I remember becoming a Prince fan around 2006. Prince was never popular in my country in the 80's as opposed to MJ. I live in Cuba, which is a socialist country that during the 80's was curtained off from the capitalist world and pop culture managed to trickle down only in little droplets despite our close proximity to the States. However, MJ's publicity machinery and appeal was so huge that it penetrated countries where Western/capitalist culture was frowned upon. This explains why none of the kids from my generation were aware of Prince. I grew up an MJ fan and the only thing I knew about Prince was from that mention in the Moonwalker film. Now I look back and realize how crazy this is : to grow up unaware of the existence of one of the greatest artists of all time. Anyway, fast forward to 2005, by then I had a vague notion of Prince but none of his music had ever made it to my ears. One day during one of those long MJ droughts I was listening to other stuff and Ginuwine's version of When Doves Cry came on and I knew that it was a Prince song and so out of curiosity I decided to play the original one and I started listening to it and it was not until the guitar solo that it hit me. Right then and there, all my resistance melted away. I gave the song another listen and I became so immersed in the experience that by the end of the song I was tripping if you know what I mean. From then on, I started seeking out more Prince stuff starting with the Hits and B-sides and other stuff and since then I've been bathing in a purple torrent of music. I realize that I 've pretty much caught up with the fandom music-wise, I've read quite a few books on the guy, heard some of the boot stuff . However, I never lived any of it as it happened. All my Prince experiences have been disconnected from the timeframe in which they happened. I was never there for SOTT, even though I was old enough to be aware by then. But it's all good. One of the results of my Prince obsession is that artists like MJ and Madonna who I still like but held in the highest of regards have diminished in stature in my universe. So at times as I revel in his music, I find myself myself cursing him out for knocking down my childhood idols 😃

callimnate said:

leecaldon said:

But you were ok with the cowbell?

Ooooooo that’s a low blow! And remember the L4OA video had the whole “fan” storyline and how he frowned upon it.

Yes, but was the term 'fam' used?

wilmer said:

I remember becoming a Prince fan around 2006. Prince was never popular in my country in the 80's as opposed to MJ. I live in Cuba, which is a socialist country that during the 80's was curtained off from the capitalist world and pop culture managed to trickle down only in little droplets despite our close proximity to the States. However, MJ's publicity machinery and appeal was so huge that it penetrated countries where Western/capitalist culture was frowned upon. This explains why none of the kids from my generation were aware of Prince. I grew up an MJ fan and the only thing I knew about Prince was from that mention in the Moonwalker film. Now I look back and realize how crazy this is : to grow up unaware of the existence of one of the greatest artists of all time. Anyway, fast forward to 2005, by then I had a vague notion of Prince but none of his music had ever made it to my ears. One day during one of those long MJ droughts I was listening to other stuff and Ginuwine's version of When Doves Cry came on and I knew that it was a Prince song and so out of curiosity I decided to play the original one and I started listening to it and it was not until the guitar solo that it hit me. Right then and there, all my resistance melted away. I gave the song another listen and I became so immersed in the experience that by the end of the song I was tripping if you know what I mean. From then on, I started seeking out more Prince stuff starting with the Hits and B-sides and other stuff and since then I've been bathing in a purple torrent of music. I realize that I 've pretty much caught up with the fandom music-wise, I've read quite a few books on the guy, heard some of the boot stuff . However, I never lived any of it as it happened. All my Prince experiences have been disconnected from the timeframe in which they happened. I was never there for SOTT, even though I was old enough to be aware by then. But it's all good. One of the results of my Prince obsession is that artists like MJ and Madonna who I still like but held in the highest of regards have diminished in stature in my universe. So at times as I revel in his music, I find myself myself cursing him out for knocking down my childhood idols 😃

Wow, fascinating.

I remember the Manic Street Preachers being (allegedly) the first western rock band to play there back in 2001, there was a documentary made about it. A great scene where all these Cuban guys into Metallica and Slayer are being played some of the softer Manics songs and being asked what they thought of them - "This?? This is terrible"

wilmer said:

I remember becoming a Prince fan around 2006. Prince was never popular in my country in the 80's as opposed to MJ. I live in Cuba, which is a socialist country that during the 80's was curtained off from the capitalist world and pop culture managed to trickle down only in little droplets despite our close proximity to the States. However, MJ's publicity machinery and appeal was so huge that it penetrated countries where Western/capitalist culture was frowned upon. This explains why none of the kids from my generation were aware of Prince. I grew up an MJ fan and the only thing I knew about Prince was from that mention in the Moonwalker film. Now I look back and realize how crazy this is : to grow up unaware of the existence of one of the greatest artists of all time. Anyway, fast forward to 2005, by then I had a vague notion of Prince but none of his music had ever made it to my ears. One day during one of those long MJ droughts I was listening to other stuff and Ginuwine's version of When Doves Cry came on and I knew that it was a Prince song and so out of curiosity I decided to play the original one and I started listening to it and it was not until the guitar solo that it hit me. Right then and there, all my resistance melted away. I gave the song another listen and I became so immersed in the experience that by the end of the song I was tripping if you know what I mean. From then on, I started seeking out more Prince stuff starting with the Hits and B-sides and other stuff and since then I've been bathing in a purple torrent of music. I realize that I 've pretty much caught up with the fandom music-wise, I've read quite a few books on the guy, heard some of the boot stuff . However, I never lived any of it as it happened. All my Prince experiences have been disconnected from the timeframe in which they happened. I was never there for SOTT, even though I was old enough to be aware by then. But it's all good. One of the results of my Prince obsession is that artists like MJ and Madonna who I still like but held in the highest of regards have diminished in stature in my universe. So at times as I revel in his music, I find myself myself cursing him out for knocking down my childhood idols 😃

Thanks for sharing your journey to discovering Prince and his talent!

wilmer said:

Nice one.

wilmer said:

I remember becoming a Prince fan around 2006. Prince was never popular in my country in the 80's as opposed to MJ. I live in Cuba, which is a socialist country that during the 80's was curtained off from the capitalist world and pop culture managed to trickle down only in little droplets despite our close proximity to the States. However, MJ's publicity machinery and appeal was so huge that it penetrated countries where Western/capitalist culture was frowned upon. This explains why none of the kids from my generation were aware of Prince. I grew up an MJ fan and the only thing I knew about Prince was from that mention in the Moonwalker film. Now I look back and realize how crazy this is : to grow up unaware of the existence of one of the greatest artists of all time. Anyway, fast forward to 2005, by then I had a vague notion of Prince but none of his music had ever made it to my ears. One day during one of those long MJ droughts I was listening to other stuff and Ginuwine's version of When Doves Cry came on and I knew that it was a Prince song and so out of curiosity I decided to play the original one and I started listening to it and it was not until the guitar solo that it hit me. Right then and there, all my resistance melted away. I gave the song another listen and I became so immersed in the experience that by the end of the song I was tripping if you know what I mean. From then on, I started seeking out more Prince stuff starting with the Hits and B-sides and other stuff and since then I've been bathing in a purple torrent of music. I realize that I 've pretty much caught up with the fandom music-wise, I've read quite a few books on the guy, heard some of the boot stuff . However, I never lived any of it as it happened. All my Prince experiences have been disconnected from the timeframe in which they happened. I was never there for SOTT, even though I was old enough to be aware by then. But it's all good. One of the results of my Prince obsession is that artists like MJ and Madonna who I still like but held in the highest of regards have diminished in stature in my universe. So at times as I revel in his music, I find myself myself cursing him out for knocking down my childhood idols 😃

I like hearing stories like this.