I thought Batdance, Partyman, and most of the videos for Diamonds & Pearls were pretty great. Performance videos, yes, but nonetheless they helped defined the era he was in.
feeluupp said:
TrivialPursuit said:
I hate the song. Maybe I've always heard versions that raked on me. I think Joan Jett did a version that I despised. But Prince really made me love his version. I was truly hesitant when I saw it on the tracklist back then. But ol' boy pulled in me.
Regarding feeluupp's comment: For Prince's cheaptastic approach to videos, "Chocolate Box" is fair-to-middling, at best. It's like the outtakes of a superhero movie crossed with "The Knowledge" by Janet Jackson mashed into a video.
I definitely agree, and have stated here, that the vast majority of Prince videos are simply performance videos. Really boring, ultimately. Watching "Sexuality" isn't much different than "Uptown" or "1999". Close ups, emoting, pouting, band shots, bright lights - done. LRC is the same, but it's slightly better because it's on film and he's wearing jeans (we wouldn't see him in denim again until 1987/8). Even Purple Rain videos are either big advertisements for the movie, or a performance video. And granted, it was nice to see Prince in concert for those who hadn't before, but after a while - blah. "Raspberry Beret" was fun, but womp womp, we're onto other performances or movie promos for a while. I remember all the hype and fun around Emancipation, then stuff like "Somebody's Somebody" was just a collage of other stuff. Even a bop like "Guitar" leaves little to pull inspiration from. (The T-Mobile ad was arguably more interesting than the video on YouTube.)
Agree with you... While many fams will jump to defense stating, glad he spent more time on the music than the video... No one denies Prince's passion and priority for the music... He just always had a not so great visual aspect when it came to videos and promotion... Funny thing is, I bet the biggest budget "video" he ever shot, was probably the Lotusflow3r promo for TARGET... Yes he has a few classic music videos, but in general his music videos were really below his standards, as with many of his album cover art especially after the early 90's... I mean lets not talk that word art font for Musicology.
I thought Batdance, Partyman, and most of the videos for Diamonds & Pearls were pretty great. Performance videos, yes, but nonetheless they helped defined the era he was in.
I can get with that. "Partyman" is actually a favorite, and I loved "Batdance" when it came out. And "Cream" was certainly a bop with a sexy video. It was a performance, but certainly went past the usual stage setup. "Diamonds and Pearls" was pretty. "Gett Off" was fun. So yeah, there are pluses throughout, but the bigger majority of them really lack significant impact on music video culture. His long-form stuff only set to bankrupt those behind the camera. He was defined by his music, not his videos. No one was running to MTV to watch anything of his before "When Doves Cry".
You can say that, but the bitch is still here 35+ years later.
I wasn't talking about anyone in particular. Unfortunately, many celebrities fit into that category.
Well, Madonna was mentioned, so...
And a lot of these little chickas won't last nearly as long with their garageband bullshit. I think I'm more upset with radio promoting it and record companies pushing it.
I thought Batdance, Partyman, and most of the videos for Diamonds & Pearls were pretty great. Performance videos, yes, but nonetheless they helped defined the era he was in.
feeluupp said:
Agree with you... While many fams will jump to defense stating, glad he spent more time on the music than the video... No one denies Prince's passion and priority for the music... He just always had a not so great visual aspect when it came to videos and promotion... Funny thing is, I bet the biggest budget "video" he ever shot, was probably the Lotusflow3r promo for TARGET... Yes he has a few classic music videos, but in general his music videos were really below his standards, as with many of his album cover art especially after the early 90's... I mean lets not talk that word art font for Musicology.
I think videos like BATDANACE and PARTYMAN are the exact kind of videos MADONNA implied they were silly and cheap for an artist of Prince's caliber...
I thought Batdance, Partyman, and most of the videos for Diamonds & Pearls were pretty great. Performance videos, yes, but nonetheless they helped defined the era he was in.
I think videos like BATDANACE and PARTYMAN are the exact kind of videos MADONNA implied they were silly and cheap for an artist of Prince's caliber...
'silly' and 'cheap' are relative. if prince, the artist/musician, had zero interest in the production of these things and didn't feel they were necessary to fulfill his artistic intention, then i'm sure they were considered by him to be a rather costly expense. although probably still silly.
prince, the (not terribly talented) business man, probably saw them as a necessary expense and so was willing to spend the time and money to provide them. he did them on the cheap. and silly. cuz he might've thought them silly.
but that's the spectrum you should be considering. prince was not a video artist.
I've always found it a little odd that Prince videos get slated when many of them are exceptional.
Madonna was reference in this thread - a vast number of Madonna videos are some of the greatest of all time and certainly a body of work to be proud of.
Herb Ritts directed Cherish - one of my all time favouite music videos. Prince was very lucky to work with Jean Baptiste Mondino who direct I Wish U Heaven.
Sometimes similicity can be stunning and beautiful. The cinematography in Scandalous is beautiful and draws in the viewer.
Budgets were mentioned in this thread. On a standard form contract video production costs are 50% recoupable. Naturally Prince went on to make many of this own videos (maybe at his own cost) as I felt he saw this as an extension of the music.
It is down to these and many more great videos that enthused me to pursue a career in music video production.
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Thank you for sharing