Day Of Infamy

Growing up in northern New Jersey we received all of New York city's television stations. Back in the early and mid 80s NBC(?) used to air a show called Hot Trax. It was similar in style to American Bandstand but with an urban dance club setting. Like Bandstand they too would play the latest hits while people danced and showed off, or attempted to show off, for the cameras; and like Bandstand they would also show a video or two of the hottest videos(s) of the day. Hot Trax is how I got my fill of Prince videos in the 80s. At the time we didn't have Mtv at our house or even cable. During summer vacations from school my brother Donald, my sister Dawn, and I would often spend a few weeks at my aunt and uncles house in East Brunswick New Jersey where they had cable and Mtv was readily and willfully consumed. Keep in mind this was back before Mtv lost sight of itself and still had musical relevance. In short, this is back when the 'M' in 'Mtv' stood for 'music'. The rest of the time we had to rely on a few weekly shows on broadcast television to satisfy our video cravings.

One night in June of 1984 I awoke sometime around midnight to hear my brother Donald and my sisters Lynn and Dawn in the living room. Now either insomnia or curiosity got the best of me and I got up to discover that they were watching Hot Trax. So I decided to joined them in they're midnight consumption of pop culture. We sat semi-circle around the great glowing story teller much like our ancestors must have done with hearths and fireplaces before the advent of radio or television. Not long after my inception into their little club it happened. Hot Trax aired the video that would forever change my world, "Let's Go Crazy".

Shortly after it started I remember saying "I like this song". My sister Lynn said to me "I'll show you my favorite part" and when it came it turned out to be the hip-thrusting part of "ah, ah, is all I heard". I continued to watch the rest of the video the way a young child watches the Wizard of Oz for the first time. Only there was no yellow brick road, no wicked witches, no little people (no pun intended) to seize my attention with whimsical fantasy. Only the mezmorizing performance of an amazing song by an ever more amazing man whose talent and genius I had only just been given a small taste of. I would soon come to discover that this was more then just some pop star spending his 15 minutes of fame. He was quite possibly the greatest muscial genius who ever lived and what I didn't realize is that I was about to hop onboard what would turn out to be a long, exciting, and at times, frustrating and confusing, rollercoatser ride of musical wonderment. But as the saying goes, half the fun is getting there.

As the video went off I uttered a phrase that would go down in my personal history the same way Julius Caesar's "Vini Vidi Vici" or Franklin Roosevelt's "a day that will live in infamy" went down in world history. I declared "he's my favorite", jumped on the rollercoaster, and never looked back.

where i grew up in the west indies p was played on the radio just as much as any other artist, i even remember casey casem showcasing the track 'for you' asking listeners to guess how many vocalists were singing on that song, then when i got older and started going to record shops it was hard not to notice how much those record sleeves stood out from everything else and by that time 'purple rain' mania had took over and 'when doves cry' was to be heard on every corner, but what really hooked me was my radio alarm went off one morning in '86 and i woke up to the sound of 'girls and boys', everything about it seemed so simple but what a hook!.
so i'm still waiting for a revolution re-union and an uncut copy of detroit '86 on dvd, is that too much to ask for?

i really don't remember. i don't remember much before 5 years old and it seems like i've always been listening to his music. i know i graduated from safe pop (michael jackson) to prince but i don't remember why. i know i saw purple rain in the theatre and on tour. i would guess an older sibling got me interested. maybe i was just born surrounded by the purple funk.

Actually. I dont really know for sure.. I've never really liked him, digged a few of his songs (though I didn't know it was him).. Started to like more and more 80's music.. so why not dig Prince?.. I dont really have a story or anything like that.. but I must say I'll never regret becoming a Prince fan, and I've enjoyed his music so much..