During the recent 'craziness' a few months ago in London, a number of my work colleagues were utterly bemused that I would leave town, travel a few hours on the off-chance of being able to queue for 6-7 hours and pay £70 to attend a Prince show. (Luckily the first was just £10 ). Most people simply said 'Oh right, Prince from the 80's' or starting singing 'Raspberry Beret' when I went past.

Do most of your friends view following Prince as a bit eccentric, more than say, any other eighties-popular artist? I had a few spare minutes and even made them a quick guide to help them if they ever tagged along to a concert (I keep trying lol!).

How do your friends react?

Usually it'd be like "U going 2 c Prince live? Now THAT's cool!" (if only because they know that's cool for me) or sumthing like that. Even if they don't necessarly listen to his music or even specifically dig it my friends view Prince as an extremely talented composer/musician/performer and that thing with the eccentricity just beats me, I haven't heard someone bitch at Prince or say he's weird since I finished high school 20 years ago. On the other hand I usually hang around with people who are quite eccentric themselves (artists, people working in the cultural or media field, hipsters) so I guess they're not really representative of your average French dude when it comes to the appreciqtion of an artist or their standards when it comes to eccentricity... Maybe if Prince would dress like Hitler (mustache included) and eat raw pigs' guts on stage while singing Purple And Gold they'd find him somewhat eccentric, yeah.

Overall I'm totally stunned by all those reports on the Org of grown up people being snubbed, teased or bullied because they love Prince. This kind of behavior I've seen in secondary and high school, yeah OK, but it would never have occured to me that so many people would keep behaving that way past high skool. Those people are friggin retards if u ask me! I usually tell the folks who tell such stories here that they should get new friends, and I believe they should indeed.

funny 'how to' video, nice job

.

I've only seen Prince a handful of times because he never comes to Richmond, VA, (Always had to drive a couple hours) but when I do go I don't really tell them because none of my friends are into him at all. If he came to Richmond I may ask if anyone would want to go since he is a living legend, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen... maybe one day.

They accept it. Some I've turned on and into fans, others cuckle and don't get it and others appreciate his talent but not his style. Almost everyone acknowledges that dude can play and write songs though, eve if they're not fans of his music.

herb4 said:

They accept it. Some I've turned on and into fans, others cuckle and don't get it and others appreciate his talent but not his style. Almost everyone acknowledges that dude can play and write songs though, eve if they're not fans of his music.

I actually often find that, rather strangely, that that's the best compliment, when people, who are not fans, still agree that Prince had tremendous talent and can see that even if they don't love the music. I guess it shows ...well...respect!

Most folks in my area know me as a major music fan (nerd), and alot of times friends or acquaintences will approach me about a group or singer or rapper and ask my opinion of them. And they also usually ask where they should start with the group (Ex. A Tribe Called Quest, ill say "Midnight Marauders". Faith No More, ill say "King for a Day". You get the point). And these people also know me as a crazy Prince fan who talks about him a lot on Facebook, and will talk at length as to why Prince is unbelievable. I do get the occasional ribbing, and there have been times its pissed me off but its usually in jest (Most of the time, they bring up that infamous Chappelle's Show skit). And folks tend to pick on Prince's image, heel-wearing, and his feminism but NEVER his music. Even if Prince isn't some people's bag, they know very well how much of an insanely-talented musician he is. And that sometimes leads to curiosity, and there's been more than one occasion I've made mixes of Prince's stuff tailor-made for the person's type of music they tend to lead towards. But when it comes to my close circle of friends, all of them love his music and another friend in particular has become obsessed like myself, including the side projects and all. And with family, they get it too. My brother came with me to see P at the Musicology tour, so he saw the light lol. And my sister (who usually broke my balls about Prince the most even though she liked a few songs) went to W2A at MSG with me, and she as well couldn't believe how outstanding he was. Now, my next goal is to take my mother to see him as she was the one who bought me my first Prince record at 6 years old wayyyyy back in 92 (Symbol album). But yeah, it usually leads to good things when people ask me about Prince.

They are actually surprised to hear he still does music. Most of my friends have not heard or seen him for 10 to 15 years.

my friends all come to me for concert tickets and the like. they normally say he has not gone anything since the name change and late 90's etc. my wife likes him and one of of my sons but my eldest son and my daughter now loathe him - my fault really as i played Prince all the time back in the the day and still do when they ask dad for a lift ` hehe

I think 30 years of being a fan is quite different from 10 years of being a fan..

My friends respect Prince & think he's crazy.. the same way they feel about me.

KingSausage said:

Fuck my friends. I just want my daughter to like Prince!

Does she?

This may sound funny but it is true.

I don't trust people who claim 2 like music and don't like Prince.

databank said:

KingSausage said:

databank said:

Does she?

Too early to tell.

My daughter was digging Prince as an infant. She would "wiggle" to the rhythm while I held or fed her all the time. I never tried to get her to listen to him, she just heard him alot because I listen to him so much.

She's an adult now and has heard Prince all her life. She likes him alot but is definitely not one of "us". And that's good enough for me...

Good luck. Many kids hate the music their parents like.

KingSausage said:

databank said:

Does she?

Too early to tell.

U'll have to love her anyway even if she won't, then

I was an original purple head - way before Purple Rain when Prince was a called a "black" artist. I was there from For You on. I can remember wearing the studded trenchcoat, bandanas (which had some gay connotation for some reason), buttons on my pants legs, and boots in the early 80s when thay could get your ass beat. My friends endured being called fags because Prince was certainly gay and feminine to most peopl back then and no real man admitted in public that he loved Prince. Of course, my family didnt understand it - the poster from the Controversy album on my bedroom wall didnt help.

Then of course, alot of the early80s work was too new wave and rock n roll for alot of black folks in Virginia. You were a freak if Prince was your favorite and you were a dude. After Purple Rain, it was all different - I looked like I was far hipper than my friends because I was down 6 years earlier when no one else was (and I was). Prince was an amazing phenomenon and every was jumping on the purple bandwagon. While Iwas glad to see Prince get so big and be so readily accessible, it wasnt the same for me.

Just as good but not the same. I was the kid with the huge perm waiting with my thumb on the VCR remote for BET to run the Sexuality video so I could tape it. I can remember bringing the 1999 album to school like it was a text book - and making a tape of it to play on a Walkman with a Prince buddy in the back of my Calculus class. I even had a girlfriend named Nikki, believe it or not (and she was a ho just like the one in the song). TO this day, I have a white cloud guitar on display in my living room. Everyone knows why it is there even though I cant play it.

Yes, I was there through the 90s when Prince took a beating from the same people who were on his jock in the 80s. It was OK - I stand by his 90s work as a whole being as good as the 80s and I have it all. I have seen him live over 40 times in my life and hope to be able to make it to shows in the future. Though now we are both getting older. I have little tolerance for popular music today or the people who come to Prince concerts. THe kids that he surrounds himself with in order to stay "relevant" irritate me to no end - hence my f'ed up screen name. He is too great for them but this is the world he has to live in now.

But my friends still ask me when the new Prince record in coming out or how old he is liek I know him personally. They still think I am that kid with the studded trenchcoat - and deep down I probably still am.

JoshuaWho said:

. He is too great for them but this is the world he has to live in now.

Perfectly put.

JoshuaWho said:

. He is too great for them but this is the world he has to live in now.

Perfectly put.

I tend not to speak about him with casual friends or colleagues. They wouldn´t understand anyway because the Prince that they know and the Prince that I know are two different people. The public perception or knowledge of Prince is not that bad but far from reality.

Some don´t even believe me when they ask me how often I´ve seen him in concert or that I spent a week at Paisley Park during the celebration.

Also, I don´t like to talk about him that much, and I don´t like to talk about Prince on FB, not even with the orgers that I know there because I like to keep all the Prince talk at the org. The other reason is that I consider most of my FB friends from the org "real" friends and not "just orgers", so I hate the idea of taking Prince talk over to FB, or mentions of the org on FB.....the org is much better for Prince and GD and music discussions.

KoolEaze said:

KoolEaze said:

I tend not to speak about him with casual friends or colleagues. They wouldn´t understand anyway

Its my private joy, though any one close to me knows im a fan

i'm from plfd nj, wherein middle school/highschool we were alllllll prince fans....in some of our highschool pics peeps have posted on facebook was an early early promo pic of Prince on the wall in our social studies room...i think it was 1976 or 1977...

anyone who knows me even a little bit knows i'm a prince fan...and i never wondered or cared what anyone else thought about it....

FragileUndertow said:

Those threads always baffle me

WHO in the world do u guys hang out with???

Or is it an American perception of Prince as some kind of weirdo that we don't have in Europe?

I'm really puzzled!

databank said:

Those threads always baffle me

WHO in the world do u guys hang out with???

Or is it an American perception of Prince as some kind of weirdo that we don't have in Europe?

I'm really puzzled!

It is certainly rare for me to meet a Prince fan. Usually the best I can hope for is respect for his legacy tempered with ignorance of all but the hits.

Most think he's a weirdo even if they do like some of his music. They're shocked when they see stellar performances like the Super Bowl Half Time or R&RHOF jam.

It is what it is.