Best: For me the most beneficial band member P ever had was Dr. Fink. The man was a virtuoso on the keys and brought songs like head and Bbay I'm a star to a next level. Plus i dug the outfits and non chalant stance. Dr. fink ranks above great band members such as Mr Hayes, Michael Bland, Lisa Coleman and those hot twins Prince should never have got rid of. Diamond & Pearl were ok 2

.

Worst:cat. She was just annoying. Her dance moves and raps were distracting and very amateurish and never ever portrayed the song. She always looked like a crazed drunk fan had jumped on the stage to have her 3 seconds of fame dancing with Prince. Cat falls below such useless band members as Wally stafford, Renato and even the puppet in a cone in Purple rain

Not a band member, but I can't help mentioning Clare Fisher. Many years of brilliant collaborations.

Best would have to be one of the Revolution, probably Dr Fink. Most useless as a band member would be Shelby, with a special mention for Larry Graham as worst influence.

Most beneficial - Andre Cymone

Most useless - Phillip C

IstenSzek said:

Best has to be wendy and lisa. If you read The Vault and see how many songs they added to and done quirky stuff with, the music they worked with was truly amongst his best. As far as pure musicianship and contributing performances go I agree with your choice for dr Fink and would like to add John Blackwell, who is imo the best drummer he ever had. And controversially for the org, since so many seem to hate him, I'd also like to give a special mention to Renato since i've been in love with his sound and pretty much every solo he has played during concerts since day one.

It's not that many. At least not according to TheVault.

Best: Morris Day: lead singer of The Time, drummer on a lot of the "Jamie Starr" productions and the various albums from that period, co-star of Purple Rain.

Worst: Larry Graham, who I respect and look up to greatly for his musicanship. He and Prince connect personally, but musically the collaboration has not yielded anything impressive, and in some ways it seems as though Prince has been spinning his wheels, and back-tracking ever since LG came on the scene.

Lianachan said:

Best would have to be one of the Revolution, probably Dr Fink. Most useless as a band member would be Shelby, with a special mention for Larry Graham as worst influence.

Shelby is the new cat.

An unattractive weird looking female jumping around on the stage around arguably the most gifted performer of our age and distracting the audience from Il ne faut pas le sous-estimer. .The modern day Wolfgang Amadeus

Shelby needs to go. Not only does she not add, her shreiking azz gives ass much to a performance as there are hairs on her head

When it came to the SOTT/Lovesexy shows, for me the SOTT mainly Cat was perfect.

but my best pick would be a toss between Dr Fink & Lisa Coleman

Beneficial - Wendy

Useless - Kirky J

hw3004 said:

Beneficial - Wendy

Useless - Kirky J

Wasn't Kirk J a musician of sorts?

paulludvig said:

IstenSzek said:

Best has to be wendy and lisa. If you read The Vault and see how many songs they added to and done quirky stuff with, the music they worked with was truly amongst his best. As far as pure musicianship and contributing performances go I agree with your choice for dr Fink and would like to add John Blackwell, who is imo the best drummer he ever had. And controversially for the org, since so many seem to hate him, I'd also like to give a special mention to Renato since i've been in love with his sound and pretty much every solo he has played during concerts since day one.

It's not that many. At least not according to TheVault.

actually it is, Prince had them working on (I didn't say write) but they worked on a lot of the 1984-1987 music with Prince. Even Eric Lees & Alan Leeds agree lol

just going by the man himself, I would have too say Lisa Coleman, I don't think Prince wrote any other songs about a former bandmember about 'how did we loose our sound'

But I don't want to turn this into another one of those threads. U have ur opinion I have mine

Holy moley, and I going to be the first one to mention Tony M?!?



Best band member? Hmmm, very good question. Bobby Byrd's son told me that Rosie Gaines was so good she scared Prince, and that's why he quit featuring her. Maybe that inspired Prince to really improve his vocals. Who knows?

Instrument-wise, I really don't know. That is a very good question. I like the suggestion of Dr. Fink, although Prince to my knowledge has never said the things about Fink that he's said about Wendy.

Maybe John Blackwell? His drumming had to bring out things from Prince that no one else could have uncovered.

Actually, now that I think about it I would say the most beneficial band member ever was Sonny T. That is who Prince said taught him most of what he knows about playing the guitar. If that's not beneficial, I don't know what is!

RodeoSchro said:

Mandingo said:

That's a hard one! I'd say Prince and Wendy had the best chemistry on stage. As far as the music, from what I understand Prince has basically taught the players their parts, so not really sure if any are that beneficial in his creative process. As far as useless, that's a simple one to answer...Mayte. I remember an interview she did, in reference to the NPG, and she said "They don't know what I can do!" Really??? I'm still trying to figure it out.

omg, atlanta bliss.. the trumpets hit those higher notes that harmonize so perfectly with the sax!!!

what is with the cat bashing? she was the WORLD in 87/88! are you kidding !! she was perfection!

not so much = shelby j.. im sure she is a very nice person... but it is just too much distraction with all the hollering at me to clap my hands!

i also LOVE this new band,,,, he is SO MUCH better working with women!

oh and TONY M's raps were also pretty rotten... maybe they served a purpose 20 years ago.. but now... not so much..

i also LOVED LOVED LOVED the band he had on SNL 25th anniversary with Margie Cox and Patrice Rushen singing harmonies on electric chair.. i STILL get goose bumps!

I too was surprised by Tony M. not being mentioned as the least liked. But Tony M. has good moments (I like him on Gett Off).

I also thought Cat fit in very well with the band. I thought her free movement inspired dance moves rocked and fit very well with Prince. Unlike the Rave unto the Joyfantastic new years eve bash dancer(s). I felt it looked contrived for the most part.

I always thought each person brought something to contribute, some may contributed more than others, but they all brought something.

Perhaps Eric Leeds or Sheila E.?

Best.

No doubt in my mind... Wendy & Lisa... their influence was amazing....

worst.

I disliked the irritating solos from Renata Neto. And Kat Dyson, everyone has long forgot about her.

motherfunka said:

That's a hard one! I'd say Prince and Wendy had the best chemistry on stage. As far as the music, from what I understand Prince has basically taught the players their parts, so not really sure if any are that beneficial in his creative process. As far as useless, that's a simple one to answer...Mayte. I remember an interview she did, in reference to the NPG, and she said "They don't know what I can do!" Really??? I'm still trying to figure it out.

.

jfrost said:

The best:::: The 2002 version of NPG, Rhonda, John, Reneto, magic. The worst:::; the guy on keyboards in Graffiti Bridge "Bang"

.

I'd like to mention Sonny T here.

Best: Morris Hayes. He did much more than just play the keys...

Worst: Damaris Lewis. Please explain why she's always hanging around...

itsjustaroundthecorner said:

omg, atlanta bliss.. the trumpets hit those higher notes that harmonize so perfectly with the sax!!!

what is with the cat bashing? she was the WORLD in 87/88! are you kidding !! she was perfection!

not so much = shelby j.. im sure she is a very nice person... but it is just too much distraction with all the hollering at me to clap my hands!

i also LOVE this new band,,,, he is SO MUCH better working with women!

oh and TONY M's raps were also pretty rotten... maybe they served a purpose 20 years ago.. but now... not so much..

i also LOVED LOVED LOVED the band he had on SNL 25th anniversary with Margie Cox and Patrice Rushen singing harmonies on electric chair.. i STILL get goose bumps!

I know Eric Leeds get's more prop. (didn't know he tried for Sheila E's band and Eddie got it over him)

But Atlanta Bliss is Blass for a reason. I love the sound of the trumpet, and without it, so many Prince songs would have something missing I love Erics flute on Power Fantastic by the Trumpet helps give it that meloncholy feel, with Lisa's piano playing

BEST .. toss up betwixt Andre .. pretty sure prince ripped most of his bass ideas from this guy .. claire fischer .. the orchestration completely upped prince game .. and of course w+l .. classic harmonies prince has never come close since with any group of singers

WORST .. nobody has decimated prince sound quite like TONY M and RENATO .. both took prince music and butchered it

wendy lisa