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Thread started 08/31/23 6:27am

SoftSkarlettLo
visa

Do you see some David Bowie influence in P's Dirty Mind era/ image?

Toure's book "I Would Die 4 U" (2013 edition) is based on lectures Toure delivered at Harvard University. He mentions at one point that Prince was influenced by David Bowie.

Now it makes sense. I sense some David Bowie influence in P's Dirty Mind era/ image - so image-wise, P's trench coat and lack of other clothing with the gritty, urban image combined with demo-sounding, stripped disco songs. This is similiar to early David Bowie and his attire of very little clothing, gender fluidity and experimental 70s dance-pop music.

About the whole trench coat thing... David Bowie was photographed in dark, neo-noir, gritty attire in 1976, photographed by Andrew Kent.

a6cf1eb38b00fe166fedebe3dd6ca4c5.jpg

I wouldn't be surprised if P was influenced by these Bowie looks (outfit, pose, attitude) as he started his career.

[Edited 8/31/23 8:40am]

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Reply #1 posted 08/31/23 9:04am

RJOrion

Hell No...a certain demographic of people are always trying to compare bowie to Prince, or claim some type of musical influence bowie had on Prince...thats complete nonsense...and Toure' is no expert on Prince...he's just a delusional fanboy who fancies himself as some self-styled pseudo intellectual...the only similarities between Prince and bowie, is the gender bendng antics, visually...no musical similarities whatsover...bowie was a HORRIBLE singer who couldnt play any instruments professionally
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Reply #2 posted 08/31/23 9:06am

RJOrion

Like bowie and Prince were the only one who ever wore a trenchcoat or a hat..

rolleyes
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Reply #3 posted 08/31/23 9:09am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

Bowie played guitar. And sax.

Ofc there are similarities.

They did similar things with genre, gender, and in terms of their continual reinventions.

Musically they werent similiar sounding but philosophically (in music terms) i think they saw eye to eye.

Whether prince was a fan, idk, but he played heroes when bowie died in concert at least.

I doubt he really studied bowie but i think he absorbed the idea of bowie and knew what he meant or symbolised and what the appeal was. Prince was a student of music after all. Impossible that he wasnt aware.
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Reply #4 posted 08/31/23 9:09am

RJOrion

Hundreds of rock bands and acts and pop bands and acts, from the late 60s through the midlate 70s were exhibiting "gender fluidity" in their style and appearances...it wasnt exclusive to bowie or prince...nor did either pioneer or invent it..
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Reply #5 posted 08/31/23 9:13am

themanfromnept
une

SoftSkarlettLovisa said:

Toure's book "I Would Die 4 U" (2013 edition) is based on lectures Toure delivered at Harvard University. He mentions at one point that Prince was influenced by David Bowie.

[Edited 8/31/23 8:40am]

.

Bowie was more intellectual than Prince and was able to move farther than Prince from the pop core of his music to do more extreme, dissonant and experimental things. Works done with Eno (around Berlin), Outside or the Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack are unthinkable for Prince.

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Reply #6 posted 08/31/23 9:18am

happyshopper

Probably more Iggy Pop than Bowie.
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Reply #7 posted 08/31/23 9:20am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

happyshopper said:

Probably more Iggy Pop than Bowie.


Overall or in the dm era?
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Reply #8 posted 08/31/23 9:23am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

themanfromneptune said:



SoftSkarlettLovisa said:


Toure's book "I Would Die 4 U" (2013 edition) is based on lectures Toure delivered at Harvard University. He mentions at one point that Prince was influenced by David Bowie.



[Edited 8/31/23 8:40am]



.


Bowie was more intellectual than Prince and was able to move farther than Prince from the pop core of his music to do more extreme, dissonant and experimental things. Works done with Eno (around Berlin), Outside or the Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack are unthinkable for Prince.



The plan on emancipation is quite similiar to enos from the same hill actually. Very similar. But prince was prob just into new agey ambient music influenced by eno.

But yea Bowie was more intellectual and detached. But both were very aware of music history.
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Reply #9 posted 08/31/23 9:26am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

RJOrion said:

Hundreds of rock bands and acts and pop bands and acts, from the late 60s through the midlate 70s were exhibiting "gender fluidity" in their style and appearances...it wasnt exclusive to bowie or prince...nor did either pioneer or invent it..


Yeah but bowie was the biggest exponent of that in the 70s when prince was an adolescent. And if prince was into marc bolan (see: cream), impossible he wasnt aware of Bowie somewhat too. Glam rock influenced a ton of 80s pop. Bowie kinda cleared the way for guys like boy George, prince, etc.
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Reply #10 posted 08/31/23 9:36am

RJOrion

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

RJOrion said:

Hundreds of rock bands and acts and pop bands and acts, from the late 60s through the midlate 70s were exhibiting "gender fluidity" in their style and appearances...it wasnt exclusive to bowie or prince...nor did either pioneer or invent it..


Yeah but bowie was the biggest exponent of that in the 70s when prince was an adolescent. And if prince was into marc bolan (see: cream), impossible he wasnt aware of Bowie somewhat too. Glam rock influenced a ton of 80s pop. Bowie kinda cleared the way for guys like boy George, prince, etc.


Little Richard cleared the way, well before bowie did...and Little Richard was all over TV in the late 60s to mid 70s...way more visible in the US than bowie was
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Reply #11 posted 08/31/23 9:38am

RJOrion

All those british music acts looked up to and emulated Little Richard...The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and bowie themselves, have spoken openly of L.R.s influence...as has L.R. himself, of course
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Reply #12 posted 08/31/23 9:57am

themanfromnept
une

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

themanfromneptune said:

.

Bowie was more intellectual than Prince and was able to move farther than Prince from the pop core of his music to do more extreme, dissonant and experimental things. Works done with Eno (around Berlin), Outside or the Buddha of Suburbia soundtrack are unthinkable for Prince.

The plan on emancipation is quite similiar to enos from the same hill actually. Very similar. But prince was prob just into new agey ambient music influenced by eno. But yea Bowie was more intellectual and detached. But both were very aware of music history.

.

If I have to think to "experimental music" in Eno or Eno-Bowie direction, I could say The Plan, true. Also Cutz, East. Something in Strange But True. The second-half of Father's Song. But are little echoes here and there in a complete different direction in music.

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Reply #13 posted 08/31/23 10:13am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

RJOrion said:

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:



Yeah but bowie was the biggest exponent of that in the 70s when prince was an adolescent. And if prince was into marc bolan (see: cream), impossible he wasnt aware of Bowie somewhat too. Glam rock influenced a ton of 80s pop. Bowie kinda cleared the way for guys like boy George, prince, etc.


Little Richard cleared the way, well before bowie did...and Little Richard was all over TV in the late 60s to mid 70s...way more visible in the US than bowie was


Obv little Richard was a big reference for prince, in terms of being a flamboyant rock/rnb artist, but again, as with Bowie theres little in the music except maybe the screaming (or the facial expressions) that is obv echoed in princes songs (also richard was a wild singer, prince was way more controlled). My point is just that yeah you can trace it back to the 50s, but for the time prince came out, it was bowie (who was a big richard fan) who really made that impact for all the feminine men that followed in the 80s.
[Edited 8/31/23 10:16am]
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Reply #14 posted 08/31/23 12:38pm

happyshopper

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

happyshopper said:

Probably more Iggy Pop than Bowie.


Overall or in the dm era?


DM era… half naked on stage and punk attitude.

Overall, I think inspired by people like Bowie and Little Richard, to break genres and expectations, and reinvent himself for each album.
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Reply #15 posted 08/31/23 2:16pm

TrivialPursuit

avatar

Toure, while a smart man no doubt, should've rethought part of that book. The latter 1/3 is just him rambling. It goes way off course. He was better off posing his hypothos and comparing boomber to Gen X mentalities, etc. I found a lot of myself in that book when talking about latchkey kids, etc; and how Prince, Madonna, and MJ had feet in both worlds. They were all baby boombers, but exhibited Gen X sensibilities in their music; yet their worth ethics were boomer-centric.

Comparing Bowie to Prince is complimentary to both artists, no doubt. They were both revolutionary and forward thinking in their art. But to think that Prince - who had to be introduced to the sounds of major arists by his bandmates and friends well into his late teens and early 20s - was listening to Ziggy, Hunky Dory, Aladdin, or "Heroes" just doesn't sit well. And if he did, was he influenced by that? Probably not, at least not to the degree that Touré and others try to fecundate in his journalings.

And the example of a black and white photo is certainly not proof of anything other than an artistic call by either Prince or the photographer. I found the b/w cover rather ironic considering the wide array of social, sexual, and political ideologies he expresses on the album. If anything is not black and white, it's Prince's view of his own sexual utopia aka Uptown.

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #16 posted 08/31/23 3:36pm

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

If anything in the dirty mind era was connected to bowie its more that the new york artists in that time were prob influenced somewhere by bowie and that filtered through to prince who was given lots of records to look through by warners iirc, which was good for his research and getting ideas at that time

But theres little obv connection during this time, esp not to what Bowie was releasing in the late 70s / 1980

Strangely, when beck remade diamond dogs with timbaland, i did think that if prince ever covered bowie, he might have done it in a similar way (not vocally, just musically)
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Reply #17 posted 09/01/23 7:03am

Se7en

avatar

I think Prince was more influenced by the New Wave/Punk scene of the early 80s than David Bowie specifically.

Whatever cosmic forces swayed him into the gray-then-purple studded trenchcoat look, I thank them! That was pure genius and pure Prince!

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Reply #18 posted 09/01/23 8:13am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

prince playing guitar on lets dance.

cant imagine prince would play on a song/artist he hated, even when just guesting with another artist like nile rogers

https://pitchfork.com/news/55794-prince-and-nile-rodgers-cover-david-bowies-lets-dance-video/

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Reply #19 posted 09/01/23 9:44am

KlyphIsBackAga
in

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No. The only outside, "modern" influence I see in the DM era is Gary Numan.

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Reply #20 posted 09/01/23 9:58am

lustmealways

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panic in detroit is the best bowie song

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Reply #21 posted 09/02/23 5:35pm

fortuneandsere
ndipity

lustmealways said:

panic in detroit is the best bowie song



Sounds somewhat like the Stones.

You say it was bowie's best song by miles, like his other stuff isn't as good.






The world's problems like climate change can only be solved through strategic long-term thinking, not expediency. In other words all the govts. need sacking!

If you can add value to someone's life then why not. Especially if it colors their days...
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Reply #22 posted 09/05/23 9:17am

SPYZFAN1

I agree with Se7en. I've read that P, Andre and Dez were digging The Plasmatics and (hardcore West Philly band) Pure Hell around that time. If you look at any videoclips of Pure Hell, you can see where Dez and Andre copped a little bit of their look.

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Reply #23 posted 09/05/23 10:07am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

Dez is a critical influence during this period
He was into harder kinds of music iirc
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Reply #24 posted 09/05/23 10:53am

RJOrion

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Dez is a critical influence during this period
He was into harder kinds of music iirc


Yes
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Reply #25 posted 09/05/23 11:12am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

you could even argue that no dez = no punky prince.

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Reply #26 posted 09/05/23 7:34pm

SanDiegoFunkDa
ddy

Dirty Mind is Prince inspired by Prince

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Reply #27 posted 09/05/23 7:40pm

WhisperingDand
elions

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SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

Dirty Mind is Prince inspired by Prince

He literally bought the last track from Morris Day...

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Reply #28 posted 09/05/23 7:45pm

SanDiegoFunkDa
ddy

WhisperingDandelions said:

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

Dirty Mind is Prince inspired by Prince

He literally bought the last track from Morris Day...

umm I know that. The demo Morris gave him was totally different than what was recorded. Morris version was more syncopated and funky

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Reply #29 posted 09/05/23 7:46pm

WhisperingDand
elions

avatar

SanDiegoFunkDaddy said:

umm I know that. The demo Morris gave him was totally different than what was recorded. Morris version was more syncopated and funky

The demo is out there?

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