TheEnglishGent said:

000000 said:

FunkyDancer said:

His music had already radically changed by 1980. Dirty Mind sounds nothing like For You/Prince.

Just like 1999 shares very little with Dirty Mind.

So yeah... not a valid point imo.

from For You to 1999 the common demoninator was soul, funk music. Prince lost a lot of black, urban fans when he release PR, ATWIAD, and Parade. So yeah... His sound changed completely from his previous work - more commercial music, more mainstream rock and pop.

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I'm with FunkyDancer on this. Soul and funk is a running theme through nearly all of Prince's albums throughout his career, with maybe a handful of exceptions (jazz albums, Chaos and Disorder, maybe The Vault) so I'd disagree his sound changed "completely" after "1999." Yes, there was a noticeable change in style between those albums, but ALL of his eighties albums sound markedly different from each one to the next. The difference between 1999 and Purple Rain is no more radical a shift than between any other two albums he released during that decade. The evolution of Prince's sound between Prince and Dirty Mind is arguably the most stark contrast between any of Prince's two consecutively released albums from period of 1978 - 1990. With Dirty Mind he shifted from what had been a deliberately commercial and fairly conventional R&B sophomore album (Prince) to a taut, rawer sound and message, underscored with new wave synths, an exceedingly taboo punk song about being incestually exploited, and alternative rock before alt-rock was a genre. Prince probably shed a lot of his Black R&B audience at this time more than any other time in the eighties, but he was gaining fans--Black and White--during this musically tumultuous period through his prodigious talent, by taking bold risks, and earning critical acclaim.

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The evolution of Prince's sound from 1999 to Purple Rain is much smoother, more logical and fluid in comparison. Parade is another sonically distinctive album among his eighties' releases, but still consistently rooted in funk, and IMO still not as radical a departure from the previous and following album releases as Dirty Mind is to Prince or even Controversy. To any longtime fan with a well-trained ear, the example you cite does not credibly support your claim that any alleged cocaine habit/overdose rumors were reflected in the shift in sound and style in Prince's albums released in the 1982-1986 period.

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In early 1982 I became absolutely HOOKED on Prince's music and have been a steadfast fan ever since. I have no recollection of any rumored cocaine or drug habit or overdose. I was aware at that time that he was speaking out against the use of drugs in at least a couple of his songs.

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[Edited 1/27/18 23:08pm]

XxAxX said:

there was also a time in 1994 (i think) when the song with the words "Prince esta muerto" on The Gold Experience had people thinking he had passed on. as i recall, a local radio station in San Francisco played just those words and caused a firestorm of a reaction from fans. i was living in San Francisco at the time, and there were reports of traffic jams on the bridge and calls to the local radio stations due to people thinking he had actually passed on.

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Hey XxAxX

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He also totaled his car (might have been his Dad's Thunderbird?) around 1984 or 1985. Walked away without a scratch, but IIRC a policeman on the scene was pretty shook up, saying that Prince should have been dead from the crash. A commenter on Prince.org (http://prince.org/msg/7/129585?pr - reply #1) says The Vault book mentions the crash.

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I was an avid reader of any article on Prince I could get my hands on from 1982 till 2000 and I have no recollection of any rumored drug or cocaine use. Maybe its something I missed, but I didn't miss much when it came to him. Without evidence, I have my doubts about it. His former band members from The Revolution have said he had no tolerance for anyone in his band doing drugs.

ThatWhiteDude said:

000000 said:

Now that Prince has died it's odd to think of all the tragic death or suicidal references in his music/art.

For example... Christopher Tracy dying in UTHCM, to the Kids hanging in PR, or his father shooting himself in the head. Someone mentioned at the end of "Gotta Broken Heart Again" there's a gunshot (which is something I didn't think of), I Would Die 4 U, Facedown, the song "Goodbye", etc

I recall Prince in an interview saying his musical gift was "like a curse," He didn't sleep much. Perhaps Prince was dealing with a more demonic spirit than we realize.

[Edited 1/20/18 19:45pm]

But that doesn't mean he was suicidal or something like that. I don't know, maybe it was just a subject he liked to talk about. Maybe raising awerness.

Of course, none of us know what his mindset was during certain times of his life, but I think someone would've said if they felt that Prince maybe was suicidal at one point.

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The murder of Christopher Tracy in UTCM was tragic but poetic, as he died risking his life for love. It's as tragic as it is romantic.

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There is the theme of suicide in the PR film, although my personal interpretation of the flash scene where The Kid imagines himself hanging reflected the fears of the character who it was established early in the movie was much like his father and following in his footsteps, including into areas of conflict (domestic violence with Apollonia's character, an unsuccessful music career) and danger--suicide--that fueled the drama in the film. But Prince said it was semi-biographical so it's not impossible these insecurities were informed by his own inner fears. I do, however, think it's unlikely someone as religious as he was would entertain ideas of suicide.

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I've heard gunshots a few times, in the street in front of my building. As a matter of fact, I heard a volley of rifle shots just three days ago at my grandfather's military funeral at Arlington National Cemetery and they were positioned close by to us. In all instances, the shots sounded like very loud pops and do not resemble the sound at the end of "Gotta Broken Heart Again." Gunshots often sound like firecrackers going off. Maybe your right, but the noise at the end of the song doesn't sound like any gunshot I've heard in my life. It's never even occurred to me all these years to think that's a gun shot. I do not take this in any way as a reference to homicide or suicide.

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"I Would Die 4 U" is him singing from the perspective of Jesus, who died (was murdered on the cross) for other people's sins. It's a song about personal sacrifice. Not suicide.

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According to Morris Hayes, Prince wrote "Face Down" following a conversation between the two about a particularly negative critical review and Hayes telling Prince the NPG could be buried face down and naysayers could kiss all their asses on the way out. Prince found this to be hysterically funny and was inspired to write it into a song. "Face Down" doesn't have anything to do with suicide or even tragic death. Generally speaking, it's about defiance.

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In "Goodbye" he does mention suicide but in a romantic sense, taking his love and heartache to extremes, similar to how he does when he exclaimes in "Adore" that "until the end of time, I'll be there for you." He might have felt like that in the moment, but not necessarily planning to actually be in his lover's life until the end of all time. It's said for effect. When he fell in love, he fell hard. So I have never taken seriously the suicide reference in "Goodbye". He's heartbroken but not at all what I would think of as a debilitating depression or pain that he would extinguish his own life over. He was deeply religious for decades and if I understand correctly, Christian faith and the Jehovah Witness faiths I think both disapprove (putting it mildly) of suicide. He had much too close and lasting of a relationship with God to take his life. I'm convinced of that.

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[Edited 1/28/18 0:20am]

^agree. i don't believe he would ever have committed suicide

TheEnglishGent said:

SoulAlive said:

so are you saying that this entire performance (from September 1983) never happened?

You really shouldn't believe everything your eyes see. Some things aren't actually real.

So,just to be clear......that September 1983 James Brown concert,where he invited Michael Jackson and Prince onstage,never happened,right? The video is fake...is that correct? Is that what you're saying?

SoulAlive said:

rdhull said:

SoulAlive said:

So,just to be clear......that September 1983 James Brown concert,where he invited Michael Jackson and Prince onstage,never happened,right? The video is fake...is that correct? Is that what you're saying?

Yep

Absolutely. ^

rdhull said:

SoulAlive said:

So,just to be clear......that September 1983 James Brown concert,where he invited Michael Jackson and Prince onstage,never happened,right? The video is fake...is that correct? Is that what you're saying?

Yep

What makes you think its fake?

jazzvirtuoso said:

rdhull said:

SoulAlive said: Yep

What makes you think its fake?

I dont think it's fake, I KNOW it's fake.

u do know theres susceptible people on here who actually believe what they read????