When Prince steps out on the town, his many personalities are on public display. He doesn’t simply go to one place and stay there. If you are in his entourage, don’t make yourself too comfortable; you’ll be leaving shortly.
Carlos ‘n’ Charlie’s is a Mexican restaurant on the Sunset Strip. Above it, up the stairs, is the El Privado room, a private disco and bar, which hosts an intriguing game of Hollywood psychology: if you’re a popular enough celebrity, you can walk right through the door. If you’re a ravishingly beautiful woman, come in and make yourself at home. If you have money and power, you have access. Everyone else pays. The philosophy here is that the celebs draw the women, and the beautiful women attract the paying male customers. There is also another crowd, the spectators, who pay to come and watch the celebs mingle with the women.
One night after dinner at Le Dome, a posh restaurant just minutes away from El Privado, Prince and his ever-present bodyguard, Chick, made their way into the club. He and his small entourage of band members didn’t walk in but eased into the place, like cool ghosts. With Chick not even a full step behind him, Prince made his way past the small dance floor, on past the V.I.P. railing, and found his usual seat, back in the mirrored corner. He just sat there and gazed at the people. In the past, he would enter the club and send someone up to the d.j.’s booth with a cassette of some new jam that he’d recorded and try it out on this pseudo-chic crowd, but this night, he just looked. He studied the women and who they talked to. He even examined the way a couple shook it up on the dance floor.
Suddenly, the d.j. reached back in his stash and came up with James Brown’s “Bodyheat.” The ‘heat” hit Prince’s body; he wanted to dance. He slowly rose—so did Chick—and moved toward a Eurasian beauty with long dark hair who had been looking at Prince with incredible curiosity. Prince grabbed her by the hand and took her out on the dance floor. Prince put his left hand up, just in front of his chest; his right hand seemed to caress his thigh. With his feet apart just the right distance he began to rock to the groove. It was a cool sway, not much movement, but it had passion. The groove was killing the speakers.
Prince was rocking. The crowd was watching. Prince looked at Chick; Chick gave a gathering look of his eyes to the entourage. Prince simply walked away; he was outta there.

The “Carlos ‘n Charlie’s” Prince memories

“My girlfriends and I used to go dancing at Carlos n Charlie’s every weekend, we would get VIP, it was so much fun! One night I was dancing and someone bump into me making me lose my step, I turned around to see who it was and it was Prince, he looked at me and gave me a smile.”

- Lupe

“The man used to come up to El Privado every Monday night with his bodyguard and a few women. He was always pleasant and respectful. I feel lucky that I was able to meet him in the 80s. I used to ask the DJ to play his songs before the club opened.”

- Karen

“In 1979, I was working as a DJ at Carlos ‘n Charlie’s El Privado. Celebrities frequented the club almost every night. Because of the club’s popularity, record companies and/or artists would often bring new releases to the booth and ask if I would give them a try, which I sometimes did if the cut sounded good. On a slow Monday night, I had just finished mixing out of an acetate of the 12" dance version of “I Wanna Be Your Lover” by Prince that was soon to be released. A young man dressed in blue jeans, button shirt and a cowboy hat came up to the window and introduced himself. It was Prince. He asked if I liked the dance mix and I told him I did. He smiled, and sat down in front of the booth. We talked off and on for about an hour, when he left with friends. After that, Prince would come in every once in a while, say hello, and sit quietly in a corner near the DJ booth.”

- Phil

“I had the pleasure of serving Prince more than once! He was always very nice!”

- Linda

“Met Prince there in the 1980s and had the time of my life. Prince loved this place because it was classy! I wish Carlos and Charlie’s was still there, because we would have a Purple party for him! Love!”

- Desiree’

“Met Prince there, Sheila E, Apollonia, Tom Hanks,Rick James, Shalamar and many more. That was the place.”

- Gina

“I danced there three times a week..Mon, Wed and Fridays .Spent many New Years Eves there! One of the Best Clubs in LA in the day. Voight…Prince… Murphy…Dillon…Danza…Terrio…Wayans…So many! It was so fun rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s elite.”

- Lisa