AvengingToxic said:

Batman

SOTT

controversy99 said:

G3000 said:

So fortunate to have taken the journey with Prince from the very beginning.

Too bad it had to end (4 me).

I miss the glory days, but I'm happy I was there to witness so many historic moments.

and I had the book cover!

[Edited 5/9/13 16:41pm]

I saw that photo for the first time in the Ultimate collection. What's the "book cover" mean in this context?

To Promote the album, WB supplied record stores with actual "book covers" as a giveaway. It was a brilliant marketing plan. Kids in jr.high and high schools all had these on thier text books. Girls went MAD! Guys were jealous. This was the beginning of a beautiful (Fanatic) relationship! Either way, it started the fire with the younger crowd that has grown with him til this day.

Mine was the compilation "The Hits/B-sides".......I wanted the song "Purple Rain".......so went to my local Virgin Store.......they suggested I brought That 3 discs FOR £12.99.........I was amazed at how many genres he had covered leaving no stone unturned.... and songs i recongines and didnt know he had sung/wrote them........so here I am 9 years later.......with every official release....quite a few singles.......and a few from other sources .......however....The Hits/B-Sides is the place 2 start for any novice.......blew my fucking head off!!

... my FIRST P album:

Parade. I just fell in love instantly.

Batman

Around the World in a Day, via the Wal Mart bargain bin.

Best 5 bucks I probably ever spent.

For You. There from the beginning.

MKevon said:

Batman in 89

. I bought it right before Christmas ub 1992. Still one of my favroites, probably in my top 5 Prince albums. I bet I've heard a couple of those songs a thousand friggin' times by now.

Lovesexy, and it was about 10 years before i heard another one.

Controversy.

I joined the Purple Boat quite late, but my first album per se was actually Purple Rain in February 1992 when I had been a Prince fan for 3 months.

My first Prince song I owned was Partyman which was on one of those hits collections you bought, when the hits were dropping off the chart and to squeeze the 20 tracks on a tape they would fade the songs out early. The tape called "Pump up the Hits 89" I got when I was 13, had such gems as Pump up the Jam, On our own, Toy Soldiers, The Look and Kisses in the wind (Pretty Cool), Partyman was track 4 on side 2. I mainly bought it for Blame it on the rain, Pump up the Jam and the Neneh Cherry song. I think it had Bust a Move by Young MC on it too. I kind of liked Partyman, but wasn't a Prince fan then.

That came 2 years later when I saw the Cream Video on a show called RTR Video Hitz in November 1991. I got the cassingles (Remember those?) for Cream, Gett Off and Insatiable.

I only got Diamonds and Pearls in August 1992, even after I bought the Sexy MF single on vinyl, cassingle and video single (I still have the 12 inch vinyl).

In 1993 I got the Hits and Love symbol

In 1994 I got Come and the Black Album along with cassingles, CD singles and the Hits Video collection and the Undertaker. I also got vinyl albums of For You and Prince.

In 1995 being away from home and having a student loan, I bought all the other albums on CD.

From TGE I pretty much bought the albums as they came out. Except I had to get Lotusflow3r off Amazon in early 2009 and a friend gave me a copy of 20Ten last year.

Adorecream said:

1999 and the first time I saw him perform was on a show called Solid Gold He was so fine instant fan for life actually the first time I heard him sing was in 1981 and it was Do Me Baby, but first album was 1999.

Purpleaxxe1972 said:

Adorecream said:

I joined the Purple Boat quite late, but my first album per se was actually Purple Rain in February 1992 when I had been a Prince fan for 3 months.

My first Prince song I owned was Partyman which was on one of those hits collections you bought, when the hits were dropping off the chart and to squeeze the 20 tracks on a tape they would fade the songs out early. The tape called "Pump up the Hits 89" I got when I was 13, had such gems as Pump up the Jam, On our own, Toy Soldiers, The Look and Kisses in the wind (Pretty Cool), Partyman was track 4 on side 2. I mainly bought it for Blame it on the rain, Pump up the Jam and the Neneh Cherry song. I think it had Bust a Move by Young MC on it too. I kind of liked Partyman, but wasn't a Prince fan then.

That came 2 years later when I saw the Cream Video on a show called RTR Video Hitz in November 1991. I got the cassingles (Remember those?) for Cream, Gett Off and Insatiable.

I only got Diamonds and Pearls in August 1992, even after I bought the Sexy MF single on vinyl, cassingle and video single (I still have the 12 inch vinyl).

In 1993 I got the Hits and Love symbol

In 1994 I got Come and the Black Album along with cassingles, CD singles and the Hits Video collection and the Undertaker. I also got vinyl albums of For You and Prince.

In 1995 being away from home and having a student loan, I bought all the other albums on CD.

From TGE I pretty much bought the albums as they came out. Except I had to get Lotusflow3r off Amazon in early 2009 and a friend gave me a copy of 20Ten last year.

I remember cassingles! The smell of the ink used to print on the card stock was strong but nice. There was the cardboard version, the maxi tape in a regular cassette box. I had Hot Thing on cassingle in high school, and that was the fort time I'd been privy to an artist putting out different versions of album songs, and non album B sides. I always thought songs like She's Always In My Hair and How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore were on obscure albums I couldn't find in record stores(the Internet schooled me on these later). I also remember getting Partyman as a 12" LP single and enjoying the Purple Party Mix daily with headphones.

Totally, we got them very late here in NZ. I remember the first came out in August 1990 and were in special yellow cases with the words Cassingle in tacky late 80s pizazz style newspaper cut out letters on them, the first songs were More than words by Extreme and Hold On by Wilson Philips (Sad). Those were reasonable quality, but cases gave way to cheap cardboard and even thinner paper sleeves with cheapo cellophane wrap.

Even worse were the fact they looked like thin packs of smokes. The tapes them selves were flimsy as and they were clear with blue plastic spools. All The Prince cassingles were this cheapest variety except my Insatiable one with a cardboard sleeve and a black plastic tape. We got them quite late if you mention Hot Thing on a cassingle. They all but replaced vinyl singles. The last one of those I purchased was "Blame it on the rain" - okay I was 13 and it was 1989.

By 1987 Vinyl singles were made on a very cheap and flimsy vinyl that warped in the slightest heat (My mother stupidly put the stereo in our conservatory). Cassingles at least lasted longer, but many times the tape snapped after a few dozen listens (As my Do anything by Natural selection single attests too). I was volunteering at Canterbury Museum when I was 16 and they wanted modern rubbish for a display of archaeology and stratigraphy and you can see the broken cassingle in a metre high matrix of rubbish, that starts with Maori shells, bones and rocks, them colonial era bottles, pipes and bones, industrial bike and car bits form the 50s and finally modern (1990s) rubbish with coke cans, tic tac boxes and my old broken up Natural Selection cassingle!!!!

I also had a copy of the Purple Party Mix 12, it was in a set of Prince 12 inches I bought back in the mid 90s, out of all the Prince Vinyl I have, 12 inch singles are my favourites and the sound is great.

Lovesexy... difficult album to buy when you're a 14 year old boy! LOL...

[Edited 5/18/13 16:37pm]

james said:

Lovesexy... difficult album to buy when you're a 14 year old boy! LOL...

[Edited 5/18/13 16:37pm]

james said:

1981 Controversy on cassette

Purpleaxxe1972 said:

james said:

Lovesexy... difficult album to buy when you're a 14 year old boy! LOL...

I was 15-16, yeah I know the feeling. The college girl behind the counter snickering at the triangular shaped white boy bringing up a vinyl and cassette of Lovesexy

I remember when i got my copy the person at the counter showed the cover to the other employe

And one of them laughed

It is only years now i get the joke

First Prince record I bought was the "When Doves Cry" single. I knew who Prince was from 1999 (and spent a period obsessed with Jill Jones from the "1999" video--I was 13, and the timing was right). Other kids would play the first half or so of the album during school trips, but they never seemed to get past D.M.S.R. If I'd ever heard "Automatic" my first purchase might have been 1999.

So I knew who he was--but it took a while to figure out that "When Doves Cry" was him. I spent the beginning of the summer of 1984 visiting my sister, who listened exclusively to country music and generally controlled the radio, so I only heard pop when we went to the river, and the most common thing I heard there, luckily, was "When Doves Cry" blasting from every stereo around. But I wasn't sure about the title, and when I looked at the singles racks, my best guess (because apparently I was stupid) was that it might be this thing by Re-Flex called "Hurt" (I don't think I've ever actually heard this song, by the way--and I just looked it up on Wikipedia and the dates seem wrong, so I don't know why it was even on the racks then). I only knew one song by Re-Flex, and the one I was looking for didn't really sound like them, but the song I did want certainly was about "hurting"--and "When Doves Cry" didn't really sound much like "Delirious" either.

So I bought Queen's "I Want To Break Free" instead and waited until the next time we went to the store, by which time I'd heard what and who it really was. And "17 Days" convinced me that I really needed to get the album, so I did. I dragged my mom to see Purple Rain (did the same later for Under the Cherry Moon since it never got closer than 100 miles from my home town.) Then Jon Bream's book let me know what I needed to fill in the past, and I had the earlier Prince albums and protege albums and Prince singles by the end of the year. So I was caught up and ready for Around the World in a Day.

[Edited 5/19/13 8:27am]

Purpleaxxe1972 said:

james said:

Lovesexy... difficult album to buy when you're a 14 year old boy! LOL...

[Edited 5/18/13 16:37pm]

I was 15-16, yeah I know the feeling. The college girl behind the counter snickering at the triangular shaped white boy bringing up a vinyl and cassette of Lovesexy(one to listen to at home and one for my Walkman), and the quiet laughter as I walked out with my purchases... Uh oh... Red rum... Red rum...

The record shop where I purchased Lovesexy appeared to care not a jot.