yes. and yes.

Yes. I used to go to Tower Records and a local magazine place called The Tabacco Shop for my copies. It used to be really cool to be a Prince fan.

Come on Prince! Treat your fans right with some new and old vault music!!!!

I'll never forgive Eileen Murton for saying the Nude Tour was the best Prince Prince tour when reviewing it in the magazine.

ConsciousContact said:

I'll never forgive Eileen Murton for saying the Nude Tour was the best Prince Prince tour when reviewing it in the magazine.

Whatever happened to Eileen Murton? What she did with Controversy magazine and the club was amazing (pre-internet age kids). Such a wealth of information.

Does anyone (in the UK) also remember the Crystal Ball magazine by Chris Dawson? Wonder what happened to him?

jaypotton said:

ConsciousContact said:

I'll never forgive Eileen Murton for saying the Nude Tour was the best Prince Prince tour when reviewing it in the magazine.

Whatever happened to Eileen Murton? What she did with Controversy magazine and the club was amazing (pre-internet age kids). Such a wealth of information.

Does anyone (in the UK) also remember the Crystal Ball magazine by Chris Dawson? Wonder what happened to him?

.

Both of them met Prince, both of them quit being a fan afterwards.

I remember reading a thread about this. Apparently there was some form of event at Paisley that they all got invited to (a concert or something) that went tits up. And later on he proposed to make his own fanzine (which was what became the NPG fanclub magazine thing I think) and shut down hers.

But don't take my word for it, I'm just repeating what I've read on old threads on here before now. I wasn't even alive when all this shit was happening lmao

Angelsoncrack said:

I met two fantastic fans at the Manchester Arena last year, one of whom used to help run Controversy with Eileen. Sadly (and I mean sadly as both of them were lovely) I didn't get their names or any more info on them or why the magazine ended. She went to PP and Glam Slam though, that was more what we were chatting about (& Melissa Jacks & that he'd played Electric Intercourse in Birmingham. So many things, so little time). I know she said she mainly used Prince Museum on Facebook now but I'm not on Facebook so haven't chased it up. Who knows, maybe she's on the Org as well and will read this thread?

I'll have to dig my Controversy & Crystal Ball mags out. I haven't looked at them in years.

BartVanHemelen said:

jaypotton said:

Whatever happened to Eileen Murton? What she did with Controversy magazine and the club was amazing (pre-internet age kids). Such a wealth of information.

Does anyone (in the UK) also remember the Crystal Ball magazine by Chris Dawson? Wonder what happened to him?

.

Both of them met Prince, both of them quit being a fan afterwards.

Pretty much spot on.

P hasnt changed much since the 80's.

My recollection is sketchy - but I *believe* she was instructed to shut the whole thing down one day, more or less out of the blue - which she was quite upset about, and a lot of fans were very, very disappointed and angry to hear.

.

I recall that she basically gave up on Prince from that point forward and sold her entire collection of memorabillia through the Controversy mailing list - indeed, I have her Lovesexy "Yes" t-shirt in a wardrobe in the next room.

.

I believe she set up / was running a travel company - perhaps related to the experience she'd gained on the fan group trips she'd organised to Minneapolis.

.

I believe she sadly died several years ago.

See also http://prince.org/msg/7/232102

and http://prince.org/msg/5/355691

and http://prince.org/msg/5/160883

and http://www.thedawnexperie...php?t=1267

and https://groups.google.com...4lzgV0XYAJ

and http://www.deseretnews.co...tml?pg=all

etcetera etcetera

I used to read Uptown....Controversy.....and various other Prince fanzines.Remember this one called Prince Thang? I even had a few issues of that.

oh...and I also subscribed to the Prince Family newsletter.Who remembers that? I wonder what the editor,Diana Dawkins,is up to these days.

SoulAlive said:

I used to read Uptown....Controversy.....and various other Prince fanzines.Remember this one called Prince Thang? I even had a few issues of that.

I was just searching online for issues of Prince Thang (PT) about a week ago... Was this the fanzine started by Tracy Stokes? It was actually through Controversy or Uptown magazine that I initially met Tracy as she was listed as an area organizer in Philadelphia. IF PT was her project, I think it only had about four issues before she had to stop work on it for reasons I can't remember. Maybe I'm tripping, but swear I wrote a small piece of commentary on Prince's writing for Sheila E., and submitted it for issue #3 or #4, which is why I'm looking for them (my original copy is probably semi-lost in storage).

.

Regrettably, when searching for PT last week, I found a 2011 obit for Tracy Stokes, hoping beyond hope it was another woman of the same name in Philadelphia, but the photo looked like it maybe could have been the lovely and generous Tracy I met back in the 90s. Last time I saw her was around...late 90's so I may not recognize her properly now. We ran into each other as we were preparing to camp out all night for tickets to see Prince (the Academy of Music I think it was?). There is a Twitter follower of the same name currently following 3EG so I really do hope I'm wrong (and that I've not alarmed her or anyone who knows her with this message!).

.

I have a few dozen Controversy magazines tucked away, wrapped in plastic. Very informative and professional. That was where I learned what Prince was saying in the background on "Pheromone" LOL. And plenty of other interesting info on his music . Still have my tee-shirt and a couple of fan cards for at least two years of subscriptions. Eileen Murton's passing is quite a loss to the fan community and she will be fondly remembered.

SoulAlive said:

I used to read Uptown....Controversy.....and various other Prince fanzines.Remember this one called Prince Thang? I even had a few issues of that.

"PrOnce Thang?"

Prince Thang was a pretty good fanzine,huh? The first issue I got was in the fall of 1991,just right before the Diamonds And Pearls album was released.So there was alot of cool info about the album.I also recall an excellent analysis of the song "Old Friends 4 Sale".Gonna have to look thru all the boxes in my garage and pull these issues out

Bluu said:

SoulAlive said:

I used to read Uptown....Controversy.....and various other Prince fanzines.Remember this one called Prince Thang? I even had a few issues of that.

I was just searching online for issues of Prince Thang (PT) about a week ago... Was this the fanzine started by Tracy Stokes? It was actually through Controversy or Uptown magazine that I initially met Tracy as she was listed as an area organizer in Philadelphia. IF PT was her project, I think it only had about four issues before she had to stop work on it for reasons I can't remember. Maybe I'm tripping, but swear I wrote a small piece of commentary on Prince's writing for Sheila E., and submitted it for issue #3 or #4, which is why I'm looking for them (my original copy is probably semi-lost in storage).

.

Regrettably, when searching for PT last week, I found a 2011 obit for Tracy Stokes, hoping beyond hope it was another woman of the same name in Philadelphia, but the photo looked like it maybe could have been the lovely and generous Tracy I met back in the 90s. Last time I saw her was around...late 90's so I may not recognize her properly now. We ran into each other as we were preparing to camp out all night for tickets to see Prince (the Academy of Music I think it was?). There is a Twitter follower of the same name currently following 3EG so I really do hope I'm wrong (and that I've not alarmed her or anyone who knows her with this message!).

herb4 said:

SoulAlive said:

I used to read Uptown....Controversy.....and various other Prince fanzines.Remember this one called Prince Thang? I even had a few issues of that.

"PrOnce Thang?"

Bluu said:

I have a few dozen Controversy magazines tucked away, wrapped in plastic. Very informative and professional. That was where I learned what Prince was saying in the background on "Pheromone" LOL. And plenty of other interesting info on his music . Still have my tee-shirt and a couple of fan cards for at least two years of subscriptions. Eileen Murton's passing is quite a loss to the fan community and she will be fondly remembered.

it was a very good fanzine.

I have all the issues of Prince Thang..I even won a "Gett Off' contest and was quoted in one of the issues!...PRINCE NERD!

I was a member of "Controversy" and went to that 1991 convention in Minnesota. "Hi" to any other orgers who were at that convention! I had a lot of fun there - roomed with a couple other girls who I'd never met before, but we instantly bonded over our Prince fandom. We saw Michael Bland and his band play a live show at some club, which was great. We also went to a Diamond and Pearls party at Glam Slam. where a DJ played nearly the whole album and we danced to it. We met all the members of that version NPG there and they signed autographs for us.

Me and my roomies even got a ride back to our hotel in Tony M's jeep! (Nothing happened, though I think he fancied one of my roomies ). Our only mistake was going to a lame local music awards show (which had claimed Prince would appear) rather than seeing Mavis Staples play at Glam Slam (where I think Prince actually did show up and watch). As I recall, those two events conflicted and we had to choose one.

The Paisley Park outing was a little weird. They only let about five people (chosen through some type of lottery) go inside, while everyone else milled about outside. I didn't go through the trash, but it wasn't shocking a few fans did. We had nothing to do, really. I hadn't really expected to meet Prince during the convention, so I had a positive experience. I guess I missed whatever drama happened between Eileen and Prince.
I thought Eileen did a great job organizing the convention and putting out the magazine. I loved getting each issue and she was quite generous and friendly to me in person. I am very sorry to hear that it seems she has passed on.

CarolineC said:

I guess I missed whatever drama happened between Eileen and Prince.

speaking of drama....I remember in the late 90s,Diana Dawkins (editor of The Prince Family newsletter) angrily shut down her newsletter when Prince filed that lawsuit against Uptown.She was really pissed.

SoulAlive said:

CarolineC said:

I guess I missed whatever drama happened between Eileen and Prince.

speaking of drama....I remember in the late 90s,Diana Dawkins (editor of The Prince Family newsletter) angrily shut down her newsletter when Prince filed that lawsuit against Uptown.She was really pissed.

.

Diana had been getting shit from the Prince camp for years. Remember Pierre Igot posting lies on a.m.p under a fake name (because she dared to publish negative reviews and wasn't some adoring fan)?

The "Controversy" "Uptown" magazine era brings back some great memories. I could never figure out the "Prince Thang" magazine.The articles were fine and what not but what was up with the Magazine font. When I found the first issue back in 91. I swear it was called "Pronce Thang"(that's the way it actually reads like, even though I get what they were trying to go for with the eye/I in the name but imho failed at doing so) and I affectionately always called it "Pronce Thang". I actually went so far to the extent that I would just refer to Prince to my friends as "Pronce". That still cracks me up.

[Edited 8/5/15 10:26am]

Are there any scans available of these fanzines? I'm really interested in seeing what was in them.

SoulAlive said:

I used to read Uptown....Controversy.....and various other Prince fanzines.Remember this one called Prince Thang? I even had a few issues of that.

haha i had those too! I had a really bad poem in one of them! In fact I had sent it to Eileen Murton but she sent it back with a lovely note... i need to see if i still have the note.

i also have some uptown issues. and 3 comics...

Angelsoncrack said:

Are there any scans available of these fanzines? I'm really interested in seeing what was in them.

You can buy them on ebay. The controversy magazines are great. Probably the best fan magazine every produced for an artist.