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Prince in the 90s I came across this fascinating piece from Rolling Stone about Prince in the 90s with extensive quotes from original NPG band members as well as his manager at the time. http://www.rollingstone.c...y-20160505 These two quotes stood out for me: Randy Phillips: In the time I was managing him, he could be very engaging and charming, but I never found him to be really happy. You had to drag conversation out of him. He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. No drugs. His thing was going out at three in the morning and playing all night and morning in a club – and after playing a three-hour set. He was always the most comfortable onstage. Michael Bland: It was mid-March in 1996 that we kind of got our official word [that he had fired most of NPG]. When we were let go, a lot of people got let go. He had an in-house staff of 127 people at Paisley. That's a lot of people smoking, running their friends around. He put up with that as long as he could, and then he was just like, "Everybody out." I always felt the 90s was a weird decade for Prince and one that seemed like a dark and angry period. I don't know if it was Larry Graham coming into his life, becoming a JW or just being free from WB but I feel like after the 90s he just became a much happier person loving life and at peace. And you hear mostly positive things from those that worked with him in those years. Just thinking about the book he was working on, the chapters that cover the 90s would be fascinating to read. Paisley Park is in your heart
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Oh man, I totally know what you mean. | |
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127 people for in-house staff? Man, that's a lot of leeches. Reading this makes that life-threatening incident that he is rumored to have had in April 1996 even more understandable. [Edited 7/17/16 7:53am] | |
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I too think the 90s was a dark period for him. After the Diamonds and Pearls era he seemed to descend into a period of bitterness, even the way he looked. His face was ashen..I always wondered why does his makeup look five shades too pale? And the defiant expression.I think Mayte got the angry prince and this couldn't have been easy for that relationship. He seemed vulnerable and you just wanted him to be happy but he didn't seem to be. Those comments from band members document this period well..it thinks it's Michael B that says he just stop talking to us for a number of weeks and he had never done that before. He seemed troubled and it came across. [Edited 7/17/16 3:45am] Baby, you're a star.
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jumanji2016 said: 127 people for in-house staff? Man, that's a lot of leeches. Reading this makes that life-threatening incident that he is rumored to have had in April 1996 even understandable. [Edited 7/17/16 2:35am] Prince once said when Larry came into the picture there were a lot of crazy people around (can't find the exact quote). I'm guessing the purge happened around the time he and Larry started getting close. Paisley Park is in your heart
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BillieBalloon said: I too think the 90s was a dark period for him. After the Diamonds and Pearls era he seemed to descend into a period of bitterness, even the way he looked. His face was ashen..I always wondered why does his makeup look five shades too pale? And the defiant expression.I think Mayte got the angry prince and this couldn't have been easy for that relationship. He seemed vulnerable and you just wanted him to be happy but he didn't seem to be. Those comments from band members document this period well..it thinks it's Michael B that says he just stop talking to us for a number of weeks and he had never done that before. He seemed troubled and it came across. [Edited 7/17/16 3:45am] I never liked the makeup or hair of that era, just kind of dark and creepy. I also hated the gun microphone (though P did use it on the Musicology tour) and that one anecdote of P holding it up to the head of a band member who didn't get their horn part right is kinda scary. I wonder what was driving some of this anger and darkness. It had to be more than his spat with WB. Unless it was just a phase he had to go through in order for him to finally grow up. Paisley Park is in your heart
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. |
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rogifan said: BillieBalloon said: I too think the 90s was a dark period for him. After the Diamonds and Pearls era he seemed to descend into a period of bitterness, even the way he looked. His face was ashen..I always wondered why does his makeup look five shades too pale? And the defiant expression.I think Mayte got the angry prince and this couldn't have been easy for that relationship. He seemed vulnerable and you just wanted him to be happy but he didn't seem to be. Those comments from band members document this period well..it thinks it's Michael B that says he just stop talking to us for a number of weeks and he had never done that before. He seemed troubled and it came across.
[Edited 7/17/16 3:45am] I never liked the makeup or hair of that era, just kind of dark and creepy. I also hated the gun microphone (though P did use it on the Musicology tour) and that one anecdote of P holding it up to the head of a band member who didn't get their horn part right is kinda scary. I wonder what was driving some of this anger and darkness. It had to be more than his spat with WB. Unless it was just a phase he had to go through in order for him to finally grow up. I never liked it either. He seemed to go from how he looked in the Cream and D&P videos to a kind of skinny ashy faced elf. His hair and sideburns looked weird and that playfulness was there but rarely showed itself Maybe issues in his personal life too. We can't be found until we're lost and its during this time when Larry Graham and the JW faith "rescued" him...according to Prince. Holding that gun microphone up like that was an act that seemed to go beyond just joking into the realms of aggressive confrontation. [Edited 7/17/16 7:51am] Baby, you're a star.
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rogifan said: Prince once said when Larry came into the picture there were a lot of crazy people around (can't find the exact quote). I'm guessing the purge happened around the time he and Larry started getting close. Interesting. You know, I always assumed that he met Larry in the late 70s---around the time that he met Chaka, Bootsy, and Sly (since Larry was his bassist). Did they meet earlier and just became close later in the 90s? | |
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rogifan said: I came across this fascinating piece from Rolling Stone about Prince in the 90s with extensive quotes from original NPG band members as well as his manager at the time. http://www.rollingstone.c...y-20160505 These two quotes stood out for me: Randy Phillips: In the time I was managing him, he could be very engaging and charming, but I never found him to be really happy. You had to drag conversation out of him. He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. No drugs. His thing was going out at three in the morning and playing all night and morning in a club – and after playing a three-hour set. He was always the most comfortable onstage. Michael Bland: It was mid-March in 1996 that we kind of got our official word [that he had fired most of NPG]. When we were let go, a lot of people got let go. He had an in-house staff of 127 people at Paisley. That's a lot of people smoking, running their friends around. He put up with that as long as he could, and then he was just like, "Everybody out." I always felt the 90s was a weird decade for Prince and one that seemed like a dark and angry period. I don't know if it was Larry Graham coming into his life, becoming a JW or just being free from WB but I feel like after the 90s he just became a much happier person loving life and at peace. And you hear mostly positive things from those that worked with him in those years. Just thinking about the book he was working on, the chapters that cover the 90s would be fascinating to read. He sounded like an extremely difficult person to work for. What he did to Nelson, his trombone player, with the gun-mic was cruel. | |
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Morningstarlet said: rogifan said: I came across this fascinating piece from Rolling Stone about Prince in the 90s with extensive quotes from original NPG band members as well as his manager at the time. http://www.rollingstone.c...y-20160505 These two quotes stood out for me: I always felt the 90s was a weird decade for Prince and one that seemed like a dark and angry period. I don't know if it was Larry Graham coming into his life, becoming a JW or just being free from WB but I feel like after the 90s he just became a much happier person loving life and at peace. And you hear mostly positive things from those that worked with him in those years. Just thinking about the book he was working on, the chapters that cover the 90s would be fascinating to read. He sounded like an extremely difficult person to work for. What he did to Nelson, his trombone player, with the gun-mic was cruel. Well he certainly seemed that way in the '90s. Haven't heard similar stories from the '00s NPG/3rdEye band members. Paisley Park is in your heart
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TrivialPursuit said:
Thanks I searched but didn't find that thread. There is great music from that era. But I still like happy Prince not angry Prince.  Paisley Park is in your heart
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~Shakalaka!~..... ~Mayday!~ | |
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Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking. |
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Agreed It is the expression of flux in all our lives that is the most interesting…and painful Prince just expressed it a shit-load better
I’m not sharing the TRC comments – that album & tour was the bollocks – and I ain’t religious…
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