I was under 10 years old when I learned about Prince and heard his music for the first time in the mid 80's. I remember watching the When Doves Cry video and thinking it was so cool but that Prince looked intimidating. His music was electric and the movie Purple Rain was just such an amazing movie, however most of us kids were watching a movie that had cursing and a sexy romance scene when we were not allowed to watch those kinds of movies

I also remember being very confused about Prince's songs. I couldn't understand why Little Red Corvette was not on the Purple Rain soundtrack album. It seemed to be playing on the radio around the same time as the movie. Same with Raspberry Beret and 1999. Because Prince had just emerged in such an explosive way with Purple Rain and his video When Doves Cry seemed to be on Mtv all the time (his breakthrough video), I thought he was a new artist. I didn't realize until I was older that he had been around for a while and had a lot of hits prior to Purple Rain and that Raspberry Beret was actually on the album following Purple Rain.

Pretty much exact same as you! We must be the same age or very close. Although, I never did see Purple Rain movie until I was an adult. When Doves Cry video was the first time I ever saw or heard Prince and, like you, I didn't realize he had such a history before that. As a child, it never occurred to me to wonder about that anyway lol. I loved the MTV videos and he caught my attention right away. I do remember thinking it was funny how he emerged from the bathtub and held his hand out haha. And I remember loving the outfit in Raspberry Beret video.

I heard so much about him being small when I was a kid that I thought he was probably just a couple of feet high. When I saw the Kiss video I got confused by the perspective right at the beginning and this just reaffirmed what I thought was true.

My parents couldn't stand Prince, but I secretly got into him when Rapsberry Beret was released. At first I kept it a secret, but slowly pictures starting appearing on the bedroom wall!

I think what really got me hooked was how I didn't really think he was just a human being. When I saw him at the LoveSexy shows it was as if I just couldn't believe he was actually there in the same building, city or even Country as I was!!

The first videos I saw of him were "1999", "Little Red Corvette" and "Controversy." Thought he was odd, scruffy, anomalous. He was the book I could never put down. Seemed to me he was about 10 years ahead of his time--ahead of everyone. Matter of fact, I remember one time where I seriously wondered if he had come from the future or some other timeline. Not in a fantastical but in a very practical, real-world kind of way. He was like a whole different class of human and I could not figure out what exactly he was.

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One of the strongest and earliest impressions I have of him was that he was extremely clear. As in to look at him, but also in my all-around, five-senses perceptions of him. He stood out. It was quite like he was at a higher resolution than everyone else in the world. Like I was meant to focus on him, if you think of how camera focus gets used in cinema, to draw the audience's attention to something in a scene. Though it was quite strange, it became the norm with how I experienced his presence in the world, but I was aware that it was not 'normal' and that no one else had that effect on my perception.

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He was different. From everybody else. Different. Could never put my finger on it. Still can't.

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[Edited 6/8/16 1:05am]

First impressions No words needed.

I think the first time I saw him was the American Bandstand performance in 1980 and I was really young, like 10 or so. Was very confused why he wanted to be my mother and my sister. My reaction then and for several years - probably up til 1999 hit - was something like, "Ohmygodwhatisthatgivememore." Then I hit puberty. Nuff said.

Fear, mainly. My dad was into him and had quite a few albums, but I was very heavily into MJ, and Stock Aitken & Waterman acts, where everything was crisply produced, with freeze-dried drum and synth sounds, all nice and clean cut... so songs like When Doves Cry, The Beautiful Ones and Darling Nikki really scared me - all that screaming... But like most things that scared me as a child (like the music videos for Talking Heads' And She Was and Bowie's Loving The Alien), I was also oddly fascinated.

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When I was about 8 or 9 I finally admitted that I liked some of the songs - mainly the ones where he wasn't screaming. By this time, Batman had come out and I really warmed to that (still think it's his most underrated album). I'd also seen MJ on the Bad tour and the magic had really started to wear off - it was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. Plus I saw the Partyman video, which was the first time I ever saw someone do those James Brown splits.

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Dad and his mate went to see him on the Nude tour, and came back saying to my mum "You have GOT to come and see this", even though she wasn't really a fan. They called up to see if there were any tickets left (Birmingham NEC, I think), and got this response: "Ha ha! No, no, I'm afraid they're all completely sold ou... oh hang on... no, we've just this minute had two cancellations on the front row!" Lucky sods!

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By then I was listening to Parade in bed at night. This, coupled with a rather early puberty, really... affected me! I Wonder U, and that orgasmic race towards the cliff edge in Life Can B So Nice going into Venus de Milo... Heaven.

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When I heard The Black Album for the first time, I was completely knocked out. I think that album really kickstarted my move from liking Prince to being a true FAN. My first album that was MINE rather than stolen from my dad was The Gold Experience - loved it from the first listen, and it's still one of my favourites.

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Later, when I was going through a very tough adolescence, I found solace in LoveSexy. Weirdly, I was an atheist then and I still am now, but where Prince was talking about God, I chose to interpret it as Love for yourself and your fellow people, so it still made sense to me.

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Getting Dirty Mind and Sign o the Times for Christmas one year... finding Around The World In A Day (which I'd never heard of - this was back when you couldn't just go online and look up a guy's discography) in a Woolworths record section... listening to 1999 (esp Automatic and Let's Pretend We're Married) just before I got together with my first real love...

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When my wife and I married 6 years ago, I recorded a solo piano version of Venus de Milo for her to walk down the aisle to.

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So yeah, I know a lot of people say they were blown away right from the start... but I'm glad Prince took his time to set up roots deep in my heart. Those memories will never leave me, and I'll cherish the music for the rest of my life.

[Edited 6/8/16 1:20am]

Wow, first impressions.

The first clear image I have was the 1999 video on MTV. I loved the song but didn't know anything about the singer. I remember watching it, close up to the TV transfixed. My thoughts were very mixed. I thought he looked aggressive and pulled lots of ugly faces. I didn't know what to make of the purple trenchcoat but loved the little grey gloves. I thought he had quite some attitude. For some reason that I couldn't understand, I couldn't stop watching it.

I was a 17/18 year old girl, the video was "Little Red Corvette", what do you think my first impression was?

Circa 1983/84... I was around 8 or 9 years old. Saw the videos for "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" and thought Prince - and The Revolution as well - were the coolest looking (and sounding) people I had ever seen and wondered where do these other-worldly humans hail from and how can I be like them? I still feel the same way.

When I first saw pics of him with the huge afro and leather jacket, he looked similar to the young artists that I loved as a kid back then (Jacksons, Sylvers)..A year later when I saw him with the right hoop earring, flip perm, spandex shorts and leg warmers my reaction was ...Wasn't ready for that just yet..couldn't believe it was the same guy. When I saw him on "Bandstand", he became my dude.