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Thread started 05/17/24 2:04am

TheNewPowerMan

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Name change: The Band Formerly Known as New Power Generation

Suddenly, a new name appears on The New Power Generation's website: The Band Formerly Known as New Power Generation. Does anyone know more details or reasons for the name change? Here is the link: https://thebandformerlykn...g.com/home

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Reply #1 posted 05/17/24 6:15am

belief345

Issues witht he estate I would imagine.. Would want the guys to license the name so the Estate can mak money off everything they do. Just guessing smile

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Reply #2 posted 05/17/24 8:03am

TrivialPursuit

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belief345 said:

Issues witht he estate I would imagine.. Would want the guys to license the name so the Estate can mak money off everything they do. Just guessing smile


Guess again. There is no licensing of a band name. They're not loaning out "New Power Generation" to whoever pays enough money.

There aren't other configurations of Led Zeppelin or The Beatles touring because they paid a fee to use the name.


Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #3 posted 05/17/24 9:52am

belief345

Interesting

[Edited 5/17/24 9:53am]

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Reply #4 posted 05/17/24 10:14am

whodknee

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TrivialPursuit said:

belief345 said:

Issues witht he estate I would imagine.. Would want the guys to license the name so the Estate can mak money off everything they do. Just guessing smile


Guess again. There is no licensing of a band name. They're not loaning out "New Power Generation" to whoever pays enough money.

There aren't other configurations of Led Zeppelin or The Beatles touring because they paid a fee to use the name.


Still it could be the estate impeding their use of the name. Usually money is the major factor. Why else would they change it?

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Reply #5 posted 05/17/24 12:09pm

RobotFix

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NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile

Givin' up food for funk.
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Reply #6 posted 05/17/24 12:37pm

databank

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TrivialPursuit said:

belief345 said:

Issues witht he estate I would imagine.. Would want the guys to license the name so the Estate can mak money off everything they do. Just guessing smile


Guess again. There is no licensing of a band name. They're not loaning out "New Power Generation" to whoever pays enough money.

There aren't other configurations of Led Zeppelin or The Beatles touring because they paid a fee to use the name.


I'm pretty sure whomever owns a trademark of any kind (thus including band names) is free to licence it to whomever they want for (or even without) a fee.

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #7 posted 05/17/24 2:15pm

laytonian

When "TBFMATMPG" first posted, I asked if that was theirnew name.
I was told "no".

It's an oblique way of referring to Prince without referring to Prince, which I assumed as to avoid problems with the estate.

Welcome to "the org", laytonian… come bathe with me.
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Reply #8 posted 05/17/24 3:27pm

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

RobotFix said:

NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile



Agreed.
Should have been dumped after 95.
The fact it just trundled on for years just made it lose all meaning, or any meaning it had in the first place.
New power generation would be a good name for an electrician school however.
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Reply #9 posted 05/17/24 3:39pm

databank

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funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

RobotFix said:

NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile

Agreed. Should have been dumped after 95. The fact it just trundled on for years just made it lose all meaning, or any meaning it had in the first place. New power generation would be a good name for an electrician school however.

lol lol lol

It's never too late lol

.

[Edited 5/17/24 15:39pm]

A COMPREHENSIVE PRINCE DISCOGRAPHY (work in progress ^^): https://sites.google.com/...scography/
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Reply #10 posted 05/17/24 5:10pm

TrivialPursuit

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whodknee said:

Still it could be the estate impeding their use of the name. Usually money is the major factor. Why else would they change it?


Well that's a whole other conversation. And yes, it probably is the estate stepping in.

Everything is money. So be more specific, the major factor is trademark infringement.

Which begs the question how The Revolution uses their name.

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #11 posted 05/17/24 6:11pm

IanRG

My guess is it nothing more than a reflection that membership of NPG was a revolving door after it ceased to be side project away from Prince's contractual obligations and studio battles. The blurb on the website has a selective history to imply that there was a core membership despite the revolving door. And that their line up (Mackenzie (lead vocals), Morris Hayes (MD/keys/vocals), Tony M. (rap vocals/2nd guitar), Sonny T. (bass/vocals ), Mike Scott (lead guitar), Keith Anderson (sax), Brandon Commodore (drums)) with Prince related guests, represents the band formerly known as NPG - as emphasised by the obvious Prince reference in FKA.

I suspect that this just for their current round of tours and, if this works, they may seek to continue under a new name with a byline of the band formerly known as NPG.

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Reply #12 posted 05/17/24 8:01pm

dreamfirstborn

prince is here
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Reply #13 posted 05/17/24 11:58pm

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

databank said:



funkbabyandthebabysitters said:


RobotFix said:

NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile



Agreed. Should have been dumped after 95. The fact it just trundled on for years just made it lose all meaning, or any meaning it had in the first place. New power generation would be a good name for an electrician school however.

lol lol lol


It's never too late lol


.

[Edited 5/17/24 15:39pm]



New power generation could also be a great clean energy scheme name
lol
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Reply #14 posted 05/18/24 10:39am

Germanegro

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TrivialPursuit said:


Well that's a whole other conversation. And yes, it probably is the estate stepping in.

Everything is money. So be more specific, the major factor is trademark infringement.

Which begs the question how The Revolution uses their name.

They always were The Revolution, who were sometimes co-writers with Prince.

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Reply #15 posted 05/18/24 1:47pm

TrivialPursuit

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Germanegro said:

TrivialPursuit said:


Well that's a whole other conversation. And yes, it probably is the estate stepping in.

Everything is money. So be more specific, the major factor is trademark infringement.

Which begs the question how The Revolution uses their name.

They always were The Revolution, who were sometimes co-writers with Prince.


That doesn't mean Prince didn't own a trademark on it. (Same with Warner in the movie.)

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #16 posted 05/18/24 1:48pm

TrivialPursuit

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dreamfirstborn said:

https://prince.org/msg/15/470849


LOL ain't no one going thru all that. TL;DR

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #17 posted 05/20/24 12:30am

MsNia

Honestly, it always felt a bit strange that former Prince backing musicians were allowed to actively tour under the name "NPG", a bit off-brand or something. It feels appropriate to put an end to that, hopefully they'll continue under a new name.

I daresay if the Revolution had been as active as the NPG in terms of touring etc, they'd eventually have run into similar problems with the estate. Also I think at one point the NPG were trying to record some new material so yeah it is obvious they cannot continue as "The New Power Generation" in that csase.

One case I felt was a bit more questionable was The Original 7ven. I'm no legal expert but it would have been lovely if Prince could have allowed them to tour as The Time, work out a deal.

Personally I've really enjoyed seeing all these musicians, and I hope they continue in some form. I do object to NPG using the original band name though, because they're not as tight or as well-presented as they would have been when Prince was around. It's got more of a sloppy covers band vibe about it.

[Edited 5/20/24 0:31am]

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Reply #18 posted 05/20/24 12:57am

WhenFansCry

This band is NOTHING without Prince. Prince made them and they died with Prince. I agree with the name change.

[Edited 5/20/24 0:57am]

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Reply #19 posted 05/20/24 1:58am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

They could be the old power generation.
smile
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Reply #20 posted 05/20/24 4:58am

lurker316

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MsNia said:

One case I felt was a bit more questionable was The Original 7ven. I'm no legal expert but it would have been lovely if Prince could have allowed them to tour as The Time, work out a deal.

[Edited 5/20/24 0:31am]



Prince did work out a deal that allowed them to tour as The Time, but he drew a line at allowing them to record and release new material as The Time.

Morris expressed confusion at why Prince would make this distinction, but I can see where he's coming from. On the one hand, Prince wanted to let Morris and the boys make a living by touring. But on the other hand, Prince wanted to maintain control over the catalogue of commericially available music marketed as The Time.


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Reply #21 posted 05/20/24 5:38am

MsNia

lurker316 said:

MsNia said:

One case I felt was a bit more questionable was The Original 7ven. I'm no legal expert but it would have been lovely if Prince could have allowed them to tour as The Time, work out a deal.

[Edited 5/20/24 0:31am]



Prince did work out a deal that allowed them to tour as The Time, but he drew a line at allowing them to record and release new material as The Time.

Morris expressed confusion at why Prince would make this distinction, but I can see where he's coming from. On the one hand, Prince wanted to let Morris and the boys make a living by touring. But on the other hand, Prince wanted to maintain control over the catalogue of commericially available music marketed as The Time.


Ah that's right, thanks for refreshing my memory.

Yeah personally I think it would have been cool to trust them with the name for the purposes of recording Condens8. Or Prince could have contributed to the project or taken an exec producer credit or something.

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Reply #22 posted 05/20/24 2:07pm

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

For me, the way the revolution ended in 86, the npg should've ended around 95.
If i was the original npg, id prob be annoyed prince kept the name going without them.
Makes it less of a band, just an anonymous banner.
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Reply #23 posted 05/20/24 6:22pm

TrivialPursuit

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funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

For me, the way the revolution ended in 86, the npg should've ended around 95. If i was the original npg, id prob be annoyed prince kept the name going without them. Makes it less of a band, just an anonymous banner.


Sometimes it felt like New Power Generation as an actual band name came too early. It was actually ripe for 1996. He should've saved any sobriquets for after his release from WB. That was a new era, he had new power an an independent artist. New Power Generation would've landed on the ear much better.


Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #24 posted 05/20/24 8:41pm

fragglerock

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Pay attention, they have been referring to themselves for several months now as

'We WERE the NPG'

Mr Hayes mentioned in several interviews they had 'an arrangement' with the estate to use the name, obviously that agreement was up and was not renewed.

[Edited 5/20/24 20:43pm]

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Reply #25 posted 05/20/24 10:38pm

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

TrivialPursuit said:



funkbabyandthebabysitters said:


For me, the way the revolution ended in 86, the npg should've ended around 95. If i was the original npg, id prob be annoyed prince kept the name going without them. Makes it less of a band, just an anonymous banner.


Sometimes it felt like New Power Generation as an actual band name came too early. It was actually ripe for 1996. He should've saved any sobriquets for after his release from WB. That was a new era, he had new power an an independent artist. New Power Generation would've landed on the ear much better.




Thatd make sense but the phrase waa already out there on the lovesexy album.
But yes, thats also what i mean, he should def have retired it in 95/96 as it was meant to be about new begininngs, a new name, etc etc
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Reply #26 posted 05/24/24 8:46am

Se7en

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RobotFix said:

NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile


I thought it was a cool name for a song title, and didn't "mind" it for that original lineup built around Sonny, Michael B., Tommy, etc. But I agree it should have been retired after a few albums, especially when almost the entire band changed over again.


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Reply #27 posted 05/25/24 11:32pm

Vannormal

RobotFix said:

NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile

I hated the name from the first moment i heard it.

Could not meassure up to 'The Revolution.'

Same with 'Prince and The Band.'

I would've chosen 'Prince & (The) Future Revolution'

or 'Prince & (The) Cosmic Solution.'

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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Reply #28 posted 05/26/24 1:03am

funkbabyandthe
babysitters

Vannormal said:



RobotFix said:


NPG was never a hip name for a band. smile



I hated the name from the first moment i heard it.


Could not meassure up to 'The Revolution.'


Same with 'Prince and The Band.'


I would've chosen 'Prince & (The) Future Revolution'


or 'Prince & (The) Cosmic Solution.'



no prince band needs to sound like 'the revolution'
Basically any other name than the npg, as its so clunky, but if it was the npg, just give it a cut off point
The npg idea sounded cool on lovesexy as something to be welcomed to, less as a band name
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Reply #29 posted 05/27/24 6:08am

Vannormal

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

Vannormal said:

I hated the name from the first moment i heard it.

Could not meassure up to 'The Revolution.'

Same with 'Prince and The Band.'

I would've chosen 'Prince & (The) Future Revolution'

or 'Prince & (The) Cosmic Solution.'

no prince band needs to sound like 'the revolution' Basically any other name than the npg, as its so clunky, but if it was the npg, just give it a cut off point The npg idea sounded cool on lovesexy as something to be welcomed to, less as a band name

OF course not, I simply said this was my (humble) idea. wink

Indeed, I also remeber how cool it sounded as a message on 'Lovesexy.'

If he dropped the word 'power', it would've been much cooler imo.

The song "New Power Generation Pt II," also never did it for me, with that 'pumpin' the big noise into the 90s.'

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves. And wiser people so full of doubts" (Bertrand Russell 1872-1972)
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