Random question but was thinking about the song "It's Going To Be A Beautiful Night" - the howling "oh-we-oh, eh-ohhhhhhh-ha" at the beginning reminds me of the guards for the Wicked Witch of The West.

Also Prince made a song called "Superfunkcalifragisexy" - I'm sure you know which Mary Poppins tune that was inspired by.

Just imagning Prince enjoying these family movies then composing songs based from them... is quirky, actually.

Thoughts?

Well... what American kid in the 60's (and even 70's like me) wouldn't have heard and seen those films? Pop culture. Although George Clinton might have grabbed the Mary Poppins idea first... thus double light bulbs in Prince's head.

Dr. Seuss, too.

"Don't wait for your neighbor, Green Eggs And Ham!!"

I mean, y'all act like Prince was raised in a cult or on an Amish ranch or something. There is nothing to indicate that he wasn't sitting in front of a TV with Tyka or anyone else and watching The Wizard of Oz or Mary Poppings, or even The Sound of Music around Christmas. If he was as musical as the folklore says at so young, then why wouldn' he be sitting in front of a musical on television with his family?

TrivialPursuit said:

SoftSkarlettLovisa said:

Random question but was thinking about the song "It's Going To Be A Beautiful Night" - the howling "oh-we-oh, eh-ohhhhhhh-ha" at the beginning reminds me of the guards for the Wicked Witch of The West.

Also Prince made a song called "Superfunkcalifragisexy" - I'm sure you know which Mary Poppins tune that was inspired by.

Just imagning Prince enjoying these family movies then composing songs based from them... is quirky, actually.

Thoughts?

You must not have been around in the 80's, he put references of the wizard in lots of things, the most obvious to me was the Ooo-eee-oooo-oooo- 0000 from the movie that he put in Beautiful night. I think the reference to "the witches curse" in dorothy parker might have been from WOO too, but that's only what i heard. Then we have I'm melting melting from "i wanna melt with u". I'd say he loved it.

he seemed to really love fantastical shit, barbarella, he referenced the matrix before, he loved films overrall, he referenced wall street in a RS interview. I wonder where he found time to watch all those movies. I watch a lot of movies but I doubt if i watch as many as him.

ufoclub said:

Well... what American kid in the 60's (and even 70's like me) wouldn't have heard and seen those films? Pop culture.

Yeah. Plus, Judy Garland's from Minnesota too and he had her posters up on the wall.

EmmaMcG said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I mean, y'all act like Prince was raised in a cult or on an Amish ranch or something. There is nothing to indicate that he wasn't sitting in front of a TV with Tyka or anyone else and watching The Wizard of Oz or Mary Poppings, or even The Sound of Music around Christmas. If he was as musical as the folklore says at so young, then why wouldn' he be sitting in front of a musical on television with his family?

That's correct. He didn't join the cult until he was older

TrivialPursuit said:

I mean, y'all act like Prince was raised in a cult or on an Amish ranch or something. There is nothing to indicate that he wasn't sitting in front of a TV with Tyka or anyone else and watching The Wizard of Oz or Mary Poppings, or even The Sound of Music around Christmas. If he was as musical as the folklore says at so young, then why wouldn' he be sitting in front of a musical on television with his family?

No kidding. The Wizard of Oz was shown every year on TV, fer cryin' out loud. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music both came out when Prince was 7. These things were part of pop culture when he was a kid, along with The Flintstones and Batman - both of which were primetime TV shows in the 60s. (The Batman theme was the first song Prince taught himself to play on the piano.)

Genesia said:

No kidding. The Wizard of Oz was shown every year on TV, fer cryin' out loud. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music both came out when Prince was 7. These things were part of pop culture when he was a kid, along with The Flintstones and Batman - both of which were primetime TV shows in the 60s.

We had a B&W TV and would go to one of our grandparent's house to watch it in color. I used to get up on Saturday's at 7am to watch the Pink Panther. My mom hated that it was the only day I wanted to get up early to do anything. I'd make myself cereal and watch Pinkie. I was still rather young when the TV finally went out and we bought a brand new Zenith from Mathis Bros. in Oklahoma City. Like most TVs in the 70s and 80s, it ended up with a pair of vice grips on it. But it was nice to see Oz in color.

TrivialPursuit said:

In an old interview from the 90s,Prince defended his Graffiti Bridge movie:

"It was one of the purest,most spiritual things I've ever done.Maybe it will take people 30 years to get it.They trashed 'The Wizard Of Oz' at first,too"

also, i always thought "the greatest romance ever sold" was a spin on the biblical, the greatest story ever told. dude loved movies, even in 85, he was stealing moves from old 30's films in his dances and referencing clara bow, chaplin, bela lugosi and on and on, like i say, i don't know how he found time to watch all that, and many of those people were never on tv when i was a kid, clara bow, i had no clue who she was. and many of his dance moves and idiosyncratic poses, i would wonder how he came up with the shit only to find them on cable channels playing old musical/jazz shorts.

PeteSilas said:

paulludvig said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I mean, y'all act like Prince was raised in a cult or on an Amish ranch or something. There is nothing to indicate that he wasn't sitting in front of a TV with Tyka or anyone else and watching The Wizard of Oz or Mary Poppings, or even The Sound of Music around Christmas. If he was as musical as the folklore says at so young, then why wouldn' he be sitting in front of a musical on television with his family?

Why do the above posts suggest Prince was raised in a cult?

I never said he was raised anything other than normal. What I said was that the OP's question seemed ill-informed and vacant of logic.

The lyrics from 100MPH about Dorothy making love to the lion or something like that

I think there is something on the Family album that references The Wizard of Oz too

TrivialPursuit said:

paulludvig said:

TrivialPursuit said: Why do the above posts suggest Prince was raised in a cult?

I never said he was raised anything other than normal. What I said was that the OP's question seemed ill-informed and vacant of logic.

I still don't get it. The OP asked if Prince liked The wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. Some people provided examples of references to those movies in his songs. Your response: "y'all act like Prince was raised in a cult or on an Amish ranch or something", Why did you make that comment?

paulludvig said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I never said he was raised anything other than normal. What I said was that the OP's question seemed ill-informed and vacant of logic.

I still don't get it. The OP asked if Prince liked The wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins. Some people provided examples of references to those movies in his songs. Your response: "y'all act like Prince was raised in a cult or on an Amish ranch or something", Why did you make that comment?

Seriously? It's hyperbole based on the fact that some people seem to think Prince didn't live in the real world - or that he didn't have the "normal" childhood experiences of anyone growing up in Minnesota or the midwest in the 1960s.

Cults and Amish communities keep themselves isolated. Being raised on one of those is the only way Prince would not have known about the usual things anyone who was a kid in the 60s would have taken as commonplace.

Get it?

TrivialPursuit said:

Genesia said:

No kidding. The Wizard of Oz was shown every year on TV, fer cryin' out loud. Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music both came out when Prince was 7. These things were part of pop culture when he was a kid, along with The Flintstones and Batman - both of which were primetime TV shows in the 60s.

We had a B&W TV and would go to one of our grandparent's house to watch it in color. I used to get up on Saturday's at 7am to watch the Pink Panther. My mom hated that it was the only day I wanted to get up early to do anything. I'd make myself cereal and watch Pinkie. I was still rather young when the TV finally went out and we bought a brand new Zenith from Mathis Bros. in Oklahoma City. Like most TVs in the 70s and 80s, it ended up with a pair of vice grips on it. But it was nice to see Oz in color.

Anyone who grew up in the 70s and 80s did that. We would wake up at 7am on Saturday to watch cartoons with a bowl cereal, then watch Soul Train at 11 or 12, then went outside to play. Fall season was the best time because all the new cartoons would premiere. I checked out some the cartoons we would watch on youtube. Man, they're terrible. LOL It was all canned animation and scripts.

I recall in one song, Prince said someone looked like Ben Casey from the 60s medical show. And Jerome referenced the Groovie Ghoulies in the Girls and Boys video.

lrn36 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

We had a B&W TV and would go to one of our grandparent's house to watch it in color. I used to get up on Saturday's at 7am to watch the Pink Panther. My mom hated that it was the only day I wanted to get up early to do anything. I'd make myself cereal and watch Pinkie. I was still rather young when the TV finally went out and we bought a brand new Zenith from Mathis Bros. in Oklahoma City. Like most TVs in the 70s and 80s, it ended up with a pair of vice grips on it. But it was nice to see Oz in color.

Anyone who grew up in the 70s and 80s did that. We would wake up at 7am on Saturday to watch cartoons with a bowl cereal, then watch Soul Train at 11 or 12, then went outside to play. Fall season was the best time because all the new cartoons would premiere. I checked out some the cartoons we would watch on youtube. Man, they're terrible. LOL It was all canned animation and scripts.

I recall in one song, Prince said someone looked like Ben Casey from the 60s medical show. And Jerome referenced the Groovie Ghoulies in the Girls and Boys video.

They always had an hour of Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny, etc.) on Saturday mornings. We ALWAYS watched that (unless we had a diving meet or something).

60s kids were in front of the TV whenever there was TV to watch - because TV wasn't a 24-hour-a-day thing back then. Most stations went on the air around 6 a.m. and went off at midnight (1 a.m. at the latest). Remember test patterns and "snow"?

SoftSkarlettLovisa said:

Random question but was thinking about the song "It's Going To Be A Beautiful Night" - the howling "oh-we-oh, eh-ohhhhhhh-ha" at the beginning reminds me of the guards for the Wicked Witch of The West.

Also Prince made a song called "Superfunkcalifragisexy" - I'm sure you know which Mary Poppins tune that was inspired by.

Just imagning Prince enjoying these family movies then composing songs based from them... is quirky, actually.

Thoughts?

I thought he overused the song for the guards for the Wicked Witch of the West. And once it's sung you can't get the friggin' tune out of your head!

Thanks for bringing back the memories Genesia. I do remember all of the cartoons, test patterns, snow. The Wizard of Oz is my favourite movie and any spiritual sensitive souls will agree on it's beauty. I absolutely loved Graffiti Bridge as well and totally appreciate the purity of it that Prince mentions. All beautiful dancers love the Hollywood movies of the past, they are inspirational... Prince was an exceptional dancer, far more skilled than most people realise. His pirouettes were consistently 'on' and he was always centred. From a professional Ballet Dancer's perspective he was perfection!

ballerinaL said:

Thanks for bringing back the memories Genesia. I do remember all of the cartoons, test patterns, snow. The Wizard of Oz is my favourite movie and any spiritual sensitive souls will agree on it's beauty. I absolutely loved Graffiti Bridge as well and totally appreciate the purity of it that Prince mentions. All beautiful dancers love the Hollywood movies of the past, they are inspirational... Prince was an exceptional dancer, far more skilled than most people realise. His pirouettes were consistently 'on' and he was always centred. From a professional Ballet Dancer's perspective he was perfection!

my focus was Modern and i would agree with you that he was consistant. I do think that he didn't

treat his bodily instrument with the most longterm regard with some of his moves. Do you ever wonder how extensive his warm up was pre show?

purplefam99 said:

ballerinaL said:

Thanks for bringing back the memories Genesia. I do remember all of the cartoons, test patterns, snow. The Wizard of Oz is my favourite movie and any spiritual sensitive souls will agree on it's beauty. I absolutely loved Graffiti Bridge as well and totally appreciate the purity of it that Prince mentions. All beautiful dancers love the Hollywood movies of the past, they are inspirational... Prince was an exceptional dancer, far more skilled than most people realise. His pirouettes were consistently 'on' and he was always centred. From a professional Ballet Dancer's perspective he was perfection!

my focus was Modern and i would agree with you that he was consistant. I do think that he didn't

treat his bodily instrument with the most longterm regard with some of his moves. Do you ever wonder how extensive his warm up was pre show?

I think this was one of the things he kept really private. The Lovesexy 'behind the scenes' video shows him 'on a mission' making his way to the stage and extending his arms to an open fifth while executing a kick developpe devant. Gorgeous. His back and pelvic posture was stunning (required technique for playing piano) and he always maintained a strong core. His musculature was long, powerful and lean, legs were firm, well built and strong, he had a lovely long neck. He probably would have had an excellent turnout. I believe he would have been a beautiful ballet dancer if that's what he'd wanted to do.

ballerinaL said:

i'm not dance expert but as good as Prince was and I think he was excellent, I can see the difference between he and pros. My grandma was a ballet teacher, i like to think i picked up my musical creativity from her even though I never picked up a love for ballet at the time, I kinda like dance in general though. Maybe if she'd have spent more time with me I'd have learned some. I was a fighter as a young man and that really isn't that much different on a needing coordination basis than a dancer.