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IndieDisco had the opportunity to ask author Alex Hahn about his new biography of Prince being released by Billboard Books this spring.

IndieDisco: Alex, the book was great fun to read. We've enjoyed Prince since the beginning as fans; this book helps put things in a different context. Let's talk about what you've done by writing this biography.

You titled the book "Possessed - The Rise and Fall of Prince." Where did the name come from?

Alex Hahn: Prince has a song called "Possessed." It’s never been officially released, but he’s recorded it multiple times. He used to drill his band on it relentlessly during rehearsal, to the point where it seemed to one band member that Prince himself was possessed by the song.

As for the "Rise and Fall" part -- The title is certainly not a statement that he has self-destructed or has turned into an outright failure as a musician or person. But it’s fair to say that the book’s thesis or argument is that he’s not nearly as influential or important as he once was. It seems to me that he hasn’t written a truly classic song for many years, after writing so many during the 1980s. At bottom, the book is a psychological inquiry into why this has occurred.

ID: Who did you write this for?

AH: A lot of people, including myself, Prince fans, followers of popular culture -- but I feel like I can’t answer the question in much detail without appearing sanctimonious.

ID: It's OK... you can tell them we pressured you for an answer.

Now, in the interest of fairness, you aren't exactly a neutral party. You provided successful pro bono legal representation to Uptown when they were sued by Prince. Tell us a bit about the lawsuit. Why was Prince trying to shut down so many fan sites?

AH: It seemed like Prince was trying to control independent discourse about himself, which troubled me. I felt the suit was a threat to the First Amendment. To simply let Uptown go out of business because it couldn’t afford to defend itself would have been sad.

ID: We're big believers in free speech...

AH: As far as whether I’m a neutral party – I don’t think any human being is "neutral" on any subject. My job as a journalist is to be "fair." This isn’t a tabloid-ish, anti-Prince book – so far, reviews have greeted it as a solidly reported biography. True enough, those expecting a fawning, feel-good account of Prince’s life and music will be disappointed. But so will anyone expecting an attack or a lurid expose.

Notwithstanding the title, I have a lot of affection for Prince and his music. The lawsuit certainly didn’t affect my interest in his music. The book does contain a brief discussion of the lawsuit, but doesn’t belabour the point. I do think, though, that the lawsuit was symbolic of Prince’s powerful need to control everything about his career. In that sense, his actions in filing suit against fan entities tie in with the basic themes of the book.

ID: "Possessed" does come across as fair, at least to me. What made you decide to write the book?

AH: There’s no musician who has inspired me more. He’s an incredible figure. I think the book conveys my respect for him and my genuine passion for his music.

ID: When did you first hear the music of Prince? What did you think?

AH: The first song I heard was "Head," when I was about 14 years old. At the time, I thought it was kind of tedious and antiseptic sounding, but much later I would come to love it. "Controversy" was the first Prince song I really liked – a down-and-dirty funk groove like nothing I had heard before. It’s still one of my favorite songs of all time.

ID: It was "Controversy" that started it off for me. Do you consider yourself a fan?

AH: Without a doubt.

ID: In your opinion, what is he best at?

AH: I was also struck by how innovative he was in his use of the recording studio, especially after I learned that he was just one person performing all of the music on songs like "When Doves Cry." I thought "The Beautiful Ones" was one of the most moving songs I had heard. It also seemed that each album he recorded in the 1980s – up until Sign O’ the Times- at least – was more interesting than the last. And going back and discovering his earlier music was a treat. While I was not particularly blown away by For You, his first album, I thought that Prince, his second release, was an amazing record, albeit in a very different way than Dirty Mind, the album that really set the tone for his work during the 1980s.

ID: Did you get much resistance from former band members to interviews? There are rumors that they are sworn to secrecy by contract.

AH: No one I interviewed mentioned any secrecy agreements. Since Prince is prone to litigation, I would have immediately backed off if anyone had mentioned they were under such a contract.

As with any book, some people talked, others didn’t. But I was pleased by the wide range of former associates who spoke candidly.

ID: You've got just about all the major players. "Possessed" almost reads like a soap opera. It moves along quickly, and covers a lot of ground. It also gives you an intimate, "you are there" feeling as you read. How did you go about balancing the public and private aspects of the story?

AH: I wanted the book to be readable for anyone. I love a good non-fiction book – they are rare, but when you stumble across one, it’s great fun. Great writers like David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan and J. Anthony Lukas are folks I see as models. I think this book is certainly more soap-opera-esqe than any written by those authors. But what I was shooting for was to create an interesting narrative that stayed true to the facts.

ID: One of the recurring themes is that Prince surrounds himself with people that are weak in an effort to control things. I just read Fred Wesley Jr.'s new book and he describes James Brown the same way. Do you think a personality like that is necessary for the "rise", or is it a contributor to the "fall" of an artist?

AH: A great sense of confidence, and perhaps even a sense of certainty, is often important to success in entertainment, as in most endeavors in life. But it can reach a point where it becomes tragic flaw. If one believes – as I think Prince has at points in his career – that there’s no one left who can teach him anything, that is not an ingredient for brilliant art.

ID: Some of the material for the book comes from previously published interviews. Were you able to do new interviews with anyone directly?

AH: I undertook a large number of new interviews. Key people included Rosie Gaines, BobCavallo, Mark Brown, Dez Dickerson, Howard Bloom, Anna Garcia, Jeff Gold and others. Alan Leeds in particular was a knowledgeable and insightful source for the project. Alan is something of a living history of R&B, having worked closely with James Brown and George Clinton, as well as contemporary artists like Maxwell and D’Angelo. He’s also a great guy. He doesn’t have any kind of axe to grind against Prince, but he tells it like it is.

Per Nilsen, the author of DanceMusicSexRomance: Prince – the First Decade made research he had previously done available to me. But a lot of his research had never been published, given that it wasn’t appropriate to the tone of his book, which was more fan-oriented. My book provided a home for those unpublished findings.

ID: The Prince story can be quite mysterious. Do you think you got the full story, or do you still have questions?

AH: I’m sure there’s enough material out there for a sequel. Honestly, I hope the sequel is called "The Rise of Prince, Part II." I would love to see him start making music that moved me as much as his earlier stuff did. The guy is capable of just about anything, musically speaking.

ID: I agree. And technically, his playing ability has never been better.

You put to rest one of my longtime questions - who did the guitar solo on "777-9311" - in the extensive discography you include. Prince fans might want the book for this section alone. Did you listen to a lot of Prince's music while writing this? Discover any forgotten gems?

AH: Sure, but I was much more interested in the psychological themes, as well as assessing his entire canon, then looking into obscure aspects of his music. The book discusses his unreleased music, but only where particular songs are relevant. It’s not meant to be an exhaustive study of his music – the man has thousands and thousands of songs.

ID: I thought you did a good job matching the music to the story, showing where certain songs came from and how they were responses to other events. Were you surprised by anything you learned while working on the book?

AH: Too many to go into. The book explores them all, and I think even longtime followers and students of Prince will be surprised by some of the things they read. I was surprised, even though I knew a lot before undertaking the book.

ID: If you could get straight answers and have free access to anyone you wanted, who would you like to interview and what would you like to ask about?

AH: Two people come to mind: Wendy and Lisa. I did everything I could to reach out to them, but they never responded. Nonetheless, I think they are represented fairly and accurately in the book, and I discussed their influence on Prince with a lot of other sources. Karen Krattinger, one of Prince’s key aides in the mid- and late-1980s, remains a good friend of Susannah Melvoin (Wendy’s sister, who had a serious romantic relationship with Prince in the mid-1980s) and was able to represent Susannah’s position very well.

ID: We wanted to interview them about Girl Bros. but they didn't reply to us, either. Have you met Prince? What was he like?

AH: We’ve never met. The closest I came was being a right in front of him during an aftershow concert at a nightclub – quite an experience.

ID: Did you offer Prince the chance to be interviewed, or let him respond to any accusations? What was his reaction?

AH: At one point, toward the end of the process of writing the book, I asked my editor if we should contact Prince and offer him a chance for an interview, but the decision was made not to do that for a couple of reasons. First, it was decided that the interview request would be futile – there was no real chance Prince would say yes. Secondly – and I think was the most important consideration – my editor worried that Prince, with his reputation for being litigious, might bring some sort of ridiculous suit trying to enjoin publication of the book. Billboard Books is not really a massive company that spend a lot on lawyers, so I think they made the right decision.

ID: That sounds smart. Would you like him to read it?

AH: Well, it’s up to him.

ID: Will you be sending him a copy for his library?

AH: Listen, I’d love it if Prince respected the conclusions of the book or at least felt that it was fairly reported. There’s no musician that I think is cooler. But it is what it is – Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince. I’m not going to insult the man by sending him a signed copy out of the blue. If he wants one, that’s another story.

ID: I would guess that he might be annoyed by it. Do you have any feelings about "invading" someone's private life?

AH: The last thing I wanted to do was to create a sensationalistic book that focussed on personal issues. I respect Prince too much for that, and my basic philosophy as person and journalist precludes doing anything like that. To the extent personal issues are addressed, they are issues that relate to – and are in fact inseparable from – Prince’s art.

One issue that I did address, after thinking long and hard about it, was the death of Prince’s child. I concluded that Prince himself had injected that issue into the public domain in any number of ways – such as writing an album (Emancipation) that addressed his relationship with his then-wife Mayte and his expectations about fatherhood. And then there was the song "Comeback" from The Truth, a song that Prince later indicated (during an interview with Spike Lee) was his way of addressing the tragedy. So the tragedy was one that blended with his art.

Also, Liz Jones’ 1997 book Purple Reign raised some questions about the matter that I needed to investigate further. And there were some very troubling reports in a British tabloid called News of the World about the incident. In the end, though, I think I addressed the issue in a sensitive fashion that respects Prince’s dignity. More than anything else, the chapter of the book that addresses this difficult issue tries to debunk the rumours that were stirred up by questionable reporting at the time. I think Prince dealt with a difficult situation as best as he could.

ID: One of the criticisms Prince likes to offer against "critics" is that they don't play or perform music so they can't possibly understand him. Got any musical talents yourself?

AH: I’ve always wished that I had an iota of Prince’s musical talent. I started playing guitar when I was about 12 and joined my first band at age 14. I never became very good, but was proficient enough to play the sort of "post-punk," alternative music that most interested me then. I played on several records, including two albums by the Volcano Suns: Bumper Crop (Homestead Records, 1988) and Farced (SST Records, 1989)

ID: Volcano Suns? Ahhh, Boston. We may have to interview you again about that scene. But you were saying...

AH: I’m far interested in writing my own music than performing "covers," but I’ll admit that I always longed to do a brilliant interpretation of a Prince song. But I don’t think I’ve come close to pulling it off. In one of my solo projects, we started doing "Let’s Pretend We’re Married," but we turned it into an instrumental because it sounded so ridiculous with me singing.

ID: We knew a band that performed (or tried to perform) all of "Dirty Mind" with mixed success. Here at IndieDisco, one of our interests in Prince comes from his attempts to free himself from major label hassles and strike out on his own. He's in a unique position, having the benefit of major label promotion and distribution for so long. What's your take on his indie efforts?

AH: In many ways, it’s laudable. He has a recent song that addresses these topics called "Judas Smile." It refers to the ridiculously small percentages of the pie that major record labels pay to artists – he sings, "payin’ 15 cents on the dollar, those are the wages of a fool." I know where he’s coming from – I’ll make less than that off of each book sold. I’m not criticizing Billboard, which I’m pleased invested in my book, but the entertainment industry in general is tilted towards companies rather than artists.

But in another sense, Prince has had some difficulty finding the balance between working within the system and creating a new paradigm. It’s a struggle for all artists – if I independently released my book on the Internet, I’d make more money per copy, but no one would have taken it seriously. Prince’s work is still taken seriously, but the perils of independence have also been clear – the distribution and promotion of his recent albums has at times been iffy.

ID: He's really exploring uncharted territory, business-wise. What do you think of his online ventures? It seems like the music club is in hiding at the moment.

AH: I’ve never joined it.

ID: "Possessed" points out that Prince's "fall" is the result of a combination of factors. Some of it seems like his own mistakes, but he also seems to be a victim of circumstance at a few points. His relations with Clive Davis, for example, seemed like really bad timing. How much of the rise and fall do you attribute to him personally?

AH: I hope the book answers that question. His character definitely has something to do with it – his completely certainty that his actions in all areas are correct. Timing and luck play a role in everything, of course.

ID: The first half of the book was like a time machine trip to the 80's and, as a reader, it was fun to recall where I was and what I was doing when, say "1999" came out. Did you have fun writing this?

AH: A lot of fun. I tried to capture the atmosphere of what was going on in the music industry and society at large during the different periods of time. I’m glad it worked.

ID: When you go to update this ten years from now, do you think you'll be adding chapters about his resurrection or his utter demise? How would you like it to turn out for him?

AH: I wish him nothing but the best. I thank Prince for all of the good times his music has given me, and there have been many. I’d like to think that he could reinvent himself and make some amazing and deeply original music.

ID: I would imagine that after a project like this, you feel you know Prince quite well. If he were here, would you have advice for him?

AH: I wouldn’t presume to offer him advice. He’s had smarter people than me around in the past to offer him advice – Alan Leeds, Wendy and Lisa, etc., -- and I think it would be great if independent personalities like that had more of a role in his circle again.

ID: What has been the reaction to this book so far? How are the reviews?

AH: The initial reviews have been great. People have found it interesting to read and fun, but also very factual and – to go back to that word – "fair." The title is certainly provocative, and in some ways the book is too, but I think reviewers are recognizing that I’m striving for a balanced portrait.

ID: In case we haven't made it clear, we give the book high marks and encourage people to get a copy. So what's next for you? Do you have other books planned?

AH: I have some ideas...all in time.

ID: Is there anything you'd like to answer that no one asks?

AH: I’ll get back to you...thanks for such a comprehensive interview.

ID: Thanks for taking time with us, and good luck with the book. Anyone curious about Prince is sure to enjoy it.

"Possesed - The Rise and Fall of Prince" by Alex Hahn, is published by Billboard Books, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications.

I wonder how he heard "Judas Smile" (which he comments on earlier in the interview and even recites lyrics from), if he never joined the club?

Doozer said:

u don't have to be in the club to hear the club tracks. theres many ways of hearing them.

Alex Hahn seems to have about as much business sense as a certain other individual I know of. Prince books will only be bought by people who still have an affection for Prince, fans and fams. Now if Alex is writing an unfavourable account concentrating on how fucked up Prince is and documenting Prince's so called fall, he will alienate a lot of people who will think "fuck, I'm not buying a book that is dissing my hero."
I appreciate the need for Alex to tell his version of the truth and I respect that. All I'm saying is that had he written a book concentrating on all of the good aspects of Prince's career, it would shift more copies.

Props to Wendy and Lisa for staying out of the fray. Proof that they have really moved on with their lives.

JimmyNothing said:

He was due a negative leaning book I guess, the other twenty or so have been pretty positive. Don't forget the author is the lawyer who was up against Prince in court, not to mention a "lost interest come the 90s" level Prince follower.

My copy shipped from Amazon today!



Thanks for posting this Essence.

Ah.. here's one:



Too late!

Ummm... It gets worse for This demon. Mr Hahn obvious has a score to settle instead of being objective:



He fails to mention that several stars such as Rosanne Barr have won $$$ settlements with The Enquirer and other "Rag mags". They won because these books suppose things instead of using facts objectively, or coming to the entertainers themselves for interviews... I'd bet Hahn would threaten to kill anyone who asked anbout every little negative and valuable detail of his life's work, and made a profit from it. If I was Prince, I'd hire a private investigator to do the same to him and members of "Uptown". Then, I'd publish it.



This author is throwing stones and hiding behind free speech.

Free speech, Integrity, and Honesty is Alex Hahn stating the truth: Prince was cool when he allowed Uptown to make $$$$ off of his past endeavors, and private relationships.

Umm..Already sugar-coating a vindictive move for Hahn?
He begins the interview guilty and defensive!
I'm sure he'll have a bunch more of these...
[This message was edited Mon Apr 7 17:32:08 PDT 2003 by NGSPW7200]

I can't wait to read it... I read all the books on prince and the beatles...

He uses a "Cop-out"! What lame excuses!
Is this guy a lawyer, or some jealous fanboy?

What basic themes? Can Hahn help Prince write a song to return him to his vengful and bitterly transparent standard of success?

What is he writing this book for?


Prince, please hire a private investigator to dig into this guys' college days, early practice, and relationships, and release the results!

He must be a horrible lawyer to even have the time to write this book!

The vindictive, hypocritical book of Hahns (really Uptown's) will not cover the fees of getting their tails kicked in court!

Oooohh Hahn was evasive, wasn't he? No details of a "Fall-out" between Prince and Clive? No hints? He didn't even say that, "Its in the book". Why? Because he has nothing but internet gossip to get his details (and he knows that he'll get sued for saying anything more). He's already stated that Uptown couldn't afford to defend themselves any further. How can they have enough money to pay a lawyer (albiet a bad one) to reseach and interview Clive Davis and his former associates at Arista at the time?

I guess that notion of "Uptown's" staff barely making a profit is exagerated.

Devilish!

Who is Demon-Hahn? Eh... I guess those great reviews for TRC mean nothing when they don't suit his bitter intersets.

Great reviews in the face of religious and philosophical differences with reviewers!

I wonder who Hahn actually believes makes great art now?

Let me guess... Emenim? Britney?

I guess it is all because they didn't sue Uptown!

I don't want this guy defending me... He can't even create a good angle, or "spin" at all. He's just bitterly trying to get Uptown to write an overtly vindictive book to pay for his sevices.

Thx for posting, Essence.

Jem said:

Yeah, but dayum, if you're doing research and writing a book on a musician, and that musician is releasing music online exclusively to members, wouldn't you at least pony up $100 for a membership?

I am definitely buying this book as soon as I get the chance, I think Alex H sounds like a good guy and the book sounds very entertaining, I'm going to file it right next to 'Last Train To Memphis' and 'Careless Love' in my cute little book collection.

NGSPW7200 said:

are you still here?

How can anyone ever say something is fair, when they don't interview the subject, has never met the subject, has been engaged in a law suit with the subject etc.

Its obvious that it can't be Fair. There are always 3 factors that make up the truth, His version, your version, and the Truth lies someone where in the Middle.

I will not be buying this Book. And wouldn't believe it anyway. like Prince says.

Another fool that doesn't know what she's talking about,
Like the woman that says she knows me, She never went to school as far as I know, and now she says that she's writing a Bio about me. Girl I hate to say this but Nigger Please, I go place you never go, Ask what I'm kicking, I'm kicking the flow. (something like that)

And if this man was a true Journalist, when asked if he had anyone else in mind to write about he says no. So his whole life is based on Prince, and he doesn't even know him.

well, I guess thats what the world has come to.

jazzy328is said:

considering that Prince is 1) a pathological liar and 2) known to scorn the type of questions that would need to be asked to verify what he's writing about, what makes you think an interview with Prince would be worthwhile?


after all, Liz Jones who wrote "Purple Reign" interviewed Prince. and that's about the most worthless thing ever written about him.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 2:59:46 PDT 2003 by AaronFantastic]

2the9s said:

Mine too. It should arrive tomorrow (4/9)!

Everybody's already harping down this guy's throat, and none of you have read the book yet!! You wanna talk about being unfair! Read the book first, THEN make your judgements whether he was being fair or not to Prince's story and his research methods!!! The mag, ID, already read it and said themselves it seemed quite fair, despite the title and expectations going in. So, give it a chance before you start calling him a "fanboy" or whatever. The only ones that're going to do a project on Prince are those interested in him or his art anyway, and he even admitted to being a little biased anyway because he is such a fan! Damn y'all!

I'm definitely gonna check out this book.

NGSPW7200 said:

In his interview with Uptown he said his music tastes are generally exclusively alt. rock, so while he may not like the pop acts you mention it's unlikely he'll be complimentary towards Prince's more R&B/Hip-Hop based years. One of the "Wendy & Lisa were Gods" brigade methinks...

My copy is ordered from Amazon.co.uk for anyone looking for it in the UK BTW.

Essence said:

Pretty much.

NGSPW7200 said:

Talk about being bitter. pot calls the cattle by writing dozens of posts whining about a book and his author..
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 7:35:44 PDT 2003 by huggy]

NuPwrSoul said:

YEAH MAN. this would be a great response to the forum asking what have wendy and lisa done that makes them so great.

AaronFantastic said:

That woman never interviewed prince, she just put bits and pieces of other interviewed that he did and made believe that she intervewied him. for example I saw snippets from the oprah interview in there, but she just acted like he was telling that to her. none of these people who write these book have interviewed him.

AaronFantastic said:

Did Liz Jones actually get an interview with Prince? The book gives that impression yet basically all the quotes were taken from elsewhere and the recent dialogue from the Oprah interview.