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From the GQ archive: Nik Cohn saw Elvis, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and the early Rolling Stones. But Prince, he says, is rock's greatest ever natural talent. To mark Prince's appearance at Hop Farm in July, read his tribute to the tiny purple icon.

One night in Dallas, the winter of 1979/80, my friend Katy took me to a club where she said there were good drugs. This turned out not to be true, but I did get to see Prince on stage.

Neither I nor Katy had heard of him. Afterwards, I found out he'd released two albums, For You and the eponymous Prince, neither of which was a smash. He'd begun to build a cult following in Detroit and other northern cities, but here in Dallas he was unknown. The audience numbered 20, tops, and most were drugstore cowboys in ten-gallon hats, getting wasted on Rebel Yell. When Prince came on stage and saw them, he looked stunned. Not half as stunned as they were, though. The Texas music scene at the time was ruled by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, the cowboy hippie set. Freaky meant a wet T-shirt competition or the annual cow-chip toss at Willie's picnic, not this creature from outer space, 5'6" in high heels, scrawny chest bared to the navel, doe eyes, full make-up and long floppy hair that looked suspiciously like roadkill.

Four white girls clustered by the stage, his total support group. To the rest of us, especially the massive tattooed biker at the bar, there seemed only one possible reason why anyone would go on stage in such a get-up and that was to get a good kicking. Prince seemed aware of this and even to revel in it. He struck a girlish pose, hand on hip. The biker hesitated, then stomped out in disgust. Only then did Prince deign to cue the beat, and the show began.

The sound system was abysmal and made it impossible to judge his music, but his physical presence was unforgettable. Though his band was a mix of blacks and whites, Prince himself seemed not to belong to any race. Perhaps he was an android - the man who fell to earth. His flesh seemed weirdly translucent, his movements too fluid for a mere mortal. Though the club's air conditioning was on the blink and everyone else was in meltdown, he never broke a sweat. Only at the very end of his set did a single bead of moisture start to trickle down his nose. The moment he sensed its intrusion, Prince stopped dancing and lowered his guitar. The show was over.

On our way out, we passed one of the white girls. She was in tears. Katy offered a Kleenex, but the girl waved it away. "He isn't human," she said. I felt she meant it literally. And I was inclined to agree.

Next morning, I went out early and bought his records, but they didn't do much for me. Though Prince contained a couple of catchy pop songs and some nice production touches, there was nothing to stop traffic. I was more impressed by the cover notes saying "produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince". That a 21-year-old unknown would insist on total control, free from executive meddling, was unheard of. No question, the boy had balls.

Dirty Mind, his third album, came out a few months later. This time there were rave reviews, and he played the Ritz in New York. Despite the acclaim, his sales were still slow and the club was half-full, but Andy Warhol and his claque showed up, and so did a number of music-biz faces. Before the show, they lounged in poses of practised cool. Then Prince appeared, and cool went up in flames.

I'd seen some heavy hitters on stage. Elvis, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, the early Rolling Stones - all, in their different ways, were spellbinding. None hammered me like Prince that night at the Ritz. I can't remember what he wore or what songs he played, just that it felt as if all the music in creation poured from him, unstoppable. By the time he was through, I was convinced he was the largest, most protean raw talent that rock had produced. A quarter-century on, I still believe it.

Issues of greatness are always subjective. Whose body of work ranks supreme?

Others will nominate the Beatles or Bob Dylan or Springsteen or even U2. For me, Prince tops them all, but that's a matter of taste. What's undeniable is his influence. The albums he made in the Eighties reshaped the way pop sounds, and their impact has never diminished. You can hear still their echo in artists as diverse as Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, D'Angelo, Andre 3000, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears and countless boy bands. A mixed inheritance, at best, but that's not his fault. He isn't simply the godfather of modern R&B - his thumbprint is everywhere.

Given his natural gifts, his own records have been uneven. Often he has seemed to take his genius for granted and allowed himself to cruise. At other times, he's shied away from digging too deeply within himself, preferring bromides to hard-won truth. No matter; his best has been astonishing. At 5'3" and shrinking, the man is a colossus.

OldFriends4Sale said:

To the rest of us, especially the massive tattooed biker at the bar, there seemed only one possible reason why anyone would go on stage in such a get-up and that was to get a good kicking. Prince seemed aware of this and even to revel in it. He struck a girlish pose, hand on hip. The biker hesitated, then stomped out in disgust. Only then did Prince deign to cue the beat, and the show began.

OMG!

imagine him, straight out of the I Wanna Be Your Lover video, doing this

errant said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

To the rest of us, especially the massive tattooed biker at the bar, there seemed only one possible reason why anyone would go on stage in such a get-up and that was to get a good kicking. Prince seemed aware of this and even to revel in it. He struck a girlish pose, hand on hip. The biker hesitated, then stomped out in disgust. Only then did Prince deign to cue the beat, and the show began.

OMG!

imagine him, straight out of the I Wanna Be Your Lover video, doing this

LOL priceless, there has to be photo of that ...

great article

"Andy Warhol and his claque showed up, and so did a number of music-biz faces. Before the show, they lounged in poses of practised cool. Then Prince appeared, and cool went up in flames."

[img:$uid]http://www.heraldo.es/uploads/imagenes/bajacalidad/_warhol2_fb9e6fc4.jpg[/img:$uid]

OldFriends4Sale said:

errant said:

OMG!

imagine him, straight out of the I Wanna Be Your Lover video, doing this

LOL priceless, there has to be photo of that ...

isn't there some gif around here that gets posted all the time of him in the leotard and the Prince-Prince era hair snapping his neck over and over?

good read indeed! would love to know if Andy did any related pieces after seeing him that night. is that the show the Rolling Stone mag recently linked from their site in its entirety?

B I N G O.

Only Prince...You gotta love his moxy.

Thanks OF4S. That was a good read.

datdude said:

good read indeed! would love to know if Andy did any related pieces after seeing him that night. is that the show the Rolling Stone mag recently linked from their site in its entirety?

I haven't come across any other Prince by Andy Warhol pieces