I am proud to present 2 U: "Prince and Purple Rain: 40 Years" by my friend Andrea Swensson

• Prince’s youth and early music career in Minneapolis, as well as each of the five studio albums that preceded Purple Rain
• Prince’s backing band, The Revolution, and the backgrounds of each of its individual members, with an emphasis on the Purple Rain studio and touring members: keyboardist Bobby Z., bassist Brown Mark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, keyboardist Matt Fink, and vocalist Apollonia
• Track-by-track analyses of each side
• A look at the groundbreaking film of the same name and its multiplatinum soundtrack
• Awards, accolades, and critical reception
• Prince’s legacy post–Purple Rain, up to his untimely death in 2016

[Edited 9/14/23 10:17am]

...and we don't remember Bobby Z being the main keyboardist

lust said:

The link is already broken

nayroo2002 said:

...and we don't remember Bobby Z being the main keyboardist

No more than any of us really remember Apollonia as a vocalist.

Andrea's cool and all but do we need another fucking retrospective of Purple Rain? And for $50???

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

Back on topic: https://prince.org/msg/7/470237

FrankieCoco1 said:

Couple of thoughts. Why publicise this now, when D&P is on the agenda, and it’s not out until next May? “Chapters cover: …Prince’s backing band, The Revolution, and the backgrounds of each of its individual members, with an emphasis on the Purple Rain studio and touring members: keyboardist Bobby Z., bassist Brown Mark, guitarist Wendy Melvoin, keyboardist Lisa Coleman, keyboardist Matt Fink, and vocalist Apollonia.” I don’t ever remember Apples being considered a member of The Revolution!

Maybe she's listed because she features prominently on the album (Take Me With U duet)? Granted, she was never part of the Revolution, but weren't they on stage with The Revolution during the Purple Rain tour?

I'd consider Jill more of a member of The Revolution . . . she's all over the 1999 album which does say "and The Revolution" on the cover . . .

RJOrion said:

The natural conspiracy theorist that i am, Im really starting to think that the powers that be (banks, lawyers, labels, writers), are purposely sabatoging and diminishing what value the Prince Estate and its legacy, has left...because since he mysteriously came up missing from this realm, none of what has been going on with his posthumous affairs has made the slightest bit of sense.

I disagree.

What people have to realize is that even when Prince was still alive, his albums for the last 20 years of his life were not selling well. You had some outliers (Musicology, 3121) but most of them were very low sellers. The "mystique" of new Prince music was a bit more glamorous than the music itself.

So without Prince here in person to create excitement around a new release, you're left with just the new release to stand on its own. Some of these releases (SOTT:SDE and 1999:SDE) are really special. Some others (Originals, Piano & Microphone) are "OK". And then Welcome 2 America was somewhere in the middle.

Plus, with Prince gone, his music is now on streaming. The average listener is not going to part with their cash for a physical release, when they can listen for free. Hard to compete with that.

People also complain about t-shirts, glassware and blankets being sold on the website . . . but those are money-makers that keep the Estate going when album sales are dismal! A T-shirt brings them the same income as single-disc album does.

RJOrion said:

laytonian said:

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

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TrivialPursuit said:

laytonian said:

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

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Se7en said:

RJOrion said:

The natural conspiracy theorist that i am, Im really starting to think that the powers that be (banks, lawyers, labels, writers), are purposely sabatoging and diminishing what value the Prince Estate and its legacy, has left...because since he mysteriously came up missing from this realm, none of what has been going on with his posthumous affairs has made the slightest bit of sense.

I disagree.

What people have to realize is that even when Prince was still alive, his albums for the last 20 years of his life were not selling well. You had some outliers (Musicology, 3121) but most of them were very low sellers. The "mystique" of new Prince music was a bit more glamorous than the music itself.

So without Prince here in person to create excitement around a new release, you're left with just the new release to stand on its own. Some of these releases (SOTT:SDE and 1999:SDE) are really special. Some others (Originals, Piano & Microphone) are "OK". And then Welcome 2 America was somewhere in the middle.

Plus, with Prince gone, his music is now on streaming. The average listener is not going to part with their cash for a physical release, when they can listen for free. Hard to compete with that.

People also complain about t-shirts, glassware and blankets being sold on the website . . . but those are money-makers that keep the Estate going when album sales are dismal! A T-shirt brings them the same income as single-disc album does.

I'm with "7" on this.

But, i luv ya both

laytonian said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

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Off topic comment deleted - l'ange bleu. moderator

Purple Rain in the mornin', Purple Rain in the evenin', Purple Rain at suppertime...

When Purple Rain's the only Prince album people act like matters you can have Purple Rain anytime...

Se7en said:

What people have to realize is that even when Prince was still alive, his albums for the last 20 years of his life were not selling well. You had some outliers (Musicology, 3121) but most of them were very low sellers. The "mystique" of new Prince music was a bit more glamorous than the music itself.

yeah uh, wasn't the bulk of his 90s/00s/10s income generated primarily from touring?

You even cited Musicology but didn't that only sell because he forced people to buy it including it with prices for the concert tickets? The concert he was going around clearly implying would be the "last time" he played the hits? (ignoring that he'd play the hits non-stop every subsequent tour). People were looking to get rid of those CDs still in the shrinkwrap like a car windshield flier the sec they hit the parking lot.

If it's all mostly through touring and he alienated himself from young gens not letting his music be streamed, then wouldn't he be worth more alive?

Prince reactions on YouTube get the lowest views out of any videos I watch on there. Consistently. Reactions to "big" hits. The legacy is worth a lot to us, to corporations and companies uhhh... are a bunch of songs nobody in their teens and twenties knows really like the Ark of the Covenant?

[Edited 9/8/23 17:36pm]

[Edited 9/8/23 17:37pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

Purple Rain in the mornin', Purple Rain in the evenin', Purple Rain at suppertime...

When Purple Rain's the only Prince album people act like matters you can have Purple Rain anytime...

Se7en said:

What people have to realize is that even when Prince was still alive, his albums for the last 20 years of his life were not selling well. You had some outliers (Musicology, 3121) but most of them were very low sellers. The "mystique" of new Prince music was a bit more glamorous than the music itself.

yeah uh, wasn't the bulk of his 90s/00s/10s income generated primarily from touring?

You even cited Musicology but didn't that only sell because he forced people to buy it including it with prices for the concert tickets? The concert he was going around clearly implying would be the "last time" he played the hits? (ignoring that he'd play the hits non-stop every subsequent tour). People were looking to get rid of those CDs still in the shrinkwrap like a car windshield flier the sec they hit the parking lot.

If it's all mostly through touring and he alienated himself from young gens not letting his music be streamed, then wouldn't he be worth more alive?

Prince reactions on YouTube get the lowest views out of any videos I watch on there. Consistently. Reactions to "big" hits. The legacy is worth a lot to us, to corporations and companies uhhh... are a bunch of songs nobody in their teens and twenties knows really like the Ark of the Covenant?

[Edited 9/8/23 17:36pm]

[Edited 9/8/23 17:37pm]

I will concede about Musicology - I know for a fact I ended up with 5 of them (four from the tour and one store-bought). I know my local used CD shop eventually stopped buying them as trade-ins. But in a way, you are proving my point even more . . . his albums for 20+ years before his death just were not selling well.

Musicology, PE, 20Ten had gimmicky sales tactics. ONA Piano, C-NOTE and Xpectation were basically NPGMC subscription filler. (Again, this discussion is about sales - not quality of content).

His income was absolutely primarily from touring. I know every concert he ever had here in Detroit was sold out. So yes - he was of course worth more alive!

One more comment about naysayers of Prince merch: Prince himself sold cloud guitars, T-shirts, perfume, candles, tambourines, etc. himself over the years. The Estate is not doing anything Prince hadn't already done.

Se7en said:

RJOrion said:

The natural conspiracy theorist that i am, Im really starting to think that the powers that be (banks, lawyers, labels, writers), are purposely sabatoging and diminishing what value the Prince Estate and its legacy, has left...because since he mysteriously came up missing from this realm, none of what has been going on with his posthumous affairs has made the slightest bit of sense.

I disagree.

What people have to realize is that even when Prince was still alive, his albums for the last 20 years of his life were not selling well. You had some outliers (Musicology, 3121) but most of them were very low sellers. The "mystique" of new Prince music was a bit more glamorous than the music itself.

So without Prince here in person to create excitement around a new release, you're left with just the new release to stand on its own. Some of these releases (SOTT:SDE and 1999:SDE) are really special. Some others (Originals, Piano & Microphone) are "OK". And then Welcome 2 America was somewhere in the middle.

Plus, with Prince gone, his music is now on streaming. The average listener is not going to part with their cash for a physical release, when they can listen for free. Hard to compete with that.

People also complain about t-shirts, glassware and blankets being sold on the website . . . but those are money-makers that keep the Estate going when album sales are dismal! A T-shirt brings them the same income as single-disc album does.

One thing to point out is this: Nobody makes money from their recorded music in the streaming era. There are no sales to speak of. Taylor Swift makes her money from touring....not from her recorded music.

-

Remember, in the late 90's (Napster era) the music industry basically bottomed out. Even big time artists* who sold a lot and managed to make money off of it (Metallica) could see the writing on the wall. Selling music was never going to be as lucrative as it had been.

-

*Think about tLC. Those girls NEVER got paid despite the million upon millions that they made. Prince himself claimed that he made more money from his music when he was independent (Emancipation for example) that he did in his heydey with WB.

[Edited 9/10/23 7:52am]

Se7en said:

I will concede about Musicology - I know for a fact I ended up with 5 of them (four from the tour and one store-bought). I know my local used CD shop eventually stopped buying them as trade-ins. But in a way, you are proving my point even more . . . his albums for 20+ years before his death just were not selling well.

Oh, I agree with your point.

To me his "pop star" status is mostly an illusion. He undeniably owned the year 1984, and was on the come-up since 1999, but otherwise he's got what, maybe 2-3 other bonafide "hit" records?

It's why I'm so opposed to the SDE priority of releases--and emphasis on Prince "greatest hits" in general. It undermines the rest of his catalogue because it's such a small percentage of material that was actually a "hit". Like he's part of the big three with Madonna and MJ, but emphasizing his "hits" inherently makes him look markedly inferior by comparison, when why he's markedly superior is everything around the hits.

I`m looking forward to Andrea`s book

andrewm7new said:

I`m looking forward to Andrea`s book

I also look forward to it. I want to see rare photos and memorabilia. Understand and want to know Prince's most iconic, Purple Rain.