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The influence, if any, of The Clash on Prince There’s a quote or two, reporting that Prince listened to The Clash or had some of their records, e.g. from Jill Jones, I think. Listening to “If it’ll make u happy” on 1999 deluxe, I can see similarities, such as with reggae style of Bankrobber. Chocolate is another one, particularly the start compared with “This is radio Clash” they both have the exaggerated laugh and to my ears, the drums/beat are similar. Have Dez (who appears to have been involved in If it’ll make u happy) or Morris Day (for Chocolate) said anything about the process of making these tunes or the potential The Clash influence? Also, did Prince ever go and see The Clash live? There may or may not be something coming! |
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Other than Prince playing an acoustic version of "Train in Vain" once, I've never seen any reference to the Clash. But he was obviously aware of them, if not an outright fan. | |
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He once wore a bass with a long strap and said “I feel like the bass player from the Clash”. | |
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RodeoSchro said: Other than Prince playing an acoustic version of "Train in Vain" once, I've never seen any reference to the Clash. But he was obviously aware of them, if not an outright fan. I need to hear this! "As long as I can hear you smilin' baby
You won't hear my tears." | |
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There was that "damn-bird from London" who came calling...I seem to remember that... * I'll get my coat... | |
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[Edited 1/26/20 11:31am] | |
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Just found and read this interview with Dez... https://www.thecurrent.or...-interview He mentions that If it’ll make u happy was influenced by The Police (not The Clash). Sting did play with Prince at Wembley in about 1986. “I wonder if we could maybe pull up a couple of those tracks. I pulled up a couple that are coming out on this reissue, that I know you were a part of. I wanted to see if we could maybe jog some memories. Let's check out "If It'll Make You Happy." So the thing about this — there was a period of time where if you listen closely, you can tell which bands or which artist it was at the time. There was definitely this heavy Police influence thing, because that was a huge — like the very first album — what was it, Outlandos d'Amour? When I was first joining the band, that record never left my turntable. I was constantly playing "Roxanne" riffs and stuff in rehearsal. And it was one of those things that Prince grew to love the band as well. So there was, like on "When You Were Mine," for example, there are all these songs where these little reggae motifs kind of pop up. So you can kind of hear that in this track, that there's some of that — a little bit of that backbeat reggae feel in it. There may or may not be something coming! |
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I always thought that there are similarities between Spanish Bombs and ICNTTPOYM but I don't know if we can talk of direct musical influence.. | |
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I don't hear any, except in the vaguest of vague genre ways. | |
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the only other Clash and Prince link is that Mick Jones the former lead guitarist of the clash started a band called Big Audio Dynamite and they would always play 1999 as an encore during their live sets. https://www.youtube.com/w...WUxmMW2X1c | |
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Yeah true, i'm fairly sure Mick Jones was listening to Prince circa Dirty Mind and Controversy, Overpowered by Funk by the Clash may even be an early attempt at a Minneapolis Sound track, he was always on the ball with new sounds. | |
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