The whole is greater than the parts

I am tired of every thread delving into the whole idea of how Prince is NOT promoting himself properly etc. Does he really want to promote himself in the sense that everyone seems to be clamoring for, or does he want to try (EAST drumbeat please...)

NEW DIRECTIONS IN MUSIC

If you examine his track record carefully it doesn't appear that he has ever really been too concerned with radio as a forum, as well as other traditional forms of promotion.

• little interviewing
  
• controversial lyrics
  
• very weak lead singles
  

I can name a Prince album and "what if" to death his choice of singles, lyrical content, song length -- and the list goes on.

What are your thoughts, dear orger, on why you still listen to this crazysexycool fool we call Prince? Why has he been able to captivate the imaginations of U and me (the only people that matter, right?) especially given that he has chosen NOT to follow the well trodden path?

I'm gonna say Side 2 of 1999...

I had never really gotten into vinyl records at that point in my life, early 80s probably. I am over a friends place and pick up the album as this side is playing and am literally captivated: artwork, music, mystic, etc.

I believe that as I began to trip on this ARTIST the whole Purple Rain thing exploded. Can you remember the first voice of When Doves Cry -- that guitar and distorted vox were so funky! I learned years later that Prince was in a funk 'cause he didn't hear a bassline in this song! Ain't that a trip?!

The rest is history -- in my opinion.

kmc said:

No, we are not the only people that matter.

As I said in another thread, if Prince didn't want an audience, he wouldn't release his music to the public.

If we're the only one's who matter, then why is he releasing TRC, ONA, NEWS through record stores and not just the NPGMC?

He wants an audience, like any artist.

I think Prince has an internal dialect within him that pulls him in certain directions.

On one hand he wants to do the Time, The Black Album, Madhouse, Xpectation - niche products for a niche audience and to widen his spectrum of music, on the other hand he wants to do Purple Rain, Diamonds & Pearls, Rave, that is an attempt to widen his audience.

I'm pretty sure that Prince has reached a stage in his life where he's happy he doesn't have to pander to record companies, radio stations and appear on TV programs - unless he wants to. Plugging singles is hard, horrible work best left to the teen idols.

He's proved several times that when he wants to pull something out and have a big hit, he can.
For example, someone suggested that a ballad would go down well and help him "cross over" into the "white" world, that night he wrote Purple Rain. Someone at WB said he'd never have another hit, he replies with The Most BGITW.

I'm still sure he could do it again, question is would he want to? Maybe... maybe not.

Also he's in his 40's, he isn't what radio/TV/record companies want any more.

He is of the 80s for the general public/record companies/ promotional wheels.

I think it's great that he has carved out a niche for himself and continues to attempt to challenge himself musically.

Madonna is still up there producing commercial hits, and she in her own way is challenging herself too, but she isn't a musician like Prince is, she is a singer - and she is still playing the game.

Michael Jackson is trying, but his personal habits and nuances have got in the way, plus his music just isn't illiciting the same response as it once was, he seems stuck in a bit of time warp publicity-wise.

Of all his contemporaries, I think Prince is still up there, he is producing music that isn't treading water, that is conducting heated discussion amongst his listeners, and he's still interested in making new music.

The whole retro thing in the media has been pushing for Prince to come back for a while now, I dunno if he's gonna end up a virtual nobody like Sly Stone (you know what I mean), or someone who they wheel out every so often like James Brown - but I'm glad he didn't go the way of Madonna or Michael Jackson.

Prince is Prince, he's a bit of a fuck-up, but if he didn't fuck-up, he wouldn't be Prince