NEW Podcast interview: How Can U Just Leave Me Standing? In search of Prince

"Middle-aged bad-assery!" Jim Walsh on Prince and his 'punk period' in the 1990s.

The Gold Experience: Jim Walsh got to know Prince in the 1990s, to the point where he was able to challenge the artist in open print. This is his story...

A few discerning music lovers - locally based journalist Jim being one of them - continued to follow the Purple One's myriad musical twists and turns...many of which - in the studio, and onstage - continued to be touches of genius. So, while everyone else slept, some attempted to keep up...these are his reflections on an often-neglected period of Prince's incredible career.

[Edited 11/13/22 13:53pm]

How's that @LoveGalore?

LoveGalore said:

Moved on from his 80s output toward his 90s output which by then had just produced a #1 song and a few #2 and #3 songs right after. Make it make sense.

[Edited 11/13/22 13:54pm]

Tokyo2 said:

LoveGalore said:

Tokyo2 said:

How's that @LoveGalore?

[Edited 11/13/22 13:54pm]

They're making it out like he was passé by the time TGE came out but that isn't exactly true. He wasn't the coolest of the cool but he was still producing decent hits, was on the news with frequency, was at awards shows etc. He was still... Prince. My one critique of Jim Walsh is that he leans in on prince being washed up when he was covering the TGE era but that just wasn't really true.

Have yet to listen to the podcast but at the age I was (mid-teens) and where I was (mid-sized city) - Prince definitely did not seem cool anymore by the time TGE came out (almost 1996). Where I was, Madonna was probably the only massive 80s pop star that remained "cool" at that time and was played on radio and MTV all the time. Prince was of course still a massive public figure but that to me is different from being considered relevant. And he definitely didn't seem relevant to the music scene at that point (where I was) despite having had a big hit with TMBGITW just a couple of years earlier. I literally knew no one else who listened to Prince at that time. But I imagine there were other places where he still seemed current. TGE opened at #5 on the Billboard charts if I remember correctly...

SpookyPurple said:

LoveGalore said:

SpookyPurple said:

Have yet to listen to the podcast but at the age I was (mid-teens) and where I was (mid-sized city) - Prince definitely did not seem cool anymore by the time TGE came out (almost 1996). Where I was, Madonna was probably the only massive 80s pop star that remained "cool" at that time and was played on radio and MTV all the time. Prince was of course still a massive public figure but that to me is different from being considered relevant. And he definitely didn't seem relevant to the music scene at that point (where I was) despite having had a big hit with TMBGITW just a couple of years earlier. I literally knew no one else who listened to Prince at that time. But I imagine there were other places where he still seemed current. TGE opened at #5 on the Billboard charts if I remember correctly...

I'm from Baltimore so I Hate U and Letitgo both got pretty good airplay here. They were both on the pop radio stations, no less. But even Pink Cashmere got plays in the DMV. So while he wasn't Madonna or Whitney or Mariah, and MJ was embroiled in the allegations, Prince wasn't passé. I remember him being notorious for fighting the labels so some folks thought he was a bad ass and some thought he was a brat.

Wow, I would've loved to have still heard Prince on the radio back then, but TMBGITW was the last new track of his that got played. As far as other media, still makes me laugh remembering David Letterman's reaction to Prince's performance of DOLPHIN. He looked utterly confused and maybe a little scared haha. Likely the same reaction a lot of viewers had who no doubt thought Prince was just "weird".

SpookyPurple said:

LoveGalore said:

Tokyo2 said: They're making it out like he was passé by the time TGE came out but that isn't exactly true. He wasn't the coolest of the cool but he was still producing decent hits, was on the news with frequency, was at awards shows etc. He was still... Prince. My one critique of Jim Walsh is that he leans in on prince being washed up when he was covering the TGE era but that just wasn't really true.

Have yet to listen to the podcast but at the age I was (mid-teens) and where I was (mid-sized city) - Prince definitely did not seem cool anymore by the time TGE came out (almost 1996). Where I was, Madonna was probably the only massive 80s pop star that remained "cool" at that time and was played on radio and MTV all the time. Prince was of course still a massive public figure but that to me is different from being considered relevant. And he definitely didn't seem relevant to the music scene at that point (where I was) despite having had a big hit with TMBGITW just a couple of years earlier. I literally knew no one else who listened to Prince at that time. But I imagine there were other places where he still seemed current. TGE opened at #5 on the Billboard charts if I remember correctly...

Prince was cooler to me in the late 90's (Rave) until 3121. Something about his older sexy energy was very appealing, like he was there to teach the youngins how it's done vs the early to mid 90's where he acted like he was going through a mid-life crisis and was desperately trying to appeal to younger people.

paisleyparkgirl said:

SpookyPurple said:

Have yet to listen to the podcast but at the age I was (mid-teens) and where I was (mid-sized city) - Prince definitely did not seem cool anymore by the time TGE came out (almost 1996). Where I was, Madonna was probably the only massive 80s pop star that remained "cool" at that time and was played on radio and MTV all the time. Prince was of course still a massive public figure but that to me is different from being considered relevant. And he definitely didn't seem relevant to the music scene at that point (where I was) despite having had a big hit with TMBGITW just a couple of years earlier. I literally knew no one else who listened to Prince at that time. But I imagine there were other places where he still seemed current. TGE opened at #5 on the Billboard charts if I remember correctly...

Prince was cooler to me in the late 90's (Rave) until 3121. Something about his older sexy energy was very appealing, like he was there to teach the youngins how it's done vs the early to mid 90's where he acted like he was going through a mid-life crisis and was desperately trying to appeal to younger people.

But wasn't that exactly what RAVE was? A desperate attempt to appeal to young people? Label just used the Santana collab album blueprint with currently popular musical guest stars. But it flopped. I will agree that at least musically RAVE didn't feel as derivative as lots of other 90s Prince material that preceeded it. Again, I still loved Prince and got my hands on whatever I could but it was definitely dimishing returns (for me at least) at that point.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

SpookyPurple said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

SpookyPurple said:

But wasn't that exactly what RAVE was? A desperate attempt to appeal to young people? Label just used the Santana collab album blueprint with currently popular musical guest stars. But it flopped. I will agree that at least musically RAVE didn't feel as derivative as lots of other 90s Prince material that preceeded it. Again, I still loved Prince and got my hands on whatever I could but it was definitely dimishing returns (for me at least) at that point.

Young artists? Chuck d? Sheryl crow? Ani di franco? Nope...

They didn't say young artists. but popular at the time.

Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani, Eve. Yep.

[Edited 11/15/22 2:38am]

LoveGalore said:

SpookyPurple said:

Have yet to listen to the podcast but at the age I was (mid-teens) and where I was (mid-sized city) - Prince definitely did not seem cool anymore by the time TGE came out (almost 1996). Where I was, Madonna was probably the only massive 80s pop star that remained "cool" at that time and was played on radio and MTV all the time. Prince was of course still a massive public figure but that to me is different from being considered relevant. And he definitely didn't seem relevant to the music scene at that point (where I was) despite having had a big hit with TMBGITW just a couple of years earlier. I literally knew no one else who listened to Prince at that time. But I imagine there were other places where he still seemed current. TGE opened at #5 on the Billboard charts if I remember correctly...

I'm from Baltimore so I Hate U and Letitgo both got pretty good airplay here. They were both on the pop radio stations, no less. But even Pink Cashmere got plays in the DMV. So while he wasn't Madonna or Whitney or Mariah, and MJ was embroiled in the allegations, Prince wasn't passé. I remember him being notorious for fighting the labels so some folks thought he was a bad ass and some thought he was a brat.

In the Netherlands he was getting more popular, I think, from what I remember. During the D&P
period he was hugely popular and the album did very well, as did the singles. The Hits and
Bsides project was literally everywhere.

Then TMBGITW was obviously a global hit and it was on the radio over here constantly. People
were so ready for more new music and we got a taste of it in late night radio shows with that
DAT tape of TGE and COME tracks he sent out to radio. Plus one of our radio hosts debuted the
Dolphin "single".

Seems like there was a lot of momentum behind him, from his current string of hit songs and all
the massive touring he did. People were on board.

But then because of the legal battles, coupled with few to no actual singles that could be pushed
to radio, people quickly abandoned ship.

There was too much confusion for the general public I guess. If he'd somehow managed to get
TGE out there, Dolphin actual second single, a few of the tracks that were cut from the album
stuck onto the bsides, it would have done very well. There is almost no way it would NOT have
done very well indeed.

I remember in europe the music magazines were so thirsty for TGE that they even made little
news articles about rumoured track lists every few months. (acknowledge me/days of wild and
ripopgodazippa etc were at this stage still considered).

But after TMBGITW everything just kind of stopped in it's tracks and although Prince was still
finding ways to get his music out there, there was a lack of visible, actual obvious commercial
singles that the public could grab onto. That should have been the focus, despite all of what
was going on behind the scenes.

I wish he would have been able to somehow make it work between him and warner. It would
have been great if they'd been a bit more willing to release more music. Heck, all those songs
he had (spread out over 1800/Exodus/Gold/COME) could have made for a very dense double
disc set with an a-ma-zing tracklist.

In this day and age it seems almost incomprehensible to me that they would have just let the
relationship sour so badly and sabotage so many good songs. Because there were so many
GOOD GOOD GOOD songs.

LILpoundCAKE said:

LoveGalore said:

SpookyPurple said: I'm from Baltimore so I Hate U and Letitgo both got pretty good airplay here. They were both on the pop radio stations, no less. But even Pink Cashmere got plays in the DMV. So while he wasn't Madonna or Whitney or Mariah, and MJ was embroiled in the allegations, Prince wasn't passé. I remember him being notorious for fighting the labels so some folks thought he was a bad ass and some thought he was a brat.

In the Netherlands he was getting more popular, I think, from what I remember. During the D&P
period he was hugely popular and the album did very well, as did the singles. The Hits and
Bsides project was literally everywhere.

Then TMBGITW was obviously a global hit and it was on the radio over here constantly. People
were so ready for more new music and we got a taste of it in late night radio shows with that
DAT tape of TGE and COME tracks he sent out to radio. Plus one of our radio hosts debuted the
Dolphin "single".

Seems like there was a lot of momentum behind him, from his current string of hit songs and all
the massive touring he did. People were on board.

But then because of the legal battles, coupled with few to no actual singles that could be pushed
to radio, people quickly abandoned ship.

There was too much confusion for the general public I guess. If he'd somehow managed to get
TGE out there, Dolphin actual second single, a few of the tracks that were cut from the album
stuck onto the bsides, it would have done very well. There is almost no way it would NOT have
done very well indeed.

I remember in europe the music magazines were so thirsty for TGE that they even made little
news articles about rumoured track lists every few months. (acknowledge me/days of wild and
ripopgodazippa etc were at this stage still considered).

But after TMBGITW everything just kind of stopped in it's tracks and although Prince was still
finding ways to get his music out there, there was a lack of visible, actual obvious commercial
singles that the public could grab onto. That should have been the focus, despite all of what
was going on behind the scenes.

I wish he would have been able to somehow make it work between him and warner. It would
have been great if they'd been a bit more willing to release more music. Heck, all those songs
he had (spread out over 1800/Exodus/Gold/COME) could have made for a very dense double
disc set with an a-ma-zing tracklist.

In this day and age it seems almost incomprehensible to me that they would have just let the
relationship sour so badly and sabotage so many good songs. Because there were so many
GOOD GOOD GOOD songs.

Exactly all this.

Also, worth mentioning Love Sign. I'm sure he'd have had another hit with it on the back of TMBGIW if Warners hadn't blocked it.

.

With the Ice Cube directed video, anti-gun message and Marvin Gaye's daugher it was getting some publicity here in UK. I saw the video quite a bit and the popular Smash Hits magazine gave it a glowing review.

.

As you say he was everywhere back then and there seemed to be a constant stream of maxi-singles, albums, VHS's, TV specials, associated artist releases, tours. Those were the days, man

dodger07 said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

In the Netherlands he was getting more popular, I think, from what I remember. During the D&P
period he was hugely popular and the album did very well, as did the singles. The Hits and
Bsides project was literally everywhere.

Then TMBGITW was obviously a global hit and it was on the radio over here constantly. People
were so ready for more new music and we got a taste of it in late night radio shows with that
DAT tape of TGE and COME tracks he sent out to radio. Plus one of our radio hosts debuted the
Dolphin "single".

Seems like there was a lot of momentum behind him, from his current string of hit songs and all
the massive touring he did. People were on board.

But then because of the legal battles, coupled with few to no actual singles that could be pushed
to radio, people quickly abandoned ship.

There was too much confusion for the general public I guess. If he'd somehow managed to get
TGE out there, Dolphin actual second single, a few of the tracks that were cut from the album
stuck onto the bsides, it would have done very well. There is almost no way it would NOT have
done very well indeed.

I remember in europe the music magazines were so thirsty for TGE that they even made little
news articles about rumoured track lists every few months. (acknowledge me/days of wild and
ripopgodazippa etc were at this stage still considered).

But after TMBGITW everything just kind of stopped in it's tracks and although Prince was still
finding ways to get his music out there, there was a lack of visible, actual obvious commercial
singles that the public could grab onto. That should have been the focus, despite all of what
was going on behind the scenes.

I wish he would have been able to somehow make it work between him and warner. It would
have been great if they'd been a bit more willing to release more music. Heck, all those songs
he had (spread out over 1800/Exodus/Gold/COME) could have made for a very dense double
disc set with an a-ma-zing tracklist.

In this day and age it seems almost incomprehensible to me that they would have just let the
relationship sour so badly and sabotage so many good songs. Because there were so many
GOOD GOOD GOOD songs.

Exactly all this.

Also, worth mentioning Love Sign. I'm sure he'd have had another hit with it on the back of TMBGIW if Warners hadn't blocked it.

.

With the Ice Cube directed video, anti-gun message and Marvin Gaye's daugher it was getting some publicity here in UK. I saw the video quite a bit and the popular Smash Hits magazine gave it a glowing review.

.

As you say he was everywhere back then and there seemed to be a constant stream of maxi-singles, albums, VHS's, TV specials, associated artist releases, tours. Those were the days, man

Love Sign! Indeed, another great song, that was on tv quite a bit over here as well, yet there was
no single that you could go out and buy.

And although TV did play the video a lot, the song wasn't featured on the pop channels here as
no one from the company was paying to push it (i guess?). It got a few bumps on late nite radio
but that was it.

Yes, it was released on 1-800-New-Funk, but no casual pop fan was going to buy that album with
to them 90% unknown acts, just to get 1 song. If they knew about the album at all, that is.

LILpoundCAKE said:

LoveGalore said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

Love Sign! Indeed, another great song, that was on tv quite a bit over here as well, yet there was
no single that you could go out and buy.

And although TV did play the video a lot, the song wasn't featured on the pop channels here as
no one from the company was paying to push it (i guess?). It got a few bumps on late nite radio
but that was it.

Yes, it was released on 1-800-New-Funk, but no casual pop fan was going to buy that album with
to them 90% unknown acts, just to get 1 song. If they knew about the album at all, that is.

I did accidentally find and then buy 1800NF. Literally just found it show up in the record store I would obsessively go to every week. Was a neat surprise tho I was a little confused (I was 12 at the time). I did not see the Love Sign video for years after this though. It didn't get on mtv and I don't think I ever heard it on the radio. I just think this was a consequence of the limited release.

I think I stumbled across Mayte's album like that. Used to go to the record store every few weeks
just to see if there was a surprise prince release.

This being the time before the internet and me being only about 15 at the time, I had missed quite
a few other related artist releases like Carmen and the second Mavis' The Voice etc. So there would
be something 'new' quite often as the store owner seemed to be a fan himself and would sometimes
order paisley park back catalogue releases.

I just remember that sometimes MTV back then had a weekend dedicated to a single group or an
artist. Whenever they had a Prince weekend I'd sit in front of the tv all weekend and tape all of the
songs. Lots of related artist stuff I discovered that way.

I think one of those weekends is when I first caught the video for the extended version of Thieves
and it blew my mind. Literally left me wide eyed and foaming on the floor ah, the old times

this was no punk period - if he had that, it was in the early 80s.

but if you wanted an album that showed off his middle aged badassery, then it would basically be the songs that didnt sound like a near middle aged man trying to be badass (ie now, days of wild, etc) or a kind of conscience to rap and rnb of the time (eg love sign) but tracks that were just prince doing prince, but no middle of the road stuff (even if i do like space, TMBGITW etc).

eg

pheremone

loose

papa

dark

solo

Orgasm

interactive

endorphinmachine

shhh

dolphin

Count the days

dont talk to strangers

319

ripopgodazippa

shy

billy jack bitch

i hate u

gold

C&D

i like it there

dinner with delores

the same december

zannalee

into the light

i will

dig u better dead

had u

this would have been a better double or triple set than emancipation

[Edited 11/15/22 19:00pm]

Papa is so good. I wish he had kept doing tracks like that. Love everything about that one. Still cool to this day.

Was there ever an extended verison of Had U floating around out there? That one also remains fresh to me.

[Edited 11/15/22 13:22pm]

My favourite recording from that period is The Beautiful Experience concert from Feb 1994...that's where I heard Days of Wild for the first time, plus raw live versions of Interactive and Now.

Also really love Peak the Technique, and None of Your Business at the end.

So cool and really felt like an exciting time to tune in to what P was doing then. T

It's silly that Prince was even close to being called middle aged as a euphemism for being old.

-

In the 1994 Prince was a year older than Kendrick Lamar is now and 5 years younger than Beyonce is now.

-

Some of Prince's best music was recorded was recorded in this era and, had it not been for his war against the record industry, it would have all been as commercially viable as TMBGITW.

-

Lastly, I love Jim Walsh but he was always a fanboy obsessed with things being "trendy" or "hip" to the wannabe music hipsters of the era.

I think the musical/cultural climate wasn't a good fit for Prince to be commercially popular as the 90s progressed regardless of what he released. Everything got "hard" and it was all about being "gangsta" and street. Things Prince was decidedly not. And pop radio was almost all rap and a different kind of R&B. What was popular here in the US and got lots of airplay and video play just drastically changed from even 92 to 94. The 90s were just miles away musically from what the 80s were like as far as diversity in sound. In a bad way.