It all went wrong when he pulled down that fake lamp post @ the James Brown concert

I did respond to that on the thread you started, but if you haven't been to have a look (and going against my loathing for "cross-posting") here you go;

Well, re-read them, because it quite clearly states that Prince did not do everything himself. Sure, its mostly Prince, but that doesn't detract from other people's contributions to the song.

Why do I think you lack in musical knowledge? Well, I said musicianship. Here's just one comment you made that lead me to this "Dr.Fink played what Prince told him to. The fact that he played the solo on 'Head' means nothing. It was Prince's song and chords that fink is playing around with." - that's just not right! First off, Prince did not write that solo lead on Head for Dr Fink - that is Dr Fink himself and the solo he produces comes straight from the soul. It is an awesome lead and there would be no point in Prince getting Fink to play something he could have done himself - there would have been something about Fink's playing and touch that Prince wanted to hear in that solo. So, yeah, it's played over Prince's chords and beats, but that does not diminish the creativity given by Fink in lending such a wonderful solo to the tune. It certainly does not "mean nothing" and that comment is offensive to any musician! Hence, I don't feel you have experience of such things.

So, you play the flute? (must be kinda hard being a fully-fledged songwriter writing songs on that instrument). If you were asked to play with a band and they turned to you and said "In these 32-bars, we want you to come up with a flute solo - just do what you want". Would you then be happy to hear your fellow band members talking about their music and someone says "Love the flute solo" and they reply "Well, its ours, we wrote the song, they're our notes"? - you'd be pretty pissed! Your creative input has just been passed off as either irrelevant or not being your own work - do you see what I'm getting at? But then, credit for who contributed what to a song or album is huge bone of contention in a lot of bands!

If you don't conform, you step outside the circle.

Career/Commercial-Wise?

The Symbol??
Too much music??
The Quality Control Department going on strike??
Dismissive attitude towards fans??

here're 2 easy ones:

1. telling himself he could direct a movie
2. that DAMNED symbol thing and everything
associated with it

IAM said:

BINGO! Thank god someone hit this one the head.

In actuality he did not go wrong anywhere. Everything he did could not have been a perfect choice to do . Just like in anyones life. The question should be "what did not work for commercialism" etc. Even so called missteps are important in everyones lives and part of being somebody or something.

Mindflux, I've tried to debate this topic reasonably with you and you're just not going for it.
You're putting words in my mouth: I never gave the impression that I thought Stevie and Arif were talentless, so where did you get it from? Again, you've no idea if I'm more talented than Stevie. For a start, I will not spend 8 years recording a mediocre album.
You are extremely naive if you think the revolution were talented people. It is almost childlike - In the same way little kids look at pop stars and think they are talented, because they are up there on stage with a larger than life aura.
None of the revolution did anything of note before and after Prince. Anyway, this is completely irrelevant. I would go so far as saying that even Jam and Lewis aren't particlarly talented people. Again it is naive to think that 3 great songwriters could go to the same school together. The chances of 3 'talents' living in the same area is so remote, it's not worth considering. They are simply normal people who got a luck break and just went with the formula.
Yes, I really am a songwriter. I play the instruments on my songs. I work with session singers, and have never put too much importance on it. If the song is good, the publisher will recgonise it. Besides if the song is good, it gives the singer more to work with and she will try harder.

I'm getting tired of this:

I think Stevie, Arif and Prince are all geniuses. Natural talents as opposed to handbook musicians like Jam and Lewis and The Revolution.
These talents come along maybe once every 5 or 10 years. There is no chance of 2 genuises living close to each other. This is the perception people have of the Beatles. But (imo), John Lennon was the genius, the instigator of all them songs. Paul McCartney was a musician by trade. He had vast musical knowlege. But, this doesn't mean anything to most record listeners who appreciate emotion and feeling more.
You have absolutely no idea if my songs are good or not.
This whole arguement started as I made the fairly obvious point that the Revolution were very average musicians. You then started accusing me of all sorts of things, without any justifcation eg. I do not understand the process of recording music etc...
You have no reason to believe this. Bear in mind, i am a songwriter (Lyrics and Melody). So, firstly the production/musicianship on my songs is not overly important. I do try and get the guitars or whatever sounding as good as possible. But, ultimately whatever the guitar is playing comes down to the chords and the song.

Career/Commercial-Wise?

The Symbol??
Too much music??
The Quality Control Department going on strike??
Dismissive attitude towards fans??