I guess many long time fans will remember this fine magazine from the U.K.

Back in the days, the "before the internet came" days, this was the only source for in-depth information on Prince. It was also the only forum for discussion and the only possibility for fans, to get worldwide contacts and gather REAL penpals. These were also the days of trading Prince shows + outtakes on tape.

Please share your memories.

Does anybody know what Eileen Murton is doing nowadays ?

Controversy Mag was excellent. It all went wrong when it baecame the "official prince magazine" because while initially Prince did not censor anything and left it independent, eventually he couldn't help but interfere.

I think he and Eileen fell out over something to do with the organisation of gig tix or an aftershow or something where Eileen felt she had her reputation damaged.

Real shame.

How could I forget it. The month I finally sent them the money for a subscription (was it in 1992?) was the month they closed down. I was devastated.

Controversy had the best Prince pictures. The covers were amazing. I'm glad I saved all my copies.

yeah, controversy reminds me of all that used to good about prince; an 'official' outlet which kept a sense of perspective about following him and which was superb when it came to levels of customer service (you could call them and eileen always wrote back). plus, when they closed, they mailed out loads of free stuff to make up subs...in other words, a fair organisation made up of people who gave a toss about us!

i know eileen went on to run a ticket agency in croydon but i don't think it lasted that long...have no idea what she is up to now...be interested to know...didn't spot her at the london shows.

aside from being an excellent mag, they also secured me (and hundreds of others) superb seats for shows, which meant that from the Nude tour onwards i was always in the front few rows...

much, much, missed...npgmc could learn a lot

I remember Controversy mag, but do u remember 7 magazine? I have every issue except for the last few, prince shut them down

Controversy was a cool magazine.I have a couple of the early issues,they're both from 1988.They discuss things like the 'SOTT' concert film and the Lovesexy album.From reading this mag,I got to know a very nice lady named Linda Everett,who contributed to the magazine.She and I traded many things.Anybody remember her?

I loved Controversy. And Dream Nation, does anyone remember that. I looked eileen up on the internet once and I am sure I found some stuff on her but my mind is full of holes and I can't remember. I have either chopped up or lost all my Controversy magazines, i sometimes see them on ebay for sale and am always tempted to buy them. I think uptown is as good if not better for the articles but as far as pictures and official news was concerned Controversy cannot be beat.

7 Magazine was a great magazine!
Much props to the Aussies that put that 2gether during Prince's most troubling '90's period.

Remember they got all the fams 2 donate 1 gold item to put into a Gold treasure chest and sent it 2 Warners demanding them to release "The Gold Experience". That's love yo!

What happened to Prince's "Ten Thousand" magazine?

I still have all my magazines stored away - they were just great. Eileen put her heart and soul into running the magazine.

I remember when we got the letters in September 1993 saying it was closing down - just after we'd been to Wembley.

Great times, wonderful memories and we got great seats at all the shows (just as we have been doing with the Music Club membership).

If you know what Eileen is doing now, let us all know.

spud80 said:

That's right it was right after the wembly show. God it's all coming back now. It all seamed so different back then, i'm getting all nostalgic. I was still at college and it was all so simple, my dad bought my concert tickets, he brought me tickets for three gigs that week, Birmingham NIA on the mon and tues I think and wembley on saturday. Now I have to buy my own tickets, bummer!!

DavidEye said:

Yes, I got a lot of stuff from Linda Everett, outtakes, live shows etc. I wonder what she's doing now? Is she still into Prince?

spud80 said:

Eileen had been quite serioulsy ill a couple of years back but as of my last call (about a year ago) both her and Keith were still living near Croydon and were well.

She has no interest in Prince anymore and definately wouldn't be seen at any shows !

Yes!!!

I have all my magazines, and don't intend to give them up. Great pictures, reviews, news, fan name mentions, and it was of quality/substance.

The conventions that came as a result of Eileen's efforts made lifelong special friends for me... they know who they are.

Ah, those were the days... I wish Eileen well. to her.

seanski said:

Linda actually worked for Prince for awhile,as a consultant,in 1990.She later told me that it was a very bad experience.In the mid-90s,she sold all of her Prince stuff and I don't think she's really into him anymore.

DavidEye said:

All too often the case.

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[This message was edited Tue Apr 1 5:32:19 PST 2003 by Anji]

I've put in a couple of posts on this in the past. Basically it was closed down because of something that happened at the Wembley Stadium gigs which made her realise that she was being "used and abused" by Prince's organisation.

Eileen was great and worked tirelessley for all us fans to get info, pics, priority tickets, etc.

Anyone remember the bulletins she used to have to try and fit onto a 3 minute answering machine tape?

It sounds like being a fan is really exciting. But when you actually become employed of provide services for paisley park, it becomes a very bad experience.

Prince is very demanding in his world. And it is always his world if you work for him.

Just a thought.


.

It is very sad that Prince continually bites the hand that feeds him. Will he ever learn?

Excellent Magazine. There was the a4 size mag and did anyone hae the magazines that had an orange cover, A4 folded over that were sent out.

I rememebr it was great when you got them. They'd come thru the post and I'd leg it to the bog and read it whilst having a right good dump!

Best read ever, better than reading the sport pages in the tabloids!

Come on Eileen...where are you?

Savage said:

The best people making the best magazine, if you wrote to them with a query they would get back right away. I wish I could say the same for uptown. It is a good magazine but they are buggers to get hold of. I paid £93 for Turn It Up 2 (Package C) over nearly three months ago, so far I have recieved turn it up 2.0, DOW and 5 of the promised 20 back issues and still have not recieved the 2 new issues. I have sent a letter and several emails but I have recieved no reply. Eileen would have been onto it like a pornstar to an orgy.

swiftyweb said:

swifty - who did you order through ? feel free to email me at gavin@uptown.se with some details and I'll be glad to help you out.

Package C is £90 rather than £93 so I'm a little confused as to who you ordered this through ?

Rico said:

it wasn't the wembley stadium gig, it was sheffield the following year where we were all asked for our names and addresses.

I loved Controversy Fanzine. I was so sad when they shut down. I saved all my copies and my membership cards.

This is the first time when Eileen has been mentioned that anyone knew how she was doing. I hope she is still on the mend from being ill. The stuff she wrote in was always my favorite.

DavidEye said:

I'm always amazed by how some of the most devoted Prince fans, the people who love and support him the most, are the ones who end up selling their Prince stuff and not being into him anymore.

What happens? Does something happen that makes them dislike Prince? Do they become disillusioned? What makes somebody who cherished Prince enough to start a magazine devoted to him and amass a huge collection just walk away from the whole thing?

DAMN...I have some OLD issues of Controversy stored somewhere...from around 1987/1988...remember the 1-900 Prince news hotline? It's crazy the ways we hadda get our info before the Internet came along...

LaVisHh said:

Yep the conventions were cool...back than we didn't have the pleasure of touring the park or seeing P play live for us but we had plenty of fun amongst ourselves at Glam Slam, the Whiskey Junction, Bunkers, The Fine Line, and in the hotel rooms......

pejman said:

Yes!!! Just those names got me excited again.

Gav said:

I remember them taking names and addresses at Wembley arena!

The magazine was fantastic, I remember an article about a lady who was allowed on the Lovesexy tour bus in London. A very good read at the time. It is really sad to hear Eileen is not a fan any more. Prince has got shit business sense, I dont think he recognises genuine people! She put so much into the club, now if she ran the NPGMUSICCLUB...

controversy? a bit before my time as a freek.