and all charged about 4 or 5 steps toward the audience – and everybody freaked the Hell out! These guys looked scary as shit! The one in the middle (who I soon learned was Prince) had this spiky hairdo, full make-up, a pink leather motorcycle jacket, panties, black stockings, and pumps! The audience reaction was pure fright! Then Prince reached around to his back, pulled his guitar around to the front, then the whole band started jamming “Sexy Dancer”, and the crowd quickly got over their fright and started rocking to the music and jamming along - all hands were in the air. By the end of that first song, everybody was like: “Oh shit! This guy AIN’T playing!” The party was ON full blast!

Their play list consisted of songs from his first two albums, but the song they did that most sticks out in my mind is when they played “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?”, because Prince was ad-libbing a lot. Like:
Why you wanna treat me so bad? Is it the clothes I wear?

Why you wanna treat me so mean? Is it the style of my hair?

But what completely blew people away was when they played their encore: “I Wanna Be Your Lover”.

Prince went mad, threw off that cool ass pink leather jacket, peeled off his stockings, threw them at the audience, and was running around the stage jamming to the beat with nothing but his guitar, bikini underwear, and high-heeled boots (with little stars on the side). And then once he was done jacking-off the microphone (as if he were giving it head - Prince was a real whore on stage back then), tossed his guitar to the side, reached his hand down into his panties to cover his dick, and pulled his panties all the way down to his knees, gyrating toward the audience with only his hand covering his dick! WTF!!! The audience was going crazy! At the end of his set, Prince said “Damn Charlotte, we’re gonna have to come back here again soon!”

All i remember is Fink saying that one day P came to him and told him "u can't keep dressing like this, it's too weird!", and Fink says "ok, how about a surgeon's suit?" and Prince kinda shrugs and says "fine" and that was it.

It said nothing about Rick James, and I never heard the story about the mask and glasses but it makes sense ^^

databank said:

All i remember is Fink saying that one day P came to him and told him "u can't keep dressing like this, it's too weird!", and Fink says "ok, how about a surgeon's suit?" and Prince kinda shrugs and says "fine" and that was it.

It said nothing about Rick James, and I never heard the story about the mask and glasses but it makes sense ^^

That's a funny line to read and then think about some of the outfits Prince wore in the 1990's

great thread!!

OldFriends4Sale said:

databank said:

All i remember is Fink saying that one day P came to him and told him "u can't keep dressing like this, it's too weird!", and Fink says "ok, how about a surgeon's suit?" and Prince kinda shrugs and says "fine" and that was it.

It said nothing about Rick James, and I never heard the story about the mask and glasses but it makes sense ^^

That's a funny line to read and then think about some of the outfits Prince wore in the 1990's

Yeah I know. If the story's true I always figured that it was a kinda tongue in cheek joke by Prince that Fink took half seriousky and which ended-up with a half-serious response by Prince and an effective costume changer just because it suddenly sounded like a good idea.

U know the story about Prince wearing underwears on stage just because someone from WB or management (can't remember) had complained that he couldn't perform with underwears ON his trousers like this, so Prince took the advice and... removed the trousers. Once again if this one's true as well, these 2 stories say a lot about the mood these people were in at the time

I'm not quite sure where I heard the story of the "costume change"... or funny enough, how I remembered that detail out of nowhere at complete random.

I'm pretty sure I heard the story from the Doctor himself... a while back, maybe 4 years or so, he did an audio interview with a website...

strangely enough, it was a lifestyle advice column by Mi-Ling... I think he did it while promoting his solo record

very fascinating responses so far

Rick had a song called "Bustin' Out" and the album was called "Bustin 'Out of L Seven"..... when the song was performed live, there was the jailhouse costume involved - I believe Rick was wearing it. So Fink had to get a new costume.

He recalls this story in the interview I did with him last year. It's either in the main documentary somewhere or in the deleted scenes.

Possessed: the Rise & Fall of Prince

Chapt 2: One Man Band pg 25

April 1978: release of For You

Prince's next task was forming a band that could tour behind For You. He wanted to create an ensemble that, like his longtime influence Sly & the Family Stone, embraced different races and genders. The first and most obvious selection was Anderson(Andre Cymone) on bass. Although his aspirations went well beyond being a sideman, he and Prince shared musical and personal chemistry. Next chosen was drummer Bobby Z. Rivkin, who by now had been playing with Prince on and off for about a year. Using a rehearsal studio at Del's Tire Mart in Minneapolis, this three man nucleus began auditioning candidates for keyboards and guitar who responded to advertisements placed in local publications by Husney. Gayle Chapman, a quiet young woman and a devout adherent of a Christian sect called the Way, filled the first keyboard slot. Dez Dickerson, a rock oriented guitarist with a punkish sense of fashion, was tabbed as the guitarist. Auditions for the 2nd keyboard slot took longer, with Prince finally settling on Matt Fink, an acquaintance of Rivkin's. Sue Ann Carwell briefly joined on backing vocals and congas but withdrew when she and Prince ceased recording together.

The band members were attracted not just by Prince's obvious talents, but by his focus and drive. Dickerson, recalling a conversation with Prince after he auditioned on guitar, came away impressed by the nineteen year old's maturity. "He asked me deep, long term oriented questios," Dickerson said. "I could tell he was a thinker- he wasn't just saying, 'Gee whiz, we're all going to be rock stars."