HonestMan13 said:

thedance said:

Ok I am a fan since 83, back when Prince was a major force:

today, I am on facebook and here, and everything is fine.


However all the people I know in real life thinks Prince is a weirdo, a has-been.

Whenever I say Prince is still making music, he's a great musician, etc... then I am meeting SILENCE, or they are laughing. Isn't that called "indulgence" in english?

No one I know in real life would ever consider to buy a song by Prince.

Before you say, get some other friends.... I will defend them.. they are nice people.


But Prince is really out of touch with the general public, imo.


Shouldn't we be a bit "worried" about that: Prince's impact is gone, the impact on a broader audience.

I just wish Prince would have some success on the music scene again. Art Official Age, lets' hope for a minor success, right?

Then maybe it wouldn't be so hard to be a fan, maybe people would stop laughing at you, then.


What do you think?

You don't need new friends.You have the ones you deserve.

People who laugh at you for liking something they don't are not "nice people".

You're entirely too old to still be in need of the approval of those around you to validate your choices on anything. Junior high school ended decades ago. Grow up.

*

Amen, again!

Stymie said:

I haven't read the whole thread but let me just say it has always been this way for me. People make fun of me, then you'll show them some piece of live shows etc and they just can't help but admit the genius. This won't make them fans, because he's sooo weird. And I must tell you, that is one of the reasons I've been a fan so long! I'm really incapable to enjoy something that anybody else likes, I don't know why. The day the whole world become Prince's fan, I'm probably out

He's got the talent, his music fit my soul, and there are only a few people to shar my amusement with. That's perfect to me. With my non-fan friends, I talk about something else unless they openly provoke me, and you can bet they know what they get if they do

From my experience, informed people acknowledge the fact he's very talented but his feminity and high voice tend to bother males, it's a "girly" taste to have if you're into rock so he doesn't fit the usual model, it's often too much treble for them, high voice and high guitar notes. Also sometimes the high synth lines are too much, too sugary for them, he feels like style over substance in some genres and they'll say it's nice but not something they'll listen to again and again.

Many people know I'm a Prince fan but I don't put Prince music on when we have company and I don't ask people to listen to his stuff. I did 10, 12 years ago when I got my hands on unreleased tracks and live recordings, very sparsely though because many don't like falsettos (men) or long guitar solos (women), they like artists that are very solid but more in line with the archetypes out there.

I'm too old to care whether anyone likes what I like.

I'm not affected by the opinion of others, really. I have had people ask me what I see in him. I don't really feel a need to explain it, I simply tell them I like his music and that's that. If they don't, that's their right, of course. If Prince wants another hit, he knows what he has to do to get one. He knows the business. I don't think he really cares about chart hits anymore. He does what makes him happy. Stop worrying about what other people think of your music choices and be glad that you were alive to witness the genius that is PRN. Be glad that you aren't one of the millions of people that would rather allow top 40 radio tell them what "good music" is. Be glad that he's been around as long as he has and he's STILL giving you good shit to listen to. What others think is not the issue, it's what you think of what others think and when you realize that and learn not to care, you'll be a lot happier.

.

[Edited 9/13/14 14:41pm]

When I talk to my friends about Prince, they google him, they see that picture of his when he dresses like a drag queen, the next thing I know my friends think Prince is gay. So they don't listen to any piece of music by Prince.

I get equal reactions of people being fond of him to people hating on him, but like someone said the haters have ALWAYS been there.

Truth be told the ONLY thing it'll take for Prince to take over the world again would be to put out the proper follow-up to "Purple Rain" that he has NO interest in ever putting out. That should be enough to console anyone worried about his appeal.

oh and here's a trick about talking about music in public. Well if you're like me you're pretty easy and can appreciate most things, but just go with the flow and be agreeable. This guy at work was trying to get me to hate on Iggy Azalea. I know she's nothing special but it still doesn't stop me from bopping along to her songs in the car on my way home after a long day at work when they pop on the radio. I just said, "yeah, I like it. It's stupid, but it's pop."

Was I wrong?

I made the mistake of mentioning DAngelo a few years ago in public. I'll never make the mistake of bringing up an artist again. Just go with the flow...

SuperSoulFighter said:

Hey, thedance, have you tried showing your Sir Nose-friends the R&R Hall of Fame clip? If after that, they still don't get it, then they're bound to live forever in the Zone of Zero Funkativity. Too bad...

My friends are listening to Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash. I have tried to play Prince's Joy In Repetition live from the 2002 boxset, they like this recording but otherwise their interest in Prince's music quickly disappears again.

thedance said:

^^ Reading some of ur answers I REALLY wonder what kinda people some of u guys hang out with

.
Just this one for example (but it's just one out of many): "When I talk to my friends about Prince, they google him, they see that picture of his when he dresses like a drag queen, the next thing I know my friends think Prince is gay. So they don't listen to any piece of music by Prince."

.

FOR REALZ???

.

To me it sounds like people still looking for Uptown (as in the song) 34 years later and the Org is the one place in the world where u can be what u are. IDK, there are MANY open minded people in the world, for realz, I've met them. Maybe u're just not hanging out with the right people for u, maybe u just oughta move on and get to meet new people.

.

Any case, I'm giving y'all a big

Kind of like saying you're a fan of Stevie Wonder, James Brown, or Miles Davis at this point.

chrisslope9 said:

I remember a time when my stepbrother wanted to watch U2's Rattle and Hum with me. I said "sure, if you watch Sign O the Times with me after." I was respectful and watched all of U2's okay film with nary a word. When it came time to watch Sign, we made it halfway thru Housequake and he said "ugh, I can't watch it anymore. He's too much." My ex had the same reaction. "I like to listen to him", she would say " but I don't like watching him". I think he appeals to those of us who are on the edge of glory, and the masses just don't get it.

thedance said:

databank said:

^^ Reading some of ur answers I REALLY wonder what kinda people some of u guys hang out with

.
Just this one for example (but it's just one out of many): "When I talk to my friends about Prince, they google him, they see that picture of his when he dresses like a drag queen, the next thing I know my friends think Prince is gay. So they don't listen to any piece of music by Prince."

.

FOR REALZ???

.

To me it sounds like people still looking for Uptown (as in the song) 34 years later and the Org is the one place in the world where u can be what u are.

IDK, there are MANY open minded people in the world, for realz, I've met them. Maybe u're just not hanging out with the right people for u, maybe u just oughta move on and get to meet new people.

.

Any case, I'm giving y'all a big

Uptown it ain't

luv2tha99s said:

I remember a time when my stepbrother wanted to watch U2's Rattle and Hum with me. I said "sure, if you watch Sign O the Times with me after." I was respectful and watched all of U2's okay film with nary a word. When it came time to watch Sign, we made it halfway thru Housequake and he said "ugh, I can't watch it anymore. He's too much." My ex had the same reaction. "I like to listen to him", she would say " but I don't like watching him". I think he appeals to those of us who are on the edge of glory, and the masses just don't get it.

>

It kinda reminds me of the Michael jackson Vs. Prince camps back in the 80's and it kinda falls in line with what you mention. Prince to me has always been for those who are more liberal. Michael, before he went off the rails, always appealed to the more conservative personality in aesthetical terms. Personally I know it's a thing for me. Give me an edgy personality and talent and I'll gravitate towards it and it started with Prince.

Prince is not a hot star and is not relevant for teenagers, but he is a respected musician. I often noticed another trend: people of my generation (20-25уо) do not know any one of his songs. they heard the name, know that Prince was once popular, but are not familiar with his music. absolutely. but I'm from Eastern Europe, probably explains a lot.

Sometimes I think his name gets in the way of a lot of things. Many people, younguns especially don't know his real name is Prince. It sounds like a stage name that a young up and coming teeny bopper might have, not the name of an almost-sixty year old legend. Perhaps if was called Richard Rogers Nelson, people might spend more time hearing you out.

Not many of my mates like Prince, but they do show him respect and often head bop when I play his music. Mostly though, they just dont get him. The name change has stuck in the minds of many and some find it hard to get past that and take the man seriously.

Rebeljuice said:

Sometimes I think his name gets in the way of a lot of things. Many people, younguns especially don't know his real name is Prince. It sounds like a stage name that a young up and coming teeny bopper might have, not the name of an almost-sixty year old legend. Perhaps if was called Richard Rogers Nelson, people might spend more time hearing you out.

Not many of my mates like Prince, but they do show him respect and often head bop when I play his music. Mostly though, they just dont get him. The name change has stuck in the minds of many and some find it hard to get past that and take the man seriously.

It's a sad world we live in where people won't be taken seriously for changing their names into unpronounceable symbols

People thought he was weird and didn't get him even when you first became a fan, it was just a different industry at the time and he was able to sale more albums once he crossed over with a hit film and soundtrack, but I used to get teased as a child for listening to him even when he was in his prime. With that said, I either enjoy the music or I don't and I don't really think it's anything to worry about, he is an icon, R&R Hall of Fame, and he has well established his legacy. This is why he is able to get the Superbowl spot on popular shows like New Girl. The more things seem to change, the more we may find they have always been the same.

HonestMan13 said:

funksterr said:

Welcome to my world.... circa 1988!! It's always been that way. My cousin was a big Prince fan around the Dirty Mind days and he used to take so much shit from people over it. Here is the thing with Prince though that's always benn true. When he puts it all together and has a hit project those very same people will beat you to ticketmaster and buy up all the tickets! It was that way during the and Diamonds and Pearl days. Prince didn't put Tony M on the albums for Purple Rain fans, he did it to appeal to the fickle distracted masses and it worked, for a time, anyway. They didn't know Tony M from Chuck D, but the formula worked.

THIS happened to me in '97, and he didn't have a hit. He was simply playing in my town for the first time since '84. That was enough for all the people who made fun of me for being a fan to get out and drop their cash to see him. So many of them had better seats than me too... Pissed me off!!

It's ok. I'm over it.

langebleu said:

It's down to different tastes.

When people talk about defending Prince, I think they are simply defending the choice they have made to like his music and likely to justify having spent (in another person's eyes) a disproportionate amount of their life (time, money, etc.) on his music ... when they could really have been doing something more worthwhile.

I see no reason to measure what I like with other people's musical opinions. Other people like different things.

Similarly, I have no particular wish for Prince to be top of the charts. If people buy his music, then that's fine, but I often think that people want him to have anothetr hit because it helps them justify to themselves their conviction about his music.

"Look - he's a platinum download artist! Look at me! I have liked him since 'For You'. Boy, do I now feel good because I've been ridiculed trying to defend him for years but now everyone can see that I must have the best taste! His sales prove it!"'

I like certain foods. I don't force my favourite food down another's mouth, try to convince them that they are missing out because they have no taste for what I like, or defend my taste for certain foods - because my tastes are simply different. Different people like different things. Other than make a gentle suggestion occasionally, I'd prefer to find out what other people like and why, rather than bore them with my taste.

ALL that! Perfect, langebleu. Just. Perfect.

coffeebreak said:

I'm really incapable to enjoy something that anybody else likes, I don't know why. The day the whole world become Prince's fan, I'm probably out

Are you a hipster? Cuz, ya know, that's what a hipster would do...