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Mothers Finest and Prince In the late 70's and early 80's I worked for Alex Cooley by my friends Mother, who was his assistant. He had a Ballroom across the street from the infamous Fox Theatre on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. Alex was a bigtime Promoter. Anyway, after school on Fridays, a small group of us would go to set up for the weekend. Our biggest dreams at the time were to see Mother's Finest. Whenever they played it was magical. My job was craft..meaning have food prepped and ready for the artist, crew and hanger on's. I was 16. Cheap labor. Anyway, that day after school when we arrived; Baby Jean Kennedy was there talking to Alex. Next thing that happened was Alex gave me an extra $100 to go toward craft service budget. 3 hours later as I am prepping, a young man came up and started talking to me. He was opening for Mothers Finest. He loved their music and was interested in what I thought. Needless to say, this handsome man had no idea my time needed to be spent preparing sandwiches, mac salad, potato salad, chips, dps, etc. Sorry...pasta salad, hummus, veggie trays, etc.were not popular or eve invented at the time. So, I spoke with him while prepping and he asked that when he opened his set if I would watch. It was the best I have ever seen. Thank you Prince for the wink and blow kiss from the stage. I will never forget your sweetness. | |
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That's a lovely story. Thanks for sharing. I knew from the start that I loved you with all my heart. | |
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Thank you for posting ALT+PLS+RTN: Pure as a pane of ice. It's a gift. |
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What? Seriously? OMG ... that must have been so awesome!!! I guess u did not know it was Prince back then, right? Anyhow, that's a totally sweet & priceless memory to have of him! Cherish it ... I envy u for that  Forever changed 
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btw, I've always loved "Baby Love" 
Oh wow, what a Great story! | |
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Mothers Finest are such a great band. Everything Prince, Lenny Kravitz and the Peppers did, MF did them before! Head bangin' an' booty shakin'!  [Edited 6/8/16 13:52pm] | |
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That's a great story. I know that show must have been a blast...."When I was playing in Stevie Nicks' band in the 80's, touring to promote her 'Wild Heart" album, I met Prince and he told me that he'd listened to MF back in high school"....Wyzard-bassist of Mother's Finest. | |
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Like I said, I was 16 and prepped weekly for Alex Cooly. I LOVED Mothers Finest They were local but so cool. Baby Jean Kennedy was the "IT" girl. While prepping food for the show, Prince was so sweet. Was he COOL? I guess, YES now for 16 yr old still in braces. I guess what I remember the most from this unknown artist is that he took the time to meet meet me and invited me to see him perform. He loved Motwrs Finest. So did I. I never saw him again. RIP PRINCE..GIGGLE...no i did not cut onions right. | |
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Thanks for the story and for reminding me of Mother's Finest. I had them on 8-track and loved them but I haven't thought about them in decades, except for Prince's version of "Baby Love." I need to go back and rediscover them. By the way, would you happen to remember any of the songs Prince played? I realize this happened a long time ago, but if anything comes to mind, let us know. | |
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GREAT story! Was it the Agora Ballroom? I'm an Atlanta native and have vague memories of the place. I was too young to go. But later in life I worked at a wrecka stow and we sold tickets to local events. I always remember seeing/hearing Alex Cooley's name. [Edited 6/8/16 15:02pm] | |
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Grog said: Thanks for the story and for reminding me of Mother's Finest. I had them on 8-track and loved them but I haven't thought about them in decades, except for Prince's version of "Baby Love." I need to go back and rediscover them. By the way, would you happen to remember any of the songs Prince played? I realize this happened a long time ago, but if anything comes to mind, let us know. He played a different version of "Why Did You Treat Me So Bad" and "I want to be your lover" He also played a medley of a few others. Anyway, I was 16 and he must of been 21-22. Total gentleman. Loved Mothers Finest like I did. ROCK/FUNK Combined. Wish I could say it went further, but it didn't. Just two unknowns who rocked out to MF and Baby Jean Kennedy. Yes, he was beautiful. | |
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What a wonderful story! |
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Like I said, I was a sixteen year old girl prepping food for my favorite band...Mothers Finest. Prince was a beautiful young man just hanging out watching me prep. He loved the funk/rock of MF. Not much more than i can honestly share. Thankful he asked me to see him perform that night. Wish I could say he swept me off my feet and we became lovers. Nope... he watched me cook, I watched him perform...and that is it. | |
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BombFunk said: What? Seriously? OMG ... that must have been so awesome!!! I guess u did not know it was Prince back then, right? Anyhow, that's a totally sweet & priceless memory to have of him! Cherish it ... I envy u for that No clue. He was not a blip on the radar at the time. He was just an opening act that blew the place away. Very shy, sweet and I assume a kind mind. I say that, because he treated me nicely. | |
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WeepyEyedWhiteGirl said:
GREAT story! Was it the Agora Ballroom? I'm an Atlanta native and have vague memories of the place. I was too young to go. But later in life I worked at a wrecka stow and we sold tickets to local events. I always remember seeing/hearing Alex Cooley's name. [Edited 6/8/16 15:02pm] You have the place right. Used to crawl across Peachtree to Agora for after shows. If lucky, we made it to Krystals 3 blocks down. 😊 Happy memories. | |
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One last post on this topic. My soon to be husband; of 30 years this October, we went to see him at his Purple Rain tour. We paid $100.00 a piece for tickets. Awesome show from Prince as usual. Hubby complained about the PRICE of tickets but totally rocked out. His parting comments were "If you cut the onions right, we could of seen him for free". Anyways Prince..thank you for the years of enjoyment. Your legacy will never diminish in my eyes. You have left a legacy for the future. If only I knew who I was prepping for at the time, I might have been intimated. God works in mysterious ways and I am so happy I met an unknown. Meet again soon in the backstage craft area in the sky. | |
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Mother's Finest is an awesome band, played in my town a lot and still do. Everything you think is true | |
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Thank you so much for sharing! What a very sweet story  We all want the stuff that's found in our wildest dreams. . . | |
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If anyone can post a video of Prince covering Baby Love...I would be thankful. I hate reading negative things about him. In the few short hours I hung out with him, he was so nice and shy, but he exploded on stage. I choose to remember the sweet man who critiqued my cutting skills and was kind to all. | |
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If anyone can post a video of Prince covering Baby Love...I would be thankful. I hate reading negative things about him. In the few short hours I hung out with him, he was so nice and shy, but he exploded on stage. I choose to remember the sweet man who critiqued my cutting skills and was kind to all. | |
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Tamar Davis & The Twins Tour (Atlanta 2005 The Tabernacle): They covered "Love Changes". Prince seemed to real enjoy playing guitar on the song.
"The Rebels": Prince, Cymone, Dez...seemed much like "Mother's Finest" than "Rufus" or "GCS".. [Edited 6/10/16 10:13am] | |
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Thank you so much! | |
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