PURPLEIZED3121 said:

dm3857 said:

EddieC said:

What's unconventional about Costello's project isn't that there's an audio version, but that there is also a companion/soundtrack album for the book, with some rarities and unreleased stuff. So...

Good point. But I wish there were more rarities. On 2 CD's of material there is one unreleased song (April 5th) and one demo (I Can't Turn It Off). The rest is standard released material.

Before I join the purple bandwagon to celebrite the upcoming Prince memoir (NOT "autobiography"), I still have a few reasonable doubts.

1. Is Prince writing this all by himself OR with a co-writer/ghostwriter?

2. In Prince going to do a tell-all (READ: Tell the whole truth) OR is he going to take the history revisionist approach by whitewashing some details in his own life story?

BartVanHemelen said:

Gotta love how these first two pages are filled with realistic expectations ("ain't gonna happen", "gonna be shite"), except for a few famz who can't stand to be confronted with factual statements.

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It's really simple: list all of the publications Prince has been involved in and look at their contents.

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Good luck to his publishers. Guess he found another sucker; I hope they haven't already paid him for this.

Gotta love that positivity, have you ever considered motivational speaking?

i am sooooooo psyched!!!

BartVanHemelen said:

EmmaMcG said:

AnnaSantana said: There's only one person I've ever seen on the org that thinks Prince can do no wrong. I think most people on here accept that Prince is human and like all humans, makes mistakes. I certainly don't think the man is perfect, there are a lot of songs he's done that I'll gladly never listen to again, but likewise, there are songs which will stay with me forever. I'd imagine most people on here feel that way. Everyone has their own taste in music. As for Prince's personal life and business dealings, I'm not particularly interested. Sure, like everyone else here, I have my opinions on what I think Prince SHOULD do, but he's made it this far without our advice. I'm interested in this book because I hope he'll delve into the meaning behind some of his songs. Why he wrote them, what his inspirations are etc. I have my fears that he'll let the "unconventional" part take over and we'll be left with a glorified photo album with a few little anecdotes spread throughout. And if that does prove to be the case, then so what? You don't have to buy it. I'm sure some of us would like something like that, others, myself included, wouldn't, so we simply don't buy it. But the fact is, we don't know what form it's going to take yet so to automatically assume it's going to be shit, if it ever comes out, is just as bad as assuming it's going to be a MASTERPIECE.

.

Oh look, another fan who fails to ignore THE MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE. Here's an idea: go look up every publication Prince was involved in (books, magazines) and see if they're shite. Hint: some of them are mentioned here already. PrinceVault has a list. But for some reason you lot seem to think that we should ignore past performance and pretend all the previous shite he published (and his illiterate Twitter feed and his lying-my-ass-off interviews) aren't indications of the sort of thing we're gonna get.

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So now we have at least two issues: chances this is going to be actually published (already very slim considering his past performance and especially considering this invovles something a YEAR into the future) and chances this isn't going to suck (very slim considering his other written output).

...you'll still buy it though, so who's the fool?

I just don't get it......... the book has not come out in any way shape or form and folks on here just going off posting negative stuff about a book they have not read, held nor laid their eyes on

TonyVanDam said:

Before I join the purple bandwagon to celebrite the upcoming Prince memoir (NOT "autobiography"), I still have a few reasonable doubts.

1. Is Prince writing this all by himself OR with a co-writer/ghostwriter?

2. In Prince going to do a tell-all (READ: Tell the whole truth) OR is he going to take the history revisionist approach by whitewashing some details in his own life story?

Esther Newburg(ICM) said has already submitted 50 pages of the manuscript. He is working on the book with Dan Kirschen who has been associated with the Paris Review.

luv4u said:

luv4u said:

I just don't get it......... the book has not come out in any way shape or form and folks on here just going off posting negative stuff about a book they have not read, held nor laid their eyes on

Not me!

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

TonyVanDam said:

Before I join the purple bandwagon to celebrite the upcoming Prince memoir (NOT "autobiography"), I still have a few reasonable doubts.

1. Is Prince writing this all by himself OR with a co-writer/ghostwriter?

2. In Prince going to do a tell-all (READ: Tell the whole truth) OR is he going to take the history revisionist approach by whitewashing some details in his own life story?

Esther Newburg(ICM) said has already submitted 50 pages of the manuscript. He is working on the book with Dan Kirschen who has been associated with the Paris Review.

Interesting.

NorthC said:

KingSausage said:

Your remarks disappeared as quickly as Prince's MEGA MEMOIR will vanish from the charts.

Nonsense. Pentacle's comments are still there.

Weird, only the comment YOU commented on (and thus saved for prosperity) has disappeared.

This will make a juicy anecdote in my MEGA memoir.

PurpleMedley122 said:

luv4u said:

I just don't get it......... the book has not come out in any way shape or form and folks on here just going off posting negative stuff about a book they have not read, held nor laid their eyes on

For me personally, I'm basing my criticism on his prior behavior regarding stuff like this, which to me is pretty consistent. Why should I expect anything different from this venture?

And the same can be said for those who are fawning over it, as if it is going to be some epic work of autobiographical literature. But let's ignore that, right?

snakesineverycolor said:

You're not wrong in concept, but I don't think reality will bear out any comparison to Keith Richards' million-selling book. And the whole "Prince.org hates Prince" part of the argument doesn't interest me in the least. Speaking pragmatically, Prince is not going to appeal to a huge cross-section of readers - he is perceived as bizarre by too many people. Content is also a potential concern, of course: I have serious doubts about what the Prince of today will allow in a book about his past - he is so obsessed with image control, it is dubious that he will sign on for a warts-and-all book about his life. Could be (and would love to be) completely wrong about that, but he seems an unlikely candidate to get frank about the most lascivious details of his life at this point in his existence. Presuming that's the case, that he's still looking to promote the "it's all good and has ever been thus" narrative that he has favored to this point, his book might not be the juiciest thing in the world, and that will hurt sales. "Music lovers in general" think Prince is odd. Don't get me wrong - his book will sell a decent number initially and get substantial press should it in fact make it to market. But a book - any book - is not going to change the ingrained-over-decades perception Prince has created for the public, and that's an impression that has left people thinking he's odd. The world is not primed for the opportunity to embrace him. When the time comes to market that book (presuming he follows through in that promotion more than he has for his albums), that's a substantial challenge to overcome.

I think almost all Autobirographies will be by defintion from the authors point of view. Their view is entirely subjective as there is no truly objective view. If you got ten people to write an essay about this thread you would get ten different views.

Prince is free to include and exclude all he wishes to. Some things may be too painful and some points he may see differently to the perceived opinion. There is a notion called the unwitting narrator whereby writers tell you things without entirely realising it.

I do like BVH, his content whilst very blunt, does have critical merit...although the odd post as to why he likes Prince might soften some of the criticisms

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This book is not very appealing to me...and will leave it on the bookstore shelf for 6mths before considering it.

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I think it is safe to say it will be full of "poetic musings"...and "religious scripture"

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Most probably an extension of the segues in his albums and an extended tourbook/21 nights type stuff.

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If it is a critical expose of his experiences in the music industry...his perspective on the WB saga...relationships with The Time etc...The break up of the Revolution...thoughts on his disassociation with the "naughtier" catalogue...and a few backstage tit-bits...how Purple Rain changed him...his relationship/perspective of Michael Jackson...then it will be interesting.

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So I look forward to the reviews on here after it has been released!

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I hope it isn't a meandering embarrassment

Pop icon Grace Jones signed copies of the French translation of her new book ‘I’ll Never Write My Memoirs’ at Le Bon Marché book store in Paris, France on Friday. Jones, 67, is best known for her 1985 disco single “Slave to the Rhythm” and her 1981 hit song “Pull Up to the Bumper”. Fans stood in line for hours to have the singer and actress sign their books. Jones, who was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, speaks seven languages including French, Spanish and Portuguese. She originally trained to be a language teacher.

I doubt will sign books like Grace on a book tour. Since he doesn't believe in idol worship. But a live per4mance will do with an exclusive book launch..

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

I doubt will sign books like Grace on a book tour. Since he doesn't believe in idol worship. But a live per4mance will do with an exclusive book launch..

I hope you get the irony of your post.

KingSausage said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

You've seen Rhiannas latest sales figures then? One of the biggest music stars in the world..at the height of her powers.....selling fuck all in comparison to her so called status Dude...stop making up stuff!

What does Rihanna have to do with anything? Does she factor in to how much the public cares and is willing to spend money on new output from Prince?!

I think what he's getting at is you bringing up Prince's record sales as a way to pooh pooh this recently announced book...

I think what he's trying to say is Rihanna, who is easily one of the biggest pop acts in the country and who is headlining an arena tour, is not exactly selling a shit load of albums (she just retained the top spot on Billboard with a little over 50,000 units sold)...It's just some much needed perspective....

It's a way to just show how ridiculous (no diss, u my man, 50 Grand) u sound...

If u think that the always unpredictable Prince won't make good on his book release, that's a debate worth having...If u think the book will be waaaaaay too controlled and scrubbed of any WTF moments, I can dig that too...

But bringing up P's record sales to say that P would be wasting his time with a book is bordering on hate-just-to-hate Bart levels....

And I'm going to say I never pegged you for that type....

honer said:

BartVanHemelen said:

Gotta love how these first two pages are filled with realistic expectations ("ain't gonna happen", "gonna be shite"), except for a few famz who can't stand to be confronted with factual statements.

.

It's really simple: list all of the publications Prince has been involved in and look at their contents.

.

Good luck to his publishers. Guess he found another sucker; I hope they haven't already paid him for this.

Gotta love that positivity, have you ever considered motivational speaking?

luv4u said:

I just don't get it......... the book has not come out in any way shape or form and folks on here just going off posting negative stuff about a book they have not read, held nor laid their eyes on

Such are the dangers of running a fan site...seems to be the same aross many fan sites..there's always the long standing hard core who have a sense of entitlement & feel that only they know best when it comes to the artist they follow. Sad, scary but alas very true!

For someone with an apparent lack of interest in his legacy and past, its odd that he would write a book about his legacy and past. If the man cant even release remsters and box sets from his past, what makes anyone think he can spend a lot more time and effort writing about it? If the book ever comes to life, and knowing what we know about his life from other books, his version of events will feel more edited and poorly presented than Live at the Alladin was.

For someone with an apparent lack of interest in his legacy and past, its odd that he would write a book about his legacy and past. If the man cant even release remsters and box sets from his past, what makes anyone think he can spend a lot more time and effort writing about it? If the book ever comes to life, and knowing what we know about his life from other books, his version of events will feel more edited and poorly presented than Live at the Alladin was.

murph said:

luv4u said:

I just don't get it......... the book has not come out in any way shape or form and folks on here just going off posting negative stuff about a book they have not read, held nor laid their eyes on

.

Yet it is absolutely a-okay to post idiotically positive thoughts, despite the MOUNTAIN OF EVIDENCE which are Prince's previous publishing efforts. It is a-okay to fantasise about Prince reading the audiobook version. It is a-okay to fantasise about the book coming with one or more CDs or DVDs etc.

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Gotcha.

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So to sum up: writing baseless hype = a-okay and according to some even required. Pointing out the many, many previous failures of Prince in this particular area = forbidden.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

my final word on this topic. I am genuinely excited, I have zero reason to doubt that it will not be released, i am confident that it will be a good mix of cryptic comments as well as a few interesting revelations, hopefully some never been seen before pics & for many of us it will be a great addition to our collections.

I am truly saddened that this announcement which in the context of Prince is huge & also I might add has a very credible team behind him has been met with such derision.

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People said the same in 1999 when I predicted Rave would be a failure.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

It's not a coincidence that 's personal items are being auctioned off around the same period of the MEGA Memoir news...

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Unbelievable.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

BartVanHemelen said:

.

Oh please, read the first two pages. Once again your blatant bias is showing.

pmsl..YOU are actually accusing HIM of blatant bias? oh come on BVH..wtf!

.

Go ahead, prove him right. I can cite various posts from the first two pages of this thread that are just as "negative" as what I said. Yet somehow it was my post that triggered his reaction.

If you manage to find your usual Per Nilsen book, you quickly realize/remember that Prince just WORKED his entire life. Other activities seemed to be kept to a strict minimum, just to avoid to become a total sociopath.

Prince has a private existence with relationships and emotions, but I'm pretty sure he never really took the time for reflecting or digesting his own life events to the fullest. Where a normal person would have mourn Gregory's loss for at least a year, the guy was on TV shows with a big smile on and all he had to speak about is how he managed to get out of WB's big evil claws.

Prince thinks having a titanium work ethic is enough to get you through life, but we all know there's more to it. I think he just scratched the surface of things during most of his life.

You can't spend your days recording, rehearsing, giving shows the way he did, and still have time to dig deep into your emotions, least other's emotions. You think you do, but hey, here's a new gig, oh and I have my latest wardrobe extravaganza minions latest aberration to approve, and what if I put "bagel" in one of my songs?

The point is: What do you sing/write about when your life has become so detached from the life normal human beings live? Aren't you writing exclusively for yourself, deluding yourself into thinking that your point of view relates to the world?


OK, let's say you do. That, despite this frantic pace of life, you manage to find some time to think things over. You're still fucked: a post-Purple Rain existence brings in too much noise and pressure, and perverses human contacts (who can really keep his coolness in Prince's presence? What if you're in the close circle, or your paycheck depends on him?) that anything you'll end up writing about yourself or close ones will be a byproduct of this global, distorted view stardom brings.

Let's say you have an epiphany, and decide you're gonna quit your low narcissus ways: here comes your usual Larry Graham, feeding himself on the grief of your dead child or whatever that puts you temporarily in a fragile state. And since you don't know squat about the world, except maybe for record companies contracts and guitar pedals settings, you think this is it: real life is about ringing strangers door bells to sell them an idea of God. Which is only leaving a delusion for another.

W&L explained what slowly happened to Prince, going from the hometown boy who made it big with a not-so-little help from his friends, to someone who'd rather eat with the Thurn und Taxis instead of his band musicians.
On the outside, it looked like The Revolution was still a crew. In reality, his head had indeed inflated, big as a balloon.

I think it's Ceasar, or maybe some other king/emperor, who kept a man behind his throne, whose role was to repeat: "You're only a man, you're only a man".
Even if Prince had such a "No man" in his entourage, I 'm pretty sure the voice of Camille would pop out in his head and squeak: "Yeah, right".


What is great about Mötley Crüe or Keith Richards biographies, is that they're about rock'n'roll, sex, drugs, excess, the celebration of guys who became successful in spite of suicidal carreer paths (aiming for a rock star status isn't exactly something your mom and dad applause). And behind that, guys who got more than decent incomes whilst breaking every good manner and showing the finger to basically every institution.

These guys have anecdotes to tell, because they believe that life is ultimately about having fun with your friends. Prince seems to have fun only when he does impressions for his friends (Morris Day impressions, "Movie Star"...). So technically he hasn't fun WITH his friends, he has fun being the center of attention FOR his friends.
Ain't no way Prince is going to pop out some beers while fingering some groupies in the back of his tour bus wearing a two-weeks dirty pair of blue jeans.

The last grasp of real Rock'n'Roll attitude Prince showed the world seems to be the mike kicking at the Oscars ceremony, and that was 30 years ago. Oh, maybe his rendition of "Sister" during the Lovesexy Tour. Afer that, Prince became too concerned and aware of his world-star status, and that is precisely what brought him down: because he's not a faker (let's give him at least that), his egocentrism became so blatantly obvious that the public turned his back.


So when the great Love Symbol / Gold Experience era brought back larsens and Marshall amps pumped to 11, no one but die-hard fans witnessed the genius of let's say, "The Ride" in "The Sacrifice Of Victor", or "Poor Goo". An incalculable loss for music lovers, all over the world. A fat big waste of Prince's talent.
I know it, and I think Bart, Pentacle and other Purple Kool-Aid allergics know it, and that's a major cause of legitimate frustrations and rants, which famz don't get.
We're pissed off because his talent deserved more: more attention from the public, because culture and discernment are essential to a "Good Life", and less time spent writing songs "no one digs" but himself.

Who has the courage to look at "The Beautiful Experience" video today? The performances are still great, as they usually are, given the extraordinay musician Prince is, but all the nonsense?
It's fucking embarassing, to say the least. I cringed, witnessing my maverick hero, the ultimate outsider, slowly becoming a narcissistic freak. Every segue in this video makes you puke: Oh, I'm Symbol, I'm so mysterious, you can't help having wet dreams when you think about me.

From the cryptic phrases that don't mean shit, to the "Hey-Ma-look-I'm-in-every-shot" megalomania, it all pretty sums up the clear separation die-hards fans, not famz, had to make from now on between the musician and this egotistic, sad little man, prisoner of his own Xanadu.


I mean, even when I thought Musicology was a sane return to modesty, kind of "I'm nothing without a band", the jerk ruined the song "Cream" FOR LIFE.
I loved it when it was something sexy sung to a woman.
After he told repeatedly, to thousands of people, that "Cream" was written by looking at himself in the mirror, I can't listen to the damn song anymore. Way to go, Skipper.


Plus, he's been a control freak since ever, and all of sudden he'll letitgo and we'll have honest views about himself and all the fatal errors his ego did to his legacy? It ain't going to happen.


He said in the 1986 MTV interview that he wrote honestly about his life in his songs. Therefore, let's consider his songs the best autobiography we can get.


I don't need him to break the magic I feel when I listen to "Another Lonely Christmas" by reading that this song is in fact about a female version of himself, or that it's pure fiction. I'd rather, LIKE WITH BOOKS, stick to the images I get from it.

I don't need to know if he really married Susannah or not, I'd rather stick to "the steps of Versailles" and believe that he did.

And whether he grieved over Gregory's loss, no doubt. But I can't help to think about the Emancipation era and how the whole thing seemed not to matter to him. Do you think we're going to get a chapter about it?

I would have prefer the "LRC/Dirty Mind" being a single, once in a lifetime homage to Vanity. But then he does it at every concert. It's like Vanity's loss is less important than a good musical idea.

I ended up thinking, after reading and reading Prince's interviews nonsenses, empty innuendos, self-indulgencies year after year, that the ouput of the man matters much more than the man himself.


Sorry famz, but we are entitled to comment the book beforehand. And for an artist who claimed repeatedly that his songs speak more about his life than any given interview, we're allowed to consider with suspicion a fourthcoming 300 pages interview (if we ever get so many pages).

Famz, face the truth: We know our subject better than you. We do not allow Prince make fool of ourselves anymore, we know better by now.

Don't expect us to jump with joy after having being so low-considered by an artist we always defended no matter what lunacy he'd come up with. We are entitled to fear that the whole thing is going to look at best like the withdrawned Ebony interview, or the back cover of the Purple Rain LP: cryptic nonsenses revolving around his belly button.

[Edited 3/21/16 7:09am]