NorthC said:

Yeah, Britpop was a hype back then, especially in the British music press, which created a whole Blur vs Oasis battle. When Terence Trent d'Arby became famous, he knew it wouldn't last forever and he said something like: "I realize the British music press creates a new star every six months." The same thing happened with Britpop. Personally, I don't think any of it has stood the test of time very well, but 90s music, whether it's grunge or r&b or nu soul just never moved me... [Edited 6/2/18 15:24pm]

Oasis and Blur made a few albums with no clunkers. I'd say Parklife has no songs I skip and Definitely Maybe is enjoyable from start to finish. The first Elastica cd is also a nonclunker. When the record industry just started to sign everyone. There were some other ace bands, Supergrass, Pulp were damn good. Some bands that got signed were as well brilliant but pissed it away, Marion comes to mind. Sleeper was another band with potential. The band influenced by all this that would come along later I like called Kaiser Chiefs. The scene was not unlike Seattle where everyone was getting signed, so there is a lot of mediocre music but some gems. I think Parklife still holds up well and first few Oasis albums, Elastica's first, Pulp's "Different Class" and the first Supergrass but Blur and Oasis probably take the cake.

MMJas said:

"If I’ve invited someone to my studio, they’re my guest, and there aren’t any conditions like that."

That's a shame, I think Damon is great. But I would not let anyone smoke in my house or in my office, so he is/was wrong and stupid. My house, my rules.

When you are a guest there ARE conditions, you are supposed to behave according to your host's wishes, no? I mean, my friend's twins have started crawling around the house and she does not allow anyone to come in the house with their shoes on. I abide.

The best part of it is that he actually gave up smoking. Hahahahahaa!

[Edited 6/3/18 2:22am]

Well yeah, your house your rules, Damon is aware of that and he's also aware that if he couldn't have a smoke at the time he would have been useless and an annoyance and nothing good would come of it.

He has a point as well, you invite someone to play with you and you invite them, not them with a bunch of rules changing who they are.

They both had their point of principle on how to work and fair play to them for both sticking to them.

Funkyalien said:

I bet Damon's gonna be kicking himself forever for this one I love him though, haven't really listened to Blur yet but Gorillaz has been a favorite band of mine for years. Sucks that he didn't get to collaborate with Prince, but it's not like there has been any shortage of revered musicians working with his band.

i don't really see what the big deal is, all of us know prince could be a prick but really, no one allows smoking inside anymore in my city, no one but smokers. Is this different in the uk? personally, i can think of a million other things Prince did that he should have been ashamed of but this isn't one of them.

also, i listened to some of their music, good stuff, great videos, lots of work went into them.

Wow, one can only imagine what it would have been like if Damon and Prince could have share a moment like this one...

SuperFurryAnimal said:

NorthC said:

Yeah, Britpop was a hype back then, especially in the British music press, which created a whole Blur vs Oasis battle. When Terence Trent d'Arby became famous, he knew it wouldn't last forever and he said something like: "I realize the British music press creates a new star every six months." The same thing happened with Britpop. Personally, I don't think any of it has stood the test of time very well, but 90s music, whether it's grunge or r&b or nu soul just never moved me... [Edited 6/2/18 15:24pm]

Oasis and Blur made a few albums with no clunkers. I'd say Parklife has no songs I skip and Definitely Maybe is enjoyable from start to finish. The first Elastica cd is also a nonclunker. When the record industry just started to sign everyone. There were some other ace bands, Supergrass, Pulp were damn good. Some bands that got signed were as well brilliant but pissed it away, Marion comes to mind. Sleeper was another band with potential. The band influenced by all this that would come along later I like called Kaiser Chiefs. The scene was not unlike Seattle where everyone was getting signed, so there is a lot of mediocre music but some gems. I think Parklife still holds up well and first few Oasis albums, Elastica's first, Pulp's "Different Class" and the first Supergrass but Blur and Oasis probably take the cake.

There were more decent bands emerging from UK in 90s than there were even in the 60s. It was like a second golden age. And for a time around '94 Blur were the biggest UK band. For me, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, the Manics are very good bands but greatness is how many great albums you do. And so by that yardstick, Britpop is overrated. My two faves are the Boo Radleys and Super Furry Animals (the Furries a band btw Damon is in awe of) but are they really Britpop? After all, it's not so much a sound; more a cultural phenomenon. But they did big pop singles, big clothes, even bigger attitude. And the US's popular bands like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins weren't even attempting pop.

Would have been interesting to hear what they would have came up with.
But I understand both their points, Prince obviously didn't like smokers stinking up his studio, which I can fully relate to, but I also understand that Albarn would get itchy and short fused without his nicotine shot and as a guest he should have respected the hosts wishes and I doubt Prince would have chastized him for going outside for a smoke, maybe tease him but Prince was a wellknown gracious host to the people he invited over.

I'm torn about this, but usually land on the side of Prince.

On a similar note: about 10 years ago we invited my dad (who was a bit of a "tough guy") to our new house. Our ground floor is all hardwood and tile, with area rugs. We let him keep his shoes on for that, but made him take them off to go upstairs where it was all newly carpeted.

Let me tell you - I'll never forget the look on his face. He did it that one time - begrudgingly - and I don't honestly think he was ever inside of our house again. That was off putting to him, which I imagine is how Damon Albarn felt.

fortuneandserendipity said:

SuperFurryAnimal said:

Oasis and Blur made a few albums with no clunkers. I'd say Parklife has no songs I skip and Definitely Maybe is enjoyable from start to finish. The first Elastica cd is also a nonclunker. When the record industry just started to sign everyone. There were some other ace bands, Supergrass, Pulp were damn good. Some bands that got signed were as well brilliant but pissed it away, Marion comes to mind. Sleeper was another band with potential. The band influenced by all this that would come along later I like called Kaiser Chiefs. The scene was not unlike Seattle where everyone was getting signed, so there is a lot of mediocre music but some gems. I think Parklife still holds up well and first few Oasis albums, Elastica's first, Pulp's "Different Class" and the first Supergrass but Blur and Oasis probably take the cake.

There were more decent bands emerging from UK in 90s than there were even in the 60s. It was like a second golden age. And for a time around '94 Blur were the biggest UK band. For me, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, the Manics are very good bands but greatness is how many great albums you do. And so by that yardstick, Britpop is overrated. My two faves are the Boo Radleys and Super Furry Animals (the Furries a band btw Damon is in awe of) but are they really Britpop? After all, it's not so much a sound; more a cultural phenomenon. But they did big pop singles, big clothes, even bigger attitude. And the US's popular bands like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins weren't even attempting pop.

I like all them except Radiohead. What Blur was like on first crappy album was a lot different than what they were live. They were loud, rude, like hearing the Who play a small club on the first shows in USA. I think that happened a lot with britpop that these bands could tear it up live but where cultivated to sound more pop in the studio. Blur were more intolerable dickheads when they started. I would bet though Prince knew about them around Parklife era. Seattle bands that took over I never cared as much for, for example I think the Lemonheads were a better band than Nirvana. I like most of the "alternative" music pre Seattle guitar rock.

rogifan said:

Funkyalien said:

While i personally care about prince’s music more, i think he was being a prick as usual. Albarn has been more relevant than prince for the past two decades if not more. Prince should have realized he was working with another artist, not a lackey or protege. It’s not about smoking, it’s about prince exerting control. And albarn would have non of it, and justifiably so. God knows how many chances prince friterred away to bring some oomph in his sound in his post-80s years.

You’re trolling, right?

Neversin said:

Fucking hell, the idiocy of people on this site is staggering...
The guy didn't want to be a fucking retard in front of Prince while working with him... What's not there to understand??

It's like one of those dumbfuck alcoholics being denied a drink while hobbying around, I don't know about people on here, but deny someone their weak-minded adopted addictions and they turn into fucking retarded cunts and that is obviously not what this guy wanted, especially around someone like Prince...

Neversin.

I get the part about him not wanting to offend Prince. What I can't get - and obviously because I am not a smoker and never have been - is that apparently the need/urge to smoke is so strong that when presented with the opportunity to work with the world's greatest musician OR smoke, smoking wins.

Now, although I've never smoked I am absolutely positively convinced based on the smell of cigarettes that they taste like shit. They HAVE to, because they absolutely SMELL like shit. So there's something else about cigarettes that makes them more attractive to this guy than the opportunity of a lifetime.

That's the part I can't wrap my brain around.

ya, i'm a lifelong seattleite, never did like the grunge movement, i knew many of those types of musicians and they'd ostracize me because i wanted nothing to do with their habits. I thought cobain was actually a decent songwriter but I never liked that sloppy, dishevelled, smartassed shit, never. That's purely a white boy thing, us folks from the black side of town didn't grow up backtalking every authority figure starting with our parents, we just didn't and it's hard to be around people who had so much arrogance. They just didn't live very healthily, did self destructive things, one of the more promising bands "the gits" had a lead singer wander off, likely drunk, into the seattle night and was murdered by a cuban exile. Many od'd, others have had health problems like cancer which i don't know if they were related to their lifestyles or not, but we're all old now and that's not a lifestyle that looks good on the old. edit; billy corgan said something recently about Cobain, that the sloppy, out of it look was calculated and that cobain did it to appeal to a market, he knew cobain and said he was very different in real life. still, from where me and my friends come from, he just looked whiny and narcisstic, we used to shake our heads watching them, we didn't get them at all, our thoughts were "they don't know what real oppression even looks like".

SuperFurryAnimal said:

fortuneandserendipity said:

There were more decent bands emerging from UK in 90s than there were even in the 60s. It was like a second golden age. And for a time around '94 Blur were the biggest UK band. For me, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, the Manics are very good bands but greatness is how many great albums you do. And so by that yardstick, Britpop is overrated. My two faves are the Boo Radleys and Super Furry Animals (the Furries a band btw Damon is in awe of) but are they really Britpop? After all, it's not so much a sound; more a cultural phenomenon. But they did big pop singles, big clothes, even bigger attitude. And the US's popular bands like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins weren't even attempting pop.

I like all them except Radiohead. What Blur was like on first crappy album was a lot different than what they were live. They were loud, rude, like hearing the Who play a small club on the first shows in USA. I think that happened a lot with britpop that these bands could tear it up live but where cultivated to sound more pop in the studio. Blur were more intolerable dickheads when they started. I would bet though Prince knew about them around Parklife era. Seattle bands that took over I never cared as much for, for example I think the Lemonheads were a better band than Nirvana. I like most of the "alternative" music pre Seattle guitar rock.

[Edited 6/4/18 11:45am]

NorthC said:

Addiction. That's your answer, Rodeo.

A great reason to outlaw tobacco, IMHO. It won't ever happen, but it would if I was the king.

Incredibly, we (the USA) would save more lives each year if we outlawed tobacco than if we outlawed all the guns. In the USA, about 12 times as many people die from smoking each year than from guns.

I was with you Pete, till you dissed Mia Zapata from the Gits wandering off drunk. Yeah, she was young and stupid but she was walking home when she got nailed by an itinerant serial rapist and murderer who was found years later through DNA. Cmon, don't think that was her fault.

RodeoSchro said:

How many collaborations with while, male Popstars did Prince do during his career? The answer is none. Smoking or not smoking this collaboration wouldn´t have happend anyway. Albarn has written some good songs and a collaboration could have been interesting but I guess it was just not Princes thing do collaborate with people like him which is a shame.

poppys said:

I was with you Pete, till you dissed Mia Zapata from the Gits wandering off drunk. Yeah, she was young and stupid but she was walking home when she got nailed by an itinerant serial rapist and murderer who was found years later through DNA. Cmon, don't think that was her fault.

it's sad, and i knew someone would come on here to say that, but just use your head, don't go walking around drunk in the middle of the night, it's just asking for trouble. YOU have to look out for yourself, all the "agendas" in the world are not going to be there helping you out when you're alone. I think different though, which is the same reason I never followed the crowd whether they thought drugs and drink were cool, being sloppy and stinky were cool, i never went with any of that shit. It's a loss, the gits had some marvelous music and Mia was a charismatic, loveable person, i'm not gloating over it, i'm just being realistic. Same with the druggies, i don't want to see them od, but be realistic, if you screw around with heroin it's a good possibility, just don't paint me as the bad guy when i tell you. Also, i heard a rumour, that Mia's "best friend" who i knew, had witnessed her being carried away and didn't report it because she was a heroin dealer, whether that's true or not i don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.

theplejades said:

How many collaborations with while, male Popstars did Prince do during his career? The answer is none. Smoking or not smoking this collaboration wouldn´t have happend anyway. Albarn has written some good songs and a collaboration could have been interesting but I guess it was just not Princes thing do collaborate with people like him which is a shame.

What? Now Prince banned smoking because the guy was white and he really didn't want to work with him - even tho he asked him? Yall crazy.

poppys said:

theplejades said:

How many collaborations with while, male Popstars did Prince do during his career? The answer is none. Smoking or not smoking this collaboration wouldn´t have happend anyway. Albarn has written some good songs and a collaboration could have been interesting but I guess it was just not Princes thing do collaborate with people like him which is a shame.

What? Now Prince banned smoking because the guy was white and he really didn't want to work with him - even tho he asked him? Yall crazy.

Not crazy at all. I think working with Prince was more wishful thinking on Albarns part because Prince never did these kind of collaborations. You should take this story with a grain of salt.

theplejades said:

poppys said:

What? Now Prince banned smoking because the guy was white and he really didn't want to work with him - even tho he asked him? Yall crazy.

Not crazy at all. I think working with Prince was more wishful thinking on Albarns part because Prince never did these kind of collaborations. You should take this story with a grain of salt.

Then you should have said that. Prince worked with plenty of white motherfuckers - as Miles Davis would say.

poppys said:

theplejades said:

Not crazy at all. I think working with Prince was more wishful thinking on Albarns part because Prince never did these kind of collaborations. You should take this story with a grain of salt.

Then you should have said that. Prince worked with plenty of white motherfuckers - as Miles Davis would say.

Yes of course he worked with white motherfuckers but not with those that were big stars. Maybe he feared the competition? I don´t know. At some point in time there were rumors about him working with Morrissey, Beck or Trent Reznor. We all know that never happend either.

NorthC said:

RodeoSchro said:

A great reason to outlaw tobacco, IMHO. It won't ever happen, but it would if I was the king.

Incredibly, we (the USA) would save more lives each year if we outlawed tobacco than if we outlawed all the guns. In the USA, about 12 times as many people die from smoking each year than from guns.

I'm with you, but of you outlaw it, it goes underground like the other drugs, so that's not the solution. It's better if you try to push it back as much as possible. Recently, a Dutch supermarket chain (Lidl) announced that they are going to stop selling tobacco. That's a better way to go.

Yes, BUT - you couldn't smoke in public (or dip or chew or anything having to do with smoking) or you would be arrested. It would be easy to arrest those who did. It would be OK if smoking was pushed underground and no one ever saw it again.

In my kingdom, this would include vaping and anything else that you inhale and then exhale smoke.

theplejades said:

poppys said:

Then you should have said that. Prince worked with plenty of white motherfuckers - as Miles Davis would say.

Yes of course he worked with white motherfuckers but not with those that were big stars. Maybe he feared the competition? I don´t know. At some point in time there were rumors about him working with Morrissey, Beck or Trent Reznor. We all know that never happend either.

Yeah, it's pretty common knowledge Prince would rather hang & work with women than men.

But dragging a pointedly racial fact into this thread - I'm gonna need a lot more than a couple of opinions, unless you were half-joking.

RodeoSchro said:

NorthC said:

Addiction. That's your answer, Rodeo.

A great reason to outlaw tobacco, IMHO. It won't ever happen, but it would if I was the king.

Incredibly, we (the USA) would save more lives each year if we outlawed tobacco than if we outlawed all the guns. In the USA, about 12 times as many people die from smoking each year than from guns.

Since tobacco has been banned in public places in Europe, you rarely see anyone smoke at all in the UK. I know people who used to be heavy smokers who have totally stopped now and when you see a person smoke in the street nowadays people tend to notice it more. It has become that rare. But it used to be quite different, especially in the nineties. Almost everyone my generation still smoked then.

Damon says in the video on that Pitchfork article that he has now knocked that particular habit on the head then displays a hint of regret when he says that this missed opportunity with Prince is one of many other things in his life that 'could've happened but didn't' because... of his problematic lifestyle (implied).

Damon is quite aware of these things that pulled him down and he has now come a long way from most of his addictions (which at one point included heroin). I think he was in the middle of the heroin phase around the time Prince invited him, which explains why the restriction sounded so challenging to him at the time.

[Edited 6/4/18 15:12pm]

NorthC said:

RodeoSchro said:

A great reason to outlaw tobacco, IMHO. It won't ever happen, but it would if I was the king.

Incredibly, we (the USA) would save more lives each year if we outlawed tobacco than if we outlawed all the guns. In the USA, about 12 times as many people die from smoking each year than from guns.

I'm with you, but of you outlaw it, it goes underground like the other drugs, so that's not the solution. It's better if you try to push it back as much as possible. Recently, a Dutch supermarket chain (Lidl) announced that they are going to stop selling tobacco. That's a better way to go.

That's a really good move from them! Lidl is German btw, not Dutch... We have them in the UK too.
I can't believe we are talking about Lidl on Prince.org

theplejades said:

poppys said:

Then you should have said that. Prince worked with plenty of white motherfuckers - as Miles Davis would say.

Yes of course he worked with white motherfuckers but not with those that were big stars. Maybe he feared the competition? I don´t know. At some point in time there were rumors about him working with Morrissey, Beck or Trent Reznor. We all know that never happend either.

The Trent Reznor thing was pretty big news around the time Come was released, so that was more than just a rumor. Prince wanted him to remix Loose. But Prince snubbed Reznor approached him to shake his hand an introduce himself and then Reznor did a 180 and that was that.
An asshole move from Prince, but somehow funny