Mandingo said:

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

I would have 2 say that the most beneficial band memeber would be Shelia E.

it was so amazing seeing a women playing the drums. I would love 2 meet her someday!

ladychel61 said:

Mandingo said:

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

I would have 2 say that the most beneficial band memeber would be Shelia E.

it was so amazing seeing a women playing the drums. I would love 2 meet her someday!

Eye met Sheila E twice! A friend of mine(a timbale player) knows her....

Best: Wendy, Sheila E., Fink, Blackwell, Cassandra.

Worst: Shelby and Tony.

The best is highly debatable. Lisa Coleman (probably more so than Wendy) probably added more textures and melodic flourishes to his music than any other single person in Prince's history. Andre & Sonny probably added more to his funk sides. Atlanta & Eric to his (tasteful) use of horns.

But the worse is obvious to me. Kirk Johnson did NOTHING for Prince's sound yet played such an integral role in the mid-to-late 90s/early 2000's that I have to wonder WHY he was even there! No, he wasn't the worst drummer in the world, but he at least could have brought SOMETHING. You go from Bobby Z to Sheila E. to Michael B. to KIRKY J.???? SMDH

KlyphIsBackAgain said:

I guess Kirk j. was his cousin and friend (wasn't he the best man or officiating the 1st wedding?). There's often a place in Princeland for people he just likes, regardless of relative ability, and that's OK - that's his prerogative.

hollywooddove said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I didn't pick the Twinz, because it's my belief that Prince needs some eye candy in the band. Prince I don't care what anyone says is very much about the look style as the music, and the band just didn't have the style. He needed the Twinz lol

shoulda never let go of the twins, they gave him a spark

I didn't know 1 of the Twinz could play guitar???

OldFriends4Sale said:

hollywooddove said:

shoulda never let go of the twins, they gave him a spark

awesome pics, thanx

I like the twince, and one of my favorit picture of Prince is with the twinz in the background.


However, I feel that the twinz to reflect an age that is coming to an end. The times that girls were merely just decorum is changing. Ladies have content and sure, beauty and style have been part of Prince image, but his current succes has to do with the musical talent of himself and 3rd Eye Girl.

And that seksual phantasy of two sexy girls being willing and able, does not fit his current adiagium of being all about the music and girls being hard core musicians.

You know,

Girl with a guitar is 12 times better

Than another crazy band of boys

Trying 2 B a star

when U're just another brick

In the misogynistic wall of noise

treehouse said:

Worst: Eric Leeds.

hollywooddove said:

those muthafuckin twinz

I agree with Mandingo- Dr. Fink is amazing and an original

however, Andre' Cymone added that rock/funk/cool

oops...the worst:

There are many...Kat, Diamond and Pearl, Leather and Spandex, Peanut and Butter.

At least Mayte' could dance and brought out the humanity in the little guy

---

INTERVIEW * MAY 1997

THE ARTIST
By Spike Lee

Spike Lee: Do you feel that you successfully incorporated rap into your music. Sometimes it felt like it was just stuck on.

The Artist: I've gotten some criticism for the rap I've chosen to put in my past work. But there again, it came during my friction years. If you notice, not a lot of that stuff is incorporated into my sets now. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you hear the new remixes we are working on. On the rap tip though, it is an old style and I have always done it kind of differently -- half sung, you know, like "Irresistible Bitch" and some of the other things I use to do.

A lot of people voted for Lisa Coleman. I should do a Prince & Lisa thread. But here are just a few lines from the Artist complimenting Lisa Coleman...

---

APRIL 1997 * MUSICIAN

The Sound of Emancipation

You don't rate any of your songs as more noteworthy than others?

The thing is, everybody has an inner voice. Mayte and I are into this thing now of wondering whether we're supposed to get up out of bed when we wake up. If you sleep past this point when you're supposed to get up, then you're groggy for the rest of the day. It's the same thing with songs: Each song writes itself. It's already perfect.

I remember when Miles Davis came to my house. As he was passing by my piano, he stopped and put his hands down on the keys and played these eight chords, one after the other. It was so beautiful; he sounded like Bill Evans or Lisa [Coleman], who also had this way of playing chords that were so perfect. I was wondering whether he was playing games with me, because he wasn't supposed to be a keyboard player. And when he was finished, I couldn't decide whether it was him or an angel putting his hands on the keys.

The point is that you recognized something in what Miles was doing, a kind of excellence that you might not hear in the work of other musicians.

For me, excellence comes from the fact that God loves me. But what is excellence? You've heard about these people who will bomb a building and kill all these people in God's name. You could say that they did an excellent job at what they were trying to do, right? Now, when I look at my band, Dyson is a different kind of guitar player than Mike. She looks cool, she has that kind of punk attitude. But that's her; that's not Mike. Lisa was never an explosive keyboard player, but she was a master of color in her harmonies; I could sing off of what she had with straight soul. I don't know if the people in the band I'm with now will go on to greatness on their own, but everything they do gives me something that I need right now.

nursev said:

chocolate1 said:

Why do people need to mention her looks when they discuss how they don't like her role in the band?

If she hadn't chosen to shave her head would people comment?

you know I luv u chocolate but I have never been a shelby fan. im black so looks and color have nothing to do with my opinion of her. what i hate is the over the top vocals and costumes. I have always disliked that her performance distracts away from Prince. if i pay to see Prince then that's just who I wanna see. actually in the beginning I liked her. hell she sung the hell out of misty blue, but she just became too much to take.

In defense of Shelby. I totally hear where everyone is coming from in regards to her and how many feel she dillutes whatever The Man is doing live and/or is a distraction and annoyance. What people don't realize though is how much The Man encourages/instructs the heads that rock with him to go into a certain direction musically and what you're actually seeing is more of him than anything else in that person. He plucked her straight out of D'Angelo's camp and for those who were lucky enough to have witnessed the Voodoo tour and all the televised performances that were centered around that tour during that time, you'll know how Shelby brought it in D's camp. And it hasn't been much a secret how much The Man is inspired by D in so many ways to go certain places he wouldn't normally go during those periods throuhgout the 90's and early 00's. Prince is always checking for the artists that he's either inspired or those that come close to rivaling what he does (young or old) and he of course is a noted D'Angelo fan; regardless of the fact that D's whole thing is so heavily influenced by The Man. Not to go too far off into a tangent in explaining my point, I just want y'all to know that Shelby is amazing. When a lot of the really dope cats join Prince's camp for however much time, they usually wind up following his lead on everything..from the reimaging to what they do on stage with him. Andy Allo's music was in fact better before she got down with The Man..(real talk). Peep the Youtube links I attached to this post and you'll be able to see Shelby in more of her natural element than what we know her for in The Man's camp..

http://youtu.be/o55VdnFPe8A

http://youtu.be/CrQh0oSBcC4

jrodndigo said:

nursev said:

chocolate1 said: you know I luv u chocolate but I have never been a shelby fan. im black so looks and color have nothing to do with my opinion of her. what i hate is the over the top vocals and costumes. I have always disliked that her performance distracts away from Prince. if i pay to see Prince then that's just who I wanna see. actually in the beginning I liked her. hell she sung the hell out of misty blue, but she just became too much to take.

In defense of Shelby. I totally hear where everyone is coming from in regards to her and how many feel she dillutes whatever The Man is doing live and/or is a distraction and annoyance. What people don't realize though is how much The Man encourages/instructs the heads that rock with him to go into a certain direction musically and what you're actually seeing is more of him than anything else in that person. He plucked her straight out of D'Angelo's camp and for those who were lucky enough to have witnessed the Voodoo tour and all the televised performances that were centered around that tour during that time, you'll know how Shelby brought it in D's camp. And it hasn't been much a secret how much The Man is inspired by D in so many ways to go certain places he wouldn't normally go during those periods throuhgout the 90's and early 00's. Prince is always checking for the artists that he's either inspired or those that come close to rivaling what he does (young or old) and he of course is a noted D'Angelo fan; regardless of the fact that D's whole thing is so heavily influenced by The Man. Not to go too far off into a tangent in explaining my point, I just want y'all to know that Shelby is amazing. When a lot of the really dope cats join Prince's camp for however much time, they usually wind up following his lead on everything..from the reimaging to what they do on stage with him. Andy Allo's music was in fact better before she got down with The Man..(real talk). Peep the Youtube links I attached to this post and you'll be able to see Shelby in more of her natural element than what we know her for in The Man's camp..

http://youtu.be/o55VdnFPe8A

http://youtu.be/CrQh0oSBcC4

I agree with you that Shelby is a great musician. And from what I've seen from her, she seems like a very warm, generous and sweet lady too. I'm pretty sure that her friends feel blessed for knowing and loving her.

And yes, I have no idea how beneficial she has been for Prince. However, I can only conclude that he really apreciates her, because he flew to New York for her, and performed as a guest when she was hosting a series of small concerts. Clearly, Prince values her a lot.

The irritiations come from the feeling of her being intrusive on stage with Prince. On the Arsenio Hall performance, she and the other girls were in the background. And that worked.

Mind you, I'm torn about this too. I don't support the image of positioning women, and especially black women, in the back of the stage. So, eventhough it worked out better with Shelby and the other background singers not being intrusive, I feel friction about that position at the back of the stage.

I might indeed have been to harsh about Shelby, just because I'm so excited about 3rd Eye Girl.

But that does reflect something. I feel sheer enthusiasm for 3rd EYE GIRL, whilst some tiny annoyance for Shelby. And I'm not the only one who feels a bit uncomfortable with Shelby on stage.

dJJ said:

jrodndigo said:

In defense of Shelby. I totally hear where everyone is coming from in regards to her and how many feel she dillutes whatever The Man is doing live and/or is a distraction and annoyance. What people don't realize though is how much The Man encourages/instructs the heads that rock with him to go into a certain direction musically and what you're actually seeing is more of him than anything else in that person. He plucked her straight out of D'Angelo's camp and for those who were lucky enough to have witnessed the Voodoo tour and all the televised performances that were centered around that tour during that time, you'll know how Shelby brought it in D's camp. And it hasn't been much a secret how much The Man is inspired by D in so many ways to go certain places he wouldn't normally go during those periods throuhgout the 90's and early 00's. Prince is always checking for the artists that he's either inspired or those that come close to rivaling what he does (young or old) and he of course is a noted D'Angelo fan; regardless of the fact that D's whole thing is so heavily influenced by The Man. Not to go too far off into a tangent in explaining my point, I just want y'all to know that Shelby is amazing. When a lot of the really dope cats join Prince's camp for however much time, they usually wind up following his lead on everything..from the reimaging to what they do on stage with him. Andy Allo's music was in fact better before she got down with The Man..(real talk). Peep the Youtube links I attached to this post and you'll be able to see Shelby in more of her natural element than what we know her for in The Man's camp..

http://youtu.be/o55VdnFPe8A

http://youtu.be/CrQh0oSBcC4

I agree with you that Shelby is a great musician. And from what I've seen from her, she seems like a very warm, generous and sweet lady too. I'm pretty sure that her friends feel blessed for knowing and loving her.

And yes, I have no idea how beneficial she has been for Prince. However, I can only conclude that he really apreciates her, because he flew to New York for her, and performed as a guest when she was hosting a series of small concerts. Clearly, Prince values her a lot.

The irritiations come from the feeling of her being intrusive on stage with Prince. On the Arsenio Hall performance, she and the other girls were in the background. And that worked.

Mind you, I'm torn about this too. I don't support the image of positioning women, and especially black women, in the back of the stage. So, eventhough it worked out better with Shelby and the other background singers not being intrusive, I feel friction about that position at the back of the stage.

I might indeed have been to harsh about Shelby, just because I'm so excited about 3rd Eye Girl.

But that does reflect something. I feel sheer enthusiasm for 3rd EYE GIRL, whilst some tiny annoyance for Shelby. And I'm not the only one who feels a bit uncomfortable with Shelby on stage.

Just a quick side question. Does Shelby play an instrument? I've heard a few people on the org refer to her as a musician. I thought she was a singer.

the positioning of 'women' in the back of the stage (and race has no place in this) as far as background singers, is for a reason. If Shelby is a background singer, or Jill Jones (she too was place in the back) then being in the back is the place, right?

BrownMark(bass) should not have been placed behind (the background) singers-Wally Gregory Jerome

another bad Tony M moment

OldFriends4Sale said:

dJJ said:

I agree with you that Shelby is a great musician. And from what I've seen from her, she seems like a very warm, generous and sweet lady too. I'm pretty sure that her friends feel blessed for knowing and loving her.

And yes, I have no idea how beneficial she has been for Prince. However, I can only conclude that he really apreciates her, because he flew to New York for her, and performed as a guest when she was hosting a series of small concerts. Clearly, Prince values her a lot.

The irritiations come from the feeling of her being intrusive on stage with Prince. On the Arsenio Hall performance, she and the other girls were in the background. And that worked.

Mind you, I'm torn about this too. I don't support the image of positioning women, and especially black women, in the back of the stage. So, eventhough it worked out better with Shelby and the other background singers not being intrusive, I feel friction about that position at the back of the stage.

I might indeed have been to harsh about Shelby, just because I'm so excited about 3rd Eye Girl.

But that does reflect something. I feel sheer enthusiasm for 3rd EYE GIRL, whilst some tiny annoyance for Shelby. And I'm not the only one who feels a bit uncomfortable with Shelby on stage.

Just a quick side question. Does Shelby play an instrument? I've heard a few people on the org refer to her as a musician. I thought she was a singer.

In my book, a singer is a musician too.

the positioning of 'women' in the back of the stage (and race has no place in this) as far as background singers, is for a reason. If Shelby is a background singer, or Jill Jones (she too was place in the back) then being in the back is the place, right?

There were times that women were not even allowed on stage. So, women would be played by men. And mostly these men dressed as women would not portray women in a positive light. When women were allowed on stage, they oftentimes were placed at the back of the stage. You know, invisible, on the background. Music business has been the territory of men. With the exception of a handful of women managing to become lead singers, the role of women was in the background. Literally. So, that is were my concern about the positioning. It might seem futile to you. To me, as a woman, it's not.

BrownMark(bass) should not have been placed behind (the background) singers-Wally Gregory Jerome

dJJ said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Just a quick side question. Does Shelby play an instrument? I've heard a few people on the org refer to her as a musician. I thought she was a singer.

In my book, a singer is a musician too.

the positioning of 'women' in the back of the stage (and race has no place in this) as far as background singers, is for a reason. If Shelby is a background singer, or Jill Jones (she too was place in the back) then being in the back is the place, right?

There were times that women were not even allowed on stage. So, women would be played by men. And mostly these men dressed as women would not portray women in a positive light. When women were allowed on stage, they oftentimes were placed at the back of the stage. You know, invisible, on the background. Music business has been the territory of men. With the exception of a handful of women managing to become lead singers, the role of women was in the background. Literally. So, that is were my concern about the positioning. It might seem futile to you. To me, as a woman, it's not.

BrownMark(bass) should not have been placed behind (the background) singers-Wally Gregory Jerome

Thanks for sharing that. Has nothing to do with futile or not, because it seems you were coming from a loooonnngg time in history. That wasn't implied in your previous post. I wasn't think from that just from now and a background singer.

.

Shelby is more than just a singer, I think vocalist defines her best because that is her "instrument" Her vocal chords. Not being picky, but a musician is someone who plays an instrument. I just get confused when I've heard that before, I assume she plays an instrument. Like I did not know one of the Twinz actually plays guitar ... so she would be considered a musician, but the other twin a singer/dancer

.

Thanks actually for sharing that background info on womens placement on the stage. That's some important info, I can appreciate seeing the female musicians and vocalists in Prince's career in a different way now.