Purple Rain (album, not just the song). Sometimes I hate admitting it because that's the typical response, but it's true. I was 13 and I asked my Dad if I could listen to his PR album and that was it. Life changed forever If I had to choose one song it would be I Would Die 4 U. I don't what it is about it, but I got butterflies the first time I heard it and still do to this day. Man, now you got me all in my feelings

The first song I really liked was I could never take the place. I remember being a bit surprised it was Prince. Liked some of his singles before that, but thought he was a bit strange. (well, still do )

Then Alphabet St, Glam Slam and I Wish U heaven did the trick, together with the live broadcast of Lovesexy Dortmund concert on the radio.

It was Erotic City and Love Bizarre in 1986 that both featured on a friend's mixtape. I didn't know it was by Prince and only found out when I checked the handwritten tracks list on the case. A few months later I bought Sign O' The Times upon its French release which came soon after hearing the single on the radio and falling in love with Prince's voice.

[Edited 6/14/16 14:38pm]

CNickyD said:

For me, it was "International Lover". I was 15 and barely knew what sex was, but that song made me WANT him. I had liked a couple tracks off Controversy, but he was stil just another artist to me. International Lover definitely put him over the top, and that's when I became a REAL fan.

You mean when I delved deeper, examining each song, picking apart each lyric, damn near consuming him? The album Controversy. I shyed away from Dirty Mind, it was too weird for me at the time, but I ended looping back around after I bought Controversy.

Or when I said, I don't care what he is I like this stuff, go on with your cute self? Prince Album.


Or when I knew I was hooked for life and there would be no other? 1999 album

Or just when I first heard him and bothered learning his name and talked about him in any capacity? For You album

[Edited 6/14/16 15:12pm]

LonelyStarfish said:

CNickyD said:

1999

I first heard him when I was 12, it was Musicology. I didn't pay much attention to him at that time though. Then I became TLC's fan and fell in love with if I Was Your Girlfriend And right after he passed away, I went searching for his songs. When i was listening to purple Rain and The Most Beautiful Girtl In The World, I couldn't stop crying.

I vaguely remember growing up watching 80s TV shows especially the sitcoms and would often hear Prince's music on those shows that I was aware that he was a singer but it was not until I heard the song Purple Rain the late 80s or early 90s that really made me actually like his music. Songs like 1999, Little Red Corvette and the upbeat pop sounding stuff on radio and tv was not something that would make this 80s kid sit up and listen but hearing Purple Rain just ripped my heart out.

I was alwaus a fan of the hits, and my brother had 1999 when I was younger, but after I listened to the album over and over, I was hooked. That led to buying the classic albums, D&P, and the B-Sides......it was all over from there. All Prince, all the time.

I am so happy that I got hooked, because the music of Prince has undoubtedly enhanced my quality of life. I always felt like I knew something that everyone else didnt. I shared the music with others, but I never knew anyone that was as big a fan as me......and im fine with that.

Which song? Probably My Name is Prince. Its too easy to list any of the 80s hits.

[Edited 6/15/16 7:05am]

Azifwekare319 said:

Kind of ashamed to admit this but I slept on Prince until 20Ten fell out of my newspaper. I thought It's free, I might as well give it a listen. Best decision of my life.

I knew all the hits, but never really paid much attention, so it was the first time I'd actually heard the Minneapolis Sound. I never heard anything like it before.

I was all up to speed by the time he released those PurpleMusic singles (D4M/RnRLA/etc), spending those two years in between diving into an overwhelming black hole of purple funk. Good times.

[Edited 6/14/16 10:17am]

I actually LOVE reading how people became fans based off of the more recent material. Can't explain why. Maybe cause I was sort of a late-to-the-party fan.

I discovered P (beyond the standard radio favorites) via my brother's copy of The Hits compilation. Then I sort of started haphazardly gathering all of his albums, with Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic being one of my first to obsess over.

Like most people my age, it would have been Little Red Corvette when I heard it at age 13 but also like most people of that group, Purple Rain was the first album I bought a year later.

[Edited 6/15/16 8:48am]

"Automatic". I was llistening to the "1999" album through headphones at work and right in the middle of "Automatic" I said to myself (I hope, who knows? I had on headphones!) "Oh my God, this guy is the black Springsteen!"

That's when I went from being a casual fan to a full-blooded maniac.

I love reading all these "experiences"! It's funny how we all became about him at different times and at different stages...

For me it was When Doves Cry and the Purple Rain album. I heard WDC on the radio and just couldn't believe my ears, it sounded so futuristic and cool with that huge Linndrum (LM-1) beat. I immediately bought the single and then -leading up to Chistmas- I convinced my brother to ask for the Purple Rain album, and he actually got it. Needless to say the album did hardly leave my turntable anymore and I became hooked for life. Shortly after I layed my hands on a cassette tape of 1999 which only further enhanced my obsession with all thing Prince.

Soft and Wet. I've been hooked on Prince ever since.

I was five when Raspberry Beret came out but still remember loving the song (thankfully not knowing what some of the lyrics referred to) BUT it was Diamonds & Pearls that I was immediately hooked over and became immediately OB-SESSED - having to have every single CD I could get my little 11 year old hands on. When I listen to it now, I smirk, if only my mom was aware of the words infiltrating my ears hehehe. So glad I did though, wouldn't have it any other way

CherryMoon57 said:

It was Erotic City and Love Bizarre in 1986 that both featured on a friend's mixtape. I didn't know it was by Prince and only found out when I checked the handwritten tracks list on the case. A few months later I bought Sign O' The Times upon its French release which came soon after hearing the single on the radio and falling in love with Prince's voice.

[Edited 6/14/16 14:38pm]

OMG Erotic City is the bombdizzle with maple syrup!

DarkKnight1 said:

I was alwaus a fan of the hits, and my brother had 1999 when I was younger, but after I listened to the album over and over, I was hooked. That led to buying the classic albums, D&P, and the B-Sides......it was all over from there. All Prince, all the time.

I am so happy that I got hooked, because the music of Prince has undoubtedly enhanced my quality of life. I always felt like I knew something that everyone else didnt. I shared the music with others, but I never knew anyone that was as big a fan as me......and im fine with that.

Which song? Probably My Name is Prince. Its too easy to list any of the 80s hits.

[Edited 6/15/16 7:05am]

It was "My Name is Prince" for me as well. Being born in '82, Prince was always sort of in the background of the cultural soup of my upbringing: WDC is one of the first songs I remember hearing on the radio, I was obsessed with Batman and would dance around the living room to "Partyman" and "Trust." I suppose I didn't realize I was a Prince fan. Then when I was 11 my brothers were staying home from college for a summer and they were blasting a lot of LoveSymbol, particularly "My Name is Prince." From there I was digging "The Morning Papers," "Seven" and of course, "Purple Rain," but it was almost ten years before my Prince fandom hit critical mass and I went ballistic collecting albums.

I was there from the beginning (working at tower records) near stanford U.

'soft and wet' sounded so different and i kinda felt this guy Prince was a unique addition to the music of the times. he was really different.

however the song that got into my rhythm center was 'controversy.' the driving rhythms of this song had never been matched.

i was hooked.

I always liked Purple Rain (the album). I heard it when I was a kid. But what got me to emphatically love Prince was MPLSoUND. U're Gonna C Me, Dance 4 Me, There'll Never B...all classics. It's still my favorite Prince album.