I'm watching this BBC documentary, Prince: A Purple Reign. I've just never watched it in full, although the interviews from it have been used in other places.

What struck me was this: When Prince was on American Bandstand, and just clammed up, one would think "well this guy ain't goin' anywhere". That aired December 16, 1979.

Go forward just four and a half years, to July 27, 1984 when Purple Rain movie came out, and the Prince we saw dressed in gold with feathered hair and a missing tongue had turned into a sex god. Going from writing R&B heavy tracks with tinges of rock & pop, and not really having any commercial success by the end of this initial 3 album run with Warner Bros, to having #1 songs on the album & singles chart, and a #1 movie at the box office. (No one had done that to that point; I'm not sure anyone has since.)

And just to seal the deal, he goes and wins an Oscar. I mean, whattheeverlivingfuck?

Janet, Madonna, Maxwell, Usher, even Michael Jackson and beyond - all had #1 hits, #1 albums, Madonna's performance of "You Must Love Me" got an Oscar nomination. But none of them have had #1s all the way around.

There are times when I think "Oh, I know Prince. I love Prince." etc. Then there are these little moments when that genius, that gift, the prolific output is boiled down, and highlighted into a moment of clarity. And I remember - "shit, this dude was a symbol, literally and figureatively, of what it meant to be virtuoso, an egghead of music".

While some might be close to achieving or doing some of the same thing (many artists produce their own music, write, and play instruments, etc), we, truly, will never, ever see a gift quite like that again.

[Edited 6/17/16 14:08pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

I'm watching this BBC documentary, Prince: A Purple Reign. I've just never watched it in full, although the interviews from it have been used in other places.

What struck me was this: When Prince was on American Bandstand, and just clammed up, one would think "well this guy ain't goin' anywhere". That aired December 16, 1979.

Go forward just four and a half years, to July 27, 1984 when Purple Rain movie came out, and the Prince we saw dressed in gold with feathered hair and a missing tongue had turned into a sex god. Going from writing R&B heavy tracks with tinges of rock & pop, and not really having any commercial success by the end of this initial 3 album run with Warner Bros, to having #1 songs on the album & singles chart, and a #1 movie at the box office. (No one had done that to that point; I'm not sure anyone has since.)

And just to seal the deal, he goes and wins an Oscar. I mean, whattheeverlivingfuck?

Janet, Madonna, Maxwell, Usher, even Michael Jackson and beyond - all had #1 hits, #1 albums, Madonna's performance of "You Must Love Me" got an Oscar nomination. But none of them have had #1s all the way around.

There are times when I think "Oh, I know Prince. I love Prince." etc. Then there are these little moments when that genius, that gift, the prolific output is boiled down, and highlighted into a moment of clarity. And I remember - "shit, this dude was a symbol, literally and figureatively, of what it meant to be virtuoso, an egghead of music".

While some might be close to achieving or doing some of the same thing (many artists produce their own music, write, and play instruments, etc), we, truly, will never, ever see a gift quite like that again.

[Edited 6/17/16 14:08pm]

I agree. When you think about that 5-year trajectory, it's really singular in nature.

TrivialPursuit said:

.
While some might be close to achieving or doing some of the same thing (many artists produce their own music, write, and play instruments, etc), we, truly, will never, ever see a gift quite like that again.

.

.

That says it perfectly.

.

And yet there are actually Prince fans on this very board who think Prince can be replaced with another artist...like Bruno Mars or something. When I read that topic at this site ("Who Will Be The Next Prince?") I really questioned do these people understand what Prince was at all? Bruno Mars the new Prince? Unreal.

.

You're right. We will never ever see anything like Prince again.

No one can replace Prince. Nor would I want anyone to. But that is ok, Prince was during a specific time/specific place and personally, I became a fan in my formative years so he is forever tied to an important time in my life. You can't recreate something like that. I just cherish the memories and what he left behind.

Not to mention his live act or his revolutionary musical style. The Kid was a force of nature.

Cloreen said:

TrivialPursuit said:

.
While some might be close to achieving or doing some of the same thing (many artists produce their own music, write, and play instruments, etc), we, truly, will never, ever see a gift quite like that again.

.

.

That says it perfectly.

.

And yet there are actually Prince fans on this very board who think Prince can be replaced with another artist...like Bruno Mars or something. When I read that topic at this site ("Who Will Be The Next Prince?") I really questioned do these people understand what Prince was at all? Bruno Mars the new Prince? Unreal.

.

You're right. We will never ever see anything like Prince again.

Yeah, that thread was weird. Like, don't get me wrong, I quite like Bruno Mars. But him being the next Prince...really? Him?

However, there are nearly seven billion people in the world. I think there are individuals out there with just as much musical talent as Prince. Whether they'll ever be famous is a different matter.

I agree, he seems to have had that unbelievable talent and inspirational force guiding him and always pushing him further, faster and higher than anyone else... But he was also incredibly motivated and had set himself some really high goals and worked tirelessly all his life in order to achieve them. I also think his tough childhood played a big role in this desire to "become the best".

Cloreen said:

TrivialPursuit said:

.
While some might be close to achieving or doing some of the same thing (many artists produce their own music, write, and play instruments, etc), we, truly, will never, ever see a gift quite like that again.

.

.

That says it perfectly.

.

And yet there are actually Prince fans on this very board who think Prince can be replaced with another artist...like Bruno Mars or something. When I read that topic at this site ("Who Will Be The Next Prince?") I really questioned do these people understand what Prince was at all? Bruno Mars the new Prince? Unreal.

.

You're right. We will never ever see anything like Prince again.

So true. Your post and TrivialPursuit's first post say it all.

TrivialPursuit said:

I'm watching this BBC documentary, Prince: A Purple Reign. I've just never watched it in full, although the interviews from it have been used in other places.

What struck me was this: When Prince was on American Bandstand, and just clammed up, one would think "well this guy ain't goin' anywhere". That aired December 16, 1979.

Go forward just four and a half years, to July 27, 1984 when Purple Rain movie came out, and the Prince we saw dressed in gold with feathered hair and a missing tongue had turned into a sex god. Going from writing R&B heavy tracks with tinges of rock & pop, and not really having any commercial success by the end of this initial 3 album run with Warner Bros, to having #1 songs on the album & singles chart, and a #1 movie at the box office. (No one had done that to that point; I'm not sure anyone has since.)

And just to seal the deal, he goes and wins an Oscar. I mean, whattheeverlivingfuck?

Janet, Madonna, Maxwell, Usher, even Michael Jackson and beyond - all had #1 hits, #1 albums, Madonna's performance of "You Must Love Me" got an Oscar nomination. But none of them have had #1s all the way around.

There are times when I think "Oh, I know Prince. I love Prince." etc. Then there are these little moments when that genius, that gift, the prolific output is boiled down, and highlighted into a moment of clarity. And I remember - "shit, this dude was a symbol, literally and figureatively, of what it meant to be virtuoso, an egghead of music".

While some might be close to achieving or doing some of the same thing (many artists produce their own music, write, and play instruments, etc), we, truly, will never, ever see a gift quite like that again.

[Edited 6/17/16 14:08pm]

He truly was absofuckinglutely AMAZING. He worked at it, I believe...all day errrryday....thats what he wanted to leave behind him....an unmistakeable and unfollowable path...

Junglehop said:

In 1964 The Beatles had a US Number 1 movie, album, and single simultaneously with A Hard Day's Night… and not only America but in England and Australia too …just sayin'

There were FOUR of them tho

terrig said: