Variety Magazine - Online June 24th 2019

Todd Gilchrist

Very interesting article re P's finances at the time:

https://variety.com/2019/...203251356/

Selected quote:Magnoli.

“I immediately did a forensic kind of financial search as to what was really going on, and it was more horrible than anybody thought. So [the plan] was about trying to bring revenue into the operation without overextending him to the point where no one would be interested in getting involved in anything he wanted to do,” Magnoli explained. “And the ‘Batman’ album came into being when I was contacted by [‘Batman’ producer] Mark Canton, and I went to Prince and said, ‘This will help us bring revenue into the system without having to expose you to another album.’”

I don't buy it, Prince could sell one song or do one tour and be out of those financial straits in a second. It didn't stop him from stiffing a lot of people in Minnesota out of money at the time though.

chaocracy said:

I don't buy it, Prince could sell one song or do one tour and be out of those financial straits in a second. It didn't stop him from stiffing a lot of people in Minnesota out of money at the time though.

It was the Lovesexy tour (in part) that landed him in the shit. That tour hemorrhaged money.

Lovesexy financial failure, Batman commercial success. Graffiti Bridge financial failure, D&P commercial success.

feeluupp said:

Lovesexy financial failure, Batman commercial success.
Graffiti Bridge financial failure, D&P commercial success.

That sums Prince's career pretty well.

His heart and soul were and will always belong to the underground,
but when it came time to fill up the cash register, he knew how to do it.

And when it was filled, it got burned in underground projects again.
Prince is the ultimate Robin Hood of Pop.

Uptown never died. It as alive and well in Minneapolis.
Some can project and fantasize at will of cash mountains,
but it never was truly the point, despite the thousand of pair o' shoes may suggest.

Interesting that Magnoli was gonna direct a Prince movie called The Dawn with a $30 million budget,but Prince was too impatient to wait I'm sure it would have been much better than Graffiti Bridge.

SoulAlive said:

Interesting that Magnoli was gonna direct a Prince movie called The Dawn with a $30 million budget,but Prince was too impatient to wait I'm sure it would have been much better than Graffiti Bridge.

Wish it would've happened...

feeluupp said:

Lovesexy financial failure, Batman commercial success. Graffiti Bridge financial failure, D&P commercial success.

it's like he constantly tried to sabotagte his own career fully knowing that he was so bad ass that he could turn it around the next year with something more commercial! Always exciting in P land!

SoulAlive said:

Interesting that Magnoli was gonna direct a Prince movie called The Dawn with a $30 million budget,but Prince was too impatient to wait I'm sure it would have been much better than Graffiti Bridge.

this one started during the Parade era, Coco Boyz vs Mazarati, When the Dawn of the Morning Comes etc

feeluupp said:

Lovesexy financial failure, Batman commercial success. Graffiti Bridge financial failure, D&P commercial success.

This pattern started almost from the beginning - when he spent most of the production allowance for his first three albums on For You. He knew he had to get a hit with some very stripped down production on the next two - and we got Prince and Dirty Mind out of them.

[Edited 6/25/19 7:53am]

But what did he spend all his money on?

There are always talks on how little he gave his employees and i never had the idea he just bought a lot of stuff or something.

So how do you go from huge albums like PR and 1999 to a horrible financial straits.

His record company was financed by WB.

Yes, he build Pailsey Park, but he sold al lot albums, singles, sold out tours.

I just don't get t.

nextedition said:

But what did he spend all his money on?

There are always talks on how little he gave his employees and i never had the idea he just bought a lot of stuff or something.

So how do you go from huge albums like PR and 1999 to a horrible financial straits.

His record company was financed by WB.

Yes, he build Pailsey Park, but he sold al lot albums, singles, sold out tours.

I just don't get t.

if I'm not mistaken big vanity projects such as endless videos that were never released, i'm guessing UTCM not working out, Paisley Park becoming a cash drain as it was more of a highly expensive building that functioned as creative space for him rather than a fully monetized business asset, the Glam Slam night clubs, the shops, I guess record sales to an extent never reaching the P. Rain peak again - several artsitic triumphs but commercial flops in comparison etc.

This brother was not cheap!!

Camels are very expensive at 3:00 in the morning.

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

nextedition said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

if I'm not mistaken big vanity projects such as endless videos that were never released, i'm guessing UTCM not working out, Paisley Park becoming a cash drain as it was more of a highly expensive building that functioned as creative space for him rather thannd g a fully monetized business asset, the Glam Slam night clubs, the shops, I guess record sales to an extent never reaching the P. Rain peak again - several artsitic triumphs but commercial flops in comparison etc.

This brother was not cheap!!

Well at least he spend it on music but i cant believe he paid UTCM out of his on pocket. And Glam Slam culbs were after Batman? Not sure. Anyway, he must have made millions with albums and tours. Its must have been really bad financial management.

1988 was a rough year for him.The Lovesexy album flopped.He spent over $2 million putting the tour together,but lost money when many shows didn't sellout in the USA.Alot of money was being poured into Paisley Park Records,but most of the records were flops.It's not surprising that,in early 1989,he fired his management team and began to re-organize things.

So in many ways,Batman saved him.He was suddenly "hot again",with a big-selling album.

Interestingly,a year later,Sinead O' Connor took credit for helping his financial situation."I think that,frankly,my recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" saved his fucking ass",she said."He was in serious financial trouble until that song happened".

nextedition said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said:

if I'm not mistaken big vanity projects such as endless videos that were never released, i'm guessing UTCM not working out, Paisley Park becoming a cash drain as it was more of a highly expensive building that functioned as creative space for him rather thannd g a fully monetized business asset, the Glam Slam night clubs, the shops, I guess record sales to an extent never reaching the P. Rain peak again - several artsitic triumphs but commercial flops in comparison etc.

This brother was not cheap!!

Well at least he spend it on music but i cant believe he paid UTCM out of his on pocket. And Glam Slam culbs were after Batman? Not sure. Anyway, he must have made millions with albums and tours. Its must have been really bad financial management.

Yes that's it.

.

Paisley Park being a massive expense. And as PURPLE3121 says the likes of video crews on call 24 hours a day, stage sets, plenty of cancelled projects etc

.

This obviously carried on after Batman with him reportledly spending a lot of money on Carmen Electra for starters

[Edited 6/26/19 3:41am]

SoulAlive said:

nextedition said:

PURPLEIZED3121 said: Well at least he spend it on music but i cant believe he paid UTCM out of his on pocket. And Glam Slam culbs were after Batman? Not sure. Anyway, he must have made millions with albums and tours. Its must have been really bad financial management.

1988 was a rough year for him.The Lovesexy album flopped.He spent over $2 million putting the tour together,but lost money when many shows didn't sellout in the USA.Alot of money was being poured into Paisley Park Records,but most of the records were flops.It's not surprising that,in early 1989,he fired his management team and began to re-organize things.

So in many ways,Batman saved him.He was suddenly "hot again",with a big-selling album.

Interestingly,a year later,Sinead O' Connor took credit for helping his financial situation."I think that,frankly,my recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U" saved his fucking ass",she said."He was in serious financial trouble until that song happened".

Yes i remember that, but the article the op posted suggested the Batmanalbum saved his ass, so what is it? 1990 was also the year of the Nude tour, he must have made a lot of money with that.

Wolfie87 said:

Then the ultimate question remains. Was Lovesexy worth it? Say he didn't got that call about Batman. Could we have seen a bankruptcy by 1990 in an alternate universe?

No,I don't think he was ever in danger of going bankrupt but if Batman never happened, he most likely would have recorded another big,commercial album instead and made it back to the top...like he did with D&P a few years later.

SoulAlive said:

Interesting that Magnoli was gonna direct a Prince movie called The Dawn with a $30 million budget,but Prince was too impatient to wait I'm sure it would have been much better than Graffiti Bridge.

Probably better commercially, but Graffiti Bridge is Prince's vision in raw, unaltered, unedited form, I don't even really consider it a movie, it is a more of an artistic visual expression of the album. For me, I would have it no other way, good or bad, cheesy or not, there was no middleman, just pure Prince.