I've not heard any of the Madhouse projects but were these his first explorations into jazz, or were they mainly Eric's ideas?

I imagine what we're hearing now is nothing more than what's been in the works for some 15 years, perhaps longer. The Parade/Sign 'O' The Times/Lovesexy eras certainly had that jazzy vibe. A lotta folk loved it back then, so what's with the change in reception?

The voice. They wants the voice. The lyrics. The singalongability.

one ol' jazzy bitch

I think the Flesh was probably his first foray into Jazz territory, although it's really just funk jams.

The Flesh seems to be the pre-cursor to Madhouse, and I think yes Jazz was introduced to Prince to Eric.

That's why the post-Purple Rain pre-Lovesexy period is so interesting to fans I think - Prince has so many different external influences around, they were all feeding him musically and he was soaking it in and throwing it out into his music.

After 1988 he really didn't have many people around him to challenge him musically or in any other sense - I think his art suffered because of that.

A tradesman is only as good as his tools.

BTW Anji, you should really track down the Madhouse albums! Everything Paisley Park is worth checking out, get yourself on the Hub boy and download yourself some Paisley Park goodness!

There is also 8 jazz type inst.from around 79 thats on the studio lights set.I always thought that was his 1st Madhouse type material.

what can i say, he's a genius

Romance1600 said:

The internet group think has messed up the vibe.

Anji said:

Anji to really get Prince u need to get the time, madhouse, sheila e family albums, really anything outside of his own albums that he worked on. They will give u insight into his process of creating music. Alot of those albums are really as much prince albums as say Parade. U are really missing out with out them. Since i got involved with this internet thing i have been able to track down alot of his one-off type songs that he gave to obscure folk like lois lane etc. I need the complete picture.

Anji said:

I think I've posed enough challenging questions over there!

Besides whenever you post something interesting about Prince's past recordings over there you either get ignored, deleted or bombarded with psycho-babble and princebonics!




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[This message was edited Wed Jul 9 11:21:25 PDT 2003 by Romance1600]

GET MADHOUSE 8 AND 16 IMMEDIATELY!!IF YOU NEED COPIES I CAN HOOK YOU UP.THE FAMILY CD ALSO HAD SOME GOOD JAZZ STYLINGS.HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN JAZZ.LISTEN TO SOME OF HIS VERY EARLY INSTRUMENTALS THAT WERE NEVER RELEASED.

tricky99 right anji.
get a hold of the madhouse albums and some fo the other
prince related cds. basically he's ALL over those records.

and did them to express the other sides to his personality.

i don't have NEWS yet. but that cuz i'm not gonna get on
his site and have the cd get to me a year later!

i'll wait until its available in stores.

but check out madhouse's stuff.

(youngca...i think MILES had a lot to do with his
jazz forays. eric hipped him to a lot of the old jazz
records)

I bought them as soon as Madhouse came out. It was a mystery group. It was cool to think it was Prince but I was not sure. It was like he wanted to do something different so he used Madhouse as another alter ego~
This was no so long after Herbie Hancock - RoCkEt
2 Me Prince seemed to always want to Trump or One Up the Current hit. I always thought Gett Off was 2 Trump or One Up the at that time current smash group C&C Music Factory.

buttcheeks said:

That's a great opinion thanks

I guess it's helpful to look at things in the time frame they were created.

I can see the reference to Rock It in Madhouse and that whole thing.

Same with Gett Off and C&C, Gett Off was very much Prince trying to slot into current trends, and he pulled it off!

groovement said:

Woah there, '79?!

Anji said:

yeah, there's a bunch of instrumentals on studio nights...pretty nifty stuff, too.

tricky99 said:

For some reason, I've always been hesitant about the associated albums. I just can't imagine that there are actually classic albums that people credit wholeheartedly to Prince that I have yet to hear. I got some catching up to do but it sounds like it will be fun. Man, where do I start? The Time, Sheila, Jill, Vanity, Madhouse??? I better make that call.

Romance1600 said:

Is it really that bad? I wonder how Rd, Nu, Super and Cal are finding it over there.

Anji said:

ALL GREAT!!THE TIME'S ALBUMS ARE SOME OF MY FAVE .I LOVE MADHOUSE.SHEILA'S WAS COOL.IT'S VERY '84 SOUNDING.VANITY 6 IS SO SWEET.MAZARATI,ETC.ALSO,CHECK OUT JESSE'S STUFF

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

At the last few after shows P's been jammin music like this NEWS style with Leeds and the rest of the group... less singing more jammin... nuttin new for him...

I never liked the Madhouse material at all. I like "NEWS" quite a bit, though.

Moonbeam said:

at all? so you've been lying to me this whole time?

He's aiiight Fine as hell tho...

Anji said:

Anji, you really have to get them all, without these sideprojects you are missing out on so much good and/or interesting Prince music. I could not believe my eyes when I read that you don' have any of them sideprojects!

funkaholic1972 said:

And I still don't..

HEY ANJI, ARE U STILL IN WEST KEN? I'VE GOT THE MADHOUSE 8 ON TAPE YOU CAN COPY IT IF U WANT?

Anji:

I highly highly recommend The Family. I believe that album to be one of his best side projects. . .It is the first place where you hear Prince working with Clare Fischer. . .

floralelephants said:

Hiya Floral, thanks for the recommendation.

Yeah, I've noticed a lotta people talk highly of the music on The Family album (even if they weren't quite convinced of the vocals). Damn, I gotta hear this now!