HuMpThAnG said:

Music videos helped push Prince over the top and increased exposure to a whiter audience, so he may have not crossed over so fast without the exciting visuals of When Doves Cry, Little Red Corvette and 1999. Perhaps he would have trended more into a disco groove and the Minneapolis Sound may have been delayed. Disco was on verge of dying when Prince was doing Sexy Dancer and Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad, if he had stuck with it longer thru the 70s and found success with it over duration, would he have pushed so hard to change gears and let his music evolve, knowing Prince , likely. Interesting question though.

Let me add a hypothetical addendum, if he was twenty-one in 76 and was just about to debut, you know who was already going to steal his thunder, Rick James. IMO, he could have held his own in the funk field, but he may have been a niche artist with at least two or three albums that a tiny percentage of music aficionados would marvel at these forty years later wondering what could have been.

'Inspiration Information' -Shuggie Otis

As a black artist he would have got dumped in the disco world and he would have refused to do it and found himself without a recording contract or he would have done disco and found himself stuck as a disco artist after that faded out.

laurarichardson said:

As a black artist he would have got dumped in the disco world and he would have refused to do it and found himself without a recording contract or he would have done disco and found himself stuck as a disco artist after that faded out.

I'm of the belief Prince's years recording for WB in the 70s did coincide with the height of disco, but it didn't effect him in any way other than a couple of tracks being labeled as 'disco mix' when they clearly aren't disco.

darkroman said:

laurarichardson said:

As a black artist he would have got dumped in the disco world and he would have refused to do it and found himself without a recording contract or he would have done disco and found himself stuck as a disco artist after that faded out.

I'm of the belief Prince's years recording for WB in the 70s did coincide with the height of disco, but it didn't effect him in any way other than a couple of tracks being labeled as 'disco mix' when they clearly aren't disco.

I agree darkroman.

darkroman said:

laurarichardson said:

As a black artist he would have got dumped in the disco world and he would have refused to do it and found himself without a recording contract or he would have done disco and found himself stuck as a disco artist after that faded out.

I'm of the belief Prince's years recording for WB in the 70s did coincide with the height of disco, but it didn't effect him in any way other than a couple of tracks being labeled as 'disco mix' when they clearly aren't disco.

Okay, one more time. The question was what if he came around in the early 70. So around 73 or 74 we are hearing our first disco records which are dominating the music world even broadway stars were doing disco records.

If Prince had signed a recording contract in 74 he would have been doing disco like it or not.

Many Rnb stars like Etta James and Wilson Pickett talked about being forced to do disco or in Etta's case being asked and refusing. Some went on the blues circut or the southern soul circut to get away f from disco.

Those that performed disco found themselves dropped from the lables when the music lost its popularity around 81 or so.

Prince's first record came out in 78 and it and his second album are not disco records. One of the reason he managed is because he came along when the masses were getting tired of disco, he stayed away from it and he had a unique sound.

Then he woulda had the hottest disco album on the planet in 78.

I think you are pitching the height of disco too early.

In the early 70 disco was underground.

In the mid 70s disco was on the rise.

The height of disc was certainly 77 to 82.

During that period Prince release 5 albums and dropped The Time and Vanity 6 but none of them can be classed as disco.

However I do agree some disco elements did permeate into the production such as the heavy synthesiser sound, yet that was also in funk and electronica and can't be credited to disco.

Ultimately disco is defined by the structure of the musical notation which I am not qualified to say anything about.

This is Prince we're talking about. You could drop him into the Crusades and he'd find a way to put out albums.

He would have joined The Ramones

darkroman said:

I think you are pitching the height of disco too early.

In the early 70 disco was underground.

In the mid 70s disco was on the rise.

The height of disc was certainly 77 to 82.

During that period Prince release 5 albums and dropped The Time and Vanity 6 but none of them can be classed as disco.

However I do agree some disco elements did permeate into the production such as the heavy synthesiser sound, yet that was also in funk and electronica and can't be credited to disco.

Ultimately disco is defined by the structure of the musical notation which I am not qualified to say anything about.

These came out in 73

1973

Hues Corporation - Rock the Boat ( This was a hugh record and the first disco song I actually remember siging alone to as a child )

MFSB - TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)

BARRY WHITE & Love Unlimited Orchestra - Love's Theme

Barry White - Never Gonna Give You Up

Temps, Eddie Kendricks - Keep On Trucking

HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES-The Love I Lost

Fly Robin Fly and the Hustle came out in 1975 Hugh disco records.

I also grew up thinking that disco records had a certain BPM but I could be wrong about that.

So if had Prince had put out a record in 73 or 74 he would have been discoing like everybody else and may have had a hard time suriving.

You should read Nile Rogers book on what happend to Chic when disco exploded he was kind of forced to work with pop and rock groups.

1. 4:41

   Son Of Shaft - The Bar-Kays @ Wattstax

   This is from 1973 ...btw Ihad never heard of this band but I really enjoy the few bits Ihave found

80tomato said:

mtlfan said:

This is Prince we're talking about. You could drop him into the Crusades and he'd find a way to put out albums.

Pretty much my thoughts. He'd have come up with something.

again..

MD431Madcat said:

'Inspiration Information' -Shuggie Otis

MD431Madcat said:

again..

MD431Madcat said:

'Inspiration Information' -Shuggie Otis

to me, the comparison is only a physical one, and the fact that Shuggie otis was a multi-instrumentalist...but lets be clear, Shuggie Otis couldnt sing worth shit, and he may have been a jack of all trades, but he didnt master none of them...another comparison is their musical fathers, but the situation was reversed...Shuggie Otis father (JohnnY) was a success in the industry, while Shuggie never reached his dads level of success... Prince became a King, while his father never was able to sustain a career

Prince wouldnt have been as successful in the early 70's because the visual aspect was so important to his mystique, and he wouldnt have had that same type of exposure back then...

You must be young.

RJOrion said:

MD431Madcat said:

again..

to me, the comparison is only a physical one, and the fact that Shuggie otis was a multi-instrumentalist...but lets be clear, Shuggie Otis couldnt sing worth shit, and he may have been a jack of all trades, but he didnt master none of them...another comparison is their musical fathers, but the situation was reversed...Shuggie Otis father (JohnnY) was a success in the industry, while Shuggie never reached his dads level of success... Prince became a King, while his father never was able to sustain a career

MD431Madcat said:

You must be young.

RJOrion said:

to me, the comparison is only a physical one, and the fact that Shuggie otis was a multi-instrumentalist...but lets be clear, Shuggie Otis couldnt sing worth shit, and he may have been a jack of all trades, but he didnt master none of them...another comparison is their musical fathers, but the situation was reversed...Shuggie Otis father (JohnnY) was a success in the industry, while Shuggie never reached his dads level of success... Prince became a King, while his father never was able to sustain a career

im only 10 years younger than Shuggie Otis... im familiar with both him and his father's legacies ...his music was cool, but i could never get past his limited, thin voice... i used to play Freedom Flight alot when i was into blues more...

RJOrion said:

Prince wouldnt have been as successful in the early 70's because the visual aspect was so important to his mystique, and he wouldnt have had that same type of exposure back then...

This is true.

RJOrion said:

MD431Madcat said:

You must be young.

im only 10 years younger than Shuggie Otis... im familiar with both him and his father's legacies ...his music was cool, but i could never get past his limited, thin voice... i used to play Freedom Flight alot when i was into blues more...

80tomato said:

1. 4:41

   Son Of Shaft - The Bar-Kays @ Wattstax

laurarichardson said:

---This is the Bar Kay's funk not disco.

YUP Definitely funk and not disco.

Saw them perform in Dallas at a Summer Jam type concert...Hot Texas sun, outdoor venu, and the lead singer performed in sandy coloured monkeyfur chaps.

We were sitting right in front of the humongous stage speakers...I was sunburned and couldn't hear normally for a few days but we had a blast!

[Edited 6/17/17 23:27pm]

LBrent said:

---This is the Bar Kay's funk not disco.

YUP Definitely funk and not disco.

Saw them perform in Dallas at a Summer Jam type concert...Hot Texas sun, outdoor venu, and the lead singer performed in sandy coloured monkeyfur chaps.

We were sitting right in front of the humongous stage speakers...I was sunburned and couldn't hear normally for a few days but we had a blast!

[Edited 6/17/17 23:27pm]

Wow ..what a visual LBrent

80tomato said:

LBrent said:

Wow ..what a visual LBrent