i became a real fan in 1990 but now, listening back to the stuff i bought on the day they came out, i can see why they arent quite as special as what came out in the 80s. theres a lot of stuff i like that came out in the 90s and 00s and 10s, but overall, i would say im not the biggest fan of a lot of the later stuff. its often with reservations.

im sure im not the only one.

but does that mean im not really a true prince fan?

[Edited 11/2/20 2:23am]

McD said:

If someone calls themselves a 'fan' of something, I don't start interrogating and measuring the extent of their liking to determine whether I consider they are 'worthy' of such a title.

Similarly, if I particularly like green as a colour, but I don't much like a certain tone of green, I'd find it laughable that someone was then challenging my subjective preferences by saying - you can't 'really call yourself a true fan' of that colour because you don't like all green tones.

Hypothetical:

-

You and I are fan of pizza. There are only 4 types of pizza that exist in the world.

-

I like 4/4 of the pizzas. You like 2/4 of the pizzas. Who is the bigger fan of pizza?

McD said:

I once met a feller who called himself a true Prince fan. He could sing along to every word on PlectrumElectrum and had every studio album title tattooed on his back. But when he took off his shirt and I had a good look I noticed he didn’t have New Power Soul on there. I told him a true fan would have known to include it and he was, in fact, a bum and a Prince tourist.

Surely, every true Prince fan knows that 'New Power Soul' isn't the name of a studio album - but 'Newpower Soul' is?

What the hell is a 'real' fan? Yeah, you're a fan.

skywalker said:

Hypothetical:

-

You and I are fan of pizza. There are only 4 types of pizza that exist in the world.

-

I like 4/4 of the pizzas. You like 2/4 of the pizzas. Who is the bigger fan of pizza?

You like more types of pizza than me. You are the bigger fan of pizza.

I eat twice as many pizzas as you. I am the bigger fan of pizza.

A third person only liked one type of pizza, but knew that eating it would kill him even though he adored the taste more than anything else.

langebleu said:

skywalker said:

Hypothetical:

-

You and I are fan of pizza. There are only 4 types of pizza that exist in the world.

-

I like 4/4 of the pizzas. You like 2/4 of the pizzas. Who is the bigger fan of pizza?

You like more types of pizza than me. You are the bigger fan of pizza.

I eat twice as many pizzas as you. I am the bigger fan of pizza.

A third person only liked one type of pizza, but knew that eating it would kill him even though he adored the taste more than anything else.

So, in your estimation, the fan that listens to Prince music 24/7, (but only Purple Rain) is the bigger fan than the one that listens to a a different Prince album once a day?

skywalker said:

langebleu said:

You like more types of pizza than me. You are the bigger fan of pizza.

I eat twice as many pizzas as you. I am the bigger fan of pizza.

A third person only liked one type of pizza, but knew that eating it would kill him even though he adored the taste more than anything else.

So, in your estimation, the fan that listens to Prince music 24/7, (but only Purple Rain) is the bigger fan than the one that listens to a a different Prince album once a day?

Are they eating their copies of Purple Rain?

skywalker said:

langebleu said:

You like more types of pizza than me. You are the bigger fan of pizza.

I eat twice as many pizzas as you. I am the bigger fan of pizza.

A third person only liked one type of pizza, but knew that eating it would kill him even though he adored the taste more than anything else.

So, in your estimation, the fan that listens to Prince music 24/7, (but only Purple Rain) is the bigger fan than the one that listens to a a different Prince album once a day?

What I love about Prince is that his style is so diverse and eclectic. Of course not every style he dabbled in will be to everyone's taste. Even the most hardcore fans will dislike some of Prince's albums. That doesn't make them less of a fan. In fact, if someone unquestioningly loves literally everything Prince did, I would see that more as religous zealotry than honest or genuine interest in his music.

If someone only knows his radio hits (LRC, Raspberry Berret, Kiss, Batdance and stuff from the 1999, Purple Rain and Diamonds & Pearls LPs), then I understand how some of us may not think of them as a "true" or "hardcore" fan. But they are a fan. Perhaps you're correct that they aren't as big a fan, but they are a fan. Rather than denigrade their limited knowledge of Prince's music, I'd exploit their love of his hits by offering to expose them to Prince's broader catalogue.

langebleu said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

i became a real fan in 1990 but now, listening back to the stuff i bought on the day they came out, i can see why they arent quite as special as what came out in the 80s. theres a lot of stuff i like that came out in the 90s and 00s and 10s, but overall, i would say im not the biggest fan of a lot of the later stuff. its often with reservations.

im sure im not the only one.

but does that mean im not really a true prince fan?

[Edited 11/2/20 2:23am]

How can you have become a fan in 1990 if you're 15 (as you stated in another thread)?

My fandom dates back to 1988. I'm a true fan of the artist and in a way that will include everything he ever did. There are parts of his work that I prefer over other parts (Purple and Gold being one of those parts I do not prefer at all lol) but I try to see beyond the music too. Prince was a great artist not just because he knew how to write a great lyric or was a great guitar player but because of the reasons he did what he did and so in a roundabout way, I have to include things like Purple and Gold because he was so inspired to write that song because of his love for his home and his home team. Do I need to listen to that song even though it's on my computer? Uh no.

And so yeah, you can be a true fan and not like the later years that much. Ebbs and flows....ya know?

McD said:

I once met a feller who called himself a true Prince fan. He could sing along to every word on PlectrumElectrum and had every studio album title tattooed on his back. But when he took off his shirt and I had a good look I noticed he didn’t have New Power Soul on there. I told him a true fan would have known to include it and he was, in fact, a bum and a Prince tourist.

Databank will argue the feller was correct as NPS is an NPG album and would not belong on a Prince studio album tattoo...

McD said:

I once met a feller who called himself a true Prince fan. He could sing along to every word on PlectrumElectrum and had every studio album title tattooed on his back. But when he took off his shirt and I had a good look I noticed he didn’t have New Power Soul on there. I told him a true fan would have known to include it and he was, in fact, a bum and a Prince tourist.

Newpower Soul is a New Power Generation album, not a Prince album. The fan was correct to not have it tattooed on his back.

dodger said:

McD said:

dodger said:

Databank will argue the feller was correct as NPS is an NPG album and would not belong on a Prince studio album tattoo...

Ah, I think we ‘discussed’ it back in the day. (And maybe Databank is the feller above who showed me his tatts!) Have you taken my ‘Newpower’ Soul Quiz? 1. Which Prince album(s) features Prince’s face more prominently than NPS? 2. Which Prince album, if any, credits Prince by name more than once on an album cover, other than Newpower Soul? And the tie-breaker... Given the cover art and the thrice-credited Prince say it’s a Prince album, what distinguishes it in terms of musical input across the board from a reg’lar Prince album since that’s all ya got left? [Edited 11/2/20 8:03am]

Exactly. It's a album.

r/gatekeeping.

Everyone will have a different definition of "real" fan. I'm the biggest Prince fan I know outside of this message board (by far). I've listened on a consistent basis for nearly two decades, read several books on the man, caught him live three times, and regularly visit this site. I own a fraction of his enormous output. Do I own SOTT super deluxe yet? No. I have bills. Does that mean I'm not a real fan?

Hypothetical: you're a fan of a sports team. Do you like every player to wear the uniform, even the jugheads? You might always cheer the team on, but you might not necessarily like the result when they put forth a mediocre effort in a particular season. And let's not go crazy and pretend every Prince outing was a Purple Rain. In the 80s, Prince was the Jordan-era Bulls. It's reasonable to prefer the Jordan era over other eras.

Genesia said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

i became a real fan in 1990 but now, listening back to the stuff i bought on the day they came out, i can see why they arent quite as special as what came out in the 80s. theres a lot of stuff i like that came out in the 90s and 00s and 10s, but overall, i would say im not the biggest fan of a lot of the later stuff. its often with reservations.

im sure im not the only one.

but does that mean im not really a true prince fan?

[Edited 11/2/20 2:23am]

How can you have become a fan in 1990 if you're 15 (as you stated in another thread)?

lol

im not really 15

i just said that as putting we can fuck on a mixtape for a girl seemed like a teenage boy type of thing to do

but hey its a forum for prince, who made a lot of things up, so im allowed

mtlfan said:

r/gatekeeping.

Everyone will have a different definition of "real" fan. I'm the biggest Prince fan I know outside of this message board (by far). I've listened on a consistent basis for nearly two decades, read several books on the man, caught him live three times, and regularly visit this site. I own a fraction of his enormous output. Do I own SOTT super deluxe yet? No. I have bills. Does that mean I'm not a real fan?

Hypothetical: you're a fan of a sports team. Do you like every player to wear the uniform, even the jugheads? You might always cheer the team on, but you might not necessarily like the result when they put forth a mediocre effort in a particular season. And let's not go crazy and pretend every Prince outing was a Purple Rain. In the 80s, Prince was the Jordan-era Bulls. It's reasonable to prefer the Jordan era over other eras.

if its any consolation, while theres lots of cool things on the SOTT SDE, its not THAT essential.

theres a hell of a lot on there i wont be replaying in a hurry.

McD said:

dodger said:

Databank will argue the feller was correct as NPS is an NPG album and would not belong on a Prince studio album tattoo...

Ah, I think we ‘discussed’ it back in the day. (And maybe Databank is the feller above who showed me his tatts!)

Nonsense, we've never met and I don't have tatoos.

Beware of making claims about fellow orgers that aren't true.

Regardless of the topic or disagreement at hand, if you start making false statements about meeting fellow orgers, describe false situations about it and making false claims about what they look like or things they have done, it may be considered slander and it may cost you your account. I was that close to signaling your post to a mod before I decided to reply. Just sayin'.

Please refrain from claiming or even hinting at the fact that you've met me IRL if you haven't (and no one on this board has, just to make things clear).

Yes

Yes you can really call yourself a true fan if you don't much like the later years. I'm a true fan, a long time Prince fan, but I didn't like everything he made, it doesn't make me less of a fan.

databank said:

McD said:

Yes.

Those of us who are now around 50 years old witnessed the beginning and evolution. We lived through the movies (good and bad), through the WB battle and through it all bought all the albums, singles, side projects, etc. Sometimes on LP then cassette then CD. We were paying NPGMC and LotusFlow3r members.

Through that wide-angle lens of following him for decades (for me, since 1983), you can see a gradual decline in . . . something. It's not to say that the later stuff isn't good, but it's not otherworldly like the 80s and half of the 90s.

So if I don't like most of Newpower Soul, MPLSound or PlectrumElectrum, that doesn't at all negate me being a true fan. It makes me a true fan that I bought them and gave them true consideration.