LBrent said:

Well, let's not forget that the 80s was also the era of all the John Hughs teeneger-coming-of-age movies where every "middle class" high school student drove a new car, wore tastefully understated but expensive jewelry, and lived in a house that had a huge gourmet kitchen, huge designer bedrooms, inground pool, and was supposed to be in a middle class neighbourhood, but if you researched the actual price of those houses in real life, they were mansions...The house and neighbourhood in Home Alone comes to mind...

.

And am I the only one who noticed that the parents were hardly ever around while the teenagers smoked, drank alcohol, lived glamorous, independant, highly sexual, uber partying, fashionably dressed, shopaholic lives...and the ones who worked had crappy minimum wage paying after school jobs yet still maintained their grades?...

.

Ahhh, those fictional 80s teenaged life memories...

Pretty In Pink did a good job showing the difference between preppies and the working poor. I also know as soon as I got out of my parents house with my friends we were in our own world.

I remember my mon asking me once was I going to a rock concert or to school. I use to fake it to make it because I went to school with a bunch of preppies and I was not in their preppy union.

This is a great thead and Laura is so right-- in the 80's teenageres cared about their appearance- took care of their things and dressed as fresh as whatever money they had would allow. I never had a problem with how Prince dressed in Purple Rain. The only thing I wondered how he could afford was the motorcycle, because he didn't seem the type to work at McDonald's after school to afford it but, just a movie. As for the clothes and make-up - totally doable.

Francis L says himself "don't i keep the heat on" and it is cold in Minni!!!!!

purplefam99 said:

Francis L says himself "don't i keep the heat on" and it is cold in Minni!!!!!

LOL

no government assistance in that house

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! which speaks again to the point i made about PRIDE!!!!! that was huge in

that generation!!!!! you may have not had what others had but boy "you better never let them see you sweat!" or freeze.

OldFriends4Sale said:

purplefam99 said:

Francis L says himself "don't i keep the heat on" and it is cold in Minni!!!!!

LOL

no government assistance in that house

Doozer said:

laurarichardson said:

Where did you live in the 80s.? The cost of living was going thru the roof and we start to see not bums who are homeless but whole families.

Did you not see my comment about his check from the Houston show or know that Sheila E ran over her budget for her band and show to almost a million dollars in the 80s.

People had champange wishes and cavier dreams on Budwiser budgets.

US household debt relative to household income was 43% in 1982, and has increased to more than 65% today, if the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's research holds any weight.

If you think people had a higher household debt in the 80s than they do today relative to their household income, you are wrong.

LOL You got that right!!!

Own Everything!!! Make it if U have to!!

U made me cough up my coffee whent I read that 'Don't I Keep the Heat On!!' as I read it I heard Francis lol

purplefam99 said:

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! which speaks again to the point i made about PRIDE!!!!! that was huge in

that generation!!!!! you may have not had what others had but boy "you better never let them see you sweat!" or freeze.

OldFriends4Sale said:

LOL

no government assistance in that house

when i saw the pic posted, i immediatley lost it too!!! I totally can him him growling those words!!!

this will last me all day!!!

OldFriends4Sale said:

LOL You got that right!!!

Own Everything!!! Make it if U have to!!

U made me cough up my coffee whent I read that 'Don't I Keep the Heat On!!' as I read it I heard Francis lol

purplefam99 said:

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! which speaks again to the point i made about PRIDE!!!!! that was huge in

that generation!!!!! you may have not had what others had but boy "you better never let them see you sweat!" or freeze.

DD55 said:

Doozer said:

US household debt relative to household income was 43% in 1982, and has increased to more than 65% today, if the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's research holds any weight.

If you think people had a higher household debt in the 80s than they do today relative to their household income, you are wrong.

Doozer and everyone, i didn’t do any research on this so forgive me if I’m off base.

.

But being 65% in debt….well when you consider your mortgage can take 50% or more or your monthly income it doesn’t sound so bad. And no one is talking about student loans. Where without that education you wouldn’t get the job that allows you to get such a large mortgage in the first place. All circles.

.

Very high level view not taking into consideration the S&L crisis, recession at the beginning of the 90’s, dot com bust in the 00’s, Asian market decline, high interest rates of the 00’s, and of course the big Great Recession.

.

Thanks for listening…. ~DD55

Those percentages I'm citing are consumer debt, which do not include mortgages.

This got deep.


It's a movie not a documentary. How many movies show your protaganist all broke and shabby looking living in a metro city, unless it's part of the plot?

morningsong said:

This got deep.


It's a movie not a documentary. How many movies show your protaganist all broke and shabby looking living in a metro city, unless it's part of the plot?

and in UTCM he owned a hill top cave overlooking the French Riviera with a grand piano place on it, along with a flat in Nice, France

lol

OldFriends4Sale said:

morningsong said:

This got deep.


It's a movie not a documentary. How many movies show your protaganist all broke and shabby looking living in a metro city, unless it's part of the plot?

and in UTCM he owned a hill top cave overlooking the French Riviera with a grand piano place on it, along with a flat in Nice, France

lol

Maybe that was it, The Kid had a couple of rich widows bankrolling him from time to time.

OldFriends4Sale said:

morningsong said:

This got deep.


It's a movie not a documentary. How many movies show your protaganist all broke and shabby looking living in a metro city, unless it's part of the plot?

and in UTCM he owned a hill top cave overlooking the French Riviera with a grand piano place on it, along with a flat in Nice, France

lol

The Kid had a 'job' in UTCM.

kingricefan said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

and in UTCM he owned a hill top cave overlooking the French Riviera with a grand piano place on it, along with a flat in Nice, France

lol

The Kid had a 'job' in UTCM.

I know. 2 jobs.
But to have his own space in a mountain overlooking the Riviera...wooo that's money

And how did he get that granpiano up there.
I bet there has to be some kind of scene with Christopher playing it up there

PeteSilas said:

Lately i've been working on Purple rain, the song, on piano, getting it as close as i can to the movie version, it's a multilayered complex song, unlike most of p's hits. anyway, no way a band can just up and play a song to that degree of perfection, so, point made, it's just a movie. in fact, i've read prince would have the band work for hours and hours on one minute riff of the song, that sounds about right.

Someone posted a sheet of the piano arrangement from the movie when he first plays it in the basement.

.

.

I used to do it too, basically you play kind of broken chords and then just do the little turnaround at the end of the chorus (Eb, Bb/D, Cm7 resolving to the Bb).

.

.

Also, who said they never rehearsed it off screen?

.

.

Plus, in the movie plot, W&L wrote it, so once they started in, all Bobby and Mark had to do was follow, and it's only 4 chords the whole song (Bb, Gm, F-----Ebsus)

[Edited 7/26/17 22:00pm]

joyinrepetition said:

Simple explaination....

The Kid bought his motorcycle used, back in 84, $3,000.

Little did people know, the Kid took home ec. in high school, where he learned to make and sew his own clothes. He also went to hair dressing class too where he learned to perm and curl his hair.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!

He and his band could also afford state-of-the-art instruments like Oberheim synths, a Yamaha electric grand and a LinnDrum!

novabrkr said:

PurpleGlitter said:

soladeo1 said:

So The Kid's Clothes in Purple Rain???

Okay, so in Purple Rain The Kid is supposed to be this hungry, struggling musician but somehow he has this KILLER warbrobe of couture, tailor-made clothing?

And don't get me started on his purple motorcycle!

In the mid-80s, a rotational band at a decent-sized venue like First Ave., even if they were playing 5 nights a week, would only be netting around $300 a show TOPS. At the high end that would be around $1500 a week, or $6000 a month. Alright, The Kid is the bandleader so he probably gets 50% with the rest of The Revolution splitting the rest. So wer'e looking at $3000 a month in net revenue 1984 dollars.

So he's got of pay some taxes (even assuming that Billy pays the band 'under the table')...let's say The Kid's real taxable bracket allows him to bring home ~$2500 a month. We never see The Kid doing any additional/side gigs like working retail, babysitting, doing construction so let's assume that Billy's wads of greasy bills are his sole source of income...

Side Note: I bet Wendy, though, is an elementary school teacher on the side and Lisa teaches music lessons... Dr. Fink is an actual doctor - a dentist and Brown Mark is a part-time EMT driver. David Z sponsors Dungeons & Dragon tournaments in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul Area.

Now The Kid lives at home so that definately saves some $. But he still needs to pay the note on his bike, buy food and stuff like Doritos, his mascara budget, buy gas, etc.

What else do we know? Well, we know he doesn't have a lot of scratch cause he wants to buy the White Cloud Guitar he covets on the store window with Appolonia nia but doesn't have the money. The Kid is poor in money buy rich in personality, right?

Let's say - conservatively - that The Kid has around $1000 a month of disposable income.

How does he get his clothes???

His outfits are WORKS OF SARTORIAL ART, people. He's not buying them at Chess King!

The French lace and ruffles alone...

How is a young black man in the middle of Minnesota Circa 1984-85 going to find affordbale tailers and designers to make him his Spaceman Edwardian Outfits?

And how does he ask for clothes. "Make me look like a Perfumed Courtesian Dandy," he'd mutter in a soft, deep voice to his haberdashers. "That's The Look that's going to take get me out of Billy's Iron Grip..."???

This just strecthes credulity to the breaking point, folks.

I'm just not buying it...

[Edited 7/25/17 11:56am]

[Edited 7/25/17 11:56am]

You must mean he makes the modern equivalent of those amounts not that those bands made that amount in 1984. Because in 1984, $1000 was the equivalent of $2403.88 today in terms of buying power.

Assuming rent in Minnesota isn't sky high, there's little reason for him to be staying with his folks.

As for his clothes? He either learned how to sew or prevailed upon his mama to alter his clothes when she wasn't pickling all the root vegetables in Minnesota. lThere's no way a 5'1" little dude is going to find clothes to fit him off the rack in 1984 or 2017. The petites section didn't exist then; my momma picked up her winter clothes from the children's department. Wait..

[Edited 7/27/17 12:47pm]

PurpleBabied said:

soladeo1 said:

So The Kid's Clothes in Purple Rain???

Okay, so in Purple Rain The Kid is supposed to be this hungry, struggling musician but somehow he has this KILLER warbrobe of couture, tailor-made clothing?

And don't get me started on his purple motorcycle!

In the mid-80s, a rotational band at a decent-sized venue like First Ave., even if they were playing 5 nights a week, would only be netting around $300 a show TOPS. At the high end that would be around $1500 a week, or $6000 a month. Alright, The Kid is the bandleader so he probably gets 50% with the rest of The Revolution splitting the rest. So wer'e looking at $3000 a month in net revenue 1984 dollars.

So he's got of pay some taxes (even assuming that Billy pays the band 'under the table')...let's say The Kid's real taxable bracket allows him to bring home ~$2500 a month. We never see The Kid doing any additional/side gigs like working retail, babysitting, doing construction so let's assume that Billy's wads of greasy bills are his sole source of income...

Side Note: I bet Wendy, though, is an elementary school teacher on the side and Lisa teaches music lessons... Dr. Fink is an actual doctor - a dentist and Brown Mark is a part-time EMT driver. David Z sponsors Dungeons & Dragon tournaments in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul Area.

Now The Kid lives at home so that definately saves some $. But he still needs to pay the note on his bike, buy food and stuff like Doritos, his mascara budget, buy gas, etc.

What else do we know? Well, we know he doesn't have a lot of scratch cause he wants to buy the White Cloud Guitar he covets on the store window with Appolonia nia but doesn't have the money. The Kid is poor in money buy rich in personality, right?

Let's say - conservatively - that The Kid has around $1000 a month of disposable income.

How does he get his clothes???

His outfits are WORKS OF SARTORIAL ART, people. He's not buying them at Chess King!

The French lace and ruffles alone...

How is a young black man in the middle of Minnesota Circa 1984-85 going to find affordbale tailers and designers to make him his Spaceman Edwardian Outfits?

And how does he ask for clothes. "Make me look like a Perfumed Courtesian Dandy," he'd mutter in a soft, deep voice to his haberdashers. "That's The Look that's going to take get me out of Billy's Iron Grip..."???

This just strecthes credulity to the breaking point, folks.

I'm just not buying it...

[Edited 7/25/17 11:56am]

[Edited 7/25/17 11:56am]

You must mean he makes the modern equivalent of those amounts not that those bands made that amount in 1984. Because in 1984, $1000 was the equivalent of $2403.88 today in terms of buying power.

Assuming rent in Minnesota isn't sky high, there's little reason for him to be staying with his folks.

As for his clothes? He either learned how to sew or prevailed upon his mama to alter his clothes when she wasn't pickling all the root vegetables in Minnesota. lThere's no way a 5'1" little dude is going to find clothes to fit him off the rack in 1984 or 2017. The petites section didn't exist then; my momma picked up her winter clothes from the children's department. Wait..

[Edited 7/27/17 12:47pm]

One of his assitance said that the picked up his basic clothes like socks from the Norstradums boys department.

PurpleBabied said:

soladeo1 said:

So The Kid's Clothes in Purple Rain???

Okay, so in Purple Rain The Kid is supposed to be this hungry, struggling musician but somehow he has this KILLER warbrobe of couture, tailor-made clothing?

And don't get me started on his purple motorcycle!

In the mid-80s, a rotational band at a decent-sized venue like First Ave., even if they were playing 5 nights a week, would only be netting around $300 a show TOPS. At the high end that would be around $1500 a week, or $6000 a month. Alright, The Kid is the bandleader so he probably gets 50% with the rest of The Revolution splitting the rest. So wer'e looking at $3000 a month in net revenue 1984 dollars.

So he's got of pay some taxes (even assuming that Billy pays the band 'under the table')...let's say The Kid's real taxable bracket allows him to bring home ~$2500 a month. We never see The Kid doing any additional/side gigs like working retail, babysitting, doing construction so let's assume that Billy's wads of greasy bills are his sole source of income...

Side Note: I bet Wendy, though, is an elementary school teacher on the side and Lisa teaches music lessons... Dr. Fink is an actual doctor - a dentist and Brown Mark is a part-time EMT driver. David Z sponsors Dungeons & Dragon tournaments in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul Area.

Now The Kid lives at home so that definately saves some $. But he still needs to pay the note on his bike, buy food and stuff like Doritos, his mascara budget, buy gas, etc.

What else do we know? Well, we know he doesn't have a lot of scratch cause he wants to buy the White Cloud Guitar he covets on the store window with Appolonia nia but doesn't have the money. The Kid is poor in money buy rich in personality, right?

Let's say - conservatively - that The Kid has around $1000 a month of disposable income.

How does he get his clothes???

His outfits are WORKS OF SARTORIAL ART, people. He's not buying them at Chess King!

The French lace and ruffles alone...

How is a young black man in the middle of Minnesota Circa 1984-85 going to find affordbale tailers and designers to make him his Spaceman Edwardian Outfits?

And how does he ask for clothes. "Make me look like a Perfumed Courtesian Dandy," he'd mutter in a soft, deep voice to his haberdashers. "That's The Look that's going to take get me out of Billy's Iron Grip..."???

This just strecthes credulity to the breaking point, folks.

I'm just not buying it...

[Edited 7/25/17 11:56am]

[Edited 7/25/17 11:56am]

You must mean he makes the modern equivalent of those amounts not that those bands made that amount in 1984. Because in 1984, $1000 was the equivalent of $2403.88 today in terms of buying power.

Assuming rent in Minnesota isn't sky high, there's little reason for him to be staying with his folks.

As for his clothes? He either learned how to sew or prevailed upon his mama to alter his clothes when she wasn't pickling all the root vegetables in Minnesota. lThere's no way a 5'1" little dude is going to find clothes to fit him off the rack in 1984 or 2017. The petites section didn't exist then; my momma picked up her winter clothes from the children's department. Wait..

[Edited 7/27/17 12:47pm]

PurpleGlitter said:

Duh....The kid worked at Chess King during the day. Mall of America..

Mall of America didn't exist in 1984.

I would still like to know what The Kid's real name was.

laurarichardson said:

PurpleBabied said:

You must mean he makes the modern equivalent of those amounts not that those bands made that amount in 1984. Because in 1984, $1000 was the equivalent of $2403.88 today in terms of buying power.

Assuming rent in Minnesota isn't sky high, there's little reason for him to be staying with his folks.

As for his clothes? He either learned how to sew or prevailed upon his mama to alter his clothes when she wasn't pickling all the root vegetables in Minnesota. lThere's no way a 5'1" little dude is going to find clothes to fit him off the rack in 1984 or 2017. The petites section didn't exist then; my momma picked up her winter clothes from the children's department. Wait..

[Edited 7/27/17 12:47pm]

One of his assitance said that the picked up his basic clothes like socks from the Norstradums boys department.

it is ok Prince, some "boys" have to get their clothes in the Men's dept. if it fits wear it!!! department

doesn't matter.

Genesia said:

PurpleGlitter said:

Duh....The kid worked at Chess King during the day. Mall of America..

Mall of America didn't exist in 1984.

i thought it did but it was called Outlet Mall of America. but i'm not sure, i don't think it was

the high end spectacle it is now.

leadline said:

I would still like to know what The Kid's real name was.

Fred???