Musician9 said:

PeteSilas said:

i can't tell what you mean?

I think what he means is if you think that's the hardest thing you've ever had to play you might want to consider taking lessons or a break, not being mean, but shite, nothing complicated here, brah, you speak of it as it if it's fekin mozart or bach, it's as basic as it gets, and yes, the solo is spilced together, you can hear it at the mid-mark, no big deal there, it's still simple as hell on guitar. can't imagine it being any harder on keys either, maybe I'll give it a whirl...

i don't play guitar, i play keys,if it's not that hard, if you're really that good, why don't you show us a vid of your skills mr. legend in his own mind. I'll give you credit if you blow my mind.

[Edited 6/1/19 15:55pm]

Musician9 said:

bonatoc said:

What an ignorant statement.

He chose musicians and collaborators he got affinities, good feelings with.
And where does the vast majority of his musicians originate from?

He needed emotional security, it has been stated over and over.
Just because Vanity was hot doesn't mean Brenda is (sorry Brenda).
Abilities came second ("anybody can sing"), spirit, drive came first.
He made bands out of his friends, not because of their looks.
The rest is simply make-up and hairdo.

Oh, pardon me, you were implying Carmen Electra is a musician?

Does 3rdEyeGirl look like models to you?
Tommy Barbarella may have been fine-looking,
but he sure is a heck of a keyboard player.

As for stating that Prince HAD TO do punch-ins, you've clearly never made a studio recording.
Go back to Cubase or something. A home studio ain't a studio.

And what a big joke you are with your "couldn't play it the same live".
There's a "Purple Rain" in Milan where he plays the record solo note for note, and it's one of many examples (a late reprise of "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad" does the same).
He simply could have if he wanted to.

You're the classic wannabe musician who feels qualified to make statement about Prince musicanship. Your kind is all over the org.
Just sayin'.

[Edited 6/1/19 4:38am]

ah, Boney, the non-musician, true, Tomy Barbarella is a good keyboard player, no Carmen Electra is not a musician, just like you, and yes he does do punch-ins, everyone does, you're just a fan, boyo, this topic is for players, not dreamers, move along to threads involving wardrobe or what if? scenarios...

there you go again, boney has some very valid things to say, we don't always agree but one thing we will agree on is that actual instrumental skill only means so much and for the kind of music that shapes cultures? It doesn't mean much at all, I could probably play guitar better than elvis in a month or two, does it mean anything as far as artistic merit? fuck no.

Musician9 said:

bonatoc said:

As for stating that Prince HAD TO do punch-ins, you've clearly never made a studio recording.
Go back to Cubase or something. A home studio ain't a studio.

ah, Boney, the non-musician, true, Tomy Barbarella is a good keyboard player, no Carmen Electra is not a musician, just like you, and yes he does do punch-ins, everyone does, you're just a fan, boyo, this topic is for players, not dreamers, move along to threads involving wardrobe or what if? scenarios...

I never said Prince doesn't do punch-ins, bozo.

You wrote "had to", implying Prince wasn't good enough to do solos in one take.
It has been documented that Purple Rain was the album to get the most studio work.

You (apparently) and I know that punch-ins in Prince's case were not about fixing errors, but rather about composing in real time. About getting the proper, definitive musical phrase on tape, to fix it forever on the recorded version of a song, that has to stand the test of time, ideally.

Next time you'll question my musicianship you'll get my axe in yo ass.

thebanishedone said:

no he never played guitar live on that song.and what Wendy played live on WDC is an abomination

bonatoc said:

Leave it to the orgers to slash poor, stadium unexperienced, twenty-two year old Wendy standing next to the best pop performer in the world and having to live up to one of the greatest solo guitarists ever (while he's on stage as you try to replicate what can't be).

But you all wouldn't have shit your pants now, would U.

[Edited 6/1/19 4:48am]

Maybe he shouldn't have put a "stadium unexperienced twenty-two year old" playing solos in stadiums then, but that's just me. We make excuses for everything nowadays it seems. I know you can never state anything remotely critical here without panties getting in bunches. I gave her props for being a great rhythm player (even though during the Parade Tour, Miko was the true secret weapon), but she wasn't cutting it on the lead front.

[Edited 6/2/19 4:24am]

droppingdishes said:

bonatoc said:

Leave it to the orgers to slash poor, stadium unexperienced, twenty-two year old Wendy standing next to the best pop performer in the world and having to live up to one of the greatest solo guitarists ever (while he's on stage as you try to replicate what can't be).

But you all wouldn't have shit your pants now, would U.

[Edited 6/1/19 4:48am]

Maybe he shouldn't have put a "stadium unexperienced twenty-two year old" playing solos in stadiums then, but that's just me. We make excuses for everything nowadays it seems. I know you can never state anything remotely critical here without panties getting in bunches. I gave her props for being a great rhythm player (even though during the Parade Tour, Miko was the true secret weapon), but she wasn't cutting it on the lead front.

[Edited 6/2/19 4:24am]

you have a point, but honestly, with that kind of fame and music, did any of the fans complain at the time? Some of the beatles live performances sound pretty rough, elvis' legendary 68 special, where he had to work himself hoarse was far from perfect. My panties wouldn't get bunched if I wore them, i get what you'[re saying, i'm just not sure how important it was. Prince obviously saw more value in w&l than everyone else did, so I assume him being a smart man, knew something we didn't.

PeteSilas said:

droppingdishes said:

Maybe he shouldn't have put a "stadium unexperienced twenty-two year old" playing solos in stadiums then, but that's just me. We make excuses for everything nowadays it seems. I know you can never state anything remotely critical here without panties getting in bunches. I gave her props for being a great rhythm player (even though during the Parade Tour, Miko was the true secret weapon), but she wasn't cutting it on the lead front.

[Edited 6/2/19 4:24am]

you have a point, but honestly, with that kind of fame and music, did any of the fans complain at the time? Some of the beatles live performances sound pretty rough, elvis' legendary 68 special, where he had to work himself hoarse was far from perfect. My panties wouldn't get bunched if I wore them, i get what you'[re saying, i'm just not sure how important it was. Prince obviously saw more value in w&l than everyone else did, so I assume him being a smart man, knew something we didn't.

Oh, I certainly wouldn't dispute that having W&L around paid dividend. But to put Wendy in the lead guitar spot was like asking a fish to climb a tree. Unfair, in many ways. She did her best, but none of her solos from 1983-86 sound like she's comfortable playing them, even simpler ones like Little Red Corvette.

[Edited 6/2/19 18:05pm]

I remember when I first saw Wendy perform the WDC solo on the Purple Rain tour . I was sitting in the 10th row in front of Pee Wee Herman...And a whose who of the biggest stars in entertainment.

[Edited 6/3/19 7:11am]

droppingdishes said:

PeteSilas said:

you have a point, but honestly, with that kind of fame and music, did any of the fans complain at the time? Some of the beatles live performances sound pretty rough, elvis' legendary 68 special, where he had to work himself hoarse was far from perfect. My panties wouldn't get bunched if I wore them, i get what you'[re saying, i'm just not sure how important it was. Prince obviously saw more value in w&l than everyone else did, so I assume him being a smart man, knew something we didn't.

Oh, I certainly wouldn't dispute that having W&L around paid dividend. But to put Wendy in the lead guitar spot was like asking a fish to climb a tree. Unfair, in many ways. She did her best, but none of her solos from 1983-86 sound like she's comfortable playing them, even simpler ones like Little Red Corvette.

[Edited 6/2/19 18:05pm]

in the syracuse performance, i really can't think of a lot of soloing she did, she did lrc which as I mentioned, dez and everyone else also changed from the album version either by changing the notes or not playing them correctly. the third eye girl whoever it was, played it better than anyone, prince played a pretty good version in the revamped 2009/10 version he was doing but it wasn't perfect. Dez did horribly on one of the ones I heard, whether that was because the tensions in the band or something else I don't know, he does say he was ready to skiddaddle by that point and wasn't happy. miko plays it well but he changes some of the notes.

Musician9 said:

droppingdishes said:

Man, hearing Wendy struggle through Alexa De Paris on those early Parade shows is real torture. As solid as we was as a rhythm player, she just simply didn't cut it with the leads. Listen to her butcher the Little Red Corvette solo on PR tour night after night...

OMG, you'd have to try and butcher that one, such a simple thing to play, but He often chose players based on their image more than their abilities. And I've never seen him play the intro, probably a lucky one off, cos if you're good you can replicate your good moments, he never played his so called famous solos the same live either, lots of punch ins on the records, Susan Rogers mentioned them on Let's Go Crazy, had to punch in on his solos, couldn't play it the same live, just sayin'...

LMFBO, I love it when people drop ridiculous, idiotic bombs and then end them with "just sayin'", like that makes everything all right.

You have to be kidding me.

I may not be Musician1, Musician2, or even Musician10 but I've played a fair amount. With some great players. All of whom thought Prince was nothing short of phenomenal on guitar.

Something tells me Musician9 never saw Prince play live and in the flesh. There's no possible way any real musician who HAD seen Prince play would ever say the stuff you did, bro.

Just sayin'.

RodeoSchro said:

Musician9 said:

OMG, you'd have to try and butcher that one, such a simple thing to play, but He often chose players based on their image more than their abilities. And I've never seen him play the intro, probably a lucky one off, cos if you're good you can replicate your good moments, he never played his so called famous solos the same live either, lots of punch ins on the records, Susan Rogers mentioned them on Let's Go Crazy, had to punch in on his solos, couldn't play it the same live, just sayin'...

LMFBO, I love it when people drop ridiculous, idiotic bombs and then end them with "just sayin'", like that makes everything all right.

You have to be kidding me.

I may not be Musician1, Musician2, or even Musician10 but I've played a fair amount. With some great players. All of whom thought Prince was nothing short of phenomenal on guitar.

Something tells me Musician9 never saw Prince play live and in the flesh. There's no possible way any real musician who HAD seen Prince play would ever say the stuff you did, bro.

Just sayin'.

i say the same thing when some pianist criticizes his piano chops and also always add "he's a lot better than me". All the stuff he did, still boggles the mind how he did it all. It's hard enough to do one thing well, let alone a good dozen or so. recently i've been working on sibelius, music program, it's taking practice time away, that's how things are, you do other things you can't specialize like you could if you only did one. the fact that prince did as many things at that high a level is one of the things that made him special.

PeteSilas said:

RodeoSchro said:

LMFBO, I love it when people drop ridiculous, idiotic bombs and then end them with "just sayin'", like that makes everything all right.

You have to be kidding me.

I may not be Musician1, Musician2, or even Musician10 but I've played a fair amount. With some great players. All of whom thought Prince was nothing short of phenomenal on guitar.

Something tells me Musician9 never saw Prince play live and in the flesh. There's no possible way any real musician who HAD seen Prince play would ever say the stuff you did, bro.

Just sayin'.

i say the same thing when some pianist criticizes his piano chops and also always add "he's a lot better than me". All the stuff he did, still boggles the mind how he did it all. It's hard enough to do one thing well, let alone a good dozen or so. recently i've been working on sibelius, music program, it's taking practice time away, that's how things are, you do other things you can't specialize like you could if you only did one. the fact that prince did as many things at that high a level is one of the things that made him special.

Heck yeah. I think one of the things Prince did that impressed me the most was the Piano and a Microphone tour, which he said he wanted to do because he wanted to improve his piano skills.

PeteSilas said:

droppingdishes said:

Oh, I certainly wouldn't dispute that having W&L around paid dividend. But to put Wendy in the lead guitar spot was like asking a fish to climb a tree. Unfair, in many ways. She did her best, but none of her solos from 1983-86 sound like she's comfortable playing them, even simpler ones like Little Red Corvette.

[Edited 6/2/19 18:05pm]

in the syracuse performance, i really can't think of a lot of soloing she did, she did lrc which as I mentioned, dez and everyone else also changed from the album version either by changing the notes or not playing them correctly. the third eye girl whoever it was, played it better than anyone, prince played a pretty good version in the revamped 2009/10 version he was doing but it wasn't perfect. Dez did horribly on one of the ones I heard, whether that was because the tensions in the band or something else I don't know, he does say he was ready to skiddaddle by that point and wasn't happy. miko plays it well but he changes some of the notes.

Most people that play that solo end up rushing it, especially the little 16th-note bit. It's not a technical solo, so it really depends on phrasing and expressiveness to make it soulful. Wendy wasn't as strong as Dez higher up the neck.

RodeoSchro said:

PeteSilas said:

i say the same thing when some pianist criticizes his piano chops and also always add "he's a lot better than me". All the stuff he did, still boggles the mind how he did it all. It's hard enough to do one thing well, let alone a good dozen or so. recently i've been working on sibelius, music program, it's taking practice time away, that's how things are, you do other things you can't specialize like you could if you only did one. the fact that prince did as many things at that high a level is one of the things that made him special.

Heck yeah. I think one of the things Prince did that impressed me the most was the Piano and a Microphone tour, which he said he wanted to do because he wanted to improve his piano skills.

ya, people act like the man didn't do enough, crazy. you want him to sing, dance, write, produce, make movies, tour, side-produce/write, play guitar, drums, bass, keys and on top of that you criticize him because he doesn't play as well as chick corea? nutty.

PeteSilas said:

droppingdishes said:

Oh, I certainly wouldn't dispute that having W&L around paid dividend. But to put Wendy in the lead guitar spot was like asking a fish to climb a tree. Unfair, in many ways. She did her best, but none of her solos from 1983-86 sound like she's comfortable playing them, even simpler ones like Little Red Corvette.

[Edited 6/2/19 18:05pm]

in the syracuse performance, i really can't think of a lot of soloing she did, she did lrc which as I mentioned, dez and everyone else also changed from the album version either by changing the notes or not playing them correctly. the third eye girl whoever it was, played it better than anyone, prince played a pretty good version in the revamped 2009/10 version he was doing but it wasn't perfect. Dez did horribly on one of the ones I heard, whether that was because the tensions in the band or something else I don't know, he does say he was ready to skiddaddle by that point and wasn't happy. miko plays it well but he changes some of the notes.

My new found friend Miko is a BEAST on guitar!

ChocolateBox3121 said:

PeteSilas said:

in the syracuse performance, i really can't think of a lot of soloing she did, she did lrc which as I mentioned, dez and everyone else also changed from the album version either by changing the notes or not playing them correctly. the third eye girl whoever it was, played it better than anyone, prince played a pretty good version in the revamped 2009/10 version he was doing but it wasn't perfect. Dez did horribly on one of the ones I heard, whether that was because the tensions in the band or something else I don't know, he does say he was ready to skiddaddle by that point and wasn't happy. miko plays it well but he changes some of the notes.

My new found friend Miko is a BEAST on guitar!

i'm aware of that, he changed the notes, as i mentioned, and as has been confirmed before, the actual solo isn't perfect, so even if you play it "perfect" it's not gonna fit perfectly in the song, I think that I usually leave out a base note or two at some point when I play it and just do what I can. For my money, the original is just as "imperfectly perfect" (sam phillips words)as Elvis' sun sessions, which I also cover and try to imitate the mistakes as well as the rest of the music.

Too many experts on this thread, and yet no one seems to understand that NO musician intends to replicate the exact performance as what was recorded and released. Especially with live solos.
That is the whole beauty of a live performance.

Wendy wasnt hired to replicate exactly what Prince did on WDC. She played the intro to her style. Same way Dr Fink plays the Head keyboard solo to his own tune. Why arent you guys complaining that he could never replicate that!?
These guys aren't gonna play the exact shit over and over just to sound exactly like it's played on record. Once again...... especially solos, where they're going to add their own technique and feel to the performance.

I'm surprised you guys didnt say that Prince couldn't play the guitar bacuse he never played Purple Rain exactly like he did on the album.

callimnate said:

Too many experts on this thread, and yet no one seems to understand that NO musician intends to replicate the exact performance as what was recorded and released. Especially with live solos.
That is the whole beauty of a live performance.

Wendy wasnt hired to replicate exactly what Prince did on WDC. She played the intro to her style. Same way Dr Fink plays the Head keyboard solo to his own tune. Why arent you guys complaining that he could never replicate that!?
These guys aren't gonna play the exact shit over and over just to sound exactly like it's played on record. Once again...... especially solos, where they're going to add their own technique and feel to the performance.

I'm surprised you guys didnt say that Prince couldn't play the guitar bacuse he never played Purple Rain exactly like he did on the album.

depends on the musician, bruce's band has always gotten as close as humanly possible to the records, some musicians are the opposite and some are in between, takes all kinds. The idea behind playing things the same and not just improvising each time like a jazz song, is that people who bought the record want to hear what they bought, some musicians would say "if they want what's on the record they should just play that" others, like MJ, ("i want it like it's on the record" as said to his keyboardist in this is it) didn't want a note changed for most of their music. Of course when you have the world's best musicians, that's got to be stifling and of course they do get to cut loose at some point but probably nowhere near as much as they'd like. Playing pop music is inherently limiting for a great musician.

This is purple tragedy. Id love to have seen him do the guitar solo. His greatest song and no live performances of him shredding it up.

rdhull said:

This is purple tragedy. Id love to have seen him do the guitar solo. His greatest song and no live performances of him shredding it up.

he said, quite correctly, that wdc is not a good live song, all the space in it and the nature of the song isn't one for getting a party type atmosphere going. I remember playing it once in this stupid piano bar, after I played, for whatever reason, everyone was just silent. not the kind of silence that comes before they applaud when they hear something they really like, more like bafflement.

callimnate said:

Too many experts on this thread, and yet no one seems to understand that NO musician intends to replicate the exact performance as what was recorded and released. Especially with live solos.
That is the whole beauty of a live performance.

Wendy wasnt hired to replicate exactly what Prince did on WDC. She played the intro to her style. Same way Dr Fink plays the Head keyboard solo to his own tune. Why arent you guys complaining that he could never replicate that!?
These guys aren't gonna play the exact shit over and over just to sound exactly like it's played on record. Once again...... especially solos, where they're going to add their own technique and feel to the performance.

I'm surprised you guys didnt say that Prince couldn't play the guitar bacuse he never played Purple Rain exactly like he did on the album.

For the record. I personally wasn' speaking on the WDC intro but the actual SOLO. And I stand by what I said. I must have heard pretty much every show from 1984-1986 that is circulating and I can't point out a single instance where she sounds comfortable playing that.

[Edited 6/4/19 3:59am]

PeteSilas said:

ChocolateBox3121 said:

My new found friend Miko is a BEAST on guitar!

i'm aware of that, he changed the notes, as i mentioned, and as has been confirmed before, the actual solo isn't perfect, so even if you play it "perfect" it's not gonna fit perfectly in the song, I think that I usually leave out a base note or two at some point when I play it and just do what I can. For my money, the original is just as "imperfectly perfect" (sam phillips words)as Elvis' sun sessions, which I also cover and try to imitate the mistakes as well as the rest of the music.

Most people I have heard play the Little Red Corvette solo rush it, especially the 16th note bit. That solo is quite simple technically so it really depends on phrasing and expressiveness. The main downside about Wendy as a lead player is that she wasn't strong higher up the neck, and also didn't really have the same sort of sustainy tone that Dez and P himself were working with.

PeteSilas said:

callimnate said:

Too many experts on this thread, and yet no one seems to understand that NO musician intends to replicate the exact performance as what was recorded and released. Especially with live solos.
That is the whole beauty of a live performance.

Wendy wasnt hired to replicate exactly what Prince did on WDC. She played the intro to her style. Same way Dr Fink plays the Head keyboard solo to his own tune. Why arent you guys complaining that he could never replicate that!?
These guys aren't gonna play the exact shit over and over just to sound exactly like it's played on record. Once again...... especially solos, where they're going to add their own technique and feel to the performance.

I'm surprised you guys didnt say that Prince couldn't play the guitar bacuse he never played Purple Rain exactly like he did on the album.

depends on the musician, bruce's band has always gotten as close as humanly possible to the records, some musicians are the opposite and some are in between, takes all kinds. The idea behind playing things the same and not just improvising each time like a jazz song, is that people who bought the record want to hear what they bought, some musicians would say "if they want what's on the record they should just play that" others, like MJ, ("i want it like it's on the record" as said to his keyboardist in this is it) didn't want a note changed for most of their music. Of course when you have the world's best musicians, that's got to be stifling and of course they do get to cut loose at some point but probably nowhere near as much as they'd like. Playing pop music is inherently limiting for a great musician.

This is the SOLE reason why Prince(r.i.p.) cut short the Purple Rain tour. Then eventually barely a year later broke up the mechanical Revolution. It was ALL stifling his musical growth and not challenging him as a musician. Even though most if not ALL here don't like Larry Graham. Prince's guitar playing actually improved(if that was even possible) when he brought his musical hero/childhood idol in his band.

[Edited 6/4/19 7:26am]

callimnate said:

Too many experts on this thread, and yet no one seems to understand that NO musician intends to replicate the exact performance as what was recorded and released. Especially with live solos.
That is the whole beauty of a live performance.

Wendy wasnt hired to replicate exactly what Prince did on WDC. She played the intro to her style. Same way Dr Fink plays the Head keyboard solo to his own tune. Why arent you guys complaining that he could never replicate that!?
These guys aren't gonna play the exact shit over and over just to sound exactly like it's played on record. Once again...... especially solos, where they're going to add their own technique and feel to the performance.

I'm surprised you guys didnt say that Prince couldn't play the guitar bacuse he never played Purple Rain exactly like he did on the album.

Solid take! The most boring concerts I've ever been to were the ones were the band recreated their songs note for note. I'm looking at you, Ric Ocasek and The Cars.

I'm surprised someone hasn't brought up the claim that Prince couldn't play the guitar at all, because his Hohner clearly has no cord, nor is there a wireless output device visible anywhere on it.

(Someone actually made that argument here once! They didn't know/believe Prince had a cut a depression on the back of the guitar for the transmitter.)

[Edited 6/4/19 6:53am]

ChocolateBox3121 said:

the musicians Prince began to work with after the revolution were the types of fine musicians who have learned a ton of stuff but either weren't allowed or couldn't really bring anything creative, the revolution for all their limitations at least got through to prince to the point where he accepted contribution. There was a RS interview with prince and w/l on the cover where they spoke warmly of each other, whether that was bullshit or not I don't know because it all fell apart not long after, prince once said he'd stop using bass if he didn't have brown mark, that obviously wasn't true. Matt he kept on for several more years as most of us know, by the end prince was saying that matt was the kind of guy that needs to be hidden in a closet, (he'd gained weight and aged a little worse than the little one) bobby z was known to be a mediocre drummer but he was also there with prince before he was a star and saw what was coming and was there for him, he had no complaints publicly that I ever heard. W/L had a creative influence, some say wendy wasn't a great musician, prince actually has said things like the revolution was "cold" soundwise and that matt fink couldn't improvise. he also hinted that someone in the revolution stole some clothes article from him and sold it, ( i assume it was brown mark, just from the description) and that he called him to pp for an upbraiding. if we look past the soap opera it's impossible to argue that his prime influential years were from 1999-sott, a time when at least two members of the full revolution band had some input on all those albums. 1999 was an album where he was adding in a little more of the female vocalists, and a little more input from dez but it was still largely a one man project, Purple Rain had a band air to it for the most part, particularly the title song, there was still enough of the one man band stuff like when doves cry but he was opening up to others influences, that part of purple rain had truth to it. i always assumed the lines in old friends 4 sale were directed partially at the people who warned him against using wendy and lisa's input "they say you lost your fire, when another musician you hired,little do they know, you wouldn't have passed go if they didn't take you higher" (forgive me if I'm butchering the lyrics). As I've said, prince was a smart man, he knew what he was doing, so whether the wendy and lisa thing was just a point of having white females to offset his blackness or whether it was their creative input of both, only he knows what he meant by those lines but i think he did mean them and that he realized the value of wendy/lisa and really, the whole revolution.

PeteSilas said:

rdhull said:

This is purple tragedy. Id love to have seen him do the guitar solo. His greatest song and no live performances of him shredding it up.

he said, quite correctly, that wdc is not a good live song, all the space in it and the nature of the song isn't one for getting a party type atmosphere going.

Regardless. Its a shame he's never done it live (him doing guitar) for it to be seen.

PeteSilas said:

rdhull said:

This is purple tragedy. Id love to have seen him do the guitar solo. His greatest song and no live performances of him shredding it up.

he said, quite correctly, that wdc is not a good live song, all the space in it and the nature of the song isn't one for getting a party type atmosphere going. I remember playing it once in this stupid piano bar, after I played, for whatever reason, everyone was just silent. not the kind of silence that comes before they applaud when they hear something they really like, more like bafflement.

Yeah, my experience too. It's a song that everyone goes "Yeah!" when it starts but no one sings along with it.

But I've decided I'm going to get that opening riff down pat and at least use it every now and then to start a Prince set.

RodeoSchro said:

PeteSilas said:

he said, quite correctly, that wdc is not a good live song, all the space in it and the nature of the song isn't one for getting a party type atmosphere going. I remember playing it once in this stupid piano bar, after I played, for whatever reason, everyone was just silent. not the kind of silence that comes before they applaud when they hear something they really like, more like bafflement.

Yeah, my experience too. It's a song that everyone goes "Yeah!" when it starts but no one sings along with it.

But I've decided I'm going to get that opening riff down pat and at least use it every now and then to start a Prince set.

ya, prince knew how things worked or didn't work. it's still a great song to learn, especially for a keyboardist, I'm sure the guitar parts are fun too.