W to the A to the R...

oh, screw doing that the whole word down...

W A R N E R S Y E A R S!

huggy said:

cha-chiiing!

Thirdeye said:

On time, ok I gotta call revisionist history now. I remember at least a few albums didn't come out as they were originally scheduled. Probably had more to do with Prince than WB, but we definitely didn't always get stuff on time.

.
[This message was edited Thu Jun 26 10:23:34 PDT 2003 by Universaluv]

squirrelmeat & handclaps...i LOVE U guys!!!
(every word U guys said i shouted YEAH!!!)

just a few thangs to add. i love p. always have. but like
a lot of great artists he has a bad case of revisionist
history desease!

WB did a lot for him during his formative years.
after he WENT way over budget for his first album (which didn't sell that well...aside from the single "soft & wet")
they gave the brotha a chance (back in those days record
labels didn't just throw money away to new artists-especially black ones!) let him do his 2nd record...let him
pick his own backing band (they wanted him to pick the best
of well known LA session musicians..but gave in to his
wishes to pick people from his HOMEtown) they really bent
their asses over when he did DIRTY MIND,which was really
a demo album (a great one,too) with nasty lyrics that
was sure to NOT get radio airplay...they fought him a bit...
but said "ok kid...we'll take the hit financially...to get
the good press in the rock mags (which is what d-mind got
him)

i could go on but you guys dig where i'm coming from?
in most cases WB stuck their necks WAY out for a talented,
eclectic,mercurial,strange BLACK artist and let him do
what he wanted...even when they lost in their pockets!

COME ON...prince needed warners during his bOOM period.
and they needed him. remember this...they let him release
3 albums by the TIME that were really prince solo albums
with vocals by MORRIS (and some help from various revolution
members)

the first TIME album was practically recorded when p made
the deal with WB. they did this deal with him on MERIt.
(he forgot this when he was doggin' WB in the 90's)

again i love the guy. but he isn't blameless in the war
between WB.

they tried to talk him out of CHERRY MOON and GRaffiti
bridge...but he wouldn't listen.
who was right about these 2 TURKEYS?

WARNERS.

in the end he claimed they wouldn't let him release HIS
music when he recorded it...i know what he was saying here
but very few record corporations will ever let an artist
release music as often as p recorded.

they all would say...its bad for business and bad for the
artist.
MOTOWN wouldn't have let p do half of what wb did.

i have this vision of berry GORDY and prince in a board
meeting fighting over prince wanting to release DIRTY MIND
circa 1980. man...this would have been a classic!

marvin had to FIGHT BG to get WHAT's Going on released.
and it said something IMPORTANT!

berry's words to p would have been something like this:
ARE U out of your g-damn MIND?
that DIRTY MIND crap is the dirtiest SHIT i've ever HEARD
in my life! i wouldn't LET my kids listen to something like
"sister"!
GET OUTTA THIS OFFICE!!!"

OH MAN...i'm crackin' up just thinking about this scene.

ok. i've vented enough.

WB was p's best years BY a mile.

he wasn't victimized any worse than he victimized THEM.

(youngca..."berry's words to prince...THIS RECORD COVER
is...GETT OUT OF HERE AND TELL yo STORY walkin'")

before i leave for work a few more cracks at prince
vs WARNERS.

if wb was such a bad company why were they willing to release the BLACK album?

and why did they let him put our the LOVEsexy album cover?
(some people thought the cover was...you know!)

again scenes from my fantasy island...

prince trying to get Beery Gordy to let him release the'black album."

BG turns white when he hears LEGRIND ,rock hard in a funky place and BOB george...
"WHAT in the world! i can't market this SMUT! "
...and puttin' out an album with no name and with a plain
black cover?"
prince...het da fuck OUTTA my office!

and take that NUDE lovesexy cover SHIt with you!"

(haha...funny but WARNERs did put these out)

sorry prince. WB wasn't that bad.

Why were they willing to release the black album? Let me think.. oh yeah $$$, dollar, dollar bill ya'll. Prince didn't sell records based on his sterling reputation as a wholesome young man you know.

You're comparing Barry Gordy of the late 60's early 70's to WB of the late 80's/early 90's. Totally different eras. You really think WB would've released The Black Album in 1971? If Gordy thought the Black album would've helped him bring in $$$ to help pay for his "love children" believe me he'd have found a way to sell it. Oh, and even Prince has said he appreciated much of what WB had done for him, he just needed to move on.

youngca said:

[This message was edited Thu Jun 26 20:45:50 PDT 2003 by Universaluv]

U-luv...good points.
my tongue was all da way in cheek when i used Berry
Gordy vs prince as an example...but let me hip ya to
something-from what i've read WB wasn't as sure about
the BLACK Album selling big bucks as U were.

remember they talked prince out of putting out a 3 record
opus (p wasn't thrilled about this but gave in reluctantly
and paired his "new record down to what became SOT )
because they weren't sure about the marketability of a
3 record set at that time!

as to you stating that BErry would have put the BLACK
Album out cuz it was a different time (not the 60-70's)
and he would have saw the BIG money dividends...
uhhh...wrong.

i've read quite a few books on motown (and berry) and HE
would HAVE still fought prince on dirty mind,the black
album because his main aim was to put out product that
he felt sold to everybody. (white,brown,black..etc etc..)

this legendary business MOGUL never didn't change his
views on putting out music until he got too involved with
making diana ross a star! and sold his company!

i'm saying all this grinning cuz i was making some funny
situations just to accent WB vs p battle.

one thing to ponder is this: when the J5 left MOtown
berry didn't fight THAT hard to keep them. mostly because
he didn't REALIZE mj'c career was about to EXPlode and
make him a bigger star than he was as a kid!

if he had known this-he would have KIdnapped MJ and made
him stay at Motown!

an interesting thing would have been if CBS (turned into
sony later) had signed pRINCE instead of WB.
would he have been treated differently there?

hmm...peace out (cyoungca)

youngca said:

My point about Gordy wasn't that he would have released the Black Album, just that he was interested in the bottom line, will it sell. In the early 70's he would have correctly said no.

Nevertheless don't wanna get distracted by a Gordy discussion. WB didn't exactly release The Black Album out of the goodness of their hearts, nor was Prince thrilled with the idea. It was a contract obligation pure and simple. IMO, that record's release was Prince's way of saying "I owe you another album? Fine release this shit.." I don't think WB figured it would sell much either, but hey they were gonna squeeze as many $$$'s as they could while they had him under contract (which was their right).

Universaluv said:

Wrong. if they'd released the Black Album as planned (black cover, with a peach serial number NO PROMOTION, SINGLES, etc), it would've harly been a hit at the bank. Parade didn't even do big numbers AT THE TIME. It wasn't for money. if they wanted money, they'd have said, 'NO, GO OUT ON A FULL US TOUR TO PROMOTE PARADE and AROUND THE WORLD...'. they didn't.

NME said:

Ok totally different discussion. Yeah if Prince and WB wanted to make more $$ of the Black Album then they should have released it as orignally planned.

However, my POINT was that WB didn't release it in the 90's because they were trying to do Prince some huge favor. youngca basically said that Prince should be thankful that WB "let" Prince release The Black Album. Prince gave it to them because he was obligated to give them something and they sold it.

thanks for all the replies, i guess during the Warner years WE were more happy and in his freedom years Prince is more happy. I wish he could keep the freedom but make it a more slicker operation.

u-luv & javed...good words.

i dig where both of you are coming from.

u-luv,you're right p was obligated by contract to give
WB an album...what i want to add is this...
my main point in my posts was prince (in many interviews
during his "slave" period ) made it seem like WB was
100% in the wrong...and that he was being exploited.

yes he was being exploited. most artists are to some
extent.

most record companies don't sign people to big deals
just to watch their "investment" "waste their money.

my view is and was both parties USED each other to get
what they wanted out of the arrangement.

that's sort of the american way,i think.

you're right that in calmer moments p did give thanks
to WB for what they did and it was time to move on.
(a divorce was better for both parties)


javed...you're right. its a shame prince's freedom
years haven't been as fruitful...but there's still time
right?

love & peace to both of U...i loved the exchanges!
(youngca)