I've always thought prince was massively influenced by glam rock specifically the look ive seen pictures of marc bolan and prince wearing almost identical clothes I can also hear it in some of his music yet Ive never heard prince himself mention it as an influence in any interviews. I dont think im alone in this view.

I was thinking something similiar about Elvis Presley & his influence on P.

Considering Cream is just Bang a Gong (Get It On) by T. Rex all the way down to specific lyrics, not to mention his documented appreciation for David Bowie I would say there was a very strong connection.

He stopped being glam in the 90s. He went more towards commercial rock, new jack swing with a purple twist.

There's a lineage with these things. Adam Ant was also a Bolan fan, wore ribbons in his hair, make up, Prince did too, MJ just stole Adams military Jackets. they both stole from Rick James. Hell Rick, Adam and Prince all enjoyed Vanity's company! Nothing new under the sun. Was listening to Gary Numan the other night, thought hang on, the synths on 1999 sound like this. Happens all the time with me. I know what people liked to take pieces and ideas from.

steakfinger said:

I always saw Prince as upgraded version of Marc Bolan. No other male artist could pull off swagger & mystique of that caliber. David Bowie and Bryan Ferry were tall and clumsy for that, Adam Ant was sweet but lack talent too keep it.

[Edited 2/8/18 10:41am]

purplemist7777 said:

steakfinger said:

Considering Cream is just Bang a Gong (Get It On) by T. Rex all the way down to specific lyrics, not to mention his documented appreciation for David Bowie I would say there was a very strong connection.

I watched the David Bowie Last 5 Years HBO doc n they showed a pic of David performing in 1970...cape, underpants and boots to his knees....I think Prince looked way back for inspiration.

Prince would have been a young man when Bowie was really happening in the glam biz. Prince didn't have to look way back cuz he lived through it and was freaked out by Bowie just like everyone else. Prince lived through it and saw it happening. I recall an interview where the person was heaping praise on Prince for reinventing himself and saying no one has done it like him. Prince's response was, "Well, there's David Bowie."

stpaisios said:

I always saw Prince as upgraded version of Marc Bolan. No other male artist could pull off swagger & mystique of that caliber. David Bowie and Bryan Ferry were tall and clumsy for that, Adam Ant was sweet but lack talent too keep it.

I wouldn't say Marc Bolan was too talented, but he def was compared to Adam Ant.

Marc Bolan and T-Rex.

Blast from the past!

He was a "29" also.

I have a feeling he probably wasn't all that aware of the glam rock stuff happening at the time, particularly Bowie. It probably was too weird for 1970s Minnesota. I mean, I'm sure as he got older, and his music knowledge became wider, he knew about the glam scene for sure, but I think he takes his "glam" from funk. I mean take a look at any Parliament/Earth Wind and Fire concert, that's straight up glam, just different music.

khill95 said:

I have a feeling he probably wasn't all that aware of the glam rock stuff happening at the time, particularly Bowie. It probably was too weird for 1970s Minnesota. I mean, I'm sure as he got older, and his music knowledge became wider, he knew about the glam scene for sure, but I think he takes his "glam" from funk. I mean take a look at any Parliament/Earth Wind and Fire concert, that's straight up glam, just different music.

I thought P and other musicians from Minnesota said there werent any black stations growing up (or maybe only one black station), and they grew up listening to all the white radio stations?

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

khill95 said:

I have a feeling he probably wasn't all that aware of the glam rock stuff happening at the time, particularly Bowie. It probably was too weird for 1970s Minnesota. I mean, I'm sure as he got older, and his music knowledge became wider, he knew about the glam scene for sure, but I think he takes his "glam" from funk. I mean take a look at any Parliament/Earth Wind and Fire concert, that's straight up glam, just different music.

I thought P and other musicians from Minnesota said there werent any black stations growing up (or maybe only one black station), and they grew up listening to all the white radio stations?

Yeah, I had heard that also. Maybe he listened to "WLS" Chicago too like we did late at night on the radio! Talk about a influence on your musical tastes.

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

khill95 said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

I thought P and other musicians from Minnesota said there werent any black stations growing up (or maybe only one black station), and they grew up listening to all the white radio stations?

They probably went to the record store in their neighborhood. And i could be totally wrong, but midwestern America seems more like an Aerosmith/Fleetwood Mac kind of place than a Bowie place.

Acutally, (now showing my age and location) back then we gave everything a go. Someone would have a new album, a group of us would lock ourselves away for 2 hours or so and listen to both sides twice at least. There were no video games or MTV back then. The more "Out There" it was sometimes the better we liked it...playing it loud to annoy our folks. My sister and I almost wore out the Doors album we had, also the single "Crimson & Clover"! Ah, the skips and scratches on our albums.

khill95 said:

ISaidLifeIsJustAGame said:

I thought P and other musicians from Minnesota said there werent any black stations growing up (or maybe only one black station), and they grew up listening to all the white radio stations?

They probably went to the record store in their neighborhood. And i could be totally wrong, but midwestern America seems more like an Aerosmith/Fleetwood Mac kind of place than a Bowie place.

I'm from the midwest and we listened to all music including TRex.