"this man is my spirit animal!" I thought it was bold & sexy

stylish... i love this cover pic..

and I loved it at first sight..

morningsong said:

irreverence said:

You're welcome. I am a wise man

I was just responding to the very aggressive tone of this specific sentence: "Do not ever correct me".

Yeah I see how wise you are. It was a response to a very rude crass backhanded comment I didn't like. Now your prolem is? . [Edited 7/6/16 23:21pm]

I read the comment, and it was neither rude, crass or backhanded.

My problem is that you are now directing your aggression towards me. Not nice.

AnnaStesia10 said:

Oh gotta love Lovesexy album! As far as the cover, before I listened to the album I was like wtf?

Prince looks hot but I didn't like the way he was sitting, too feminine for me. But it made sense after I listened to the album and the spiritual aspect of it. I got used to the cover real quick. He was just making a statement and I believe it's spiritual, like the whole before the fail of Adam and Eve when nudity was not recognized, like that is our true natural state.

But funny story, I have Lovesexy on my phone and this cover comes up when the music plays.

My husband was next to me and, yeah sad to say he does not get Prince like a shit ton of people around me (so, so sad). Anyway, his reaction to the cover was a big WTF. What the hell is wrong with him? I was like stop it now, this is Art, it's Prince! Get with it. So yeah, even in the year 2016 people don't get it. To each is own I guess!

As a hetero man in in 1988, my first thought on seeing this cover was "Shit. It's going to be really hard to fend off the 'Prince is gay' clowns that try to start shit with me all the time." Remember, 1988 was different than today. All this time later, I still don't get it either. But I don't think I ever tried. I just decided 'that's just Prince, and that's how he do.' I liked the album a lot. I just put the case away when listening.

[Edited 7/7/16 5:33am]

Hated it. Still do.

irreverence said:

morningsong said:

Yeah I see how wise you are. It was a response to a very rude crass backhanded comment I didn't like. Now your prolem is? . [Edited 7/6/16 23:21pm]

You know, I really hadn't noticed it was you who had made the nipple comment. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that it had stuck in my mind along with the word 'smut'. I wasn't trying to be rude, crass or backhanded. I'm genuinely sorry you've taken it that way.

airth said:

VelvetKittyKat said:

TheLotus said:

AnnaStesia10 said:

Oh gotta love Lovesexy album! As far as the cover, before I listened to the album I was like wtf?

Prince looks hot but I didn't like the way he was sitting, too feminine for me. But it made sense after I listened to the album and the spiritual aspect of it. I got used to the cover real quick. He was just making a statement and I believe it's spiritual, like the whole before the fail of Adam and Eve when nudity was not recognized, like that is our true natural state.

But funny story, I have Lovesexy on my phone and this cover comes up when the music plays.

My husband was next to me and, yeah sad to say he does not get Prince like a shit ton of people around me (so, so sad). Anyway, his reaction to the cover was a big WTF. What the hell is wrong with him? I was like stop it now, this is Art, it's Prince! Get with it. So yeah, even in the year 2016 people don't get it. To each is own I guess!

As a hetero man in in 1988, my first thought on seeing this cover was "Shit. It's going to be really hard to fend off the 'Prince is gay' clowns that try to start shit with me all the time." Remember, 1988 was different than today. All this time later, I still don't get it either. But I don't think I ever tried. I just decided 'that's just Prince, and that's how he do.' I liked the album a lot. I just put the case away when listening.

[Edited 7/7/16 5:33am]

True. This was a factor back then when Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison and Dice Clay were raking in millions making "faggot" jokes and it was considered the height of comedy to ridicule and mock gays.

I remember something similar when SOTT came out and the 45 had that picture of Cat. A fellow fan assumed it was Prince and it really seemed to bother him. I know for a fact at least two of my friends refused to buy Lovesexy album because of the cover art so i can only imagine how that might extrapolate out to society at large.

I may have said "he sure looks gay there" at the time but I didn't care even back then. I was used to Jagger, Bowie, the New York Dolls, Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper, Eurythmics and Elton John doing the gender bending thing and never got why Prince was stood out in that context. Although it's worth noting he's the only black artist on that "off the top of my head" list.

herb4 said:

RJOrion said:

herb4 said:

True. This was a factor back then when Eddie Murphy, Sam Kinison and Dice Clay were raking in millions making "faggot" jokes and it was considered the height of comedy to ridicule and mock gays.

I remember something similar when SOTT came out and the 45 had that picture of Cat. A fellow fan assumed it was Prince and it really seemed to bother him. I know for a fact at least two of my friends refused to buy Lovesexy album because of the cover art so i can only imagine how that might extrapolate out to society at large.

I may have said "he sure looks gay there" at the time but I didn't care even back then. I was used to Jagger, Bowie, the New York Dolls, Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper, Eurythmics and Elton John doing the gender bending thing and never got why Prince was stood out in that context. Although it's worth noting he's the only black artist on that "off the top of my head" list.</p>

you just summed up why Prince stood out, in your closing sentence...as blacks, our male r&b stars didnt used to flaunt an androgynous image, even if they were accused of "suspect" behavior in their personal lives...Teddy Pendergrass, Marvin Gaye, Maurice White, James Brown, Smokey Robinson, Al Green, etc...all those cats exuded machismo and masculinity, despite whatever was said about their personal private lives...to be an openly effeminate man has ALWAYS been frowned upon in the black community, both by strong black men and strong black women...effeminate or openly gay black artists were clowned and ridiculed endlessly by the black community...ie, Little Richard, Sylvester, and even Prince...

Maybe that is it.

I didn't notice it myself until I started rattling off gender bending musicians off the top of my head and realized not one was a black male. I stupidly forgot about Little Richard but he was before my time.. I even left off Boy George/Culture Club, Dead or Alive, Love & Rockets, Poison, Cinderella, Motley Crue, KISS...again all white guys. Sylvester crossed my mind but he was never a big star. I even left out the blatant gay undertones of Judas Priest and George Micheal, who weren't "effeminate" but...well....you know. I think we all knew what was up there. Again, white dudes.

To be honest, the first thing I thought of when I saw the Lovesexy cover was John Lennon and Yoko Ono's full frontal nudity "Two Virgins" album cover. I recall thinking "if Lennon can do it, why not Prince?" And John had his fucking wing wing hanging out. The controversy was simliar as far as stores refusing to stock the record or even display it.

I'll have to give what you said some more thought but at a glance it makes sense. Where did MJ fall on this spectrum you mention though? Eddie Murphy made jokes about him, MJ wore make up, was not "hard and masculine" but the black community seemed to adore him form what I remember. Everyone did.

RJOrion said:

Michael Jackson got the side eye from the black community as well...especially once he came of age and commenced with the weirdness...he was always so beloved for his talent though, that blacks folks were tolerant of his waif, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, mannerisms and speaking voice...he was given a pass, but there was always whispers....but when all the pedophilia with little boys allegations came out, he became a laughingstock and an embarrassment...especially if youre a black man with the last name Jackson..

These are interesting points you raise. Might make for a good thread. In fact I know it would but where to put it? If we put it in GD it'll get sucked up in the noise. Maybe P&R but I'm not certain it's really political.

If we/you/me framed the topic in a way that could fit into Prince:Music & More I'd be interested to read what you and others have to say about it. Might make for interesting diversion from pain killer and conspiracy talk. I'm white and straight, and I don't know your race nor your sexual preference (and not that it matters) but if I had to guess I'd say you're black, you're about my age, grew up in similar circles and had your ears tuned to what was going on in 88. If not, you studied it well.

The thing you said about MJ is interesting to me too because growing up in a middle to lower middle class suburb, we had black, white, asian, jewish kids in our area (but mostly white). Everyone loved Thriller, Purple Rain and MTV along with classic rock and contemporary R&B/Top 40 but, even amongst the white guys, there was still an element of not liking something because it was "faggy" or "gay". So in that sense, I'm not sure the distinction can be made entirely upon racial lines. A lot of my white friends would rag on Jagger, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart (All white guys again!) so I'm not entirey certain it was just "Prince is black and looks gay". the white people I knew who didn't like Thriller or MJ NEVER liked MJ, R&B, funk or disco. They were Led Heads and stoners who listened to Sabbath, Rush and Pink Floyd anyway.



The more "gay" Prince became in public perception, the more division lines seemd to be drawn and people I knew who loved 1999 and Purple Rain checked out, but for some reason MJ's effeminate nature never seemed to matter to these same friends. Would you say that the black community as a whole is less accepting of feminine male artists overall than whites are of white artists who fit he same criteria? I'm not sure where the line is drawn on "too gay to be cool" and "unashamed to like it" because how to explain the Dirty Mind look and songs like Jack U Off that happened before Lovesexy or even 1999 and PR?

Sorry for the rant but I feel like I'm learning something by writing it "out loud", so to speak, re-reading it and clarifying my meaning. I have nothing else to so at the moment and I think it's a fascinating topic.


edit: I just re-read where you said you were black.

[Edited 7/7/16 18:56pm]

herb4 said:

RJOrion said:

herb4 said:

These are interesting points you raise, etc. etc.

i would say its an age difference instead of racial difference...im black and straight...but im just about 5 years younger than Prince and MJJ, and in the late 60s to early 80s, there was almost zero tolerance and acceptance for effeminate acting men, regardless of career choice or skin color...the same stuff us black people were whispering and joking about Prince and MJ, was the same stuff my white peers were saying about Freddy Mercury and Elton John...Prince was actually the first major black artist that i can recall that seemed to embrace and encourage the speculation in an era when that wasnt cool and trendy like it is now, where people get celebrated for announcing that they are homosexual...

OK. You seemed to be implying it was largely racial (obviously brought on by me commenting on my own post and wondering out loud) and I started us down that road but that last part you wrote got me to thinking.

In a lot of ways, wasn't it Prince that broke those down walls and helped to make if "cool and trendy", in no small part due to the album cover we're discussing? I wonder how it is that he was able to do it even BEFORE Lovesexy and right on up to the "Gett Off" MTV Awards ass episode where, after that, Prince seemed to back off some with that stuff. I still don't get the fundamental difference between the Lovesexy cover and Two Virgins. John Lennon's cover was much more provacative and widely prasied to this day but Prince's is routinely mocked. Then again, white guy and black guy. Plus Lennon had a woman with him in the photo that takes the edge off of "ewwww, yucky gay stuff".

I think it took balls of fucking steel for Prince to release that album with that cover but for some reason it's seen as "weak" or "soft". Go figure the definition of "strong"and "masculine". Decades later it's no problem at all and, like you said, sometimes it's hip and trendy so we're full circle again.

I always felt what Prince expressed, with this look and throughout his career, was the very definition of strength, bravery and courage. What a fucking pioneer Prince was in so many ways. I'm sure WB had misgivings about the album cover. My man didn't give fuck one.

Interesting to note too that I'd credit Bowie as someone who never gave a shit either in the same way Prince did (or didn't), had a certain long lasting mystique and a similar career longevity, and pioneered the acceptance we're talking about. Yet we lost both him and Prince within 3 months.

2106 has sucked out loud so far, especially with the people we've lost, but the stuff you posted reminds me that times have indeed changed for the better.

http://www.cnn.com/specia.../obit-2016

Sorry for rambling.

OK for now. Let's take up this topic in a new thread.

At the time, 16 years old, I was a bit embarrassed by it. I only had this one on cassette at the time (not vinyl) partially because I didn't want the artwork at LP size. I've since bought it twice on CD.

When iTunes first came out with their Cover Flow, I had an alternate album cover in place for my work computer so this image wouldn't show up.

Cut to now, and I think it was an extremely brave and innocent thing to do, and it fit perfectly with the music and his mindset at the time. This was his creative peak - everything after was on a downward trajectory (before I get blasted, that just means his peak was THAT high).

FYI - here in Detroit they had these behind the counter where I bought mine (Harmony House).

This thread has become so big I cant even respond to it, but I see the cover did things to us all