I feel for you younger fans. Well only the ones that prefer the earlier work, like I do. I feel for you because you weren't there to see Purple Rain on the big screen. You weren't there when MTV was all videos (No crappy-assed shows) where they would play Little Red Corvette and you sat glued to the screen. Before VCR's that was the ONLY time you got to see this stuff. We watched MTV (and "Night Tracks" on TBS, before we got MTV) day and night looking for Prince videos.

I think the "not having it (VHS/DVD) to see anytime" element made the videos much more special. We went to see Purple Rain quite a few times. I was a hardcore fan at that time. I think it soured for me when the Revolution was fired. The music just didn't have the same impact on me. To me, the Revolution was kind of like family. You had white people and black people working together in a way that made you not even think of the racial element. I had never seen that before. All I had seen was white groups and black groups.

Then the BET interview aired and I saw this completely different person talking about the "other persuasion" referring to him as "the artist" and it really kind of hurt me. Then they showed this video from New Power Soul, I think. Some cheap-ass camcorder video where he gets out of a car and flips off this white person for apparently no reason at all.

My feeling was "What the f*ck happened???" when I saw that stuff. My best friend argued me to death over it saying it wasn't racial, but it sure seemed that way to me. Was the "white man" evil, all of the sudden?

Who is Prince, nowadays? I really don't know.

This might be a long thread.I'm gonna go make some popcorn

Just becuz I was 2 young at the time doesnt mean 2 say I was any less excited the 1st time I saw Purple Rain!

Artists need 2 evolve and I would have been long been bored of Prince if we kept getting Purple Rain Mark Whatever every album. Im not saying I prefer the Prince of modern day, hell I love the 80s music a hell of a lot more. But Im sure U agree at least he seeks 2 always do something new. Well most of the time at least!

I dont think he's racist either. U only have 2 look at his touring band now 2 see that.
[This message was edited Thu Oct 2 5:15:15 PDT 2003 by JDINTERACTIVE]

JDINTERACTIVE said:

Well I had long since stopped following him (the symbol CD was the last straw). I never said you were any less excited. But seeing it in the theater as a brand new movie was different. I can say the same thing about Pink Floyd's Pompeii video. I was a baby when it came out. I saw it on video last year and I was blown away just like you were. It would have been nicer to have seen it in the theater, though, when it was brand new.

As for the racist thing, I hope he didn't turn that way. That's just a nasty attitude to carry around.

Parade was not like Purple Rain. Around the World in a Day wasn't like it, either. But the "family" was in it and that made it special to me. I don't like the switching around of people in music groups (Like Duran Duran, Motley Crue, etc.). The people he's playing with now are just the flavor of the week, in my opinion. Most of the Revolution was there from the beginning, I think.

They just had this magical chemistry, in my opinion. I can't believe I am the only one that feels that way. Because his CD sales aren't what they used to be. People like me were there the day of release to buy whatever he put out. He could have taken a dump and recorded it. We'd have still bought it.

I too was heartbroken when The Revolution split. They are still my favorite Prince band.
I grew to love the Lovesexy band as well, but since they broke up too, I haven't felt any interest in his band members. They come and go as the wind blows.
[This message was edited Thu Oct 2 5:50:02 PDT 2003 by scififilmnerd]

What a great question!

Damn, I've been a collector for way too long, but the man really has a knack of testing ur patience!

When I think of it, it's really quite simple - he's someone who is veryfar removed from what is known as a normal life and sees the world thru all the latest 'self-help' titles he reading.

For a man who's songs represent such a diversity of life's emotions, you have to ask what *real* feelings and experiences has he been exposed to?

Who is he? He is still himself i suppose. Just like your not the child u were he is no longer the young man he was. Grow up people everything that lives evolves. Let him do that too. A lot of your love for the old is simple nostasia (sp) for your youth. Prince has always been the main ingrediant any body else (band members) are simply spice. Many of you really were more into a particuler recipe than a ever changing menu. I was into prince before any of the folks (band members) were even around. The genuis was apparent before (favorite band member name here) was around. U simply liked a particular sound at a particular moment or moments in time. Like liking Picasso pre cubism or something.

I think Prince realized that the "ideal" he was striving for (not only an interracial band--which is what his first interviews in Right On! magazine positively focused on--but a promotion of a way of life that included the concept of black, white, Puerto Rican, etc. together as part of the human race) was being challenged by racist attitudes of some of the folks in control of the music business.

But this is a weird topic of discussion for me, because I always hated the fact that every woman who was "prime" in his camp was European-looking. Vanity even pissed me off during an interview on the Johnny Carson show way back then by making a (prolly drug-induced) statement that compared black men to gorillas (WTF?).

i've had no interest in prince's players for years. after the lovesexy era band split it was just downhill. good lord, i mean, we had tony m. and tommy barberella! ridiculous. now, this current band...that's a band. it seems like the first band that brings anything of its own to the table. that's not to say they have influence on prince like the revolution did, but they've got something going on. as for racism...well, i definitely feel like prince has develpoed issues towards th white race. i'm not saying he's prejudice, i really don't think that is the case. but i definitely notice a change in his demeanor. that BET interview was just the first time he could really let it show, thanks to tavis smiley and his agenda. and i also think, as many black artists do when they lose popularity, he was trying to gain some loyalty and using any means necessary. he's since seemed to have lost that demeanor along with the desire to gather more fans (or keep the ones he has, for that matter).

either way, if you just listen to the music and don't watch or read any interviews and stay away from the org and npgmc, your opinion of prince is sure to go up again!

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

Tavis Smiley and his agenda? Do you think anyone else's "agenda" would have persuaded them to seek Prince out so he could tell his side of the story?
[This message was edited Thu Oct 2 6:53:55 PDT 2003 by AsTrAlTrAvElInHoTtiE]

tricky99 said:

That's not true, since I was still young when this started to happen. Maybe I grew in a different direction than his music. I don't really know.

So by saying "Grow up" you are implying that my opinion is childish? Just because someone evolves, doesn't mean it's for the better. Most bands turn into shit when they start "evolving".

Prince is no exception.

One of the rare artists that can successfully do it is David Bowie.

His music is constantly fresh and exciting, while Prince gets stale and boring. I mean, I got the Rainbow Children for free and I can barely stand to listen to it!

Mcwatson68 said:

I don't quite get why you see that as a rascist thing in the first place. Maybe he just didn't like his ugly face.

calldapplwondery83 said:

It was the combination of the 2. In the interview, he gave that smartass smirk when referring to the "other persuasion". Then came the video...

Mcwatson68 said:

Hmm. Good point. Maybe he wasn't so tactful because he wasn't accustomed to being on T.V. talking about an issue dealing with race? I don't know, but if he was used to discussing racial issues with others I'm sure he would have been more tactful. Tact comes with practice. He ain't been practicing...
[This message was edited Thu Oct 2 7:24:14 PDT 2003 by AsTrAlTrAvElInHoTtiE]

ppl,ppl,ppl, after all these years, why do you continue to question what prince says or does? i stopped questioning his actions in 1980

AsTrAlTrAvElInHoTtiE said:

ruh roh, i knew this wold upset someone...

look, tavis has a race issue. its his 'gimmick'. i use that term losely here, but it is definitely his thing. i used to listen to tom joyner all the time but after a few years, i just couldn't take tavis' insults. it would have been the same as listening to some white guy talk about the 'black' conspiracy or something. its ridiculous. when prince went on tavis smiley's show i watched specifically so i could hear prince say (to tavis) something like 'why are you so hung up on race...whats your problem? we're all bones when we're dead'...well, you know, something to that effect. instead, nope, prince made tavis proud. it was very sad. sometimes playing the race card is just not a good idea.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

LOL. No, I'm not upset at all. I don't mind controversial discussions or agreeable disagreements. It's cool. I see what you're saying, though.

AsTrAlTrAvElInHoTtiE said:

good cuz, despite the name, i'm really not trying to upset anyone

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

So there is some racial thing involved. I knew it. I don't know Tavis or anything about him, nor do I care to. But hearing that just confirms what I was thinking. But it wasn't that big of a deal. I was about 8-10 years into my Prince exile, anyway. I taped it as a whim, since he didn't do interviews much.

I'm so sick of races thinking they are superior to other races.

Oh, I'm white, by the way...

tricky99 said:

easier said than done, son. sometimes things/people also devolve, y'know...

Mcwatson68 said:

before you get all upset, go back and read my post again. and pay close aattention to the last few sentences.

Mcwatson68 said:

As much as I love Bowie, he, IMHO, also had his "weak period" when he "evolved" and made all that crap in the '80's (of course not everything, but a damn lot)...

Neversin.

The people he's playing with now are just the flavor of the week, in my opinion.


MACEO PARKER - FLAVOUR OF THE WEEK!!! - GET YOUR HEAD CHECKED OUT FAST!!!

frankjotzo said:

Either you are a very ignorant man or you just do not know who Maceo Parker is...
Calling Maceo Parker "Flavor Of The Week" is like saying "Sly Stone is a cheap Prince knock-off"...

Neversin.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

I read it. I'm not upset. I'm still just indifferent to his new stuff and miss the old crew.

Some people here think that's a crime.

Neversin said:

I don't know who Maceo Parker is. I also don't care. it's still flavor of the week (to me), regardless of any prior success any of them have had (Larry Graham, Chaka Khan, etc.).

Neversin said:

Yeah, and in interviews over the past few years, he's been very vocal about how crap and uninspired most of his '80s stuff was. I think Bowie came back around the bend in the early '90s, and while he may not have the same chart popularity as he did, he's once again creatively fertile and interesting and somehow still relevant in popular culture. I've hoped over the past few years that Prince's career would follow the same path, but I'm beginning to doubt it.

Anxiety said:

It will never happen to Prince because Prince is surrounded by fools and so called "Yes-men" who bow at his every need...
If Prince farts they'll say it's the divine smell of godlike dandelions "can I have some more" or some shit like that...
Nobody in his camp have the guts to challenge him...
Prince is the puppet-master in his own private wonderworld...

Neversin.

Mcwatson68 said:

alicia keys...nikka costa...they are 'flavor-of-the-week' types. chaka, larry and maceo definitely are not. they've all been around long enough and are still in the game and definitely nowhere in the flash-in-the-pan league.

maceo parker wuz with james brown for a time as a horn player.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

No matter what, these other folks will never be as good as the Revolution.